Editorial: Pressure grows on Albanese over defence spending
If Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needed any more reminding about the likely high priority the Group of Seven summit is likely to attach to defence at its looming summit, it came yesterday.
Firstly there was the news that the Chinese Navy has sent its two aircraft carriers into the Pacific for the first time, demonstrating to the world its ability as a naval power to threaten America's dominance of the world's biggest ocean.
Two carrier battle groups led by the Liaoning and the Shandong operated near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima over the weekend, the Japanese Government reported.
And then came a warning flag hoisted by European Union Ambassador Gabriele Visentin. The European Union's top diplomat to Australia described China's military expansion as a 'worrying sign' and signalled the EU's growing ambition to become 'a strong security actor' in the Indo-Pacific.
'We have seen maybe some worrying signs of military scaling up of China,' he said. '(There's) a clear link between the Chinese and the Russian visions of what the new international rules-based order should be.'
Mr Visentin said Europe's security was 'completely intertwined' with that of the Indo-Pacific. 'The security for Europe depends also on what is happening in (the) Indo-Pacific, and vice versa,' he said.
The warning came against a backdrop of ongoing pressure from the US for its allies to boost defence spending.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has floated Washington's demand for Australia to hike its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of GDP, far beyond the projected 2.3 per cent by 2033.
The US challenge has helped spark NATO into responding. The alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that 'wishful thinking will not keep us safe' and has set out a plan for NATO members to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence.
He said Russia could be ready to use force against NATO in five years and that a 'quantum leap' in collective defence was required following the Russian President Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
But the Albanese Government is seemingly not for turning from its announced strategy.
This week Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Government would determine its defence budget based on strategic needs rather than meeting any benchmark.
Mr Albanese largely batted it away too at his National Press Club address on Tuesday.
'Arbitrary figures, you know, lead to a cul-de-sac. And we want to make sure as well that every single dollar that Defence spends results in actual assets,' Mr Albanese said.
But the pressure is set to go up again at the G7 summit getting under way in Canada this weekend.
Should the expected meeting between Mr Albanese and US President Donald Trump go ahead on the sidelines of the meeting, it is a fair bet that Mr Trump will not be shy of personally pressuring Mr Albanese to do more on defence too.
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Battery Metals Winners and Losers Here's how a basket of ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, magnesium, manganese and vanadium is performing >>> Code Company Price % Week % Month % Six Month % Year Market Cap EV1 Evolutionenergy 0.013 63% 44% -46% -68% $4,714,456 NH3 Nh3Cleanenergyltd 0.037 61% 37% 68% 131% $20,325,772 ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.0015 50% -25% -40% -63% $2,287,279 ASM Ausstratmaterials 0.71 43% 7% 41% -20% $128,751,884 KGD Kula Gold Limited 0.01 43% 25% 51% -12% $8,291,283 EVR Ev Resources Ltd 0.007 40% 40% 250% 17% $11,915,020 WC1 Westcobarmetals 0.021 40% 40% 62% -58% $4,375,969 CZN Corazon Ltd 0.002 33% 0% -33% -71% $2,369,145 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.002 33% 33% 0% -50% $1,165,060 LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.008 33% -56% -50% -75% $2,228,967 AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 33% 0% 0% -33% $2,622,427 EMN Euromanganese 0.225 29% 5% 15% -41% $14,211,434 YAR Yari Minerals Ltd 0.009 29% 29% 125% 125% $4,992,403 BSX Blackstone Ltd 0.096 26% 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29% -4% -34% $5,167,776 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.005 0% -29% 25% -50% $3,474,442 ASR Asra Minerals Ltd 0.002 0% -20% -43% -56% $5,533,072 WA1 Wa1Resourcesltd 14.04 0% 21% -13% -16% $987,973,172 S32 South32 Limited 3 -1% 8% -15% -18% $13,792,238,828 PLL Piedmont Lithium Inc 0.094 -1% -18% -49% -48% $52,795,335 KM1 Kalimetalslimited 0.082 -1% -9% -37% -76% $6,876,339 