Trigg Minerals has been acknowledged for its innovative work at the Lake Throssell Sulphate of Potash (SOP) project in Western Australia with the award of a research and development (R&D) tax offset payment.
The government-controlled $1.05 million upfront payment is part of a total $1.31 million R&D tax offset which recognises the innovation Trigg introduced to help develop a sulphate of potash project in Australia and the company’s approach to determining the hydrogeological characteristics of the brine-hosted deposit.
In particular, the incentive payment recognised Trigg’s ground-breaking technical work in addressing the key processing flowsheet issues encountered by the sector’s first-movers.
Strong cash input
Chairman, Mike Ralston, said the R&D payment has added to Trigg’s growing cash balance.
The upfront payment of $1.05 million, or 80%, of the FY23 R&D offset has been received via R&D funding specialist Radium Capital, with the balance of approximately $250,000 (before costs) anticipated to be received in the December 2023 quarter.
This follows the recent successful completion of a $576,000 placement in mid-September, with Trigg’s cash balance now sitting at approximately $2.3 million.
The company has also announced its intention to raise up to a further $1.8 million via a non-renounceable rights issue with $1 million underwritten by lead manager, GBA Capital.
These funding initiatives will see Trigg achieve a minimum estimated cash balance of $3.3 million in October 2023.
The funds will help Trigg to pursue the joint strategy of advancing the Lake Throssell project in WA and the Drummond gold and base metals project in Queensland.
Mr Ralston added that the recent board and management restructure has substantially reduced operating costs and refocused the company on expenditures that can drive value-accretive outcomes for shareholders.
“This R&D rebate delivers Trigg a considerable source of additional non-dilutive funding which will greatly assist the company as we look to deliver further shareholder value through the addition of the Drummond Basin gold and base metals project in Queensland,” he said.
“The board’s strong commitment is to reduce operational costs while focusing on key strategic deliverables, positioning Trigg to drive shareholder value into 2024.”
Growing Lake Throssell resource
In mid-February Trigg revealed it had lifted the Lake Throssell indicated resource to 8 million tonnes.
The update almost doubled the project’s indicated mineral resource to 8 million tonnes at 10.5 kilograms per cubic metres (kg/m3) sulphate of potash.
Managing director Keren Paterson also revealed that a Lake Throssell exploration target had been refined with the potential for an additional 2.3 to 9.0 million tonnes of SOP at 9.0 to 9.95 kilogram per cubic metres within the granted tenure at the project.
“This resource upgrade clearly shows that Lake Throssell has the scale and grade to underpin a sustainable long-term SOP project, particularly when considering its tier-1 location and proximity to high-quality transport infrastructure with the upgrading of the Outback highway scheduled to be completed by 2030,” Ms Paterson said.
The Lake Throssell Project covers an area of 1,085 square kilometres approximately 170km east of Laverton, Western Australia.
An October 2021 scoping study outlined an initial 21-year mine life with forecast production of 245,000 tonnes per annum sulphate of potash in the lowest cost-quartile, which would position Trigg as a potential top-10 global SOP producer.
The company currently has a market capitalisation of only $2.2m.
