Capricorn Metals chief stood down after aggravated assault charge
West Australian gold miner Capricorn Metals has stood down its chief executive after he was charged with aggravated assault.
Paul Criddle pleaded not guilty in a Fremantle court a week ago, but shareholders were only informed on Tuesday when the company issued a statement to the ASX. Criddle, who joined Capricorn in December, had been 'granted leave pending the resolution of this personal matter', it said.
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
German investor Deutsche Balaton has built an ASX empire, and it's backing this battery stock to the hilt
German investor Deutsche Balaton has built an empire of ASX resources stocks It's also branching out, holding a role as battery stock Altech's major shareholder This is how DB's Wilhelm Zours invests, and why Altech is one of its key ASX holdings Any clued-in observer of the energy market knows solar and wind power is just one part of the solution for green energy. Now mainstream technologies, the key is not solar panels and turbines, it's working out how to store that energy for round-the-clock power. With the growth in the rollout and usage of AI, experts expect to see a rise in the use of battery energy storage systems (BESS), allowing data centres to be supplied with a cost effective and steady base-load. While the battery market explores everything from lead-acid to sodium-ion, Altech Batteries (ASX:ATC) stands alone on the ASX with a game-changing chemistry using simple table salt and nickel powder – sidestepping costly, high-demand critical minerals. And the company's technology comes with a key backer in one of the ASX's leading resources investors, a major show of support from a backer normally known for providing the capital to turn lithium and gold small caps into major players. Founded and led by German businessman Wilhelm Konrad Zours, Deutsche Balaton has been a fixture in ASX resources investing for years. Its appearance at the head of Altech's register, with a combined stake across multiple entities of 16.5%, lends credence to the battery tech stock's growth story. Investor backing Deutsche Balaton's backing has gone further than simply holding equity. In a strong vote of confidence, the German investment firm agreed to a $4.28M loan facility in March to fuel Altech's CERENERGY and Silumina Anodes developments. By offering the loan in the form of a binding bond note subscription deed, Altech has been able to draw down the funds in the form of bearer bonds, with interest set at 7% per annum. Speaking with Stockhead, Altech chief financial officer Martin Stein said Deutsche Balaton has been a supportive shareholder throughout the years, first joining the company's register about six years ago. The synergies are even stronger than many of the firm's ASX investments, given Altech's plans to base its plants in an industrial park in Saxony, close to the European EV industry. 'Deutsche Balaton has provided capital and debt instruments to help finance Altech's objectives,' he said. 'From a geographical standpoint, being close to both of Altech's battery projects in Germany, I think the company can see the enormous potential of CERENERGY and the Silumina Anodes projects.' How does Altech's tech work? Without the danger of thermal runaway, extended durability and a broad operating range from -40°C to 60°C, Altech's solid-state chemistry dubbed CERENERGY sets a new standard for battery safety and performance in stationary storage solutions like grid infrastructure and data centres. Altech's other development, Silumina Anodes, is tackling one of the toughest battery challenges when using silicon in battery anodes, the issue of silicon swelling. During charging, silicon particles can expand by as much as 300%, causing swelling and fracturing that may lead to battery failure. It also tends to immobilise lithium ions, which can reduce overall performance and shorten battery lifespan. By using alumina-coated particles, Altech believes it has cracked the silicon code. Through in house R&D and by optimising the silicon content to 5%, the company has achieved a 50% higher energy battery with improved cyclability and battery life. In its push to bring patented technology to market, Altech has built a pilot plant next to the proposed project site in Saxony, Germany, where it is now successfully producing coated silicon for its Silumina Anodes product qualification. Broad ASX exposure Altech may have drawn Deutsche Balaton to its battery-tech plans, but the firm is active across a broader portfolio of ASX resources companies. Among its best bets was backing Azure Minerals, which netted the connected Delphi Group a $176m payout after the Andover lithium project owner's $1.7bn sale to SQM and Hancock Prospecting. Its other big investments include a 6.32% stake in critical minerals explorer Evolution Energy Minerals (ASX:EV1), owners of the Chilalo graphite project in Tanzania which is advancing towards FID. An updated DFS for Chilalo in March 2023 demonstrated a high-quality project based on average annual throughput of 500,000tpa at 10.6% TGC