This report on Southern Palladium Ltd (SPD) follows SPD’s successful DQ22 drillhole results, and 24Jan23 announced decision to start a PFS and earlier Mining Right application (which doesn’t require a DFS) – it has not been based on a site visit.

I have applied available information, presentations, discussions and my historical knowledge having worked underground for Implats near Rustenburg in the Western Bushveld, visited and valued many South African Bushveld PGE orebodies & other PGE orebodies in Southern Africa.

(I/ERA wrote a July 2022 report on Understanding PGE orebodies which is freely available on the eagleres.com.au website under Comments). Understanding PGEs

The key points of this report and recent announcements are :

• SPD’s Bengwenyama Project is located in the Eastern Bushveld adjacent on strike south of Amplat/ARM’s Modikwa operating PGE mine (~50/50JV FY22: 2.4Mtpa, ~300kozpaPGE [116kozPt, 111kozPd,23kozRh,3kozAu,33kozRu,8kozIr,600tCu,370tNi,38ktCr] – Head grade 4.5g/t6E,3.7g/t4E)
• 5 initial SPD UG2 intersections averaged ~9.1g/t4E over 71cm – which is higher grade than Modikwa’s operating average, with a prill split %(reef distribution) of: 44.3Pt, 45.5Pd,8.9Rh,1.3Au
• SPD’s Project could possibly have been in production had it not been subject to scurrilous tenement activity for which there are drillhole results but the drillholes are held by a foreign party, which has necessitated SPD drilling their own diamond holes and assaying the intersections.
• The geology is conventional Eastern Bushveld Merensky Reef complex with the UG2 outcropping in the East, and shallowly dipping west, overlain by Merensky, there is more faulting than the West Bushveld – but standard and manageable for the East Bushveld & Sth Africa.
• Mining is expected to be similar to RBPlat/Modikwa room-and-pillar with treatment also conventional – float to a concentrate, then possibly treated by Amplats or Implats smelter & refinery.
• SPD gave a timeline at 30 Nov 22 AGM as shown in Figure 2 – Mining Right now possibly faster.