Month ended December 2023

Arrow Minerals had traded progressively lower throughout 2023 until an announcement in mid December that David Flanagan, former chief executive of Atlas Iron, would lead the company. Arrow has iron ore development interests in Guinea near those of Rio Tinto.  Immediately prior to his involvement with Arrow, Flanagan had headed Delta Lithium.  The entry of Flanagan, well-known in Perth business circles and a highly competent investment market communicator, prompted an enquiry from ASX about who let the cat out of the bag with an early leak to the press about the impending appointment. Verdict: Sizzle.

Battery Minerals did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the mid-month surge in investor interest. Queried by ASX about the reason for the unusual price action, directors said they had no explanation but drew attention to a $560,880 placement to "strategic investors" which had been completed at a premium to the previously prevailing share price. The company, which had cash assets of $758,000 at the end of September, has copper-gold exploration interests in western Victoria. Verdict: Sizzle.

MTM Critical Metals announced that it would acquire the beneficial owner of exploration licences extending over the West Arunta region of Western Australia and immediately adjacent to ground prospective for niobium and rare earth elements held by WA1 Resources and Encounter Resources. The sale agreement is subject to minority shareholders in the target company agreeing to offer their shares for sale. Verdict: Sizzle.

Auric Mining did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the heightened investor interest in the company.  Auric holds mining interests near Norseman in Western Australia from which it had extracted 9,400 ounces of gold during 2023 in the first stage of its development plans for the deposit. The share price momentum built over a few days leading up to and immediately after Christmas. Queried by ASX about the reasons for the price action, directors said they had nothing of relevance to report but acknowledged that a research report had been released by a paid investment advisor on 14 December. Verdict: Sizzle.

Rimfire Pacific Mining did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the mid-month increase in market turnover and resulting share price action. Queried by ASX, directors said they had no new information to impart. Earlier in the month, the company had announced firm commitments from three family office groups to take shares valued at $1.15 million to help fund cobalt and copper exploration interests in New South Wales. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended November 2023

Cooper Metals, with copper-gold exploration interests in the Mt Isa region, made two announcements, including one on the final day of November, disclosing high grade copper assays from recent scout drilling. While still at an early stage, the results are an important step in establishing a basis for further action within the highly prospective region. Verdict: Steak.

Sunshine Metals announced high grade gold intersections, possibly indicating a gold rich feeder zone associated with a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit near Ravenswood in northern Queensland.  At this stage, the company continues to seek a geological model to help understand the evident mineralisation within its exploration property. Verdict: Sizzle.

TechGen Metals released a summary of its exploration efforts covering several locations in Western Australia and northern New South Wales.  Directors disclosed that they were about to commence pegmatite sampling at Ida Valley, south of Leinster in Western Australia. The company reinforced the resulting investor interest later in the month by reporting lithium soil anomalies and pegamtites. Verdict: Sizzle.

Woomera Mining did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the timing of the heightened investor interest. Queried by ASX about the market activity, directors pointed to completion of a capital raising at the beginning of November and their disclosure to the market, at the same time, that they had scheduled a drilling program in the vicinity of the Mt Cattlin lithium mine in Western Australia for late November. In the last days of the month, they clarified that drilling would convince in early December but that they had commenced auger sampling. Verdict: Sizzle.

Arizona Lithium had been experiencing slowly rising investor interest before a sharp acceleration in the share price move early in the month. The company subsequently confirmed that pilot plant commissioning, to process brine and produce lithium concentrate, at the Prairie lithium project in Saskatchewan had been completed. Price action subsequently stabilised as investor interest ebbed over the remainder of the month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended October 2023

TG Metals announced the results of drilling at its Lake Johnson exploration site where it was testing a lithium soil anomaly. Five of six holes intersected pegmatites. All pegmatites hosted spodumene. The announcement, which led to the sharp lift in investor interest, occurred in the last days of the month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Dacian Gold announced an agreement with Genesis Minerals under which the latter would acquire all the shares in Dacian Gold it did not already own, amounting to 20% of the total on issue. Verdict: Steak.

Fin Resources announced that it had confirmed spodumene within a pegmatite outcrop in tenements held in Quebec. Later in the month, the company reported a further discovery of outcropping pegmatites. Verdict: Sizzle.

EcoGraf did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price change which occurred in the latter half of the month. The company is seeking to develop a vertically integrated battery anode production stream. The company has been seeking debt funding for construction of its Epanko graphite mine in Tanzania. Verdict: Sizzle.

Bulletin Resources had experienced a generally rising share price since mid-September. Queried by ASX at the time, directors had said they did not have access to any information which might explain why the share price had moved. The company has lithium and gold exploration interests in Western Australia, including what the company has referred to as “one of WA's most prospective lithium projects” near Ravensthorpe. The company has been awaiting an approval to drill after the state government concluded that the environment impact will not be significant. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended September 2023

Torque Metals had reported assay results, at the end of August, from drilling at its Paris gold project near Kalgoorlie, without any discernible share price impact.  Early in September, the company then announced that it had acquired an option over land near the Paris project near an existing lithium deposit.  All of the monthly performance gain came on a single day associated with the lithium announcement.  The switch to lithium came despite an apparent commitment made by the company's chief executive at an exploration conference in February that he was 100% focused on gold and, unlike others in his industry, would not be distracted by lithium.  Late in the month the company announced that drilling was about to commence at the newly acquired lithium project, without any discernible market impact . Verdict: Sizzle.

OzAurum Resources announced that it had a binding term sheet to acquire a hard rock lithium project in Brazil. The property had been held by private interests and operated by artisanal miners. The largest part of the monthly share price rise occurred on the day of the announcement. Late in the month, the company reported that it had completed due diligence on the purchase. The company's primary interest had been a gold exploration project near Kalgoorlie for which it had been in the midst of preparing a scoping study. Verdict: Sizzle.

Aurora Energy Metals did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action. Queried by ASX about the market move, the company referred to its uranium industry exposure and recently released equity research highlighting improved prospects for the sector. The company holds uranium exploration interests in Oregon. Verdict: Sizzle.

Cauldron Energy did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action. The company holds uranium exploration interests in Western Australia which would have attracted interest from investors looking for uranium-related exposures now that market conditions have improved markedly.  Cauldron’s property is covered by the state government ban on new uranium mine development.  The company would be unable to commence development in the absence of a reversal of government policy. The chief executive officer of the company has been telling investors that he expects this to happen. Verdict: Sizzle.

Icon Energy did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action. The company has been litigating a Queensland government decision not to renew a coal exploration license after officials concluded that the company lacked the financial capacity to proceed. In early September, the company announced that a Supreme Court hearing had been completed but that a judgment may take several months. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended August 2023

Raiden Resources had been on a rising share price trend since mid-June after acquiring tenements surrounding Azure Minerals’ Andover lithium-nickel property. Previously, the company held exploration interests near Karratha prospective for nickel-copper mineralisation.  Since the beginning of August the company had taken a series of steps to extend its lithium exploration involvement, including deals with Arrow Minerals. The company also reported promising results from its initial exploration efforts over newly acquired exploration assets. A $6 million share placement was completed at the end of the month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Viridis Mining and Minerals announced, at the start of the month, that it had secured an ionic clay rare earth element prospect in Brazil.  Prior drilling, to a depth of three metres, has recorded high grades of rare earth mineralisation.  The deal, including an upfront payment of $2 million, is royalty based with attaching performance related shares for the vendors. Previously, Viridis was engaged in exploration for gold, rare earth elements, kaolin and uranium in several locations in Canada. Directors had said they were looking for other opportunities. Verdict: Sizzle.

Wildcat Resources has been on a steadily rising share price trend since the beginning of May. In mid-may, it had announced an agreement to buy the Tabba Tabba tantalum mine in the Pilbara. The property contains outcropping pegmatites prospective for lithium. Since then, the company has made a series of disclosures reporting progress toward a resource suitable for development.  Proximity to the land holdings of Azure Minerals and Pilbara Minerals will have help build positive sentiment. Verdict: Steak.

