After a lengthy rough patch, the gold industry is showing signs of revival thanks to record high gold prices last year. Many experts predict bigger cash flows for these gold companies in the near future. Gold Mining has traditionally been a more fragmented industry than other industries, wherein the top companies only control roughly 20% of the gold mining production. As such, companies are seeking to expand their production lines and profit margins. In this environment, many gold mining companies like Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSX:K), Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD), Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) are looking to merge with technology companies like Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (OTC:SIXWF) (CSE:SIXW) to make their mining processes more efficient and increase future profit margins. As the mining industry as a whole aims to move to cleaner technologies, the gold mining industry is moving in a similar direction as well, and is seeking to collaborate with companies working to develop green alternative tech.
Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE:SIXW) (OTC:SIXWF) is a nanotechnology company that has been at the forefront of these innovations. One of the main projects it has worked on following these agreements has been their IXOS tech used for gold extraction from cyanide and alternative lixiviants. Sixth Wave’s IXOS testing system has been field and laboratory tested with mining customers in North American and South America who are either in production, developing greenfield sites, or assessing tailing projects including Kinross Gold Corporation.
In August, Sixth Wave Innovations signed a contract with Rio2 Limited for the continuation of testing of SIXW’s patented IXOS® purification polymer technology at Rio2’s Fenix Gold Project in Chile using Rio2’s nearby Lince Infrastructure facilities. In July, Rio2 arranged a full finance package worth $125-$135 million to finance the construction of its 100%-owned Fenix Gold Project. The contract follows successful completion of testing done on representative samples of ore from Rio2’s Fenix Gold Project at Sixth Wave’s Salt Lake City facility following a Letter of Intent between Sixth Wave and Rio2 in September 2020. The testing, which is expected to start in Q4 2021, will include 50 days of on-site operation of the system under a variety of testing scenarios to validate IXOS performance and determine additional details regarding the cost/benefit analysis.
Earlier this year, Sixth Wave also signed an LOI with Barry-Hollinger Gold Mine (BHGM) to test patented IXOS® purification and extraction polymer on gold-bearing tailings samples at the BHGM site in Eastern Ontario. The ultimate goal of this partnership is the full-scale implementation of IXOS Mining tech following the BGHM program test results.
This endeavor could be highly profitable for Sixth Wave, since the BHGM site has recovered 80,000 ounces of gold and it is even estimated that the site contains over 200,000 tons of tailings that may even contain 16,000 ounces of gold.
“Sixth Wave is very interested in this project as a testbed for recovery of gold from tailings at BHGM and the potential to exploit and remediate tailings projects throughout the world,” said Sixth Wave president and CEO Dr. John Gluckman. “Conducting initial testing will help to develop a well-focused test plan that will validate and extend current laboratory testing and help both companies make defensible, data-driven decisions about next steps toward adoption.”
Gold Mining Industry Forges Ahead With Mergers and Increased Production
Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSX:K) has recently made agreements with the Government of Mauritania at its Tasiast mining sites to further enhance its capabilities. Some of these agreements include fuel duty tax exemptions and a superior royalty structure that ties the domestic gold price to national legislation. The goal of this agreement is to further solidify the company’s presence in the country, lower taxes, and thus increase revenue so it can work on their proposed expansion project.
Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) has reported massive gains in its second quarter sales of 1.07 million ounces of Gold and over 96 million ounces of copper along with production numbers around 1.04 million ounces of gold and 96 million ounces of copper. The company expects to increase these yields in the coming quarter, particularly in its mining projects in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, which have been doing better than its North American divisions.
Newmont Corporation’s (NYSE:NEM) recently enhanced its portfolio after receiving approval from its Board of Directors to advance its Ahafo North project in Ghana’s execution phase. According to the release, the project exceeds Newmont’s required internal rate of return, adding profitable production from the best unmined gold deposit in West Africa. Projected capital costs are estimated to be between $750 to $850 million, with construction expected to be complete in the second half of 2023 and is expected to deliver more than a 30% internal rate of return (IRR) at current gold prices.
AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) recently announced a non-binding proposal to acquire Corvus Gold. AngloGold Ashanti currently holds a 19.5% indirect interest in Corvus. The combination of Corvus’ and AngloGold Ashanti’s Nevada assets would create one of the largest new gold districts in Nevada and offer AngloGold the opportunity to establish, in the medium and longer term, a meaningful, low-cost, long-life production base in a premier mining jurisdiction.
As the gold mining industry seeks to increase yields and production, Sixth Wave’s IXOS tech may prove vital in the future. As an efficient testing system with higher gold yields, it may make future agreements with other gold mining companies looking to modernize their gold mining procedure. Also, as carbon footprints become all the more costly, its environmental low-carbon footprint may make their IXOS tech that much more attractive to more mining firms.
To learn more about Sixth Wave and how IXOS is changing gold mining, click here.
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