✦ This is Part 2 of a Special Series on Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX) where Anna Cranney, Social Performance Lead, brings insights into the company's ESG efforts.
Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX:BSX) is brimming with ESG compliance, which is key nowadays. The company is moving into the production phase and it is important they are well prepared to be responsibly compliant with ESG.
We have a vision to build a world class nickel mining centre at Ta Khoa and one of the world’s first green nickel processing facilities. The Ta Khoa Nickel-Cu-PGE project is currently powered by South East Asia’s largest hydro power plant located nearby in the Son La Province. At Blackstone we aim to set an example to the rest of the world and to be a pioneer on building a green nickel mining business for the future demand coming from the rapid growth in nickel-rich cathode materials required to power the electric vehicle revolution. - Director's Report June 2021
As Ms. Cranney explains, Blackstone is managing the process by instilling the passion of ESG into the DNA of the company. In fact, it is the very core of the Blackstone business. Noel Ong, CEO of Samso, gets the ins and outs from her about how a company can start the ESG process and where ESG could go in the future.
With ESG being one of the most important criteria from investors and companies in the mineral resource sector, this is a timely conversation to have and businesses can no longer sit on ESG and expect it to be a fad.
It may well surprise people to know that even commodity pricing and investment decisions are heavily influenced by ESG compliance and the state of the ESG component of the product.
Ms. Cranney and her Blackstone team are working on having best practice to make sure all aspects of the business are fully compliant with ESG requirements. She breaks down the whole ESG concept into highly digestible pieces that allow businesses to have a clearer idea of what it really is, and how to start implementing it.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:07 The Blackstone ESG Story
02:25 How do you start the ESG Process?
06:26 How do you tackle the E - S - G ?
09:13 Which letter is most relevant to Blackstone?
14:52 Blackstone instills ESG into the DNA of the Company.
17:36 ESG is now in the whole business structure
19:51 What does Anna think of ESG 2 years ago? What about 5 years and 10 years from now?
23:38 ESG is a growing issue.
25:13 ESG is now part of the furniture.
23:50 Try all ways of distribution.
27:14 Anna shares how ESG will play out in future.
30:02 Conclusion
PODCAST
About Anna Cranney
Social Performance lead
Blackstone Minerals Limited
Bachelor of Education/Arts from the University of QLD;
Graduate Certificate in International Education from the University of Sydney;
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment;
Diploma of Training Design and Development, RMIT;
Graduate Certificate in Social Impact from UWA and the Centre for Social Impact.
Anna Cranney hails from Goondiwindi in Queensland but moved to Perth a number of years ago to work within the extractives sector. She has over 13 years of experience working social performance, capacity building and community development programs. A decade of this has been time spent working regularly in Timor-Leste.
Ms Cranney has worked across industries and sectors including oil and gas, construction, education, not-for-profits, and in the aid and development sector. Her passion is in embedding impact-focused ESG programs across technical teams and operations on major projects, and helping the extractives sector use a partnership approach with communities and not-for-profits to deliver long-term outcomes.
Anna has recently joined the Blackstone Minerals team to continue to develop their ‘green nickel’ strategy and embed ESG across the business, with a particular focus on their Ta-Khoa project in Northern Vietnam.
My role is to embed ESG and flesh out Blackstone's ESG credentials early. I anticipate ESG challenges, address them and engage with stakeholders on ESG compliance.
About Blackstone Minerals Limited
Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) is developing the district-scale Ta Khoa Project in Northern Vietnam where the company is drilling out the large-scale Ban Phuc Nickel-PGE deposit. The Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE Project has existing modern mine infrastructures built to International Standards including a 450ktpa processing plant and permitted mine facilities.
Blackstone Minerals also owns a large landholding at the Gold Bridge project within the BC porphyry belt in British Columbia, Canada with large scale drill targets prospective for high-grade gold-cobalt-copper mineralisation. In Australia, Blackstone Minerals is exploring for nickel and gold in the Eastern Goldfields and gold in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Blackstone Minerals has a board and management team with a proven track record of mineral discovery and corporate success.
The Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project
The Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project is located 160 km west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam and includes an existing modern nickel mine built to Australian standards, which is currently under care and maintenance. The Ban Phuc nickel mine successfully operated as a mechanised underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016. In the Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, previous project owners invested more than US$136m in capital and generated US$213m in revenue during a 3.5-year period of falling nickel prices. The project was placed into care and maintenance in mid-2016 during some of the lowest nickel prices in the past 10 years.
Existing infrastructure associated with the project includes an internationally-designed 450 ktpa processing plant connected to local hydro grid power with a fully-permitted tailings facility and a modern 250-person camp.
Since commencing maiden drilling in August 2019, Blackstone Minerals has made significant progress at Ta Khoa, drilling over 9,000 m of diamond core in more than 47 holes into the Ban Phuc DSS deposit and the highly prospective King Cobra discovery zone. An initial scoping study evaluating mining and processing options is well advanced, including potential in-country downstream processing to deliver high-value nickel sulfate into Asia’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) industry. The recently announced MOU with Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest EV battery cathode manufacturer, Ecopro BM Co Limited represents a significant step towards making this a reality.
Contact Blackstone Minerals Limited
REGISTERED OFFICE
a/ Suite 3, Level 3, 24 Outram Street, West Perth, WA, 6005
t/ + 61 8 9425 5217
f/ +61 8 6500 9982
POSTAL ADDRESS
PO Box 1175, West Perth, WA, 6872
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Disclaimer
This article is sponsored content.
ASX companies engage Samso and Brilliant-Online to share their commentary on the progress of their companies and projects. The author, owners of Samso and Brilliant-Online and associated entities may or may not hold shares of these companies.
The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. - Samso
About the Author
Noel Ong, CEO of Samso tells compelling stories by engaging business leaders to reveal insights beneficial to the investment community.
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