Anglesey Mining


Anglesey Mining plc is a United Kingdom based mining company. The company is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker AYM in the mining sector. The company has three projects, Parys Mountain in Wales, Grängesberg in Sweden, and Labrador Iron Mines in Canada.

Company History

Anglesey Mining Ltd was created as a subsidiary of Imperial Metals Corporation of Canada in 1984. Planning permission for the mine was granted in January 1988, shortly after which Anglesey Mining became a public company when it was floated on the stock market as Anglesey Mining plc.
On April 18, 2024, Anglesey Mining appointed Robert Marsden as its new CEO, effective May 1. Marsden, an experienced mining engineer, is set to lead the development of the Parys Mountain project and manage the company's iron ore investments.

Parys Mountain

Parys mountain on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales was historically a major source of copper. The deposits are volcanogenic massive sulfides and contain copper, zinc, and lead as well as some silver and gold. Mining ceased in 1904, but a re-exploration started in the 1960s, and in 1988 to 1990 Anglesey Mining sunk a 300m deep shaft, and 2000 tons of ore were recovered for processing in a pilot plant. When the recession struck in 1990 it caused a slump in metals prices and work at the mine was suspended. Since then Anglesey Mining has identified further mineralised zones not far from the old workings, and produced a Preliminary Economic Assessment in January 2021 which included an updated resource estimate indicating 160,000 tons of copper, and 400,000 tons of combined zinc/lead. A drilling campaign to improve definition of the lead/zinc resource has been completed and the company is currently carrying out exploration drilling of a copper rich zone to improve estimates of its extent and composition.
Mining company Quarry & Mining Equipment Ltd entered into a development and co-operation agreement with Anglesey Mining in 2018, and contributed to the mine design in the PEA. It has been agreed they would be granted the right and option, upon completion of a Prefeasibility Study, to undertake at its cost and investment, the mine construction component of the Parys Mountain project, including the decline and related underground development and shaft works, with a scope to be agreed, to the point of commencement of production, in consideration of which QME would earn a 30% undivided joint venture interest in the Parys Mountain project.
There are several mineralised zones identified :
  • White Rock : Primarily a zinc/lead resource near surface and well defined though open at depth. Planned to be the first to be mined.
  • Engine Zone : A zinc/lead resource with 0.5-0.75% copper close to White Rock also open at depth.
  • Deep Engine Zone : Primarily zinc and copper
  • Garth Daniel : polymetallic massive sulphides similar to engine zone, rich in zinc, lead and copper
  • Central Zone : polymetallic massive sulphides similar to engine zone
  • Northern copper zone : Cu dominant stockwork
In recent reports the company has combined the White Rock Zone and Engine Zone and referred to them as the Morfa Du zone, containing 5.72 million tons of ore at 2% CuEq. Drilling to better define the resources in the last three zones above started late in 2023, and the company has stated they believe the drilling will result in significant upside to the resource estimate.

Grängesberg

Anglesey Mining own a 49.75% stake in Grängesberg Iron AB, together with management rights and a right of first refusal to increase its interest. This former iron ore mine closed in 1989, but still contains significant high-grade ore, and was the subject of a PFS in July 2022. This indicated a post-tax NPV8 of US$688m, at an iron ore price of US$120/tonne, 62% Fe, CFR China benchmark, and FOB costs of US$53/t to the ice-free port of Oxelösund, Sweden. The PFS did not include the value of apatite and rare earth elements in the tailings. In March 2023 it was announced that Anglesey Mining had entered into discussions with Mine Storage International AB to consider whether the existing mine working could be used for a pumped hydro-energy storage system at the end of the mine's life.

Labrador Iron Mines

Anglesey Mining holds a 12% interest in Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd. Labrador Iron Mines produced iron ore at Schefferville in Canada between 2011 and 2013, but this operation was shut down when the iron ore price fell. Since then the company has been taken off the main market and is now listed OTC.