Artemis Resources has been on a recovering share price trend since mid-June, helped by a series of lithium sampling assays from Greentech Metals in which Artemis holds an interest and with whom the company has a joint venture agreement. Later in the month, Artemis released geophysical test results covering the company’s gold exploration interests in the Pilbara. Identification of anomalies will help target future drilling activity. Verdict: Sizzle.

Bellararox was on a rising share price trend throughout August without any formal disclosure directly impacting the value of the company.  In the first quarter of 2023, the company had acquired properties in Argentina prospective for base metals. It has continued its exploration activity in New South Wales, having published a maiden base metal resource in November, and in Western Australia where a search for gold near Coolgardie has raised prospects of lithium pegmatites. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended July 2023

Tambourah Metals finalised an agreement granting NYSE-listed SQM the right to earn up to a 70% interest in the company's Julimar North exploration project in West Australia.  SQM would be required to fund up to $3 million in exploration and development expenditure over three years.  Tambourah holds other lithium and gold interests in the Pilbara region. Late in the month, the company announced that it had identified additional lithium bearing pegmatites from rock samples at the Russian Jack project. Verdict: Steak.

Mount Burgess Mining announced a gallium exploration target at its Kihabe deposit in Botswana, where it has identified a low grade zinc-lead-silver-vanadium deposit with an inferred resource.  The share price appreciation followed a lengthy declining price trend resulting in historically low levels immediately before the announcement.  Following the announcement, the price began moving lower once again. Verdict: Sizzle.

Lodestar Minerals benefited from an announcement by Future Battery Minerals outlining lithium assay results at its Kangaroo Hills prospect in Western Australia in which Lodestar has a 20% interest. Lodestar holds other exploration interests in Western Australia, including base metal opportunities over 1,420 square kilometres in the Earaheedy Basin. Verdict: Sizzle.

Perpetual Resources announced that it had acquired an option over a Brazilian tenement package in a region which contains lithium bearing pegmatites. The option allows for a 60-day due diligence period.  The main focus of the company had been a silica sands project near Geraldton in Western Australia. Directors have flagged they are looking for other projects to fill out their exploration portfolio. Verdict: Sizzle.

Austin Metals announced that drilling had commenced at the Austin gold project in the Murchison region of Western Australia.  The company’s summary of its activities describes being “focused” on several prolific New South Wales mining districts, despite the more recent pivot to Western Australia. The share price movement came immediately following a decline to historically low levels. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended June 2023

Greentech Metals reported that rock chips sampling in the west Pilbara region of Western Australia had confirmed spodumene bearing pegmatites. The company also announced a capital injection by an investment group led by a founder of Galaxy Resources.  The investment would entitle the group to lithium exploration rights over Greentech tenements. The investment agreement includes a long-term monthly advisory retainer.  The unusual transaction appears to represent a de-facto transfer of management control. Verdict: Sizzle.

Solis Minerals announced at the end of May that it planned to acquire a lithium prospect in north-eastern Brazil (see May 2023).  Early in June, the company also completed a follow on $8 million capital raising.  In the later part of June, the company announced that a rig had been repositioned on the site in preparation for a drilling program to commence. Verdict: Sizzle.

Azure Minerals had experienced a moderately rising share price trend since the end of March, during which time company executives had been speaking about a reorientation of its nickel exploration priorities to include lithium. The heightened investor interest in early June arose after the company announced a series of high-grade lithium intersections from a program of diamond drilling. The company quickly followed up with further statements in the remainder of the month about a continuation of drilling success. Verdict: Sizzle.

American West Metals reported copper assays from drilling at its Storm copper project in Nunavut in Canada in the first week of the month. Later, the company reported new anomalies which supported modelling pointing to a large-scale copper system. Still later, the company provided further assays from its ongoing drilling.  Subsequently, ASX queried directors about their disclosure procedures and practices to keep assay results confidential prior to release. Verdict: Sizzle.

Golden Mile Resources announced that rare earth element targets had been identified below nickel-cobalt mineralisation at the company’s Quicksilver prospect near Lake Grace in Western Australia. Subsequently, the company also announced the intersection of a high grade nickel zone within the existing resource. The company then announced a $1.9 million capital raising. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended May 2023

Wildcat Resources had been on a rising share price trend it seems that the beginning of May. Mid-month, the company announced the acquisition of a land package near Port Hedland, including existing mining leases, on which outcropping pegmatites had previously been identified.  The company was queried by ASX about the market’s apparent anticipation of the announcement but directors said they had kept the transaction confidential. They also pointed to speculation about upcoming gold assays at another property as a possible source of stronger investor interest.  The strong surge in prices continued to the end of the month without any further formal disclosure being made. Verdict: Sizzle.

WA1 Resources experienced a rising share price throughout the month after the company announced details of high-grade niobium assays at its West Arunta exploration properties in Western Australia, at the beginning of May.  Prior to the start of the month, the company had been reporting progress in drilling and sampling activities. Verdict: Sizzle.

Westar Resources had experienced a rising share price trend from the start of May and after assay results had been released covering work undertaken at Mt Finnerty in Western Australia by gold exploration joint venturer Ramelius Resources.  Mid-month, the company also announced that it had intersected thick pegmatites near Southern Cross in Western Australia following a proof-of-concept drilling campaign. Queried by ASX about the price action, directors referred to significant media and investor interest following the announcement and that assays were expected within six weeks. Verdict: Sizzle.

Voltaic Strategic Resources experienced a rising share price from early in the month and continuing throughout most of May.  The company had announced the commencement of drilling in an area of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia prospective for lithium bearing pegmatites.  It followed up with an announcement that thick pegmatites had been encountered from surface. Subsequently, it reported rare earth element assays from the Paddy’s Well prospect where clay hosted mineralisation had been confirmed. Verdict: Sizzle.

Solis Minerals announced, at the very end of the month, acquisition of a lithium prospect in northeast Brazil. The transaction is subject to a 90-day due diligence period. The purchase agreement requires payments of US$3.9 million within 12 months for completion as well as the issue of performance rights. The acquired ground contains a granted mining lease and has permits in place to commence drilling. The company had pre- existing lithium exploration interests in Brazil. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended April 2023

Western Mines Group announced the results of a deep hole which confirmed the discovery of an extensive nickel sulphide minerals system at the company’s Mulga Tank location in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The hole was designed to drill the inferred deepest point of mineralisation in order to improve understanding of the geological setting. The company made follow-up announcements during the month which added further impetus to the market performance.  Directors took advantage of the share price surge through a $2.73 million capital raising. They later announced that the company had a cash balance of $1.7 million at the end of March. Verdict: Steak.

Larvotto Resources announced the results of air core drilling 40 kilometres east of Norseman in Western Australia where rare earth element oxides grading up to 1.26% had been encountered. The results, which are part of an initial program of anomaly testing, validates a much larger program. The Eyre project, which includes the rare earth element discovery, also includes lithium exploration opportunities. The company has copper-gold-cobalt exploration interests near Mt Isa and a gold exploration project in the north island of New Zealand. Verdict: Steak.

Belararox released a statement saying that it had commenced an exploration program on tenements to the west of Coolgardie where it is assessing the potential for lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites. The company outlined the nature of the anticipated exploration program without providing any results. The company also has exploration interests in New South Wales and, in the prior month, finalised and agreement to acquire a company with copper-gold exploration interests in Argentina. The company reported having cash assets of $2.7 million at the end of March. Verdict: Sizzle.

Tesoro Gold benefited from a surge in investor interest in the latter part of the month without having made any formal disclosure obviously linked to the resulting share price shift. Queried by ASX about the reasons for the heightened market activity, directors said they had nothing more to report although they drew attention to scoping study results published at the beginning of the month, and several weeks before, as a possible explanation. The studies related to a standalone open-pit and gold processing operation in Chile.  Verdict: Sizzle.

