A recent Chinese New Year Investor Lunch put together in Sydney by Jane Morgan Management and Tribeca saw eight of the ASX\u2019s most promising explorers explain how their strengths can bring them prosperity in this Year of the Dragon. <\/p>\n
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Stockhead<\/em> was there among a large gathering of interested parties hungry for info on promising uranium and critical minerals stocks.<\/p>\n Right off the bat, some encouraging words for uranium investors was delivered by Guy Keller \u2013 portfolio manager for the Tribeca Nuclear Energy Opportunities Strategy \u2013 a wholesale unit trust that maintains equity positions in a number of ASX and globally listed uranium companies.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the Year of the Dragon we wish you \u2018Gong Xi Fa Cai\u2019, which basically translates to \u2018may you enlarge your wealth\u2019. And I think with uranium, this year if you stick with it, you will enlarge your wealth,\u201d said Keller, adding the time-honoured caveat: \u201cpast performance is not indicative of future results.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond this, Stockhead<\/em> absorbed the individual company presentations, learned what\u2019s pushing their various projects forward, caught up with some of the CEOs, and consumed a spring roll or eight (a lucky number in Chinese numerology, don\u2019t you know)\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Northern Territory-focused Litchfield Minerals is gearing up to list on the ASX with a tantalising buffet of uranium and critical minerals exploration assets.<\/p>\n The company aims to become a pioneering critical minerals (copper, uranium, tungsten, manganese) exploration company committed to delivering cost-effective, innovative, and sustainable exploration solutions.<\/p>\n And for Litchfield, its company\u2019s MD Matthew Pustahya noted, that means doing so while minimising environmental impact through responsible practices and the latest tech.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s initial focus is drilling and sampling the historical Mount Doreen project, which has drill-ready copper and uranium targets, located in the Arunta region.<\/p>\n Manganese, base metals and REEs exploration will also start later this year at the Lucy Creek project in the Georgina Basin.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Stockhead<\/em> asked Pustahya what else puts Litchfield in a position of strength in 2024\u2019s Year of the Dragon and, actually, he clarified it\u2019s specifically the Year of the Wood Dragon, which only comes around once every 60 years and signifies strength, vitality and luck.<\/p>\n \u201cCould Litchfield be a one-in-60-year investment?\u201d he speculated.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only is Litchfield launching a new project on the ASX, but we also have some of the best, globally known, most visionary mining leaders on our board.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Peter Eaglen [a former Rio Tinto exec] leading the charge and [mining and geoscience expert] Mark Noppe\u2019s insights into reporting, we are really breathing out fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Strength and vitality covered then, and perhaps there\u2019s an element of the company making its own luck\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cThis Year of the Dragon is one in which it\u2019s believed having the courage to face challenges head-on and wisdom to make strategic decisions, can lead to prosperity,\u201d added Pustahya.<\/p>\n \u201cLitchfield has not only the courage to list in a tougher marker but has also priced this IPO extremely sharply, hoping to stimulate the wider IPO market and bring investors at every level some good fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We asked Peter Batten, the MD of African-focused multi-commodity [primarily uranium and gold] explorer Haranga Resources to tell us how his company\u2019s efforts this year might fit into the Year of the Dragon theming for 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cHAR is starting from a position of strength,\u201d he replied, \u201cwith a deposit at Saraya in West Africa that is destined to grow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are actively exploring a 25km long corridor of uranium anomalies that is thriving to be successful. All we need is a little luck or just good management.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Batten noted in his presentation that the Saraya project boasts an inferred resource of 12.5Mt at 587 parts per million (ppm) U3O8 for 16.1Mlbs of contained uranium, including a potentially open-pittable component with a resource of 13Mlb at 641ppm U3O8.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first in uranium anomalism within that corridor. And it\u2019s open in all directions. I believe we can quite easliy grow that resource just by drilling \u2013 most of it is above 160m depth.\u201d<\/p>\n That this resource covers just 0.2km2 of the permit area speaks volumes about the potential for exploration to deliver resource growth.<\/p>\n As Stockhead has covered recently, Haranga is using a process of termite mound sampling to get below a blanket of laterite, followed by auger drilling, which has proved successful in determining RC drill targets for follow-up exploration.<\/p>\n Read > here<\/a> for more<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Basin Energy is a pure-play uranium junior explorer with direct exposure to high-grade uranium within the world class uranium mining district of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada.<\/p>\n This brings big competitive advantages to BSN, said MD Peter Moorhouse, who has vast experience in the Australian uranium sector.