By James Kwantes
Published first at Patreon
The $4.5-billion sale of Filo Corp. to BHP and Lundin Mining (LUN-T) secures a spot on the global mining stage for the Lundin family's third generation.
Lundin Mining's 50% ownership in Filo del Sol, Vicuña's flagship, gives Lukas's sons a meaningful stake in what looks to become a multi-generational copper district. It also solves the financing question for Josemaria, which was 100% owned by Lundin Mining but will become part of the BHP-Lundin 50-50 joint venture.
Lundins 3.0: Well-fed and Hungry
Wins in the junior mining sector -- particularly ones with a multi-billion-dollar price tag -- have been few and far between. The Filo sale is good news for the entire sector but particularly for companies active in Vicuña.
One obvious beneficiary is NGEx Minerals (NGEX-T), another Lundin company active in the district. NGEx has 69% of the Los Helados copper porphyry deposit and is exploring the high-grade Lunahuasi discovery, which is 6 km northeast of Filo del Sol.
NGEx CEO Wojtek Wodzicki led the Lundin team that won PDAC's 2024 Thayer Lindsley Award for the Vicuña discoveries. Wodzicki has described the Lunahuasi discovery holes as "definitely the best holes that I've been involved with in my career."
Guts, Glory ... and Another Lundin Moonshot?
A less-prominent beneficiary could be Mirasol Resources (MRZ-V), a project generator with key land positions in the Vicuña district. Mirasol's Sobek Central property is a few kilometres west of Filo del Sol; Sobek North is 3 km west of Lunahuasi.
Mirasol is a low-profile, tightly held junior whose exploration efforts at the Sobek properties have been hampered by poor weather in recent exploration seasons. Early-stage exploration results have been promising. Haywood's John Tognetti owns 19.1% of Mirasol shares; veteran junior investor Glenn Pountney is a prolific buyer of stock and owns 12.1%.
Mirasol added to its Vicuña land position earlier this year through an option deal with SQM, the Chilean chemicals giant. Any further consolidation in the district could benefit Mirasol shareholders.
Finally, a Lundin company that does not (yet?) have Lundin family pricing is Yukon-focused Fireweed Metals (FWZ-V).
Short-term, Victoria Gold's (VGCX-T) heap-leach disaster at its Eagle gold mine has hit the share prices of all major Yukon plays including FWZ. For investors with the patience to stick around, the stock drop could be an opportunity. The metals district that hosts Fireweed's Macpass zinc-lead-silver project and Mactung tungsten deposit has similarities to Vicuña, including grade, size and deposits of critical metals whose limits have yet to be defined.
Disclosure: I own shares of NGEX, Mirasol Resources and Fireweed Metals and have done communications work with Fireweed.