ASL Andean Silver 1.135 -1% 16% 5% 63% $184,177,556 OMH OM Holdings Limited 0.305 -2% -3% -12% -34% $229,877,040 PEK Peak Rare Earths Ltd 0.27 -2% 157% 168% 31% $95,071,485 PEK Peak Rare Earths Ltd 0.27 -2% 157% 168% 31% $95,071,485 GRE Greentechmetals 0.043 -2% -12% -43% -77% $4,822,126 ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.039 -3% -11% -5% -37% $15,890,215 EMH European Metals Hldg 0.19 -3% -12% 36% -42% $39,414,494 RXL Rox Resources 0.2825 -3% -10% 49% 82% $208,774,927 SUM Summitminerals 0.035 -3% -8% -76% -90% $3,100,163 SRZ Stellar Resources 0.0165 -3% -8% 10% -8% $34,315,884 HAS Hastings Tech Met 0.3 -3% -6% 0% 7% $54,771,179 ADV Ardiden Ltd 0.145 -3% 4% 12% 0% $9,065,038 GL1 Globallith 0.145 -3% -15% -28% -53% $37,951,158 EMC Everest Metals Corp 0.145 -3% 0% 7% 38% $32,499,032 ITM Itech Minerals Ltd 0.028 -3% -29% -47% -61% $4,612,555 OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.026 -4% -16% -10% -55% $4,172,167 RVT Richmond Vanadium 0.13 -4% -10% -48% -57% $28,478,463 DRE Dreadnought Resources Ltd 0.0125 -4% -11% 9% -38% $60,954,000 VMC Venus Metals Cor Ltd 0.12 -4% 9% 114% 40% $22,554,799 GED Golden Deeps 0.023 -4% 15% -18% -53% $4,073,891 BUR Burleyminerals 0.041 -5% 0% -25% -65% $7,427,860 COB Cobalt Blue Ltd 0.06 -5% 7% -13% -25% $26,245,492 JMS Jupiter Mines. 0.2 -5% 33% 48% -35% $382,403,143 ICL Iceni Gold 0.08 -5% 43% 25% 3% $24,845,444 CWX Carawine Resources 0.093 -5% -4% -4% -11% $21,959,667 INF Infinity Lithium 0.018 -5% -14% -22% -65% $8,506,658 1MC Morella Corporation 0.017 -6% -11% -45% -77% $6,561,124 E25 Element 25 Ltd 0.21 -6% -9% -19% -18% $48,008,604 JLL Jindalee Lithium Ltd 0.3775 -6% -1% 89% -14% $29,119,927 CAE Cannindah Resources 0.032 -6% -26% -24% -48% $22,570,479 DEV Devex Resources Ltd 0.078 -6% -6% -22% -79% $34,451,872 BNR Bulletin Res Ltd 0.062 -6% -18% 59% 48% $18,204,026 GBR Greatbould Resources 0.061 -6% -12% 36% -3% $46,407,138 AGY Argosy Minerals Ltd 0.015 -6% -25% -46% -85% $21,838,814 IXR Ionic Rare Earths 0.0075 -6% 0% 7% -38% $42,139,406 LEG Legend Mining 0.0075 -6% 7% -25% -42% $23,291,817 PNT Panthermetalsltd 0.015 -6% 0% 7% -52% $4,513,568 CDT Castle Minerals 0.089 -6% 25% 48% -41% $10,324,852 BC8 Black Cat Syndicate 0.83 -7% -14% 19% 181% $587,227,057 GW1 Greenwing Resources 0.027 -7% -10% -33% -52% $7,411,497 VR8 Vanadium Resources 0.013 -7% -7% -58% -78% $7,335,794 RAS Ragusa Minerals Ltd 0.013 -7% -32% 8% -38% $1,853,784 PFE Pantera Lithium 0.013 -7% -7% -28% -70% $6,159,188 KFM Kingfisher Mining 0.051 -7% 4% 16% -22% $2,739,465 ASN Anson Resources Ltd 0.05 -7% -6% -18% -55% $69,336,827 PVW PVW Res Ltd 0.012 -8% 0% -25% -48% $2,386,857 M24 Mamba Exploration 0.012 -8% 0% 0% -40% $3,541,987 OM1 Omnia Metals Group 0.012 -8% 33% -85% -85% $2,605,100 DLI Delta Lithium 0.17 -8% -19% -8% -32% $121,812,105 LOT Lotus Resources Ltd 0.165 -8% -11% -23% -58% $379,155,689 DYM Dynamicmetalslimited 0.27 -8% 26% 20% 64% $13,252,772 EUR European Lithium Ltd 0.042 -9% -19% -2% -21% $59,252,440 NMT Neometals Ltd 0.082 -9% 4% 1% -21% $63,862,282 SLM Solismineralsltd 0.091 -9% 14% 8% -9% $11,812,221 BUX Buxton Resources Ltd 0.04 -9% 33% -5% -44% $13,349,016 THR Thor Energy PLC 0.01 -9% -9% -23% -44% $7,107,898 LPM Lithium Plus 0.06 -9% 3% -40% -64% $8,103,240 KOB Kobaresourceslimited 0.035 -9% -9% -49% -77% $5,708,218 TVN Tivan Limited 0.095 -10% -14% 2% 44% $198,510,754 CNB Carnaby Resource Ltd 0.32 -10% 3% -4% -36% $71,942,491 AUZ Australian Mines Ltd 0.009 -10% -10% -18% 0% $13,285,865 BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.054 -10% 2% -55% -66% $6,582,158 WMG Western Mines 0.175 -10% 3% 25% -58% $16,937,960 IG6 Internationalgraphit 0.052 -10% -17% 0% -41% $10,065,033 NVA Nova Minerals Ltd 0.335 -11% 3% 20% 63% $114,664,083 FLG Flagship Min Ltd 0.049 -11% -35% -16% -69% $10,858,075 RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.008 -11% -27% 7% -33% $6,995,451 FTL Firetail Resources 0.08 -11% 29% -13% 2% $30,022,210 RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.008 -11% -27% 7% -33% $6,995,451 ANX Anax Metals Ltd 0.008 -11% 14% -20% -79% $7,062,461 FRS Forrestaniaresources 0.07 -11% 49% 367% 30% $21,736,570 KNG Kingsland Minerals 0.084 -12% -24% -33% -51% $6,095,117 PVT Pivotal Metals Ltd 0.007 -13% 17% -22% -59% $6,350,581 AX8 Accelerate Resources 0.007 -13% -22% 0% -87% $5,580,321 RAG Ragnar Metals Ltd 0.021 -13% 17% 5% 24% $9,953,706 AVW Avira Resources Ltd 0.007 -13% 0% -65% -65% $1,610,000 FRB Firebird Metals 0.075 -13% -3% -32% -61% $11,246,551 STK Strickland Metals 0.135 -13% 29% 53% 17% $305,418,573 RBX Resource B 0.025 -14% -32% -31% -29% $2,879,612 DTM