Steve Kaless | SPONSORED

Thu, 6 July 2023 1:58PM

Alma Metals was up 70 per cent after tabling a resource upgrade at its Briggs copper project in Queensland that smashed through the million-tonne contained copper mark and added molybdenum for the first time to the tune of 28.6m pounds. Alma says Briggs has now clawed its way into the top 10 largest undeveloped copper plays in Australia in terms of contained metal.

The global resource estimate for the project now comprises an inferred 415 million tonnes going 0.25 per cent copper and 31 parts per million molybdenum with a copper cut-off grade of 0.20 per cent and extends from surface to a depth of about 650m.

The latest figures represent a 190 per cent increase on the project’s inferred resource when Alma took the rights to the project in August 2021.

The climb up the leaderboard might not yet be over either with mineralisation remaining open in all directions and large copper-in-soils anomalisms still sitting outside the resource area which are yet to feel the bite of the drill bit.

This is a great result for shareholders and confirms our view that Briggs is a nationally significant porphyry copper deposit that is likely to grow substantially with further drilling. With a looming global copper shortage predicted by many market observers, the emergence of this large resource is perfectly timed.

Alma Metals managing director Frazer Tabeart

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With bigger numbers in its sights, the company now plans to fire up the drill rigs again with a view to targeting further extensions to the mineralisation in addition to taking a closer look at higher-grade zones already uncovered.

Porphyry copper deposits are known for containing hundreds of millions of tonnes of ore, but average a fraction of a percent of copper. Despite their low-grade, the deposits constitute important sources of copper because they can be worked on a large scale at relatively low cost.

In fact, porphyry copper deposits account for more than 60 percent of the annual world copper production and about 65 percent of the known total copper resource. Globally, copper appears to be heading towards a supply crunch, with the level of inventory sitting in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses dwindling. LME copper stocks have slid from 100,100 tonnes to 77,050 in the past three weeks despite almost 30,000 tonnes of the metal landing on its doorstep. The LME is looking more like an efficient transit lounge at present, with new arrivals quickly departing.

The demand is largely based on copper’s essential need in the global green energy transition and particularly in the electrification of transportation.

A report by global consultant McKinsey in February calculated that the electrification of the economy is projected to increase annual copper demand to 36.6 million tonnes by 2031. However, the report found with current supply projections based on restarts, certain or probable projects and recycled production only offering a pathway to 30.1 million tonnes, another 6.5 million tonnes of capacity, or an extra 20 percent needs to be found.

Alma looks to be well on the way to helping bridge that gap and its optimism was shared by the market today with the company’s stock touching 1.7c at one stage off the back of yesterday’s closing price of just 1 cent.

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Steve Kaless | SPONSORED

Wed, 28 June 2023 12:50PM

Alma Metals has expanded the reach of its Briggs copper project in Central Queensland, with its latest assays extending the known limits by more than 150m from the boundary of the current inferred resource.

The company has revealed its latest drillhole produced a 366m intersection going 0.23 per cent copper and 28 parts per million molybdenum from just 6m.

An updated resource, which is looming large on the horizon, will now be supported by Alma’s revelations that multiple intersections containing more than 0.2 per cent copper have been produced across a 1650m strike within about a 2000m-long geochemical anomaly. It is outside of the 450m strike-length of the current inferred resource estimate that sits at 143 million tonnes at 0.29 per cent copper.

Once management has ticked off its resource upgrade, it is planning to return to the drill rig with the goal of further extensions squarely in its sights, in addition to assessing higher-grade zones that have already been identified. The company has pencilled in its next stage of exploration for early in the next quarter.

In 2021, Alma staged an earn-in joint venture with Canterbury Resources for the copper project. Its exploration spend is on track to reach 51 per cent ownership by the first half of next year and a further $9 million outlay will see it move up to 70 per cent.

The exploration range for the Briggs copper project sits at between 455 million tonnes and 850 million tonnes, with a grade range of 0.20 per cent copper to 0.35 per cent.

Porphyry copper deposits are known for containing hundreds of millions of tonnes of ore, but average a fraction of a percent of copper. Despite their low-grade, the deposits constitute important sources because they can be worked on a large scale at low cost.

In fact, porphyry copper deposits account for more than 60 percent of the annual world copper production and about 65 percent of the known total copper resource. Globally, copper appears to be heading towards a supply crunch, with the level of inventory sitting in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses dwindling. LME copper stocks have slid from 100,100 tonnes to 77,050 in the past three weeks despite almost 30,000 tonnes of the metal landing on its doorstep. It means the LME is looking more like an efficient transit lounge at present, with new arrivals quickly departing.

Available tonnage stands at just 31,900 tonnes, which is only enough to supply the global market for 11 hours.

Combined copper stocks registered with the LME, its United States counterpart, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, totalled 165,000 tonnes at the end of last week. Global exchange inventory is now down by 45,500 tonnes since the start of the year and sits at its lowest level since 2008.

The price of copper was changing hands for US$3.77 (AU$5.67) per pound during today’s intraday trading and appears to be trending towards the all-time high of US$4.8 (AU$6) per pound that it hit in March last year.

With plenty of ink used to write about the apparent ills of the global economy, it would appear the contrasting diagnosis of Dr Copper would be that everything is looking pretty rosy. And it certainly should be for Alma if it can continue to expand its shallow porphyry in central Queensland.

