Geovic Mining Corp

View the Brochure

“We’re hopeful that cobalt will be a star performer in the 21st century, and if so are well-positioned to capitalize” Geovic  Mining Corp CEO John (Jack) Sherborne stated.

If cobalt’s recent demand growth is anything to go by, he could be spot on.  Since its inception in 1995, Geovic has taken measured steps toward its goal of becoming a major cobalt producer, potentially among the most unique in the mining universe.

Sherborne has been with Geovic since 2002.

“The company was started by an old friend of mine, Bill Buckovic, who I worked with at Union Oil Company (later UNOCAL), where we worked principally on uranium projects together.  We stayed in contact over the years, and eventually he decided to put together this project in Cameroon.  He had heard about some nickel mineralization there and wasn’t especially interested in it, but when he got a chance to do some sampling learned that its cobalt grades were very much higher  than what would normally be seen in these types of laterite deposits”, Sherborne says.

“So he traveled to Cameroon to do some more sampling, and then decided that it looked like a pretty interesting prospect from the cobalt standpoint.  In 1995, he and a Cameroonian partner, Anicet Guessou, formed a Cameroon company called Geovic Cameroon (“GeoCam”), and at the same time formed the private parent company Geovic Limited in the United States.”

But Buckovic did not build Geovic overnight.

“He battled through major tribulations for some years; trying to do enough analysis, drilling, and pit digging to prove there was a significant resource.  Eventually, he got an exploration license approved in 1999.  Then he negotiated a mining convention with the government that became effective in 2002, and was subsequently granted a mining permit in 2003”, Sherborne explains.

“I was actually doing some consulting work for him prior to joining the company, and helped him negotiate all the various agreements with the government.  And we’ve been plugging away ever since.”

Today Geovic aims to be the world’s largest primary cobalt mining company.

Here is how they are going to do it.

NKAMOUNA DEPOSIT, CAMEROON

Sherborne explains that “Geovic Cameroon works like a two-company partnership, even though it is a public limited company with a number of shareholders.”
In fact, the partnership with which they are working at Nkamouna, the first of seven cobalt-nickel-manganese deposits that GeoCam holds the exclusive production rights to, is quite unique.

“Geovic Limited, a subsidiary of Geovic Mining Corp. (the public company), owns 60.5% of Geovic Cameroon.  The other 39.5% is held by Cameroonian interests, including  20% that is held directly by the state investment corporation of Cameroon (SNI),  a quasi-governmental agency that invests in projects the government believes have significant long-term potential to advance the nation’s economy”, Sherborne explains.

“The remaining 19.5% interest belongs to a number of Cameroonian individuals, including Mr. Guessou, whom Mr. Buckovic knew from the project’s early stages.  SNI manages that interest and covers the funding requirements, not only for themselves but for those shareholders as well.”

So just what is it about this deposit that has commanded the attention of so many people?
“The deposits in Cameroon are relatively unique from a geological perspective, in that the cobalt, manganese and nickel mineralization occur in large, agglomerated particles of the mineral asbolane.  The mineral occurrence in asbolane is not unusual in and of itself, but these particles are very large and aggregated in the ore,  which enables us to use physical processing methods  to concentrate the minerals before they go to the leaching process, a very expensive part of the whole processing scheme”, Sherborne says.

“This laterite formation has a basic red soil profile, one that is typically found in most of the world’s equatorial regions.  However, this particular laterite formed over parent rocks that had significant quantities of cobalt and nickel in the first place, which further concentrated the soil profile that forms the ore body.”
Geovic has mastered an inexpensive concentration process before they actually process the ore.

“Due to the unique characteristics of this formation, we can upgrade the cobalt grade in the run of mine ore, which is on average about 0.25%, to approximately three times that level just by washing and sizing it, much like you would in sand and gravel operations.  That pre-concentration step, if you will, dramatically improves  the project’s economics, as that much less material has to be leached”, Sherborne explains.

