LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Mineral exploration and development company Beowulf Mining updated the market on its March quarter on Friday, having increased its ownership of Vardar Minerals to 48.4% from 46.1% for £0.2m, in February.
The AIM-traded firm said the funds would be used by Vardar for preparatory works in advance of drilling across the Mitrovica licence in northern Kosovo, as well as lead-zinc targets at Wolf Mountain and gold targets at Majdan Peak.

It also signed a memorandum of understanding between its wholly-owned graphite subsidiary, Fennoscandian and Epsilon Advanced Materials (EAMPL), a subsidiary of Epsilon Carbon, on 8 March.

The company said the memorandum would enable Fennoscandian to build its downstream capability, collaborating with a "strong and innovative" technology and processing partner, as it developed its business to be a future supplier of anode material to lithium-ion battery manufacturers in Finland and Europe.

On 12 March, it awarded a contract to Afry Finland to conduct a scoping study on Fennoscandian's Aitolampi graphite project in Finland.

After the period ended, Beowulf announced that a letter had been sent from its chairman Sven Otto Littorin to Sweden's Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan, concerning the status of the company's Kallak application.

The firm said it received a "brief administrative response" from the government.

On 25 May, it released results of a mineral resource estimate upgrade for the Kallak Iron Ore Project, prepared by Baker Geological Services, which included an additional 19 million tonnes of iron mineralisation equating to a 12.5% increase in the resource.

That gave a measured and indicated mineral resource of 132 million tonnes grading 27.8% iron, and an inferred mineral resource of 39 million tonnes grading 27.1% iron.

"As the chairman wrote in the 2020 annual report, we are at a tipping point where global issues are converging to drive demand for primary raw materials," said chief executive officer Kurt Budge.

"Metals are critical to achieving the transition to a 'green economy' to address the climate emergency - transparent, secure, and sustainable supply chains need to be established, and governments are considering how to power economic growth in a post-pandemic recovery.

"Beowulf is seeking to be a leader in sustainability, as the company recognises its environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, procedures and performance are essential to demonstrating the company is well-run and fulfilling its purpose in society."

Budge said the results of the upgraded mineral resource estimate for Kallak and the doubling of the exploration target "clearly demonstrate" the potential for a mine at Kallak to supply high-quality iron ore over several decades for fossil-free steel production in Sweden.

He added that the potential global resource now stood at 389 million tonnes, which could support mining for 40 years.

"To the community in Jokkmokk, Kallak is about investment, jobs and a sustainable economic future.

"When it comes to Sweden's ambitious plans for fossil-free steel production, Kallak represents a strategic source of high-quality iron ore for projects such as H2 Green Steel.

"When investors look to upstream and downstream investment opportunities in Norrbotten, an integrated fossil-free supply chain is a compelling investment and business case."

Beowulf was continuing to engage with politicians in Sweden, Budge said, to the point that when Unesco's comments were returned and the Kallak project was back with the country's government, a decision on the application would be "forthcoming".

"During the first part of the year, we have made significant progress in Finland with Fennoscandian Resources and we are very pleased with our collaboration with EAMPL.

"In the coming weeks we will be dispatching Aitolampi graphite concentrate to EAMPL, for batch testing through their pilot plant with the aim of producing pre-cursor anode material from Finnish graphite.

"We are also assessing sites in Finland for a strategic processing hub, one of the key elements for a joint venture agreement with EAMPL."

In Kosovo, Budge said the firm was "looking forward" to the start of drilling in summer, adding that in the latter part of 2020, it published a series of announcements with results from induced polarisation and resistivity ground surveys, coupled with "state-of-the-art" high-resolution airborne magnetic drone surveys for lead-zinc targets at Wolf Mountain and gold at Majdan Peak in Mitrovica, and copper-gold at Viti.

"With these results, the correlation of the induced polarisation anomalies with anomalous metals in soils and mapped alteration, the potential grows for discovering lead-zinc and gold deposits and defining much larger mineralised systems at both Mitrovica and Viti.

"There is no shortage of high priority drill targets and we are eager to make a start."

At 1119 BST, shares in Beowulf Mining were down 0.71% at 4,17p.

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