Golden Mile Resources benefited from heightened investor interest early in the month, following an announcement by the company that a diamond drilling program to complement metallurgical test work for a nickel-cobalt deposit near Lake Grace in Western Australia, had been completed.  The company had no fresh data to convey.  The company has also drawn attention to the potential of the area for clay hosted rare earth elements. The resulting share price shift restored a trading range which had prevailed for the best part of a year before the price had tumbled to its lowest point, since listing in 2018, at the start of April. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended March 2023

Besra Gold announced that the company had finalised an agreement with a Malaysian trading group under which it would receive funding of up to US$300 million to facilitate development of the Bau gold project in Sarawak. The deal involves transfers of up to $10 million a month in exchange for up to 3 million ounces of gold priced at a 10% discount to the London bullion price. The Bau project contains an estimated resource of 166,900 ounces of gold with an exploration target of 4.89-9.27 million ounces. The company emphasised the non-dilutive impact of the funding, although nothing comes free. A 10% revenue reduction sounds modest but could represent a 40% reduction in profitability (with a consequential impact on equity market value), depending on the final cost structure. The company is yet to update a feasibility study completed in 2013. Verdict: Sizzle.

Renegade Exploration disclosed, in late February, that recent rock chip sampling near Cloncurry had confirmed the presence of copper-gold mineralisation. The company foreshadowed a drilling campaign to start later in the month. The immediate market response was quite muted. Prices move sharply higher only in mid-March but still prior to the release of any further geological information about the prospective deposit. A further large jump in market prices occurred in the last few days of the month just before the company did publish intercept details from three shallow holes completed in the first half of the month. On the last day of the month, the company responded to a query from ASX defending the arrangements surrounding compilation and release of the drilling results. Verdict: Sizzle.

Liontown Resources announced late in the month that it had received an unsolicited offer from Albemarle for all the outstanding shares in the company. The deal would be implemented via a scheme of arrangement. Liontown directors rejected the latest in a series of approaches as insufficient. The company’s shares traded at a slight premium to the offer price after the announcement. Verdict: Steak.

Rox Resources announced the results of drilling at the company’s Youanmi gold project in Western Australia, at the start of March. High grade gold intercepts opened up new areas adjacent to the existing open pit for exploration and represent early steps in understanding the geology of the area after little prior exploration had been undertaken. The project has been a joint venture with Venus Metals Corporation. Venus shares added 30% after the announcement. On the last day of March, Rox announced that it would swap the Venus project interest for 110 million Rox shares with a value of $30 million. Venus also holds rare earth exploration interests in Western Australia, including those within the Youanmi tenements. Verdict: Steak.

Resolute Mining announced an increase in its mineral resource, as at 31 December 2022, by 1.7 million ounces to 11.2 million ounces of contained gold. A resources increase, following exploration success at the Syama North mine in Mali, had been flagged a weeks earlier. At the same time, S&P announced that Resolute would be added to the S&P/ASX 300 share price index following gains in the company’s value through December and January. Those and more recent investment gains will have also been supported by a recent improvement in gold market sentiment which has translated into generally higher demand for gold equities. Verdict: Steak.

Month ended February 2023

Octanex did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action. In late January, the company had received a proposal from its chairman, already a holder of a 60% stake in the company, under which he would purchase all of the remaining shares via a scheme of arrangement. The 0.3 cents per share offer was at a significant discount to the last price before the offer of 0.7 cents a share, leading to a market price decline in line with the offer.  During February, the share price recovered, perhaps reflecting expectations of a higher offer.  An independent expert report has been commissioned. The company has pivoted in recent years from offshore oil and gas exploration to mineral exploration in Western Australia. However, directors had already announced that they had failed to identify any worthwhile targets. The company chairman had been funding the resulting losses and also proposes to fund, through loans, the costs of the transaction. Verdict: Sizzle.

Lode Resources announced a high grade silver intercept following drilling at the company’s Webbs Consol site in the New England region of New South Wales. The area has been subjected to historical lead-zinc-silver mining.  Two thirds of the initial share price gain was lost before the end of the month as the initial burst of unusually heavy trading gave way to significantly lower volumes. Verdict: Sizzle.

Solis Minerals had been granted seven additional tenements in the Peruvian copper belt without any immediate market impact. The tenements complemented existing IOCG and porphyry copper exploration interests in the country.  The company had flagged, at the same time, that it was aware of the concentration of risk from a focus on one region in one country and was evaluating other opportunities.  Subsequently, a gradual upward drift in the share price accelerated during January and picked up further in February without any formal disclosure from the company. In mid-February, the company announced that it had acquired 22 exploration licences in north-eastern Brazil prospective for lithium. Verdict: Sizzle.

Buxton Resources had experienced a rising share price trend since early January as the company reported progress toward developing a graphite prospect in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. A sharper step higher occurred in early February when the company announced the results from a recently completed ground electromagnetic survey. A second step up occurred later in the month when the company announced that all five holes in a scout drill program had intersected graphite mineralisation.  The Graphite Bull tenement package was acquired in 2012 but work was restarted in 2022, after eight years of inactivity, in response to projected growth in graphite demand. The company also holds several exploration interests in Western Australia in joint venture with IGO as well as in an Arizona copper project with a 70% interest optioned to IGO. It had cash assets at the end of December of $3.1 million. Verdict: Sizzle.

Mount Monger Resources had been steadily losing value until it announced, in the latter part of February, that it had an option to acquire a 100% interest in exploration tenements in Quebec prospective for rare earth element mineralisation. Prospectivity assessments have been based on two reconnaissance diamond drill holes completed in 2012. The company had previously held tenements covering 4,500 square kilometres in three mineral regions in Western Australia prospective for rare earth elements, gold, lithium and nickel. The company had cash assets of $1.9 million at the end of December.  On the last day of the month, directors announced that they had received firm commitment $3 million in new capital via a two tranche placement of new shares. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended January 2023

Icon Energy, an oil and gas exploration company based in Queensland, did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action.  Queried by ASX about the market activity, directors of the company said they had nothing to disclose and could not offer any explanation for the higher price.  The share price rise occurred after company directors said that they had commenced legal proceedings against the Queensland government. The appreciation came after the share price had been trading around the lowest levels in five years in the aftermath of a Queensland government refusal to renew a permit in the Cooper Basin which would allow the company access to its principal exploration interests. The company has said that the government regulator had refused a renewal application based on a capability test. Icon reported that it had cash assets of $1.6 million at the end of December. Verdict: Sizzle.

Meteoric Resources announced in mid-December that it had acquired licences over ground in Brazil prospective for ionic clay rare earth element mineralisation.  In mid-January, the company advised investors that a diamond drilling program was about to commence as part of the due diligence process associated with the transaction.  In mid-2022, the company had announced that it would sell is gold exploration and development interests in Brazil in exchange for staged payments of up to $30 million with a view to pivoting its activities to gold exploration in Western Australia.  At the end of December, the company held cash assets of $2.7 million.  Directors have said that the company would receive a final payment of US$17.5 million for its Brazilian gold sale in March. Verdict: Sizzle.

Bass Oil holds oil and gas production and exploration interests in South Australia’s Cooper Basin and in Indonesia. The company did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the heightened investor interest and subsequent price action in the latter part of January. Queried by ASX, directors said that they had been complying with their disclosure obligations but speculated that an announcement by Santos may have impacted market sentiment.  Santos had made favourable comments about the coal seam gas prospectivity of an area in the Cooper Basin abutting tenements held by Bass Oil. Verdict: Sizzle.

