Technology Minerals secures two-year extension for research permit
Technology Minerals has secured a two-year extension of the St Patrick research permit in north-west Spain.
The licence, which includes the historic Aramo mine and is held through the company’s wholly-owned Spanish subsidiary Asturmet Recursos, is now valid until June 21, 2028.
This extension secures ongoing access to an advanced copper/cobalt/nickel project that could support the UK’s future technology, energy and defence needs by contributing to more resilient supply chains for designated critical minerals.
It also provides time for the company, working alongside potential partners, to complete a more thorough assessment of the asset’s scale, grade continuity and potential value within the company’s Mantle strategy framework.
As part of its Mantle strategy, Technology Minerals notes that it is focused on combining upstream resources and downstream processing to strengthen the UK’s access to critical minerals and battery metals.
In this context, the company explains that St Patrick is being evaluated against clear criteria: its potential to contribute to UK and European supply security in copper, cobalt and nickel; its ability to support future domestic processing and manufacturing capability; and its attractiveness as a project for strategic partners from industry and government.
Technology Minerals notes that copper, cobalt and nickel are designated critical minerals in the UK, essential to power transmission, battery storage, high-performance alloys and defence platforms.
The company says, however, that the UK currently has no domestic primary production of these minerals.
Hence, it notes that Mantle’s purpose is to reduce the UK’s dependency on supply agreements with third countries by securing resource and manufacturing capability, adding that St Patrick is one of the few European assets of its type that could contribute across all three metals.
Importantly, Technology Minerals says, the extension does not in itself commit the company to material further expenditure. Any next phase of work will be scoped and sequenced in line with the company’s capital discipline, undertaken alongside a partner and assessed against its existing working capital and portfolio of early‑stage critical mineral investments.
“Securing this extension protects an important, advanced exploration asset and gives us the time we need to assess, within the Mantle framework, how best to deploy it in support of UK’s critical minerals and defence resilience agenda.
“Our focus is on value-accretive decisions for shareholders made in partnership with industry. The extension itself does not commit the company to material further spend, which is consistent with the capital discipline supporting Mantle,” says Technology Minerals COO Nick Bridle.
BACKGROUND
The St Patrick licence forms part of the company’s Asturmet project, acquired in August 2021 and focused on cobalt/nickel/copper mineralisation across a package of exploration permits in the Principality of Asturias.
The licence was originally awarded in June 2019 and includes the historic Aramo mine. An application for extension was submitted in May; the plan of work submitted with that application has been approved and the licence extended for a further two years.
Technology Minerals notes that the extension remains subject to the condition that the planned underground drilling campaign at the Aramo mine may not begin until separately authorised under the related drilling-project application, which remains under review by the regional mining authority.
The company says this staged regulatory approach is consistent with Technology Minerals’ strategy of progressing projects in a measured, derisked manner.
Work completed to date on the St Patrick Licence includes a lithogeochemical characterisation sampling survey confirming high-grade copper/cobalt/nickel mineralisation at the historic Aramo mine; underground sampling at the Aramo mine (Level 3, across four historically partially stoped areas); a 3D laser survey of levels 3 and 4, providing high-quality data for more intensive underground mapping, 3D modelling and sampling; underground grab sampling across multiple mineralised veins and alteration zones, with assays ranging up to 28% copper, up to 1.88% cobalt and 0.1% to 1.68% nickel; and a broad characterisation study of the extensive zones of alteration and mineralisation observed on levels 3 and 4.
Technology Minerals explains that grab samples are selective by nature and are taken to identify the presence and style of mineralisation, noting that they are not necessarily representative of the mineralisation hosted at the Aramo mine as a whole.
The company says the assay results referred to above should not be interpreted as indicative of average grade across the licence area.
“St Patrick has the potential to become a flagship European copper/cobalt/nickel project of its type.
“The work completed to date demonstrates high-grade mineralisation and provides a strong platform for further evaluation. Developing domestic and European sources of copper, cobalt and nickel is an important part of reducing reliance on non-European supply of these critical materials and St Patrick is a rare asset with exposure across all three,” says Technology Minerals head of exploration and development Lester Kemp.