Dart Mining NL 0.003 -14% 0% -73% -84% $3,594,167 CRR Critical Resources 0.003 -14% 0% -50% -63% $9,149,774 M2R Miramar 0.003 -14% 0% -25% -68% $2,990,470 WCN White Cliff Min Ltd 0.022 -15% -35% 29% 5% $53,094,495 LM1 Leeuwin Metals Ltd 0.135 -16% -21% 125% 121% $13,608,862 1AE Auroraenergymetals 0.06 -17% 9% 30% -20% $10,743,824 AZI Altamin Limited 0.024 -17% -8% 0% -29% $13,788,069 S2R S2 Resources 0.07 -18% -26% 13% -42% $33,964,349 GCM Green Critical Min 0.0175 -20% 17% 150% 483% $42,952,495 REC Rechargemetals 0.015 -21% -6% -35% -58% $3,854,850 TKL Traka Resources 0.0015 -25% 50% 0% 0% $3,188,685 QEM QEM Limited 0.042 -30% -13% 27% -71% $9,928,815 G88 Golden Mile Res Ltd 0.012 -33% 9% 33% 0% $6,530,974 PRL Province Resources 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $0 POS Poseidon Nick Ltd 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $23,380,727 AML Aeon Metals Ltd. 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $5,482,003 LRS Latin Resources Ltd 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $477,661,711 CAI Calidus Resources 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $93,678,206 LTM Arcadium Lithium PLC 0 -100% -100% -100% -100% $1,994,929,982 Code Company Price % Week % Month % Six Month % Year Market Cap Weekly Small Cap Standouts Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY) The explorer has spotted 'compelling' new lithium targets at its Roe Hills farm-in with Japan Organization for Metals & Energy Security (JOGMEC) in WA. Recent detailed structural mapping in tandem with the extensive geochemical and geophysical dataset completed in the previous quarter, has returned three high priority areas for immediate follow-up which include pegmatite occurrences. 'A significant number of pegmatite areas have been identified in all three target areas, and with geologists in the field this week, we hope to further refine these areas to enable drill planning to commence as soon as possible,' CEO James Wilson said. JOGMEC can earn 51% interest by spending $6m on the project by 31 March 2029. Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) The company has found potential high-value by-products – such as caesium - within the existing lithium resource at its Shaakichiuwaanaan project in Canada. Widespread pollucite mineralisation – the optimal host mineral for caesium – has been confirmed at the Vega and Rigel zones. 'The presence of significant caesium mineralisation at Shaakichiuwaanaan, in addition to lithium and tantalum, reinforces the amazing endowment of the geology and the potential for other critical and strategic metals to further enhance and diversify future project economics,' president, CEO and managing director Ken Brinsden said. 'We are very keen to explore these value-add opportunities on top of what is already recognised as a world-class lithium pegmatite in its own right.' PMT expects to announce a maiden resource for caesium before the end of third-quarter 2025. Talga Group (ASX:TLG) Talga has secured a key mine permit in Sweden, after all appeals against the Nunasvaara South natural graphite mine Exploitation Concession, were dismissed by the Swedish Government. This means the Exploitation Concession granted by the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden (Bergsstaten) is now in force for the mine, which is part of Europe's largest and highest grade JORC classified natural graphite resource. The mine is vertically integrated with Talga's fully permitted Luleå anode refinery, set to produce 19,500 tonnes of sustainable high-performance Li-ion battery anode annually for EV, BESS and defence markets. 'This milestone showcases Talga's commitment to responsible resource development and the Swedish Government's positive decision means we now have all major permits in place for both the mine and refinery,' CEO Martin Phillips said. Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) The miner has increased the resource at its Pilgangoora operations in WA to 446Mt an increased grade of 1.28% Li2O for 5.7Mt of lithia. That represents a 10% increase in total tonnage and 23% increase in contained lithium oxide compared with the June 30, 2024 mineral resource statement. 'The significant uplift in the mineral resource reaffirms our 100% owned Pilgangoora operation as one of the world's largest and highest-quality hard rock lithium assets,' managing director and CEO Dale Henderson said. 'This outcome is aligned with our strategy to optimise the operating base and unlock the full potential of this world-class asset, driving long-term value for our shareholders. 