Latest news with #BarryFitzGerald
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Barry FitzGerald: At Sky Metals you buy one tin project, get one free
'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald has covered the resources industry for 35 years. Now he's sharing the benefits of his experience with Stockhead readers. There's been a known massive slug of tin-dominant polymetallic mineralisation sitting out the back of Bourke in north-west NSW crying out for some attention for more than 50 years. That and a metallurgical breakthrough. It's called Doradilla and its owner since 2019, the Norm Seckold-chaired Sky Metals (ASX:SKY), looks to have cracked the code to unlocking the project's big-time potential thanks to current day tin flotation processing technology. Garimpeiro last took a look at Sky in August last year when it was a 3.2c stock for a market cap of $18.8 million. It has since moved up to 7c for a market cap of $49.7 million, a valuation comfortably underpinned by its advanced Tallebung tin project in central NSW. Sky is coming to an end of a four-month drilling program at Tallebung and results to date suggest there will be a big increase in the last inferred and indicated resource estimate of 15.6Mt grading 0.15% tin for 23,000t contained, once all the data is in. It shouldn't take long after that to give the market a feel for its production capability. Given Tallebung is particularly amendable to ore sorting to bump its grade by a factor of five times, the project is likely to be shown to be capable of making Sky's current market many times over in years to come. It's early days at Doradilla in comparison but Sky's metallurgical breakthrough could well see it emerge as a multi-decade tin producer, possibly with rare earths and other metals as part of deal. The lowdown on Doradilla Sitting in semi-arid goat country, Doradilla was first drilled in the 1970s. It's part of a 17km linear skarn which hosts the Doradilla, Midway and 3KEL deposits – the famous (in exploration circles) DMK Line. Big name tin miners past and present (including Renison, Aberfoyle, North Ltd and YTC Resources) had a crack at unlocking the DMK Line but had basically packed up and left by the 1980s when it was realised that simple gravity separation would not work. Sky managing director Ollie Davies takes up the story: 'We've always been aware of the potential for the Doradilla project to host an extensive tin system, however our ability to progress this asset has been hindered by our ability to unlock the tin through a viable metallurgical processing route.' 'Now, through the application of a combination of conventional gravity, magnetic and new flotation process steps, we have achieved economic recoveries of up to 78% tin.' 'This is an exciting and very significant breakthrough which transforms the potential and outlook for this project. While our primary focus remains squarely on the Tallebung tin Project, where we are in the midst of a major resource expansion drilling campaign, Doradilla is clearly shaping up as a sizeable and very attractive pipeline development asset.' Drawing on Doradilla's historical database and its own work, and in light of the metallurgical success, Sky has been able to report a compliant 'Exploration Target' of 10-15 million tonnes grading 0.32-0.42% tin for 32,000-63,000t of contained metal. The target is based on a 2.5km section of Doradilla and there is another 2.5km of strike length on either side. So potentially at least, an already big exploration target could eventually be tripled. The Doradilla breakthrough comes as the tin market remains as strong as you like. The metal was last quoted on LME at $US33,312/t (three month). So it remains more than three times the copper price. The price jumps around depending on production news from operations in, shall we say, fraught locations around the world. Demand is super strong thanks to growing uses in solar panels and all the circuitry that needs to be connected to deliver AI. New mine developments in desirable locations are few and far between and like other critical metals, China has what could be a called an unhealthy grip on the market. Sky's share price did not move on Monday when the metallurgical breakthrough was revealed. Fair enough, the market is being cautious. But given Garimpeiro's suggestion that the company's market cap is more than covered by the Tallebung project, it seems likely it won't be long before the market begins to reward Sky for unlocking Doradilla.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Explorers Podcast: LinQ Minerals targets tier-1 gold-copper in the Lachlan Fold Belt
Stockhead's 'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. In this edition, Barry chats with LinQ Minerals (ASX:LNQ) executive chairman Clive Donner about the company's flagship Gilmore Gold-Copper Project in NSW's prolific Lachlan Fold Belt after making its recent entrance onto the ASX. Donner outlines LinQ's vast 60km mineralised belt, an already eye-opening established 3.7Moz gold and 1.2Mt copper resource, and plans for a 16,000 metre drill program focused on near-surface opportunities and the deeper porphyry targets characteristic of a region largely under sway of the majors. Backed by a technically experienced team and favourable market conditions, LinQ is positioning itself as a serious new copper-gold contender, so tune in to hear how the company plans to make its mark in a valley of the giants. Listen to this episode to learn more. This podcast was developed in collaboration with LinQ Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
The Australian
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Explorers Podcast: Chariot Corporation
Stockhead's 'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. Barry is joined in this episode by Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan, following a transformational acquisition for the company. Chariot announced last week it picked up a majority stake in a portfolio of hard rock lithium projects in Nigeria. The company will secure a 66.7% interest in the "highly prospective" grounds spanning more than 250sq km. Tune in to hear all the details. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Chariot Corporation, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. The interviews and discussions in this podcast are opinions only and not financial or investment advice. Listeners should obtain independent advice based on their own circumstances before making any financial decisions.