Cosmos Exploration announced, in late December, that it had entered into a conditional agreement to purchase a lithium project in the highly regarded James Bay district in Quebec in exchange for a mix of cash and shares. The purchase would add to its nickel-copper-PGE exploration interests in Western Australia and gold exploration activities in the Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales.  After little initial reaction to the purchase announcement, investor interest blossomed in late January without any obvious catalyst. Queried by ASX about the reason for the price action, directors said they had nothing to disclose. Subsequently, in its quarterly activities report at the end of the month, the company discussed progress in Western Australia, including having identified clay hosted rare earth element mineralisation on its properties.  A marked increase in investor interest had occurred in the days leading up to the quarterly report suggesting that expectations of something more significant about the Australian or Canadian assets might have been anticipated. Verdict: Sizzle.

Arrow Minerals announced, at the start of January, that it had acquired a 33.3% interest in an iron ore project in Guinea. Subsequently, the company released the results of geological mapping and data reprocessing at the Simandou North project.  Arrow has the right to acquire a 60.5% stake in the company which holds the project rights.  After an initial positive reaction to the announcement of the Guinea deal in July, the market had taken little interest until late January when the company made its announcement about the geological assessment.  There was also follow-up news coverage in the Australian Financial Review. The company which had been chasing lithium, gold and nickel in Western Australia and Burkina Faso has no evident track record in the iron ore space or history of successful project development. Verdict: Sizzle.

Year ended December 2022

Pancontinental Energy (see December quarter comments) Verdict: Sizzle.

WA1 Resources (see December quarter comments) Verdict: Steak.

TerraCom had been on a rising share price trend since February (see below) before losing momentum in the third quarter but while remaining within 20% of its intra year high price.  The company has built a portfolio of coal production interests in Queensland and South Africa, assisted by larger companies in the industry having quit many such assets due to pressure from activist shareholders campaigning to avert the effects of climate change. Verdict: Steak.

Lindian Resources made strong gains during June-September before giving back around half of the improvement in the last quarter of 2022. The associated price action revolved around acquisition of rare earth element exploration interests in Malawi (see 5 August 2022). Verdict: Sizzle.

Quantum Graphite experienced two separate share price surges during 2022, one covering the first five months of the year (see 13 May 2022) and the other during the last two months.  There had been little change in the intervening period.  The latter price gains seemed connected to disclosure of metallurgical test results. Meanwhile, the company remained engaged in a contested bid for currently suspended Lincoln Minerals which also has graphite mineral interests in South Australia.  It has also initiated litigation against its former auditor in a dispute about asset carrying values. Verdict: Sizzle.

Quarter ended December 2022

WA1 Resources was one of the most strongly performing stocks in October (see below) but lost ground in the last weeks of the year after reporting ongoing testing at its West Arunta project area without suggesting any further enhancements of the discovery. Verdict: Steak.

Meteoric Resources achieved its entire performance outcome during December (see below). Verdict: Sizzle.

GreenX Metals consolidated the gains made in November (see below) before adding further upside with a 20% gain through the second half of the month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Pancontinental Energy made strong gains in the first five weeks of 2022 (see below) during which time the company drew attention to an oil discovery by Shell in an area in offshore Namibia along trend from its own exploration licences. Subsequently, the overwhelming majority of those gains were given up amid doubts about the company’s funding capacity and risks over the government agreeing to extend existing permits. The late year performance came from a low base and was helped by an announcement that the government had extended the company’s licences and had waived compulsory relinquishment provisions. The share price at the end of the year remained below the peak price reached in May. Verdict: Sizzle.

Warrego Energy announced that it had received a takeover proposal from Strike Energy in November.  Both companies have Perth Basin oil and gas interests. Subsequently, the company became the object of competing bids which remained unresolved at the end of December. Verdict: Steak.

Month ended December 2022

Meteoric Resources asked for a trading halt in early December after the company’s share price had doubled and when it foreshadowed an announcement about an acquisition.  The company subsequently announced that it had entered into an agreement covering mining licences in Brazil prospective for ionic clay rare earth element mineralisation. The company had previously been exploring for gold in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.  Later in the month, the company confirmed that it had completed a review of metallurgical test work relating to parts of its newly acquired Brazilian properties. The company reported having cash assets of $601,000 at the end of September after having spent $648,000 on exploration and evaluation. Verdict: Sizzle.

PolarX closed a renounceable rights issue at the end of November raising approximately 43% of the $2.8 million potential.  Subsequently, in a series of transactions, the company raised an additional $2.4 million including $0.8 million from Northern Star Resources. The funding was slated for continuing development of the company’s Humboldt Range gold project in Nevada. The company also has copper-gold exploration interests in Alaska. Verdict: Sizzle.

NuEnergy Gas has coal seam gas development interests in Indonesia. The company did not formally disclose any information which might explain the share price action. Queried by ASX near the end of the month about the reason for the price movement, directors said they had nothing to disclose and were not able to throw any light on the reasons for the uplift in market value of the usually lightly traded stock. Verdict: Sizzle.

Melbana Energy confirmed the budget and proposed program of follow-up drilling at its Cuban oil and gas exploration interests. Directors said that all material permits had been received. The rise in share price during December followed a steady retreat in the market value of the company since March after confirmation of strong oil shows at its onshore Cuban exploration interests. Verdict: Steak.

Sarytogan Graphite announced two steps toward development of its graphite interests in Kazakhstan, including a breakthrough in its metallurgical test work and an extension to the location of its known mineralisation. The company lost approximately half of the initially positive response to the news during the remainder of the month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended November 2022

OD6 Metals reported initial results from drilling within an area northeast of Esperance in Western Australia prospective for clay hosted rare earth element mineralisation.  Directors referred to the assay results as “some of the highest grades and thickest clay hosted rare earth intersections seen in Australia”. The share price continued to rise, reaching its peak level at the end of the month, after the initial announcement in the first half of November. Verdict: Steak.

Avenira directors released a statement concerning development progress at the company’s Wonorah phosphate project in the Northern Territory. Headlining the statement was confirmation that the ore is suitable for production of battery grade phosphoric acid. The company also advised that offtake discussions are well advanced with a binding agreement for up to 600,000 tonnes a year “expected”.  The company also said that consultants had been engaged to complete an engineering design study within the month.  Approximately a week later, the company announced that it had been compelled by ASX to walk back claims in its announcement about likely production levels since they did not conform with listing rules about the need for relevant supporting information. The retraction simply attracted fresh investor interest in the original claims and a further price surge driven by fresh investor purchases. Verdict: Sizzle.

 Invictus Energy started November with drilling underway at its Mukuyu-1 well in Zimbabwe, with an anticipated finishing date late in November. Directors attributed an initial spike in the share price to speculation about the outcome, when queried by ASX about the reasons for the price action. During the remainder of the first half of the month, directors reported progress, including elevated gas shows and fluorescence to a depth of nearly 4,000 metres, on several occasions.  The company’s share price failed to hold the peak levels reached in the middle of the month after shareholder buying lost momentum. In late November, the company reported that working conditions required the well to be sidetracked to complete the necessary evaluation work. Verdict: Sizzle.

Kogi Iron announced that it had signed a binding option term sheet to acquire 100% of a Chilean lithium brine clay project.  Limited drilling, which had encountered lithium brines and clay, had occurred in 2018. The company had previously been seeking at to develop an integrated steelworks in Nigeria. It had held iron ore tenements in Western Australia which had been supplemented more recently by the acquisition of areas in the Pilbara also prospective for base metals.  Prior to the lithium announcement and the accompanying surge in investor interest, the company’s share price had been hovering around historically low levels. VVerdict: Sizzle.

GreenX Metals had experienced a rising share price trend since early September before reporting, in early November, on the results of the first site visit to an area in Greenland prospective for copper sulphide mineralisation.  The joint venture interest was acquired in October 2021. Late in the month, the company reported that an arbitration hearing over a claim against the government of Poland had been completed. While there is no firm day for a decision, the company has flagged that potential damages of up to £737 million were at stake after the government blocked development of coal mining interests in the country. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended October 2022

WA1 Resources announced in late October the discovery of a mineralised carbonatite system prospective for niobium and rare earth elements in the West Arunta region in Western Australia, near the Northern Territory border.  At the end of the month, the company had incomplete assays and was waiting for further data before making a complete disclosure.  The company had been targeting iron oxide copper-gold anomalies consistent with an extension of earlier discoveries on the eastern side of the border. Verdict: Steak.