“We’re trying to not only develop this more economical way of processing cobalt and nickel, but to also carry out the whole operation in a much more sustainable manner than what we’ve typically seen from mining companies in the past.  In other words, we’re trying to make sure the benefits of Nkamouna don’t just accrue to the GeoCam shareholders.”

This brings us on to another surprising and admirable company trait; sharing the wealth.

CAMEROONIAN COMMUNITY CARE

“This is the first mining operation of significance in Cameroon, and they desperately need new industry to provide job opportunities for the people and much-needed tax revenues.  From that standpoint, we’re happy to be pioneers in trying to get a new mining industry set up in the country”, Sherborne states.
The manner in which Geovic has done this goes far beyond the realm of simply complying with necessary mine permit obligations or undertaking projects for the sake of visibility in the local community.

Not only has Geovic commenced various projects aimed at bringing revenue to the area through trade and local industrialization, but they have sought to shape the views of their counterparts so that other mining companies working in the region might understand the importance of operating in this manner.
“We’ve raised awareness in the area and amongst our shareholders in Cameroon, of the importance of conducting a mine operation like this in a socially responsible manner”, Sherborne says.

“We’re trying to make sure we provide ample opportunity for the local people to actually benefit from the project.  One of the ways we are doing this is providing micro-loans to start-up businesses that will produce goods and services we can consume in the mining operation.  Hopefully, these initiatives will provide enough of a springboard to establish these operations, potentially creating markets for them to expand around the country.  We’re providing the seed capital and a number of other opportunities to improve the lives of the region’s people.”

Geovic is embedding their operations within the local community, too.  Sherborne explains that rather than swooping in, going about their business and leaving again, Geovic seeks to make lasting positive changes to the lives of their Cameroonian compatriots.

“Instead of setting up a local health system that principally benefits the mining operation, we are trying to improve water and health systems for the entire region so that everyone in the area can enjoy long-term benefits”, he says.

Some years ago the company set up GeoAid, a non-governmental charitable organization aimed at “providing these types of socio-humanitarian services to the local population.”

Now GeoAid is growing too.

“GeoAid is in the process of setting up as an independent entity to permit contributions from companies other than Geovic, and thus to enable growth both locally and internationally”, Sherborne says.

“We think it’s a really great model, and we’re very supportive of it.  We hope that others will emulate it as time goes by.”

THE FUTURE OF GEOVIC

On June 15th, Geovic announced the appointment of Mr. John Perry to their Board of Directors.

“We’re very pleased to have him on board, and we know he’s going to be provide a lot of help and guidance as we move forward”, Sherborne says.
And as their team grows, so do their exploration projects.

“In addition to our primary focus in Cameroon, we have a number of relatively early-stage projects in the United States, mostly dealing with uranium prospects that we discovered back in the 1970s”, Sherborne says.

“We have a number of those properties under lease right now, mainly in Colorado but also Wyoming and Arizona, and in Arizona we have a few grass-roots gold exploration properties as well.”

Meanwhile, back in Cameroon, their project looks set to flourish.

“We’re completing some pilot-scale testing of the leach process we’re planning to use, which we believe could materially improve the project’s economics and reduce its risks.    That test work should be completed sometime in September, and once it’s done we aim to redo the final feasibility study immediately.”
As for the cobalt market itself, “we’re staunch proponents of the alternatives to the internal combustion engine manifested in the hybrid vehicles and electric cars that seem to be getting a bit of a rebirth right now” Sherborne says.

And with “possibly the largest primary resource in the world”, Geovic is ready for the predicted cobalt boom.

“We’ve got enough resources to last for many decades, even at accelerated production rates” Sherborne says.

With their unique natural resource, strong partnerships, growing team, and an exemplary attitude toward social responsibility in a region with a wealth of raw potential, Geovic Mining’s goal to become the world’s largest cobalt producer looks well within reach.

View the Brochure