Backed by Australian mining billionaires, MDF Global is a tier-1 metals discovery business using a model championed by MDF Chair John Main while at Rio Tinto
Unprecedented 5- year fully funded Critical Minerals Alliance deal gives them access to up to 10 million acres of underexplored Alaskan tenure, one of the largest ever
CMA deal adds to MDF’s highly prospective portfolio of metals projects including a potential Tier 1 copper project
Special Report: MDF Global is expanding its grip on underexplored Alaska, accessing up to 10 million acres of exploration land through the Critical Minerals Alliance where it sees the potential for unearthing large-scale copper and other critical metals deposits.
What does MDF do?
MDF Global is a discovery business focused on finding the tier-1 critical metals deposits the world needs for the green energy transition.
Their model, however, is completely different from your average explorer.
Instead, they use the approach cultivated at Rio Tinto which, better known for its iron ore mining prowess, has also made some of the most impressive mineral discoveries of the past three decades.
This is the brainchild of MDF Chairman John Main, previously in charge of Rio Tinto North America’s exploration unit, where he led teams on discoveries worth over $100 billion of actual and planned production.
Flying under the radar until now, MDF has spent the last four years building a portfolio of highly prospective projects. They include Pyramid Copper in the USA, which already features a resource of 153Mt at 0.37% copper with gold and silver credits, one of the largest copper deposits defined in recent years. Open along strike and at depth, the project boasts exponential upside potential that could see it grow into a deposit of globally significant scale.
While the exploration sector overall has struggled over this period, MDF managed to return over 50% of invested capital to investors via distributions in portfolio company shares.
How do they do it?
For starters, MDF’s team contains world-class geologists and dealmakers that bring expert knowledge across all stages of the exploration and project assessment cycle – from greenfield exploration to development.
Famous discoveries credited to MDF members include world class projects like NexGen’s Arrow uranium deposit and Rio/BHP’s Resolution copper-molybdenum deposit.
The opportunity Mr Main and his team are addressing is the shortage of new green metals discoveries due to past underinvestment which is resulting in worrying demand-supply imbalances, evidenced by copper’s recent 25%+ rally to all-time highs.
But the big question for investors is how to capitalise on this opportunity, given the uncertainties of mineral exploration.
MDF’s answer lies in continuous de-risking through expertise, funding, big data technology and a diversified portfolio approach. In a way, it’s like a PE fund with a sharp sector focus, which is probably why they count some of Australia’s best known billionaires among their backers.
“Having a lack of sustainable early exploration funding can be a major issue for junior resources companies,” MDF chair John Main says. “It can be a high-risk game at the best of times, and MDF’s objective is to reduce that risk by project identification, technology and continual funding.”
One of the biggest generative exploration projects in the history of Alaska
MDF just secured a major deal that gives them access to up to 10 million acres of underexplored Alaskan land that has been out of reach for explorers for decades, in the US where the Inflation Reduction Act is injecting US$369 billion to shore up its critical metals supply chains.
Conducted in partnership with Alaska’s traditional owners and funded for the next five years, the Critical Minerals Alliance represents one of the largest generative exploration programs in the history of the US state. This partnership will undertake the work to attract more investment into Alaska’s resource industry and serve as a model for other jurisdictions worldwide.
“Large deposits are easier to find than small ones and that’s why we’ve struck a deal to access such large swatches of acreage in our search for the next big one,” Main says.
This article was developed in collaboration with Reach Markets, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
For further information from Reach Markets on MDF Global, or to hear from the Managing Director, click here
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