to produce 52,000tpa of graphite concentrate for downstream processing. The company recently unveiled a new strategic direction, focused on acquiring gold development assets in Africa, with the backing of its largest shareholder – Sustainable Resources Fund (ARCH). The German firm has also taken position in several ASX gold stocks, now reaping the rewards of a gold price near all-time highs at ~$5000/oz. Its portfolio includes 1% of Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR), having largely cashed out by selling much of its stake to SPR's now merger partner Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) in a strategic move last year. The gold developer had massively rerated off the back of its Never Never discovery at the Dalgaranga gold project – a reward for Zours and Co.'s patience having backed the firm back in its desperate Gascoyne Resources days. Also in WA and PNG's gold fields it holds major positions in Matsa Resources (ASX:MAT) (~19.6%), Patronus Resources (ASX:PTN) (42.35%), and Geopacific Resources (ASX:GPR) (~46%). Over in PNG, a move from St Barbara to acquire the holding of Deutsche linked PTN in GPR could open up more M&A value creation for the German money men. It's also active across other commodities like high purity alumina (HPA) with a 6.17% holding in Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT), the developers of the 80% owned Lake Hope project in WA. Lake Hope has a measured resource of 730,000t grading 25.8% alumina, or 189,000t of contained alumina, providing strong assurance that it can support the proposed 10,000tpa HPA plant over a 15-year period. This resource will also underpin a maiden probable or proven reserve subject to ongoing mining studies, test work and economic studies to be completed as part of the PFS currently underway. Deutsche Balaton holds a 21.7% stake in Tivan (ASX:TVN), giving it exposure to vanadium and fluorite, along with copper-zinc through a 2.3% stake in Orion Minerals (ASX:ORN).
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Ten Bagger: Platinum is showing green shoots – is it time to get in early?
Welcome to Ten-Bagger, where Lowell Resources Fund chief investment officer John Forwood gives us his take on a sector of the ASX resources market full of value. This month, John looks at the turnaround in platinum and palladium prices. Running at massive deficits hasn't been enough to keep platinum and palladium prices from scraping along deep into the cost curve over the past two years, a massive reversal of fortune from the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when concerns about Russia's control of the palladium market sent prices soaring. But a number of analysts and fund managers have kept tabs on the commodities known as platinum group metals – principally platinum, palladium and rhodium – in recent months. With prices well below the cost base of most miners in South Africa – the world's top producer by a wide margin – it's seemed logical that something would have to give. The metals have dual uses. They are, like gold and silver, precious metals purchased for investments and crafted into jewellery. But their key demand driver is from the catalytic converters that reduce emissions from internal combustion engine and hybrid motor vehicles. Carmakers have been able to rely on stockpiles as prices have tumbled. But supply-demand metrics are turning increasingly in favour of miners. The World Platinum Investment Council said in May that supply this year will fall 4% to ~7Moz, delivering a platinum deficit of 966,000oz, a number that's expanded by 115,000oz from forecasts just three months. Supply will drop to a five-year low, leading to a third straight year of deficits. Now, the worm could well be turning for the price. "The platinum price has jumped up by around at least 15% in the last month or so," Lowell Resources Fund (ASX:LRT) CIO John Forwood said. "It's gone from the mid-900 US dollars an ounce mark to ~US$1224/oz." Market moves Now at its highest point in four years, platinum prices have surged to a more than 30% YTD gain. Palladium has followed, up 19% to US$1087.50/oz. That's a far cry from the US$3400/oz seen post Russia's invasion. On current trends, Forwood says some reports have above ground stockpiles of platinum depleting in as little as two years. "We are seeing sort of a deceleration, if you like, in the move away from ICE vehicles," Forwood said. " 2025 has been the year of the hybrid. The demand from auto-cats for PGMs has been stronger than expected. But also, I think there's been a lot of investment demand for platinum and that's what's really pushed the price in the last month or two." Green shoots for the precious metals have investor eyes turning to the next stocks on the production front. "We're definitely seeing some good market moves in the price, and that's translated massively into Southern Palladium's share price, which got down to around some 20 cents, and now it's at 50 odd cents," Forwood told Stockhead. Southern Palladium (ASX:SPD) listed in 2022 to raise capital for its Bengwenyama mine in South Africa, one of a handful