St George Mining, long seeking to build a nickel resource at Mt Alexander in Western Australia, announced the discovery of high-grade lithium mineralisation in rock chip samples. In the month, prior to the main surge in price, the company had also announced that it had identified prospective nickel mineralisation targets from a fixed loop electromagnetic survey. Drilling to target both the nickel and lithium prospects is expected to commence before the end of 2022. Verdict: Steak.

Cygnus Gold announced, in the last days of September, that it had expanded its James Bay land holdings in Quebec which host known lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites. Subsequently, the company announced that former Mincor chief executive David Southam had joined the board and was slated to take over as chief executive in February 2023. Since announcing an option to purchase its entry into the Quebec lithium province in July, the company’s share price had been on a largely rising trend. Verdict: Sizzle.

Parabellum Resources did not make any formal disclosures directly linked to the strengthening share price trend evident throughout the month.  Early in the month, the company had reported progress toward identification of copper mineralisation targets over ground in New South Wales. The company foreshadowed a move to drill test targets before the end of 2022. Verdict: Sizzle.

Cannon Resources directors have agreed with a private equity fund to support a takeover bid for all of the ordinary shares in the company. Cannon is a nickel focused exploration company with interests in the northern goldfields region of Western Australia.  The bid values the company, with an existing resource containing an estimated 134,100 tonnes of nickel, at $45 million. Verdict: Steak.

Month ended September 2022

Since being commented upon previously, the following companies have not made any subsequent disclosures which may have materially impacted their investment performance: 

• Dundas Minerals        Verdict: Sizzle.

• QX Resources           Verdict: Sizzle.

Iris Metals had been experiencing a rising share price trend since late July (see August 2022).  The market re-rating followed the company’s move into lithium exploration in South Dakota in June and expansion of the company’s gold exploration footprint at Kookynie in Western Australia. During September itself, there was little in the way of formal disclosures to drive the price higher as the company only posted the results of an electromagnetic survey of the Kookynie project. Verdict: Sizzle.

Balkan Mining and Minerals has held lithium-borate exploration assets in Serbia. The company did not make any full disclosures about its operations until the last few days of the month by which time the recorded share price appreciation had occurred.  Directors announced that the company had suspended operations due to an outbreak of violence elsewhere in the country which it feared would extend to its own operations.  On the second last day of the month, the company reported on due diligence being conducted on a proposed lithium exploration asset in Ontario.  There had been no discernible impact on the company’s share price at the time of the announcement in July.  Verdict: Sizzle.

Far East Gold had reported on activity at its Mount Clark copper-gold project in Queensland near the end of August.  Directors subsequently announced that drilling had commenced at other gold exploration properties, also in central Queensland. But the share price had begun its move higher after an announcement that the Indonesian government had granted permission for drilling on a copper-gold project in the interior of Aceh province for the first time in the history of the location. By late September, the upward price momentum had dissipated. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 30 September 2022

Dundas Minerals reported that it had encountered massive sulphides in two holes drilled to a depth of 37 metres in the Fraser Albany Orogen in Western Australia where the company had been drilling for water. Deeper drilling equipment has been mobilised to the site. The area is prospective for nickel-copper mineralisation. Verdict: Sizzle.

QX Resources quickly moved higher after the appointment of Steve Promnitz as managing director. Until recently, Promnitz had headed up Argentine lithium mine developer Lake Resources. His high profile has attracted investor interest in anticipation of him being able to convert his contacts in the industry into a viable commercial proposition for the company. The company is emphasising hard rock lithium prospects near Wodgina in Western Australia, where it has completed rock chip sampling, as it pivots away from previous precious and base metal exploration activities. Verdict: Sizzle.

Brightstar Resources released assays from its Alpha exploration property near Laverton in Western Australia after completing its first drilling in eight years.  The share price response was exaggerated by coming from a historically low level.  It finished the week near prices which had prevailed since May. Verdict: Sizzle.

Prospect Resources announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire up to 51% and possibly as much as 85% of a lithium project in Namibia from a Canadian listed company. The company has previously pursued exploration interests in Zimbabwe where it sold a lithium project to Chinese corporate interests for US$343 million in April, with the bulk of the amount being distributed to shareholders. Verdict: Sizzle.

 Alchemy Resources announced that it had won a ballot for an exploration licence over land 120 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia prospective for gold and lithium. The tenement is adjacent to land on which recent discoveries of the two metals have been reported. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 23 September 2022

Audalia Resources did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action which, in any event, was largely the consequence of an unusually large sale of shares a week earlier in what is a usually lightly traded stock. At the end of the week, shares were trading at a lower price than a fortnight earlier. The company has vanadium-titanium development interests in Western Australia. Verdict: Sizzle.

Kula Gold announced that it would raise $1.8 million via a placement of new shares which would allow it to pursue its lithium exploration interests in the south west of Western Australia. Verdict: Sizzle.

Titanium Sands announced that a shipment of samples from Colombo to Cape Town had occurred. The company holds heavy mineral sands development interests in Sri Lanka. After the price rise, shares remained within a directionless trading band which has persisted since May. Verdict: Sizzle.

Avenira announced that it was a party to a three-way non-binding agreement with the Northern Territory government and a global LFP battery cathode manufacturer to produce LFP battery material. The company holds rights to a large phosphate deposit.  After the share price reaction, shares continued to trade within a range which had largely prevailed since May. Verdict: Sizzle.

Artemis Resources released results from drilling in the west Pilbara region of Western Australia where copper-nickel-cobalt mineralisation was encountered. The company is seeking to identify further targets. Verdict: Steak.

Week ended 16 September 2022

New Age Exploration announced that it had been granted a prospecting permit over ground held in New Zealand where historical gold mining had occurred but which has not been subjected to modern exploration techniques. The same day, the company released a statement pointing out the improved economic position of its coal assets in the UK and foreshadowing that they would be revalued in the company’s balance sheet to reflect the market improvements and keener investor interest. Verdict: Sizzle.

Altech Chemicals announced that it had entered into a joint venture agreement with a German company to commercialise sodium alumina solid-state batteries. Altech would own a 70% share.  A few days earlier, the company had outlined plans for a pilot plant. Having originally gone to market with plans to produce high purity alumina in Malaysia, the company has generally failed to follow through on its investment promises although it keeps interest alive by promising fresh technical breakthroughs which, if ever commercialised, could contribute significant value. Verdict: Sizzle.

Critical Resources released assay results from drilling at its Mavis Lake prospect in Ontario where high grade lithium oxide mineralisation was encountered in diamond drilling. Directors also said that a new managing director with relevant industry experience would be appointed shortly. Verdict: Sizzle.

Mamba Exploration reported on soil sampling and an airborne electromagnetic survey in the east Kimberley.  Although surface mineralisation was readily evident, the company has so far been unable to identify a controlling structure for surface anomalies indicating possible copper-gold mineralisation.  At the end of the week, the company announced that re-processing of Gascoyne/Ashburton data has highlighted rare-earth-element anomalies consistent with those found by other companies in the region and which has led to discoveries. Verdict: Sizzle.

Native Mineral Resources Holdings did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action although, a week earlier, directors had said that drilling in the Nullarbor region in Western Australia had confirmed the presence of an IOCG style footprint. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 9 September 2022

Classic Minerals has been building a gold resource at its Kat Gap prospect south of Southern Cross in Western Australia.  After having been suspended for several days, trading in the company’s shares were reinstated at the end of the week after the company reported that it had secured a $10 million funding package to permit the extraction and processing of Kat Gap ore. Verdict: Sizzle.

