Our Activities
To support ever-growing global demand for metals utilized in sustainable and renewable technologies IG is actively pursuing opportunities in strategic territories, Kazakhstan and Mongolia through its regional subsidiary IG Asia:
Critical Minerals
Capitalizing on its knowledge of early-stage critical minerals exploration, IG is active in Central Asia using innovative exploration and sampling techniques on greenfield, first move projects.
Based on remote sensing techniques combined with regional geophysics and structural data, IG Asia has applied for critical minerals exploration licences in the targeted areas, as well as entering into strategic partnership arrangements or buyouts with local and international operators.
IG Asia intends to further invest working capital to advance:
- Lithium Assets in brine-rich basins: potential for discovery of large-scale, long-lived lithium in brine deposits amenable to low-impact direct ion extraction methods. IG has secured 3 licences in South Kazakhstan, with a fourth application pending on Sholakespe, totaling 595 sq. km and commenced a rapid reconnaissance program of mechanical auger and clay-fraction sampling to 50m below the salt crust; IG Asia is a first mover with the potential to be a major lithium player in Kazakhstan and is investigating a large salt playa in western Mongolia.
- A pipeline of early and mid-staged copper and gold assets including:
- Kazakhstan, Balkhash-Ille major porphyry play. IG Asia intends to sign a LoI with a major to secure a potential tier 1 development project with >1Mt contained Cu and 50Mt of leachable Cu oxide along with at least 5 upside exploration areas underexplored since Soviet times. Opportunity exists for an early starter oxide pit producing 12,000tpa cathode Cu from a mobile SX/EW plant. A five-year licence extension has been granted to 2028 to develop a mining project on the oxide and complete a feasibility-level study on a combined oxide/sulphide operation.
- Katutau – early stage combined porphyry/epithermal gold system in Almaty oblast containing a prospective 4 sq. km lithocap undergoing geochemical and geophysical surveying with prospect drilling to develop a working model. A large sulphide-rich footprint has been outlined and work is ongoing to home in on discovery targets.
- Mongolia - The TN-5 Project (“TN-5”) located within the same metallogenic belt (Devonian Gurvansayhan Island-Arc terrane) that hosts the world class, Oyu Tolgoi Mine (3.75Bt @ 0.98% Cu & 0.38 g/t Au) currently majority owned by mining giant, Rio Tinto. Positive sampling results from several malachite and chalcocite-bearing grab samples from very limited surface exposures registered >1% copper and were associated with elevated gold and molybdenum values. Ground magnetometry is currently being followed up by IP/resistivity surveys with a view to narrow down a target area for grid drilling to sample the top of bedrock beneath the shallow colluvial/aeolian cover.
Base and Precious Metals
Kazakhstan
IG Asia has entered into an earn-in JV agreement with a local Kazakhstani enterprise in southern Kazakhstani enterprise committing in excess of USD1M to fund ongoing exploration on the Kututau licence for a right to earn a majority stake over a 2-year vesting period. The enterprise represents an integrated epithermal gold target with a well-developed lithocap that has porphyry copper-gold potential.
IG Asia is also carrying out due diligence on several gold and copper deposits at advanced exploration stage within the highly prospective Balkhash-Ili Metallogenic Belt north of Lake Balkhash. This includes a ‘right-to retain’ interest in an exciting established porphyry system with locally reported reserves >2Mt contained copper and 100kt contained molybdenum at a 0.25% cut-off grade.
IG Asia is also pursuing an interest with an international partner to enhance and develop an orogenic gold deposit in a nascent gold exploration district in Karaganda oblast that has an oxide resource favourable for rapid development into production and global resource potential in excess of 2Mozs of gold.
Katutau Mountains and Licence
Principle porphyry copper-gold plays in Kazakhstan and IGs areas of interest
Concept target generation from survey results across Katutau lithocap
Mongolia
IG Asia owns a 100% interest in the 133.5 km TN-5 exploration licence in the highly prospective Trans Altai belt in the Gobi Desert, southern Mongolia. The license contains two target areas identified to date; the TN-5 and Camel target areas. Both targets are considered highly prospective for Cu-Au porphyry deposits similar to other Cu-Au porphyry deposits of the Trans Altai metallogenic belt (Oyuut Tolgoi and Kharmagtai).
IG is currently conducting ground magnetic surveys and geological mapping over the entire licence area. These surveys will be followed by an IP geophysical survey and production of 3-D magnetic and chargeability models with a view to further refining the extent and character of the two identified target areas in order to determine drill locations for a planned 4000m drill program to be completed in the 4th quarter of 2023.
First pass reconnaissance rock sample results.
IG Drilling Kazakhstan
IG Asia Established IG Drilling in Kazakhstan in 2021., IG Drilling currently operates a Boart Longyear LF-90C diamond coring drill and a CS-14 (heli-portable) diamond coring drill. Our experienced drill crews have a track record of drilling complicated geological terranes and are committed to a culture of always improving HSE standards to fit to the Client’s ESG program. Drill operations are supported by a motivated logistics team based in Karaganda which also houses the workshop, maintenance facilities, and critical spares.
IG Drilling can provide coring services for exploration, evaluation, and geotechnical drilling to 800m depth at diameters ranging from BQ to PQ and has a track record of controlled directional drilling and core orientation. IGD’s work ethic is to keep ‘bit turning on bottom’ as safely as possible and has consistently achieved average penetration rates of over 60 metres per day. Productivity is maintained and reliance on short-term IG Asia capital injections are reduced as IGD offers its services commercially as well as servicing its own in-house drill programs.
IG also considers ‘drill-for-equity’ arrangements on a case-by-case basis whereby profits on drilling are converted to shares in the client company.