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Next Big Copper Discovery
Briggs Zone Extended

Steve Kaless | SPONSORED

Wed, 7 June 2023 10:27AM

A change in strategy appears to be close to paying dividends for Alma Metals after it read the global energy tea leaves and shifted from African coal to instead zero in on a big Queensland copper find.

The $13.25 million market-capped company is bearing down on an easy-mining, shallow porphyry deposit at its Briggs copper project, just 50km west of Gladstone in Central Queensland. Its flagship project is an advanced porphyry copper system hosting an inferred JORC resource of 143 million tonnes at 0.29 per cent copper.

But that resource is set to be significantly upgraded next month as results from the company’s most recent drilling campaign come to light.

Porphyry mines are renowned for throwing up decent tonnages and are responsible for about 60 per cent of the world’s copper. Their large volumes make up for the low grades, which typically sit between 0.2 per cent to 0.7 per cent copper equivalent.

However, Alma believes its project has a real opportunity for growth and its exploration target of between 455 million tonnes and 850 million tonnes grading from 0.2 per cent copper to 0.35 per cent copper will soon be in the rear-vision mirror.

And it has pinpointed a giant Western Australian-based operation to be what management believes is its realistic guideline.

Caravel Minerals’ copper project of the same name, 150km north-east of Perth in the South West Yilgarn Terrane, has a resource of 1.18 billion tonnes at 0.24 per cent copper and 48 parts per million molybdenum for 2.48 million tonnes of contained copper at a 0.1 per cent cut-off grade.

Alma believes it is already on a trajectory towards punching out similar numbers and its management should know. Its chairman Alasdair Cooke is also an executive director at Caravel, which claims to be “Australia’s largest undeveloped copper project” and has a market capitalisation of $115 million.

Alma is also a Caravel shareholder – a legacy of its days when it was known as African Energy Resources developing uranium and coal overseas before its savvy pivot towards copper and ultimately, a complete rebadging. It is quite the classic junior sector story of a company finding its way.

In 2021, it staged an earn-in joint venture with Canterbury Resources over the Briggs copper project. Its exploration spend is on track to reach 51 per cent ownership by the first half of next year and a further $9 million exploration outlay will see it move up to 70 per cent by 2031 .

Back in April, drilling outside of Alma’s resource at Briggs intersected thick zones of porphyry-style copper-molybdenum mineralisation, with assays expected shortly and exploration targets now defined for three anomalies.

Then last month, the explorer received commitments to raise $2 million via a placement at $0.01 per share to fund further resource extension and infill drilling.

The majority of the funds raised in the placement will be committed to additional core drilling set to start at Briggs early in the next quarter. It is also about then that that the company expects to publish its revised mineral resource estimate for its deposit – a milestone which will then lead to more drilling as it looks to drive its numbers north.

And driving that mission is a predicted global supply shortfall in copper, which Alma managing director Frazer Tabeart believes could come as early as next year. An exploration geologist with a particular interest in porphyry coppers, Mr Tabeart told Bulls N’ Bears that the issue was serious, with few new global discoveries of any significance.

The world needs more copper. There will be a steady increase in demand because people will need to electrify vehicles and people are building more windfarms and solar panels. Anything that requires moving or using electricity requires copper. Copper growth is likely to be moderate, but sustained over a long period and it’s the supply side that’s the real issue. There’s a big problem coming in about a year’s time in the copper supply market where it just drops off a cliff.

Alma Metals managing director Frazer Tabeart

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The game plan for Alma is a simple one – build the resource to a point where it can operate a mine with the right economies of scale. The numbers on the back of the envelope put that at about 20 to 30 million tonnes per year, which management believes it can make work with the right cost structure and a low strip ratio.

But to reach this point took a moment of enlightenment, like Paul on the road to Damascus. In 2019, the company was working to get a series of coal and power projects up in Botswana. However, the idea of raising money for African coal appeared to be getting closer and closer to the too-hard basket.

A circuit breaker was needed.

Management realised their blood, sweat and tears were going to be better poured into something that could be funded, over something that couldn’t … and the answer lay closer to home.

With attractive geology and an investment friendly landscape, Alma decided to build a new copper portfolio in Australia.

With no legacy issues shackling it, the deal with Canterbury Resources appeared a winner for both parties, especially given it revolved around a commodity that boasted a global demand reaching fever pitch.

S&P Global Market Intelligence has predicted that the world’s annual copper demand will nearly double from 25 million tonnes to about 50 million by 2035, backing Mr Tabeart’s assertions.

Alma also has its finger in a copper pie in WA’s north. Its East Kimberley project was uncovered over a few holiday beers, while peering over some old maps. Although it is yet to be explored, management believes the area appears to show the hallmarks of high-grade sediment-based projects similar to some of the world-beating African deposits in Zambia and the Congo.

With two agreements already secured with local traditional landowners and the paperwork submitted to government, the company is hoping it will soon be able to get stuck into a project. Should it come off, it could be off to the races.

But in the meantime, it will be looking to steadily build its resource in Queensland, one hole at a time, as it seeks to become the Sunshine State’s next big copper player.

Alma is said to mean “wisdom”, or in Arabic it is believed to translate to “unbelievable, but true”. The company is optimistic it can bring that moniker to life.

“We have not yet drilled a hole on this project that is not mineralised,” Mr Tabeart said. “There is clearly a resource story that is growing here.”

You can also read this in TheWest – Public Companies

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