INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Aquila owns a portfolio of high grade, gold-rich projects in the Upper Midwest, USA
- Three projects in a Tier 1 jurisdiction underpinned by gold with exposure to key metals including copper
- Aquila offers investors exposure to new district exploration potential in a safe jurisdiction with access to infrastructure
- Projects are located on the underexplored Penokean VMS Belt – over 24 known deposits and only 1 past-producer
- Developers have been overlooked for years – solid, advanced stage and de-risked projects in Tier 1 jurisdictions are scarce and are becoming targets of investor and M&A interest
- Aquila’s flagship 100%-owned Back Forty Project in Michigan is approaching shovel-ready status
- Well-advanced through permitting; focused on pre-construction activities; a true “company builder”
- Key permits have been issued:
- EGLE, the Michigan regulator, has issued Back Forty a Mining Permit, Air Permit, Water Discharge Permit, and Wetlands Permit
- In January 2021, an administrative law judge overturned the issuance of the Wetlands Permit
- The amended Mining Permit has been challenged in administrative court
- Dam Safety Permit application submitted November 2020
- Back Forty is well-defined with leverage to gold – Advanced stage developer
- Open Pit Feasibility Study published in 2018
- PEA incorporating known underground Mineral Resources announced August 5, 2020
- Long-term consensus prices including $1485 gold:
- After-tax NPV $176M, After-tax IRR 26.1%, payback 2.4 years
- $2000 gold:
- After-tax NPV $316M, After-tax IRR 37.9%, payback 1.6 years
- Long-term consensus prices including $1485 gold:
- At $2,000 gold, over 52% of revenue is generated by gold
- 1.1 million oz Au in the M&I Mineral Resource classification
- On a gold equivalent basis, 2.5M oz AuEq M&I at a grade of 4.3 g/t AuEq
- ~130,000 meters drilled at Back Forty alone and ~US$90 million has been invested in the Project by Aquila and past JV partner Hudbay
- Back Forty has tremendous exploration potential
- The deposit is open at depth with additional satellite targets nearby
- VMS deposits occur in clusters
- Aquila owns two additional exploration assets on the belt
- Bend: Copper-gold deposit only 130 miles from Back Forty in Wisconsin
- Plans to drill are in progress, subject to receipt of Prospecting Permits and financing
- “Hub and spoke” model: Potential to use Back Forty as a central processing hub for Bend and other deposits on the belt
- The market is currently assigning zero value to Bend
- Bend: Copper-gold deposit only 130 miles from Back Forty in Wisconsin
- Reef: High grade gold deposit only 80 miles from Back Forty in Wisconsin
- Plans to surface value for AQA shareholders in progress
- The market is currently assigning zero value to Reef
- Reef: High grade gold deposit only 80 miles from Back Forty in Wisconsin
- Aquila has a strong stakeholder base
- Orion Mine Finance (29%), Ruffer LLP (13%), and Hudbay (11%) together own over 50% of Aquila’s shares
- Access to additional capital through Osisko Gold Royalties
- Osisko committed US$60 million to advance Back Forty
- US$10 million equity plus US$50 million stream
- Osisko committed US$60 million to advance Back Forty
- Strong management team and board
- Premier permitting team in Michigan
- Consulting geos have worked the Belt since the 1970s
- Strong Board with mix of mine building and capital markets expertise
- Extremely attractive valuation, especially given location and stage of development
- Trading at US$12/oz AuEq versus a peer median of US$48/oz AuEq
- Trading at a Price/NAV of 0.1x versus a peer median of 0.3x (January 2021)
- Zero value for upside potential at Back Forty or the district-scale potential along the Penokean Belt
STOCK CHART
CAPITAL STRUCTURE*
Shares Outstanding
338,556,404
Options/Warrants/RSUs/DSUs
41,181,246
Fully Diluted
379,737,650
*As at September 30, 2020
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