Metals One PLC CEO Jonathan Owen joined Proactive’s Stephen Gunnion with an update on the company’s strategy for its Black Schist projects in Finland, aiming for economic extraction of assets.
The goal is to develop a 200 million-tonne resource over the next 24 to 36 months, targeting a mine life of 20 years with an annual production of 20 million tonnes. Currently, Metals One has identified 20 million tonnes at one site (R1) and 16 to 24 million tonnes at another (P5), both offering significant expansion opportunities. The company is also exploring regionally, having recently pegged new ground for further development.
Recent drilling programs have yielded encouraging results, including notable intersections of mineralized black schist, extending the mineralization further east. This has led to the acquisition of additional ground for future exploration. Metals One aims to quickly elevate the P5 target from an exploration target to a mineral resource, leveraging unassayed historical drill cores to potentially increase the resource size without additional drilling.
The company has also identified new targets for exploration, with the K1 site scheduled for drilling in the coming months.
The long-term vision is to become a supplier of critical metals for Europe’s green transition, addressing the EU’s structural deficit in the supply of critical minerals for battery production and other green technologies.