'The upgrade further consolidates PLS' position as a leading global lithium supplier. 'It reflects the fundamental strengths of our business – large-scale, high-quality assets, disciplined operations, a diversified supply chain, and a strong balance sheet. 'These strengths provide the resilience to navigate current market conditions, while preserving the flexibility to scale as the lithium market transitions to its next phase.' Argonaut's Hayden Bairstow, who has a $3.50 price target on PLS, said the higher grade and larger deposit will likely add to the Pilgangoora mine life. "The improvement in the average grade is a positive for PLS and should provide scope for extensions to the current mine life beyond the reserve," he said in a note. "Incorporating the higher-grade resource into our longer-term forecasts is largely offset by delaying the development timing of Salinas and factoring in the weaker spot spodumene price."
News.com.au
32 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Stars align for PLN in perfectly timed move into US uranium sector
Pioneer Lithium has diversified into uranium at just the right time Its Skull Creek project in the USA contains 17km of strike in north-western Colorado Uranium developments are high on the agenda of US President Donald Trump They say the best players make their own luck. That certainly applies to Pioneer Lithium (ASX:PLN), which has engineered an incredibly well-timed shift from its namesake commodity into a corner of the resources market with serious momentum behind it. With lithium prices dropping to four-year lows it made sense for the company from the stable of Robert Martin, a major early mover on the Canadian lithium, to diversify into a new commodity. Gold may be the obvious choice right now, with prices recently running to record highs. But there could be greater gains to make in markets yet to have their day in the sun. The move was to acquire two intriguing uranium projects at a time when spot prices suggested a market in a lull. Those assets – Skull Creek in Colorado and Warmbad in Namibia – came into the company with uranium at US$64/lb, down close to 40% from its January 2024 highs of US$107/lb. But prices of the nuclear fuel staged a rebound since then. And the decision to pick up Skull Creek could be the best timed move of the lot. Within four months, US President Donald Trump signed a wave of sweeping executive orders designed not only to dramatically increase the countries nuclear fleet – quadrupling its power supply by 2060. But the EOs also included calls to majorly expand the country's domestic uranium production and enrichment facilities. Facing declining capabilities in each, the US' ~100GW nuclear fleet is now reliant on Russian supplies to remain operational – a deeply tenuous position. "It gives you a lot of confidence to know that the Federal Government is 100% behind exploration and development of uranium projects," PLN CEO Michael Beven said. "In other jurisdictions, even in Australia, we see governments change their mind on their attitude towards uranium really quite regularly. "It's a real strong indicator the US has identified that uranium as an energy source and nuclear power as an energy source needs to be the primary focus in order to address climate change and provide green energy." Up Skull Creek Beven's ascension to the hot seat at PLN came after he consulted to the company, conducting due dilligence on the deals that saw Skull Creek and Warmbad picked up for a collective $850,000 in cash and $850,000 worth of PLN shares. Along with small royalties, deferred consideration is also due of $1m should Pioneer outline a JORC resource of 30Mlb at 300ppm U3O8 or higher at Skull Creek and $1.5m if it outlines a JORC resource of 30Mlb at Warmbad of between 101-199ppm U3O8, and an additional $1m for a resource of 30Mlb at 200ppm or higher. That suggests the sellers of the assets had a degree of confidence something of substance will be found. The immediate focus is Skull Creek in north-western Colorado, where some 17km of strike has been identified based on historic rock chips containing anomalous uranium. They have peaked as high as 1240ppm U3O8 in the Sego Sandstone and Carbonaceous Shales that make up the project's prospective geology. Background uranium is just 2ppm U3O8, giving a glimpse of the promise at the project, which sits in a tier-1 province for in-situ recovery uranium production across Colorado and Wyoming. There were reports of a claimed "40Mlb resource" at the site dating back to 1956 in the early days of the US uranium industry. Beven says the definition of resource here is "very loose" compared to modern standards and certainly can't be relied on. But it does show strong ammunition the uranium mineralisation is widespread at the site. It's early days, but rock chip sampling is generating super results. "Rock chips have been really quite good. The highest grade we had there was 1240ppm," he said. "The lowest we had was 10ppm. Background uranium is about 2ppm. "So even the lowest rock chip that we got was 5x background radiation levels." That's especially since the program wasn't planned to target only where the company thought the highest grades would be found. "It was really just walk across the ground, map out where we find the Sego Sandstone outcropping, take samples of different types of rocks so that we can get the geochemistry of them so we can understand what the rocks are and where they're occurring, and get that very basis foundation," Beven said. "So for a programme like that, which isn't designed to try and find high-grade mineralisation, to come back with rock chips from 10ppm to 1240ppm across pretty much the entire strike of the project is more reinforcement that we have a very large uranium bearing system there with elevated uranium far beyond background." When to drill The sandstone hosted nature of the mineralisation at Skull Creek suggests it will be amenable to ISR mining, a cheap recovery method for shallow, low grade resources common across the United States and particularly operations in Wyoming and Colorado. In some ways it bears a resemblance to large deposits found in Western Australia, one of the world's best endowed uranium regions, with exploration geologist Mark Cousins remarking its similarities to the Bennet Well deposit in WA's north held by Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU). The distinction between Colorado and WA, or course, is that unlike in WA uranium mining where PLN is exploring is supported by local regulators. Beven estimates it will take around two months to outline and prioritise targets for drilling with a two phase soil sampling program recently announced. The first phase will target four prospect areas: County Line, Blue Mountain, Skyline and Railroad, which have been previously identified in radiometric surveys and rock chipping. The second will see PLN collect samples along the project's 17km strike, with the goal of identifying uranium bearing Sego Sandstone and Carbonaceous Shales obscured by soils. With the US aiming to recover its domestic uranium output – currently equivalent to only around 2% of its annual reactor demand – there is serious steam from lawmakers to get moving on defining new deposits like, potentially, Skull Creek. But the jurisdiction is attractive for many other reasons, Beven added. Early analysis suggests style of mineralisation bears strong similarities to mines in Wyoming and Colorado, something that will be teased out in further testing, while the project has relatively simple permitting ahead of it given it sits entirely on ground managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A major highway runs just 400m from the edge of the project area, adding to its atractiveness. A Rossing lookalike Over at Warmbad in Namibia, some 30,000-odd metres of drilling have already been completed, outlining a deposit with similar characteristics to the world's longest continuously operating uranium mine, Rossing. "A company called Zemplar, which was a TSX listed company back in 2007 to 2009, did about 30,000m worth of drilling there and actually found uranium mineralisation in the ground, which is a sort of low grade Rossing style mineralisation," Beven said. " So it's hosted within Alaskalite granite. It's rare that you get to pick up an exploration project where you're able to look at the historic work and know you've got a deposit already sitting in the ground that you just need to build on. "Some of the work that they did between 2007 and 2009 just wasn't quite up to the standards of today to be able to makea JORC compliant resource out of it. But that's the exciting bit – we know there's mineralisation in there. and we only really need to do a small amount of work to upgrade it to where we can have a JORC compliant uranium resource." PLN is aiming to come out with an exploration target in the near future building off that historic drilling and run new geophysics to identify mineralised pods missed by previous explorers. At the same time, Beven says the company's flagship lithium project Root Lake in Ontario, which sits between known pegmatite-hosted resources, remains a terrific options for when the lithium price begins to recover.
