Greetings Contrarian,

This is The Next Big Rush, your daily drop of mining/energy investing news. Where we come together and brace for another Friday of greed and fear.

Here are today's highlights:

🦾 Majors Bid For Yukon Project

🦾 Lithium Producer Doubles Capacity

🦾 Gas Junior Reserves Up 71%

🤑 Majors Bid For Yukon Project

Western Copper and Gold (TSX: WRN) announced Mitsubishi Materials will acquire approximately 5% of its outstanding shares at $2.63 per share for gross proceeds of C$21.3 million. 

Rio Tinto Canada may also participate in equity financings to maintain its ownership interest of approximately 7.84%. 

The Casino project in Yukon, which Western has been developing since 2008, contains a porphyry copper-gold-silver deposit with measured and indicated resources of 2.4 billion tonnes at grades of 0.14% copper, 0.19 g/t gold, and 1.5 g/t silver. 

In summer 2022, Western published a feasibility study on the Casino project, which showed an after-tax net present value of C$2.3 billion with an internal rate of return of 18.1%.

Majors fighting over 18.1% IRR.

What do they know that most retail investors haven't figured out yet?

🙌🏼 Albemarle Doubles Capacity

Albemarle Corp (LON: 0HC7) has selected Chester County, South Carolina as the location for its $1.3 billion lithium processing plant, which will double the company's lithium processing capacity and supply key customers like Tesla with more North American battery metal. 

The facility, capable of processing 50,000 tonnes of lithium each year from rock Albemarle plans to mine in North Carolina and recycled batteries, is expected to employ 300 workers with an average annual pay of $93,000. 

Construction is slated to begin late next year, and the plant will be built using a lithium processing grant received from the Feds.

Albemarle, which is already the world's largest lithium producer, expects demand for lithium to continue to rise.

(Of course they do, it’s their job to say that).

🥸 NG Energy Reserves Up 71%

NG Energy International Corp (TSX.V:GASX) has announced the evaluation of its natural gas and condensate reserves and resources for the year ending December 31, 2022. 

Highlights:

71% year-over-year increase in 3P reserves at the Maria Conchita Block and highlighted successful exploration drilling and testing at the Sinú-9 Block. 

• The Maria Conchita Block has gross proved, probable, and possible reserves of natural gas and condensate for before-tax NPV10 (we love seeing this 10 here) of $23.3 million, $14.0 million, and $12.8 million, respectively, and a 3P reserve for before-tax NPV10 of $50.1 million. 

• Meanwhile, the Sinú-9 Block has gross unrisked best estimate and high estimate contingent resources for before-tax NPV10 of $294.4 million and $873.9 million, respectively. Advanced discussions are underway for the development of infrastructure and gas offtake at Sinú-9 to allow contingent resources to be moved to reserves.

Obviously the stock is down, because no good result goes unpunished on the TSX.V.

Meme of The Day

Happy Speculating!

The Editor

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.