Description of business
We are a base metals exploration company focused on the exploration and development of mineral properties, through our equity investee, in the Ambler mining district located in Alaska, U.S.A. We conduct our operations through a wholly owned subsidiary, NovaCopper US Inc. which is doing business as Trilogy Metals US (“Trilogy Metals US”). Our Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (“UKMP” or “UKMP Projects”) were contributed into a 50/50 joint venture named Ambler Metals LLC (“Ambler Metals”) between Trilogy and South32 Limited (“South32”) on February 11, 2020 (see below). The projects contributed to Ambler Metals consist of: i) the Ambler lands which host the Arctic copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver project (the “Arctic Project”); and ii) the Bornite lands being explored under a collaborative long-term agreement with NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. (“NANA”), a regional Alaska Native Corporation, which hosts the Bornite carbonate-hosted copper project (the “Bornite Project”) and related assets. The Company may also conduct early-stage exploration through a wholly owned subsidiary, 995 Exploration Inc.
Corporate and project activities
The Company has a 2024 fiscal year cash budget totaling $2.8 million. For the nine-month period ended August 31, 2024, we used $1.9 million in operating activities mainly for personnel costs, professional fees, regulatory and office expenses compared with budgeted cash expenditures totaling $2.1 million.
Ambler Metals LLC
The board of Ambler Metals approved a 2024 fiscal year budget totaling $5.5 million to support external and community affairs, to maintain the State of Alaska mineral claims in good standing, and for the maintenance of physical assets. During the nine-month period ended August 31, 2024, Ambler Metals expended $3.5 million on salaries and wages, professional fees, engineering, project support costs and mineral property expenses, excluding the Ambler Access Project (the “AAP”) costs, compared with the budget of $4.5 million.
The board of Ambler Metals also approved a 2024 fiscal year budget totaling $2.5 million to support the AAP. During the nine-month period ended August 31, 2024, Ambler Metals funded $1.4 million to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (“AIDEA”) in support of the AAP compared with the budget of $1.9 million.
During the third quarter of 2024, we received additional cash from Ambler Metals. In total, Ambler Metals returned $50 million to Trilogy and South32 as at August 31, 2024.
Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project (“AMDIAP” or “Ambler Access Project”)
On April 22, 2024, the Company announced that the United States Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) had filed the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“SEIS”) for the AAP on its website. The Final SEIS identifies “No Action” as the BLM’s preferred alternative. The proponent for the AAP is AIDEA which is a public corporation of the State of Alaska. AIDEA’s purpose is to promote, develop, and advance general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of Alaska. AIDEA strongly objected to both the process used by the BLM to reach a “No Build” decision and the effect of the decision which AIDEA believes illegally blocks access to statehood lands, minerals, and federally patented mining claims. On May 8, 2024, NANA announced its withdrawal from further involvement with the AAP and stated its intentions to not renew the surface access permit with AIDEA upon the permit’s expiry this year.
On June 28, 2024, the BLM issued the Record of Decision confirming their selection of the No Action alternative and thus denied AIDEA’s application for a right-of-way grant (“ROW Grant”) across BLM-managed lands which terminated the BLM ROW Grant issued to AIDEA on January 5, 2021.