<\/p>\n Athabasca has been a top three global uranium producer for more than 45 years. Moorhouse noted the company\u2019s flagship operations have strategic location \u201cnear world-class high-grade uranium discoveries and mining and processing operations with a constant uranium mining industry for 65 years\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Also in BSN\u2019s favour, said Moorhouse, is the fact it\u2019s \u201cwell funded with 3.4 million in the bank at the end of last quarter. And we\u2019re actively drilling\u201d.<\/p>\n That includes follow-up drilling at the Geikie project (adjacent to 92 Energy\u2019s significant Gemini discovery).<\/p>\n The aim of that drilling is to advance the project\u2019s initial success, exploring for shallow, high-grade, \u201cnext-generation\u201d-style uranium mineralisation \u2013 \u201cmassive structures\u201d \u2013 at the site.<\/p>\n These are targets, Moorhouse notes, \u201cwithin a few kilometres of some of the best uranium deposits in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n Also within close proximity, too are the firm\u2019s highly prospective North Millennium and Marshall projects, the former 40km southwest of Cameco\u2019s flagship McArthur River \u00a0<\/p>\n Red-hot uranium explorer and developer Cauldron is now up more than 100% YTD and more than 725% over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n As its CEO Jonathan Fisher mentioned at the investor lunch last week: \u201cWhat a wild start Cauldron has had to 2024! Clearly we\u2019ve started with strength.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tailwinds in the uranium sector are ever strong; however, we continue to outperform the broader uranium sector and we intend to keep doing so,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Fisher told Stockhead<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cAs for some Dragon Year luck, well you always need a bit of luck don\u2019t you. And sometimes it\u2019s funny what you might count as good luck.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, for the case to get ridiculous uranium policy changed in WA, it\u2019s probably good luck that [former WA premier Mark] McGowan quit in surprising fashion last year.<\/p>\n The CXU boss is talking about WA\u2019s ban on new\/future uranium mines \u2013 a McGowan-era decision.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s probably good luck that the nickel and lithium prices are falling badly; because mining jobs being under pressure (as well as high uranium prices) creates pressure on the WA government to act.<\/p>\n \u201cThat said, I\u2019m not sure I feel comfortable in relishing in other\u2019s misfortune.\u201d<\/p>\n Fisher is particularly proactive at encouraging the debate in WA about what he views as the inevitable change to the state\u2019s uranium policy, having authored a number of articles addressing the subject.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, when this happens, it will be a massive value driver for CXU.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith the swish of a pen, the government could underwrite the birth of a whole new industry; creating thousands of jobs across not only operations, but exploration and construction, logistics, labs and R&D, finance, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of further prosperity for CXU this year \u2013 I think raising money at a premium is a good demonstration of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Cauldron recently entered into a subscription agreement with its major shareholder Parle Investments Pty Ltd to raise $2.025m. The funds will be primarily used to advance the company\u2019s Yanrey uranium project in northern WA.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be doing a fairly large drill campaign this year at Yanrey,\u201d confirmed the CXU CEO. \u201cA lot of it is step-out, low-risk drilling, so I know we are going to hit a lot of uranium.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we also have some targets that are farther afield, so a bit of Year of Dragon luck there would be good, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A relatively new name on the scene, MMC is an exploration and development company targeting silver, gold, base metals and lithium.<\/p>\n In his presso, executive director Ray Shorrock focused on the company\u2019s huge new acquisition of the Cerro Bayo silver-gold project in Chile \u2013 a big-deal, high-grade, ready-to-operate mine in a premier mining region equipped with more than $150m worth of infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got all the machinery we need, including our own rigs,\u201d said Shorrock, adding that the project will evolve to become more silver-focused over time and is one of the most exciting acquisitions he\u2019s seen in his 35-odd years in the resources space.<\/p>\n \u201cSilver is one of the most sought-after metals \u2013 now on the critical minerals list\u2026 what isn\u2019t I suppose,\u201d Shorrock said. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer the poor cousin of gold \u2013 it\u2019s decoupled from that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Cerro Bayo project is located in the Asyen region in southern Chile and was in production for over 15 years, producing more than 45Moz Ag and 650koz Au.<\/p>\n Shorrock expects the acquisition to transform Mitre into a significant silver-gold exploration company with Cerro Bayo\u2019s existing JORC 2012 Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate standing at 3.82Mt at a grade of 206g\/t AgEq for 24.7Moz of contained AgEq, with significant scope for short term resource growth potential.<\/p>\n \u201cThe leverage on this stock is quite large, quite significant,\u201d said Shorrock, noting the Cerro Bayo\u2019 project has substantial potential for rapid growth, with extensive known high-grade mineralisation outside the resource across the +300km2 mining claim package, which incorporates Cerro Bayo, and regional districts Cerro Diablo and Los Domos.