The market for the small capitalization early stage mining and exploration companies remains very sluggish. However, we expect to see a change very soon. Since 2015, some mining stocks have been in a bull market phase and have seen substantial percentage moves up. So attention is now merited!

 IMPERIAL MINING GROUP on TSXV at 10 cents a share is a new (created in 2018) Québec‐based exploration and deposit developer of base metal, gold and technology metal deposits. The company was created by a consolidation of two exploration companies “Peak Mining” and “NQ Exploration.”

 The “Peak Mining Corporation” was a private company that rolled in its’ Québec technology metals project (scandium-niobium-tantalum-rare earths) into Imperial Mining Ltd. in exchange for shares in Imperial Mining. At the same time, NQ Exploration spun out its base metal and gold projects into the new Imperial Mining Group also for Imperial Mining shares.

OVERALL… The Imperial Mining Group‘s focus is on copper, zinc, gold and technology metals exploration with a primary concentration on its Scandium project in northeast Quebec. We should mention that two years ago we were alerted to the potential of what were Peak Mining’s scandium-niobium-tantalum-rare earth projects….and observed it.  Again, we recognize that Imperial Mining is an early stage junior exploration company, but we find its potential to be exceptional. We will follow the company’s progress.

SCANDIUM… What is Scandium? It is a hardening agent that dramatically increases the strength of aluminum and its resistance to corrosion and in both uses the benefits are extraordinary.

What we find of exceptional interest is the Crater Lake scandium project which we classify as an “undervalued asset situation.” For now our attention is on the Crater Lake scandium project which already has exploration results suggesting that the size of the deposit could be substantial.         

BACKGROUND… Scandium is used in aluminum-scandium alloys for aerospace industry components and for sports equipment such as bicycle frames, fishing rods, golf iron shafts and baseball bats. Scandium iodide is also used in lamps to replicate sunlight in studios for the film and television industry. When scandium is added to aluminum, it creates a very strong and very light alloy. Its use is projected to increase substantially as verification of a constant adequate supply is confirmed.

 KEY QUESTION…Why has the use of scandium been so limited despite its advantages?  The primary reason is that the availability of a sufficient supply of scandium for large industrial use has been limited having been sourced primarily from China and Russia. It has never been readily available compared to other hardening metals such as titanium. Imperial’s exploration success may change that.    

ITS’ COST? The Cost per pound for Scandium is $ 1140. However a very small percentage of scandium is required when it is alloyed with Aluminum. It is less than one half of one percent (<0.5%) so an adequate supply of scandium is cost effective. We expect that confirmation of an adequate supply with further exploration results.               

INSIDERS OWNERSHIP   Imperial Mining’s insiders (officers and directors) ownership and purchases of the company’s shares is impressive. Presently they own approximately 28.5% of outstanding shares. QUEBEC INSTITUTIONS own 19.7% of the outstanding shares with private investors holding 52%. Of note are the recent purchases by the officers and directors.

*We noticed one recent insider sale of Imperial shares so we inquired. The total amount of the proceeds of the sale was used to pay for services for the company itself and not for any insiders’ personal profits. Again, there have been no sales by officers and directors of their own personally held shares.

CONCLUSION…The view here is that metals such as Scandium and other rare earth metals will be replacing conventional metals in the aerospace, automotive and defense industries. Its  use is projected to increase substantially in the near future as verification of a constant  adequate supply is confirmed. Moreover, there is a strong possibility that the Imperial Mining Group will be a participant in these and other industries.

Thank you, K.C Grainger and Bob Pellerin