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Below is our recent interview with Tara Asfour, Director of Investor Relations at Auxico Resources:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to your company?
A: Auxico Resources, CSE: AUAG, is a Canadian headquartered exploration and mineral development company positioned to become a major supplier of critical metals and rare earth elements to global economies. The Company owns directly or through joint ventures, mineral rights in Colombia, Bolivia, and Brazil, and is positioned to become a major supplier of critical minerals and rare earth elements to global economies, car and battery manufacturers and other technology providers. Auxico’s access and supply capability of close to 4 million tonnes of critical minerals and rare earths could collectively represent the largest deposits outside of China.
As of recent announcements, Auxico is in a position to produce at their Colombian Minastyc property, which boasts rare earths and critical metals (mining permit issued, the environmental assessment as a next step). With the current Colombian government opposed to open pit mining, Auxico’s deposits and associated projects are on surface and conform to the environment standards of the region. In terms of the Brazil Massangana Tin Tailings Project, this property has been permitted as a mine site from previous operations.
The Company is also the exclusive trade agent for rare earth concentrates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with Central America Nickel, containing high-grade rare earth elements that can be used as materials for the production of permanent magnet, these rare earths include neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and gadolinium. Auxico is the first Canadian mining firm to export monazite rare earths from the DRC, having successfully executed a sale of 96 tonnes of rare earths which were sold with regards to an 18,000 tonnes off-take agreement. Auxico’s DRC operations are fully compliant and all activities are traceable from mineral collection to sale and export, these operations intend to be scaled up to a 1,000 tonnes per month capacity which could translate (based on the first sale metrics) into over US$700,000 per month, or US$8 million per year.
Q: Any highlights on your recent announcement?
A: The Company announced the finalization of their agreement for the development of the Massangana tin tailings project located in Rondonia, Brazil, with an estimated 30,000,000 tonnes of tailings averaging 2.83% total rare earth oxide content i.e. 840,000 tonnes of rare earth content, along with tin and columbite (Ta and Nb) as other by-products. A project that, once executed, would position the company as a rare earth producer larger than Mountain Pass and other market leaders. For discussion purposes, this tailings project intends to process 3 million tonnes of tailings per year, to be processed into over 100,000 tonnes of monazite rare earth concentrates at grades over 50% TREO, and then refined in North America into 50,000 tonnes of high-purity rare earth elements, along with tin, tantalum and niobium. Much of this process will be conducted and optimized using a patented ultrasound extraction technology along with proprietary internal processes for the removal of radioactive thorium. To provide some perspective on the value of this project and jurisdiction, Canada Rare Earth Corporation unveiled plans to invest up to 1.5bn reais (US$315mn) in a rare earth project in northern Brazil, a property adjacent to Auxico’s Massangana property in the Rondonia tin province.
Q: Can you give us more insights into your offering?
A: Auxico intends to complete an uplisting from pink slips to the OTCQB in conjunction with completing DTC eligibility in the near future, which would expose the firm to a broader market of investors across the US, while increasing trading potential and volume of their stock for current shareholders.
Q: What can we expect from your company in the next 6 months? What are your plans?
A: We anticipate major movement in Auxico’s stock moving forward due to recent developments and announcements which have positioned Auxico, along with its joint venture and technology partner Central America Nickel, to gain significant market share due to their combined rare earth and critical metals deposits and supply capabilities. By leveraging Central America Nickel’s technology, Auxico can also provide an environmentally friendly processing solution to the markets they operate within along with the following benefits; high recovery rates and increased productivity, a reduced carbon footprint in comparison to traditional mining methods and operations, substantial regional economic growth, as well as improved accessibility to critical minerals needed for national security and advanced technologies required for the green transition. Auxico intends to utilize this technology at their Brazil Massangana tailings project, which could be initiated within the next 12 months. Phase 1 will be conducting a pre-production study which includes on-site visits and sampling to verify the current resource and validate the present indications, much of this data was provided via studies prepared by the German Mineral Resources Agency and Geological Survey of Brazil can be accessed here.
Q: What is the best thing about your company that people might not know about?
A: The Company has dramatically hedged market risks by successfully generating revenues through its DRC monazite rare earth project, a significant achievement that is to be gradually and systematically scaled up. This allows the Company to sustain its operations free of financing requirements and therefore less dilution to current shareholders. Furthermore, the Company operates out of three different regions and across various commodities and minerals, mitigating any political, regional or commodity market threats. Based on its current market cap, the firm is priced as an exploration firm however it’s a revenue generating producer at this point in time, making it a significantly undervalued opportunity.