Australian Pacific Coal had been the subject of change of control transactions from competing sources (see August 2022).  The company had subsequently announced an underwritten entitlement issue to raise $10 million which would allow it to repay loans from its largest shareholder.  The company has said that it is looking to negotiate an accommodation with interested parties which would allow commercial production to continue at the Dartbrook coal mine in New South Wales. while the originally proposed transaction represented a fundamentally based boost to value, the recent activity has increasingly involved speculation about how competition for the company will be resolved. Verdict: Sizzle.

Forrestania Resources had announced that a previously unassayed diamond hole at the company’s exploration area in the goldfields of Western Australia had raised the possibility of lithium mineralisation. During the week, company directors announced plans for drilling early in the December quarter. Verdict: Sizzle.

MC Mining had been experiencing a rising share price trend since late June before the sharp uplift in the past week.  Queried by ASX about the reason for the price action, directors said they had no news to impart but drew attention to surrounding events, including strong coal prices, as potentially explanatory factors.  They also, quite correctly, observed that the lightly traded stock was prone to outsized movements in response to relatively modest increments in investor interest. The company holds metallurgical and thermal coal development interests in South Africa. Verdict: Sizzle.

West Cobar Metals resumed trading (see 2 September 2022) with an announcement that directors had agreed to purchase a company with a rare earth element clay development opportunity in the south of Western Australia. The opportunity has been subjected to exploration, metallurgical and technical studies over the past eight years.  The transaction will be funded through the issue of 39 million new shares to the asset vendors, putting a value of $5.5 million on the transaction at market prices which had prevailed prior to speculation prompting the initial share price action. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 2 September 2022

Kingfisher Mining disclosed the results from fieldwork in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia where broad zones of rare earth element mineralisation have been identified. The company also reported that the extent of the mineralised area had been reassessed with the cumulative strike length of four zones now exceeding 2.2 kilometres.  Further results are expected during September. Verdict: Steak.

America West Metals announced a major copper sulphide discovery at Nunavut in Canada at the end of the week based on an initial assay result from the first of eight holes drilled to a depth of 89 metres. The discovery is suggestive of a major copper system. Verdict: Steak.

Desert Metals reported on activities at its rare earth element exploration interests in Western Australia where a drilling program has recently been completed. The company described initial visual observations as encouraging. Verdict: Sizzle.

West Cobar Metals did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action. By the end of the week, the company’s shares had been suspended pending an announcement about an acquisition by the company. Previously, the company had been primarily engaged in a range of copper-gold exploration activities in New South Wales. Verdict: Sizzle.

Parabellum Resources announced that the first season of baseline studies at the company’s Khotgor rare earth element project in Mongolia have commenced.  Queried by ASX at the end of the week about the reasons for the price action, directors said that they had no new information to impart but drew attention to capital raisings, required under the terms of the Mongolian asset acquisition, being underway. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended August 2022

Since being commented upon previously, the following companies have not made any subsequent disclosures which may have materially impacted their investment performance: 

• Cobre                                   Verdict: Sizzle.

• Australia Pacific Coal           Verdict: Steak.

• Anson Resource                  Verdict: Steak.

• Magmatic Resources           Verdict: Steak.

Iris Metals had completed acquisition in June of a company with claims over land in South Dakota prospective for hard rock lithium.  The company subsequently announced that it was increasing the size of its exploration footprint in the state.  The share price of the company, which had previously held gold exploration interests near Leonora in Western Australia, had been on a rising trend throughout August.  Mid-month, the company had announced that it had appointed technical and financial market consultants to carry the business forward, skills which it apparently it did not previously possess. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 26 August 2022

Australian Pacific Coal received a proposal under which a bidding company sought to acquire 100% of its shares, at the start of the week. Subsequently, the company received a further alternative proposal which would allow it to retain ownership of its Dartbrook mine which it had previously agreed to sell, while also offering existing shareholders a chance to exit, if they wished to do so. Verdict: Steak.

Magmatic Resources reported the first results from drilling at the company's Myall project in central New South Wales. Directors described the intersection of porphyry style copper-gold-molybdenum mineralisation as “stunning”. Verdict: Steak.

Anson Resources reported a 324% rise in resource size at its Paradox lithium resource in Utah. Later in the week, the company announced that it had joined with a technology company, under the terms of a binding memorandum, to negotiate construction of a full-scale production plant. These are necessary but insufficient steps towards the ultimate commercial goal. Verdict: Steak.

Metalicity announced that the Queensland government had granted the company access to its recently purchased Mt Surprise lithium project in north Queensland, a move which should have been anticipated by investors. Subsequently, the company announced acquisition of a further nearby area prospective for lithium pegmatites. The second announcement appeared to make little impact on market returns. The company remains in a repositioning phase after its earlier strategic positioning as a Western Australian zinc miner proved untenable. Prior to this recent price action, the company’s share price was near historically low levels and over 90% below levels from five years ago. Verdict: Sizzle.

Noronex did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the price action.  Queried by ASX, directors said they had nothing to disclose but drew attention to announcements by other companies about their development and exploration successes in the Kalahari copper belt, where Noronex also has exploration interests (see 19 August 2022). In any event, the share price action was a minor adjustment to recently all-time low prices. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 19 August 2022

Cobre announced that the fourth in a series of diamond drill holes to assess the strike extension of mineralisation at the Ngami copper project in Botswana had encountered visible copper. The company signed an agreement in late June to raise its stake in the project from 51% to 100%. The latest share price action follows the company’s initial announcement at the end of July of a significant new copper discovery (see 29 July 2022). Verdict: Sizzle.

Tasman Resources did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the heightened investor interest and accompanying share price rise.  The company’s principal interest is in an iron oxide copper deposit in South Australia currently being funded by Fortescue Metals under an earn-in agreement. Verdict: Sizzle.

Mt Monger Resources reported assay results from reconnaissance drilling within its east Laverton project in Western Australia where it has intersected rare earth element mineralisation.  The search for rare earth elements has been a diversion from the company’s initial pursuit of gold. Verdict: Sizzle.

WA1 Resources, listed in February 2022, announced that the company’s maiden West Arunta drilling program had been completed. Visual inspection was consistent with the targeted iron oxide copper model being investigated. Verdict: Sizzle.

Discovery Alaska did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the price action. Queried by ASX, directors said they had nothing to disclose and had no explanation for the share price movement. The company holds mining claims north of Anchorage in Alaska prospective for gold, silver, copper and tin. It has also referred to possible finds of lithium. The company reported having cash assets of $1.5 million at the end of June. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 12 August 2022

Korab Resources did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action.  The company is proceeding with a feasibility study into producing magnesium in the Northern Territory using solar power.  Recent Australian press reports favourably describing the outlook for magnesium metal demand may have had a beneficial impact on investor interest. Verdict: Sizzle.

 Artemis Resources had not made any formal disclosure which might explain a noticeable pick-up in investor interest before the share price rise prompted a query from ASX and a subsequent announcement by the company about the results of drilling at its Pilbara copper-gold exploration areas.  The reported assay results were incomplete as a consequence of having to be hurried due to the unanticipated price action. Verdict: Sizzle.

Lithium Plus Minerals reported that it had intersected visible pegmatite mineralisation in a diamond drill hole at its Bynoe exploration tenements in the Northern Territory adjacent to tenements held by Core Lithium. No assays have been received. In any event, most of the share price rise in the past week occurred prior to the announcement suggesting that a favourable exploration outcome had been anticipated. Verdict: Sizzle.

Belararox did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action in the past week.  In the last few days of July, the company had released assay results for a selection of drill holes covering an area of interest in the Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales.  Shallow zinc-copper-lead mineralisation was detected. The company said that further assay results would be released over the course of the coming month. Verdict: Sizzle.

Latin Resources announced that consultants have been appointed to assist in completion of feasibility studies into the company’s Salinas lithium project in Brazil. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 5 August 2022

Felix Gold released assay results from drilling at its Alaskan exploration properties. Directors said that multiple near surface intercepts pointed to shallow gold mineralisation consistent with open pit recovery. Verdict: Steak.