Herald Sun
14-07-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Explorers Podcast: Chariot saddles up for lithium in Nigeria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Stockhead's 'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. Barry is joined in this episode by Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan, following a transformational acquisition for the company. Chariot announced last week it picked up a majority stake in a portfolio of hard rock lithium projects in Nigeria. The company will secure a 66.7% interest in the "highly prospective" grounds spanning more than 250sq km. Tune in to hear all the details. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Chariot Corporation, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. The interviews and discussions in this podcast are opinions only and not financial or investment advice. Listeners should obtain independent advice based on their own circumstances before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Explorers Podcast: Chariot saddles up for lithium in Nigeria Stockhead Locksley Resources receives a key permit to progress its Desert Antimony Mine, plans for exploration will follow. Stockhead Kingsland Minerals has begun test-work to assess the potential recovery of rutile and gallium as by-products from its Leliyn graphite concentrate.
News.com.au
11-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Barry FitzGerald: Been there, done that, Prospect could be the next ASX M&A target (again)
'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald has covered the resources industry for 35 years. Now he's sharing the benefits of his experience with Stockhead readers. It's all in the timing. Just ask Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC), which cashed in its African lithium chips in early 2022 just ahead of the crash in lithium prices which began to take hold later that year. It was a big cash out too. Prospect picked up the Arcadia lithium project on the outskirts of Harare in Zimbabwe in 2016. At the time, Prospect had a $6 million market cap. Prospect went on to spend $84m by 2022 to turn the initial discovery in to a shovel ready project when it went looking for development funding. During that process China's Huayou Cobalt had a better idea – let us buy the thing. Prospect was happy to oblige and pocketed $US378m for its 87% share of Arcadia. The Chinese wasted no time getting Arcadia into production, ironically adding to the rising lithium glut that sent prices crashing from early 2023. It's fair to suggest that had Prospect been looking for a buyer for Arcadia come late 2023, it would have struggled to find one. And it certainly would not have got anything like the $US378 Huayou Cobalt handed over. Prospect banked the cheque and followed up in August 2022 with a A$443 million distribution to shareholders of 96c a share that left A$33 million in the kitty for its team of African resources specialists to find the next opportunity for the company. Zambian copper belt The team landed on the advanced Mumbezhi copper project in the Zambian copper belt. While advanced all right, disputed ownership had been holding the project back. Prospect sorted that out and emerged with 85% in April last year. It could be said that Prospect has set out to do in Zambian copper what it was able to achieve in Zimbabwean lithium. Mumbezhi is on the big side of things already, with Prospect releasing its maiden resource estimate of 107.2Mt at 0.5% copper for 514,000t of copper in March this year. It also announced a compliant 'exploration target' of 420Mt to 1.05 billion tonnes (1.68Mt to 4.2Mt of copper), including the existing resource. That should have been enough in itself for the local market to sit up and pay attention, But there was only a little bump in the share price. Things changed on April 14 though when the C$20 billion international copper heavyweight First Quantum Minerals arrived on the scene. The Canadian-based miner put its hand up for a 15% placement in Prospect at a cost of $15.2 million or 15c a share – a 35% premium to Prospect's previous closing price at the time of 11c. First Quantum also became a technical adviser on Mumbezhi. It knows all there is to know about Zambian copper as it has been operating in the country for more than 25 years, producing copper, gold and nickel. Its current operations include the Kansanshi copper/gold mine and smelter and the Sentinel copper mine which produced more than 400,000t of copper combined in 2024. Sentinel is 20km to the north-west of Mumbezhi in a similar geological setting. Sentinel is a massive mining and processing operation which delivers economies of scale to make the 0.51% grade (2024) highly profitable. Its total costs in 2024 were $US2.85/lb of copper. Since the First Quantum placement, Prospect shares have marched higher to 18.7c for a market cap of $131 million. Prospect is now busy with a drilling program to grow the resource towards the world-scale levels implied by the exploration target, with advice from First Quantum. First Quantum agreed to an18-month standstill agreement on it acquiring or disposing Prospect shares, subject to customary exceptions. The market nevertheless now sees Prospect – or at least Mumbezhi itself – as an obvious potential acquisition for First Quantum. Copper had a massive week after the announcement of a planned 50% tariff on imports into the US by President Donald Trump, with US market prices surging to over US$5.50/lb. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Prospect Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the columnist and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead does not provide, endorse or otherwise assume responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article.
