Venus Metals claims sleeper stock status with royalty stream and gold
In a market where exploration hopefuls rise and fall on speculation, Venus Metals is quietly stacking up serious value with shares in a soon-to-be producer and a rich royalty stream.
At the heart of the story is the company's shareholding in Rox Resources - an emerging WA gold producer -which is valued at $20.9 million, astonishingly eclipsing Venus' market capitalisation of just $19.4M.
Added to its 55 million shares in Rox, Venus also holds a 1 per cent royalty over Rox's Youanmi gold mine - a project now barrelling toward first gold in early 2027. The royalty was independently valued at $9.5M at a 40 per cent lower gold price of US$2000 (A$3155) in June last year.
With gold blowing through $5300 an ounce, it could deliver Venus a golden cash stream for years to come.
But the company's Rox exposure is only half the tale. Venus is also pushing forward with some high-impact exploration plays across WA, from gold and copper to critical minerals.
At the company's Sandstone gold project 70 kilometres from Youanmi, the Bellchambers deposit hosts a JORC resource of 30,500 ounces. Management says a newly lodged mining lease and ongoing talks with Rox on a mine gate sale agreement could set the scene for near-term development.
A reverse circulation and diamond drilling program will kick off next month to push parts of the resource into the measured category and pit optimisation and metallurgical work is already lined up.
Venus' Henderson gold project, northwest of Menzies, is shaping up as another standout. Early drilling below old workings at the historic Hilltop mine hit a screaming 4 metres at 10.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including a 1m hit at 25.1g/t. Rock chip sampling around the site has thrown up grades as high as 77g/t. Plans are being hatched for a second drilling campaign.
Over at Youanmi, Venus is chasing more than gold. A ground survey recently lit up a potentially massive 5000 Siemens copper anomaly that will be the focus of reverse circulation and diamond drill testing in coming weeks. Shallow zinc already discovered in the area is being prepped for infill drilling and a potential resource update.
On the corporate front, the company has inked a $6M farm-in joint venture with major IGO Ltd right next door to the Greenbushes lithium mine. Spodumene crystals have been spotted at the Cow Slip and Flying Duck prospects, with fresh gravity surveys refining drill targets.
Venus is also building a back-pocket portfolio of specialty assets - including a calcrete deposit near Youanmi that could supply acid neutralisation material to Rox's gold plant and the company has filed a provisional patent at a titanium-vanadium-iron play with breakthrough hydromet potential.
With the inclusion of cash and liquid investments now piling up to a total of $21.6M and no debt, Venus Metals is sitting on an astonishing negative enterprise value, which appears to make it a rare ASX unicorn hiding in plain sight.
As gold prices continue to tailwind higher, Venus has multiple drill programs underway and a pipeline of near-term catalysts, possibly creating one of the most undervalued and leveraged gold juniors on the boards.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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