Peregrine Gold announced that visible gold has been identified in core from drilling at the company’s Peninsula prospect west of Newman in Western Australia. The drilling follows identification of soil anomalies in 2021. Verdict: Sizzle.

Lindian Resources announced that it had appointed a new chief executive with a background in rare earth mine development although the company’s share price had been on a rising trend since mid-May (see 24 June 2022). The appointment follows acquisition of a 100% interest in a company with rare earth development interests in Malawi. Verdict: Sizzle.

Mt Malcolm Mines announced, in the prior week, partial assay results from ongoing drilling over tenements near Leonora in Western Australia. The company highlighted a 26 metre intersection grading 1.97 g/t gold. The company held cash assets of $4.7 million at the end of June. Verdict: Sizzle.

 Icon Energy did not make any formal statement which might explain the share price appreciation although, after the rise, the price remained in a range of prices which have prevailed since early March. The company has oil and gas exploration interests in the Cooper Basin. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended July 2022

Since being commented upon previously, the following companies have not made any subsequent disclosures which may have materially impacted their investment performance: 

• Cobre                               Verdict: Steak.

• NuEnergy Gas                  Verdict: Sizzle.

• Ora Banda Mining             Verdict: Sizzle.

• Arrow Minerals                  Verdict: Sizzle.

• MC Mining                         Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 29 July 2022

Cobre announced the intersection of visible gold mineralisation from an initial diamond drill hole at its exploration site in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana. Verdict: Steak.

NuEnergy Gas did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the higher share price and what appeared to be interest from a single source in an otherwise very lightly traded stock. Queried by ASX about the reasons for the price action, directors said they had no relevant information to impart.  The company holds oil and gas exploration interests in Indonesia, including projects for which it is seeking development approval. Verdict: Sizzle.

MC Mining announced completion of a sales agreement to supply 20,000 tonnes a month of coal from a South African plant.   The agreement was positive but not as meaningful as the share price rise suggested. However, the share price rise occurred prior to the announcement. Queried by ASX about the price rise, directors said it may have been due to shares in the company on the ASX having traded well below the price on the Johannesburg exchange and an attempt to close the gap.   In any event, the share price gain occurred with purchases valued at less than $85,000. Verdict: Sizzle.

Polymetals announced, near the end of the week, that it had identified 10 high priority geophysical targets at a gold prospect in Guinea following a magnetic survey.  That said, the share price appreciation occurred before the announcement was made. Queried by ASX after the price rise, and before the announcement, directors said they had no information which might explain the increase although admitted that they would be making further announcements in the near future. Verdict: Sizzle.

Theta Gold Mines released details of a feasibility study covering redevelopment of the company’s gold assets in South Africa. The first gold production is now scheduled for the second quarter of 2024 with annual production of more than 100,000 ounces targeted by the third year.   The study envisages life of mine production of 1.08 million ounces. Verdict: Steak.

Week ended 22 July 2022

Auking Mining did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action.  That said, the price appreciation was a relatively minor move in the context of a historically weak level, still leaving the share price 93% below where it had been five years previously.  In late June, the company had said that drilling was underway at its copper-zinc exploration interests in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Verdict: Sizzle.

Octanex did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the improved share price. That said, the gains came from a historically low base to leave the shares still 83% lower than five years previously.  The company had been searching for gold mineralisation in Western Australia ostensibly to replicate large scale discoveries under heavy cover such as have occurred at Gruyere and Tropicana. No meaningful progress on this quest has been reported. Verdict: Sizzle.

Triton Minerals did not make any for disclosure which might explain the price action which represented a modest recovery from historically low levels. Queried by ASX, the directors said they had no information which might throw any light on the reasons for the valuation shift. The company is seeking to develop a graphite deposit in Mozambique. Verdict: Sizzle.

A-Cap Energy issued a statement which outlined plans to kick-start development of the company’s uranium deposit in Botswana which, it claims, is the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the world. The company has recently retained new management to oversee development.  In any event, the price action left the market value well below where it had been for most of the first half of 2022. Verdict: Sizzle.

Victory Goldfields announced the discovery of rare earth element mineralisation at the company’s Stanmore prospect in the Cue goldfields of Western Australia where the company has been engaged in the search for gold mineralisation. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 15 July 202

Arrow Minerals announced that he had agreed to sell its Strickland copper-gold project to Dreadnought Resources in exchange for staged cash payments and shares in the acquiring company. Company directors said the sale would allow them to concentrate on a West African growth strategy. The company also announced that it had a non-binding agreement to purchase a 60.5% stake in a Singaporean company which owns the rights to an iron ore project in Guinea. The company, which had cash assets of $393,000 at the end of March, also advised that it had raised $350,000 via a share issue priced at a premium to the market. Verdict: Sizzle.

Peak Rare Earths, with rare earth element development interests in Tanzania, announced that a former senior executive of Fortescue Metals Group had joined the board of the company.  Peak expects to have a completed bankable feasibility study by the end of August 2022. The price reaction came as the share price had returned to levels which had previously prevailed between 2017 and October 2020. Verdict: Sizzle.

Ora Gold released a statement based on inspection of core from drilling at the company’s exploration interests near Meekatharra in Western Australia.  The announcement, which held out the possibility of potential gold mineralisation, was associated with a modest rebound from the lowest share prices in the company’s 20 year history. Verdict: Sizzle.

Revolver Resources Holdings announced that it had acquired an option to buy two exploration permits in northern Queensland adjacent to the company’s existing copper mining interests. The exercise price of the option, which lasts 12 months, will comprise a mix of cash and scrip.   The share price of the company, which listed in September 2021, remains within the range of prices which have persisted since listing after having dropped to the lower end of its trading range. Verdict: Sizzle.

Devex Resources announced that drilling had commenced at the company’s Nabarlek exploration site in the Northern Territory to test multiple high grade uranium prospects. The company’s tenement area includes an historical mining site.  The share price action resulted in a modest rebound from recently low prices and a return to levels which had prevailed through much of 2020 and 2021. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 8 July 2022

Golden Cross Resources did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the share price action.   In the latter part of June, the company completed a 1 for 10 share split at the instigation of its largest shareholder. There is no apparent connection between the split and the subsequent uplift in value.  The company has been undertaking a program of soil sampling at a property in New South Wales the results of which have not yet been made public.  At the end of March, the company held cash assets of $2.1 million with loans outstanding of $5.6 million. Verdict: Sizzle.

Cobre said that exploration drilling had commenced within its exploration interests in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana.   In mid-June, the company had announced that it would acquire the 49% it did not already own in Kalahari Metals, the company with direct ownership of the exploration assets. Cobre held cash assets of $3.0 million at the end of March. Verdict: Sizzle.

Province Resources announced that native title groups had consented to regulators approving land access licences over an area in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia where the company is seeking to build a hydrogen production plant.  The company, which had cash assets of $21.5 million at the end of March, also has base metal exploration interests in Western Australia and a vanadium project in Sweden. Verdict: Sizzle.

SensOre announced that it would acquire Melbourne-based Intrepid Geophysics in a share based transaction.  SensOre operates a fee-for-service model based around use of artificial intelligence to search for prospective mineral exploration targets.  It also undertakes its own exploration efforts using the in-house technology.  Artificial intelligence applications based on recognising data patterns require access to as much information as possible.  The acquisition of a Victorian centric business complements the company’s own WA focused data analysis.  Although offering a potentially sophisticated addition to the industry’s skill set, the company is yet to show that its methods lead to consistently better discovery outcomes. Verdict: Sizzle.

Ora Banda Mining announced the appointment of a former senior Northern Star Resources executive as the company's chief executive. The company holds gold production and exploration interests around its Davyhurst processing plant in Western Australia. The company had previously said that it was pursuing an operational reset to reduce costs and focus on cash flow generation. Immediately prior to the announcement, the share price had sunk to a historically low level.  The price remains two thirds lower than a year ago. Verdict: Sizzle.