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Another up and comer to watch, Spinnaker is a pre-IPO uranium-focused explorer in the Northern Territory situated in a newly discovered extension of the highly endowed Westmoreland uranium field, which hosts over 80 known uranium occurrences.<\/p>\n The company is looking to list on the ASX by mid-year, this year, with a $600k capital raise pre-IPO target at 10c, before an ultimate $6 million IPO at 20c.<\/p>\n Spinnaker believes that with uranium on the uptrend, it\u2019s perfect timing.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Regarding the investor luncheon\u2019s Chinese New Year theming, the company\u2019s CEO Wayne Rossiter told Stockhead<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the Year of the Dragon\u2019s strength \u2013 that\u2019s reflected for us in our portfolio of high value and high conviction uranium and copper drill targets.<\/p>\n \u201cProsperity \u2013 uranium and copper both should enjoy high prices going forward into very bullish territory.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then some good luck \u2013 we think we have both scale and good grade potential, so with a little luck we will get both and maybe bonanza grades as well.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Spinnaker, the geological setting of the Westmoreland uranium field has evidence of significant metal endowment and is located on the confluence of three major regional faults \u2013 including the Emu fault, which hosts the Glencore owned Macarthur River mine.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pure-play copper exploration company Cobre has been having a good past 30 days or so, up some 20% in that time period at time of writing.<\/p>\n The company has highly prospective projects in both Botswana and WA, with chief interest in its African operations at present.<\/p>\n Recently, an early stage survey undertaken by Cobre and mid-tier miner Sandfire (ASX:SFR) along the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) has dialled in on \u201cpriority settings\u201d for potential large scale copper-silver deposits.<\/p>\n The company controls about 5.348km2 of tenements within the KCB, which remains unexplored but is regarded as one of the most prospective areas globally for copper exploration by the US Geological Survey.<\/p>\n Statistically the KCB area certainly has plenty going for it. In its presentation, Cobre refers to \u201cgiant deposits \u2013 1\/3 of known sediment-hosted copper deposits contain 500,000t of contained copper with grades >1%\u201d.<\/p>\n And the belt has infrastructural advantages, too, with excellent road networks and and ongoing multi-million-dollar projects, including the North-west Transmission Grid Connection aimed at providing power supply to new KCB mines.<\/p>\n Recently, Cobre hit the headlines after it was announced it had been added as one of just six companies (just two are listed on the ASX) selected to take part in the 2024 BHP (ASX:BHP)<\/strong><\/a> Xplor cohort.<\/p>\n BHP will provide Cobre with US$500k in non-dilutive funding to push its KCB exploration plans and operations for the course of the Xplor Program period, as well as provide full access to BHP\u2019s expertise and global partnerships.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A critical minerals investor lunch has got to include some lithium right? Loyal Lithium flew the flag at the investor lunch.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a well-structured listed resource exploration company with projects in Tier 1 North American mining jurisdictions in the Northwest Territories, Canada, James Bay Lithium District in Quebec, Canada and Nevada, USA.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s line for the investor presentation was this: \u201cThrough the systematic exploration of its projects, the Company aims to delineate JORC compliant resources, creating value for its shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n During the past quarter, ending December 31, Loyal Lithium executed a fast-tracked maiden drilling program at its highly prospective Trieste project in lithium hotspot James Bay, Canada.<\/p>\n Now, six months on from the initial lithium discovery at Trieste, geological analysis has, according to Loyal Lithium, revealed the potential large scale of the project.<\/p>\n \u201cTo date, six spodumene bearing pegmatite dykes have been discovered within a 20km2 \u201cMetasediment Fault Flow Zone\u201d.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s CEO Adam Ritchie:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible six months for the Loyal Lithium team and the Trieste Lithium Project. A significant amount of high-quality work has been completed in a very short period of time to provide a full suite of inputs for this geological analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n Ritchie says his team is energised by the work at Trieste and is excited about exposing its true potential in this Year of the Dragon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Litchfield, Basin Energy and Haranga Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.<\/em><\/p>\n This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Enter the Dragon: Why these uranium and critical minerals juniors believe 2024 will bring good fortune<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Litchfield Minerals \u2013 IPO<\/h2>\n
Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Basin Energy (ASX:BSN)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
\nMine (674.9 Mlbs U3O8 at 16.9%) and 7km north of Cameco\u2019s Millennium deposit (104.8 Mlbs U3O8 at 3.76%).<\/p>\nCauldron Energy (ASX:CXU)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Mitre Mining (ASX:MMC)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Spinnaker Resources \u2013 IPO<\/h2>\n
Cobre (ASX:CBE)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Loyal Lithium (ASX:LLI)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n