BHP (ASX:BHP) likes copper, especially in South Australia, where it shelled out $9. 6 billion in 2022-2023 through the purchase of OZ Minerals, a move that is now paying off. The copper comes out of the company’s 3 mines in South Australia. Australia, led by Olympic Dam, arrived just in time to catch up with the recent rally in prices that hit a 16-month high earlier this month at $4. 4385 a pound on Thursday. These are the highest copper prices since May 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The only imponderable is the future of the West Mugrave nickel-copper mine in the far east of Western Australia. BHP continues to work at the mine, but its reliance on nickel makes its future problematic.
And then there are BHP’s existing assets in South Australia: its crown jewel, Olympic Dam (and the potentially new domain called Deeps), and the nearby much-studied but underdeveloped Oak Dam prospect, which is cementing itself as a new mining certainty from 2030 onwards. . Of.
BHP said its copper production in the March quarter increased 49% due to the addition of volumes this year from two OZ Minerals mines, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena, and strong underlying operational functionality at Olympic Dam, adding the highest quarter of curtains mined in the quarter more than 10 years in the third quarter of FY24. “The robust functionality of the Olympic Dam smelter supported by ongoing concentrate transfers from Prominent Hill and early transfers from Carrapateena in the third quarter of FY24, for processing at a higher margin. cathode. Crusher 2 at Carrapateena was commissioned in the third quarter of FY24 and remains on track to ramp up in the fourth quarter of FY24,” BHP said this week. Production guidance for FY24 remains unchanged between 310,000 and 340,000 tonnes and is expected to accumulate up to 400,000 tonnes by 2024-25.
And then there is Oak Dam, which so far looks (according to data already published) to be a smaller edition of Olympic Dam. This is a prospect that BHP is very willing to analyze and implement if the figures bear it out. In fact, BHP estimates it could possibly produce an initial length of resource by the end of this year, as it operates up to a dozen drill rigs in the area, located 65 kilometers southeast of Olympic Dam. Array Oak Dam is, at as is Olympic Dam, a deep mineralized iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) system. The Olympic Dam contains approximately 2. 6 billion tons of copper, gold, silver and uranium. Oak Dam has superior readings for copper and silver, as well as silver and gold. It is considered smaller than the Olympic dam, but it is also buried under meters of overburden. In the March quarterly report, BHP said: “At Oak Dam we are progressing the external approval procedure for underground access to enable faster and less costly resource definition drilling of the mineral deposit and we expect to be able to supply an inferred mineral resource. . for Oak Dam later this calendar year. It works closely with classic homeowners and the South Australian Government recently granted environmental clearance for the next phase of exploration drilling. The authorization allows for up to 14 drilling platforms, an accommodation camp for up to 150 additional people and central processing facilities. BHP will be able to make a decision on a mining task between 2025 and 2027. Before that, BHP hopes to have chosen a new upgraded smelter at Olympic Dam to extract more copper from its existing mines, probably from the attractive Olympic Dam. Deeps unearths and Oak Dam This could also simply involve expanding the existing smelter from a portion of a million tonnes to 1. 7 million tonnes, generating around 500,000 tonnes of steel alone from what is currently at the 3 Oak Dam mines. may also undergo further expansion.
As we explained previously, the rebound in global copper costs is not due to growing demand, still due to the shortage of copper concentrates after the closure of the huge Cobre Panamá mine, the relief in Anglo American production and the persistent weak functionality. from Codelco. , the world leader. second largest copper miner after BHP. Chinese copper processors are facing increasing financial pressures due to their inability to price enough to process newly available concentrates. To try to reduce the pressure, Chinese copper smelters are trying to update their regulations to reduce production by 10% this year. This caused stocks to rise in China and on the LME. The LME had just over 123,000 tonnes of copper in its warehouses this week, but the Shanghai metals market had around 232,700 tonnes, up from almost 31,000 at the end of last December. Normally, such an immediate increase in inventories would be negative for the metal, but the shortage of concentrates is proving to be a bigger headache for the industry. Plans for a large new foundry in India and reports of plans are also adding to the tension. If BHP upgrades its Olympic Dam smelter, it will put greater pressure on Chinese procedures and costs.
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Increases across all areas of Deep Leads resources: quality, tonnage and target area ABx Group has reported a 30% increase in its Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the Deep Leads Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) rare earth deposit in northern Tasmania. The accumulation in MRE comes from 36 extension wells analyzed, representing a significant northward extension for the existing Deep Leads prospect.
Lake Resources (LKE. ASX) – LKE has signed two non-binding memorandums of understanding within 10 days. Ford Company (Ford) has signed a memorandum of understanding for about 25,000 t/year and last week, Hanwa, a Japanese commodity trading company, signed a memorandum of understanding for up to 25,000 t/year. Subject to execution, this is a feat as Ford and Hanwa are in a position to engage in longer-term strategic partnerships with LKE. Commercial negotiations are still ongoing, but they should, i. e. if Ford and Hanwa inject new capital into LKE, it will further reduce the risk of the financing of the assignment and thus ensure that LKE and Kachi are fully funded.
Two recent severity studies have particularly exceeded expectations and revealed the possibility of expanding the existing MRE at Throssell Lake, as well as a significant expansion opportunity at Yeo Lake. This reinforces the prospect of a multi-decade-long Tier 1 SOP production facility around Throssell Lake.
TMG is currently completing paints for the planned PFS in early 2023, adding the start of drilling in the third quarter of 2022, evaporation testing and permitting activities. The effects of these systems will affect the SFP and any long-term resource improvements.
SOP reference prices have risen to around 940 USD/t due to recent geopolitical developments. The October 2021 scoping study assumed an SOP value of $550/t and contained a sensitivity study showing that every 10% accumulated in value effects at a cumulative $144 million in NPV of the $364 million allocation. The increase of approximately 70% during the scoping study implies an allocation NPV of approximately $1. 4 billion.
Despite the drop in oil and fuel prices, which fell by 5. 4% and 19. 7% respectively in August, Calima managed to record an improvement in its key industry indicators.
WT Financial Group Limited (WTL) is a fast-growing diversified monetary company founded in 2010 and indexed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2015. Their recommendations and product offerings are primarily provided through an organization of independent money advisors who act as legal representatives. . de WTL in connection with its broker organisation business Wealth Today Pty Ltd (Wealth Today) and Sentry Group Pty Ltd (Sentry Group). It has approximately 275 advisers in more than two hundred money advice firms across Australia. It also operates a direct-to-consumer operation under its Spring Financial Group brand.
In May 2021, Corporate Connect analyst Marc Sinatra published a comprehensive study report on ASX-listed biotech company Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM). He was so inspired by IMM that Corporate Connect felt it was imperative to publish a follow-up report that valued the company. as the market did not see the great prospects of Eftilagimod Alpha (EFTI).
The follow-up report published today. Using comparables, after adding a monetary rebate to its EV estimate and dividing it by the total number of percentages issued, Corporate Connect now puts the fair price of a percentage of Immutep at A$2. 20.