Month ended June 2022

Since being commented upon previously, the following companies have not made any subsequent disclosures which may have materially impacted their investment performance: 

• Athena Resources                       Verdict: Sizzle.

• Po Valley Energy                         Verdict: Steak.

• Greentech Metals                        Verdict: Steak.

• Culpeo Minerals                           Verdict: Steak.

• Lindian Resources                       Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 1 July 2022

Widgie Nickel reported that assays from the first Gillett North exploration hole south of Kalgoorlie showed a high grade nickel sulphide discovery with grades ranging between 3% and 6% at depths of between 200 and 300 metres.  At the end of April, the company had reported a total resource of 168,150 tonnes of nickel over 12 deposits within its Mt Edwards project area. After its rise, the company’s share price remained well below levels which had prevailed in early April. Verdict: Sizzle.

Fertoz announced that it had formed a joint venture with a Montana based company to build a fertiliser pellet plant in the state. First sales are expected in late 2022 after a US$1.28 million investment contribution by Fertoz. The company has rock phosphate development opportunities in British Columbia. Verdict: Steak.

Tyranna Resources announced that it had executed a formal agreement to buy a company with a lithium exploration project in Angola (see 3 June 2022).  The share price remained below the levels reached during the week ended 3 June. The acquisition is subject to shareholder approval which will be sought at a meeting in July. Verdict: Sizzle.

Caprice Resources reported results from drilling at its exploration property in the Murchison region of Western Australia.  The company said that grades confirmed a gold anomaly extending over more than one kilometre.  Drilling results in early June did not replicate previous intercepts highlighting the poddy nature of the mineralisation. The latest drilling was more closely spaced enabling greater clarification about the structure of the mineralised zone. Despite the relative strength of the price action in the past week, the share price remains in a consistent downtrend dating from last October. Verdict: Sizzle.

Reedy Lagoon Corporation announced that it had recovered gold in soil samples around gold anomalies at the Burracoppin gold exploration site in Western Australia. The company which also has magnetite development interests in the state has recently been active accumulating lithium exploration interests in Nevada and Utah. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 24 June 2022

Lindian Resources did not make any fresh disclosures which might explain the more recent move higher in the share price after announcing a negotiated settlement to litigation over ownership of rare earth mineral exploration interests in Malawi (see 3 June 2022). Verdict: Sizzle.

Cosmo Metals reported that most of the 16 hole drilling program at its Mt Venn exploration interests in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia had intersected sulphide mineralisation at modelled depths. The company foreshadowed announcement of an initial exploration target in coming weeks. Verdict: Sizzle.

Austral Resources Australia announced that directors had appointed an internationally experienced exploration manager after which the share price action restored the market value of the company to levels which had been reached in early June after a more sizeable hike in the share price had occurred (see 3 June 2022).  A week earlier, the company had announced the production of its first copper cathode and the first step along the path to a 10,000 tonnes a year production rate during 2022. Verdict: Steak.

Hartshead Resources announced that the gas contained within its UK gas field development had been classified as reserves following an independent audit.  After the most recent rise, the share price remained within the range prevailing for most of the last 12 months and since 2018. Verdict: Steak.

High Peak Royalties disclosed that it had received more than $800,000 in royalty receipts in the first 11 months of the financial year and was on track for a record year.  The royalties to date are equivalent to a 5.7% return on the market capitalisation of the company. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 17 June 2022

Greentech Metals announced assay results from recently completed drilling at the company’s Whundo copper-zinc project in the Pilbara region. The results showed grades from earlier rounds of drilling persisting at lower levels and containing notable gold occurrences. The company completed its 100% earn-in of the Artemis Resources project in May. Verdict: Steak.

Southern Hemisphere Mining did not make any formal disclosures which might explain the share price action. In any event, the higher share price came after the company’s shares had touched historically low levels and, even after the rise, remained consistent with a downtrend which has persisted for nearly all of the past 12 months.  A week earlier, the company had said that it was completing soil sampling at its Llahuin copper-gold exploration prospects in Chile and that drilling was also underway.  After the share price had risen, the company announced that it had received the results of historical core sampling from drilling undertaken in 2012/13. Verdict: Sizzle.

Pilot Energy did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the higher share price. In any event, the rise was a relatively modest move in a weak market from historically low levels.  The company is promoting a clean energy resource hub in the midwest region of Western Australia involving wind and solar power generation, clean hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture. The plans draw on treatment of offshore oil and gas. Verdict: Sizzle.

Grand Gulf Energy announced that it was mobilising a drilling rig to test helium flow rates at the Jesse 1A site in Utah. The relatively modest share price gain in a weak market left the company’s value near the lower end of a trading range evident over the past 12 months. Verdict: Sizzle.

Athena Resources did not make any formal statement which might explain the share price action which, in any event, came after a relatively modest retreat from the far greater share price gains through the course of June (see 10 June 2022).  The resulting share price, after the most recent rise, remained below the prior peak values. Verdict: Sizzle.

Week ended 10 June 2022

Athena Resources did not make any formal disclosure which might explain a sharp increase in investor demand and rapid share price rise. Queried by ASX at the start of the week about similar share price action in the prior week, directors said they had no information to impart which might explain the price action. Share turnover during the week totalled over 288 million shares out of the 813 million outstanding. In late May, the company had announced that a program of drilling would commence to lift the magnetite resource at its Byro deposit in the Murchison region of Western Australia from the inferred category into the higher confidence JORC indicated category. The company reported having cash assets at the end of March of $1.3 million. Verdict: Sizzle.

Pearl Gull Iron did not make any formal disclosure which might explain the heightened investor interest. Queried by ASX about the reason for the price action, directors said they had no information to impart. The company finished March with cash assets of $1.1 million as it continued resource modelling at its Cockatoo Island iron ore project in Western Australia. Verdict: Sizzle.

Culpeo Minerals reported assay results from drilling at a Chilean copper prospect. The drilling confirmed that the high grade deposit extends at depth and includes significant molybdenum mineralisation. Verdict: Steak.

Po Valley Energy announced completion of an important step in the approval process for its gas development plans in Italy. One step now remains in the approval process. Subject to this final step, the company said it expects the first gas production in the first half of 2023. Verdict: Steak.

Inca Minerals reported that initial drilling at the company’s Mount Lamb prospect in the Northern Territory produced results consistent with IOCG-style mineralisation. The latest results reinforce data from a recent government funded hole nearby which pointed to a large-scale mineral system. The company reported having cash assets of $8.6 million at the end of March to fund the ongoing exploration activity. Verdict: Steak.

Month ended May 2022

Since being commented upon previously, the following companies have not made any subsequent disclosures which may have materially impacted their investment performance: 

• Galileo Mining                                  Verdict: Steak.

• Tyranna Resources                         Verdict: Sizzle.

• Conico                                             Verdict: Sizzle.

• Resource Mining Corporation          Verdict: Sizzle.

• Lindian Resources                           Verdict: Steak.

Week ended 3 June 2022

Tyranna Resources r released assay results from rock chip sampling completed in 2019 and 2021 at a property in Angola which the company has agreed to acquire. The sampling of pegmatites on the property showed elevated concentrations of lithium. The company had previously been looking for gold and nickel mineralisation in Western Australia. Verdict: Sizzle.

Lindian Resources foreshadowed a share placement to raise $2 million after announcing a negotiated settlement to litigation over an acquisition of rare earth exploration interests in Malawi (see 27 May 2022). Verdict: Steak.

Austral Resources Australia had experienced a rising share price trend through most of May without having made any formal disclosure which may have explained the share price action. The company is developing copper producing assets in the Mount Isa region initially using a small scale heap leach approach. Directors have said they are discussing joint venture arrangements over the company’s extensive tenement holdings with other companies leading to speculation in some media about the timing of an announcement. Verdict: Sizzle. strong>