of undeveloped platinum reef operations in South Africa, where it holds a 70% stake alongside local Black Economic Empowerment partners. A PFS last year posted an ore reserve of 6.29Moz at 6.17g/t 6E PGMs. It proposed a 29-year mine life delivering 400,000ozpa of PGM, with life of mine all in sustaining costs of US$800/oz, generating a 50% margin at just US$1200/oz Pt, US$1100/oz Pd and US$6200/oz Rh. SPD announced a trading halt on Tuesday to raise fresh cash, unsurprising after a 120% one-month gain. Fresh blood It's little secret the platinum sector is crying out for some fresh blood, with historic operations facing cost escalation and declining grade. Deficits are projected until the end of the WPIC's forecast period in 2029. Forwood said South Africa's mining industry, the engine room for the platinum market, was a 'sunset industry'. A historic mining Mecca, it's become increasingly difficult to operate there as public infrastructure fails. A number of producers in the PGM industry are lossmaking, but are only motivated to stay open by their social licence and government pressure. "A number the PGM shafts on the Bushveld in South Africa are actually well and truly uneconomic at the moment and arguably being kept open for non-economic reasons to maintain employment," Forwood said. "So at some point, unless there's a dramatic shift in the price, those shafts are going to have to close or you're going to see a very big change in price and that's probably more likely because that will address the supply-demand deficit." SPD has had a large impending capital bill weighing on its share price, a potential US$452m in peak funding according to its PFS. But Forwood said it had been working on alternative solutions including funding arrangements and staged development. His other PGM pick is Talon Metals. Listed on the TSX, Talon holds the Tamarack JV in Minnesota with non other than mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO). The project hosts an indicated resource of 8.6Mt at 1.73% nickel and 0.92% copper and inferred resource of 8.5Mt at 0.83% Ni and 0.55% Cu. Assays from a revisited historic drill hole have lifted the lid on the deposit's growth potential, coming in at 34.9m grading a ludicrous 28.88% NiEq or 57.76% CuEq. That included 8.65g/t palladium, 16.31g/t platinum, 9.18g/t gold and 42.92g/t silver. Bonkers. "You wouldn't believe it, the grades are enormous. That's not just a PGM project, but the PGM grades on their own are more than economic," Forwood said. "When you add the nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver to it, it's just a stunning result. "Lowell's been a shareholder in that company for a number of years now. I'm very pleased to see some of these results coming back." Other PGM stocks on the ASX include Future Metals (ASX:FME), the owner of the Panton project in WA, up 90% off a low base, Julimar project owner Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), which is up around 26% YTD, and Implats' Zimbabwean subsidiary Zimplats Holdings (ASX:ZIM), the sole operating miner on the ASX, up 22% YTD.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
ASX set to rise as Wall Street advances on inflation boost; $A weaker
US stocks are drifting near their record after a report suggested President Donald Trump's tariffs are not pushing inflation much higher, at least not yet. The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading and is just 1.6 per cent below its all-time high set in February. The Dow Jones was up 204 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1 per cent higher. The Australian sharemarket is set to rise, with futures at 5am AEST pointing to a gain of 15 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The ASX edged higher by 0.1 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar weakened. It was 0.3 per cent lower at 65.02 US cents at 5.18am AEST. The action was a bit stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields eased after a report showed inflation ticked up by less last month than economists expected. US consumers had to pay prices that were 2.4 per cent higher overall in May than a year earlier. That was up from April's 2.3 per cent inflation rate, but it wasn't as bad as the 2.5 per cent that Wall Street was expecting. A fear has been that Trump's wide-ranging tariffs could ignite another acceleration in inflation, just when it had seemed to get nearly all the way back to the Federal Reserve's 2 per cent target from more than 9 per cent at its peak three summers ago. Loading It hasn't happened, though economists warn it may take months more to feel the full effect of Trump's tariffs. For the time being, many businesses may be pulling products they already had in their inventories rather than passing along higher costs from fresh imports. 'Another month goes by with little evidence of tariffs, but the longer-term inflation challenge they pose remain,' according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Financial markets also had only modest reactions to the conclusion of two days of trade talks between the United States and China in London.
