LKY: Apple’s CEO Tim Cook’s X post sends MP Materials’ share price up. Neighbour LKY appoints Tribeca Capital for US critical metals growth strategy

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd (the Company) and Associated Entities own 4,945,000 LKY Shares and 720 MP Materials shares at the time of publishing this article. The Company has been engaged by LKY to share our commentary on the progress of our Investment in LKY over time. This information is general in nature about a speculative investment and does not constitute personal advice. It does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs.

At 6:50am AEST this morning the CEO of the US$3.17 Trillion iPhone maker Apple posted on X about an increased US$600 Billion commitment to US manufacturing (see it here).

The Apple CEO’s X post came with a 27 second video showcasing Apple’s current commitments in the US.

And the first example Apple used in its video was MP Materials - the USA’s only rare earths mine and rare earth magnet producer... and our Investment Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY | OTC: LKYRF)’s next door neighbor:

(Source)

The post has been viewed 1M times at time of writing - The MP Materials share price popped 7% shortly after the post.

(The US market was closed at the time of the X post, MP Materials was up ~7% in “after market” trading, so it should be an interesting open for MP Materials when the US market opens tonight)

7% is a pretty substantial move for a $20BN capped company.

Across the last 5 trading sessions MP Materials is up almost 20%...

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

This comes four weeks after Apple signed a $500M offtake deal with MP Materials.

Our Investment LKY’s rare earths and antimony exploration project is directly next door to MP Materials, part of it is even inside MP Materials ground.

The past performance of MP Materials is not an indicator of the future performance of LKY.

The additional US$100BN increased commitment is a response from Apple to the Trump Administration’s new pandemic-era speed and urgency approach to boost U.S. critical minerals production.

The Administration is moving with the speed and urgency that evokes “2020’s Operation Warp Speed”, which developed a COVID vaccine in less than a year.

That same strategy is now going to be applied on bringing back critical metals mining and advanced manufacturing to the US’ initiative that was revealed a few days ago (source).

(We said this was likely the starting gun for the US critical metals investment theme... we wonder which giant US company might make a similar announcement to Apple’s next?)

US President Donald Trump also announced the increased commitment to US onshoring by Apple:

(Source: google news)

So more attention and capital is starting to flow toward MP Materials from US investors.

And our latest investment, LKY’s rare earths and antimony project is right next door to MP Materials.

LKY even has some ground INSIDE MP Materials’ ground, on strike from their mine.

LKY is permitted and is going to be drilling this quarter.

Drilling is expected to start next month and first results are expected in Q4.

We think the current amount of US attention and money flowing into its direct neighbor MP Materials could bring more attention to the much smaller and much earlier stage LKY...

And after having worked up its drill targets for the last few months, imagine if they find something during drilling...

No guarantees of course, this is early stage high risk resources exploration.

A rising share price and big US attention on MP Materials close to LKY’s drilling program can only be good for LKY.

If the next door neighbour is capped at $20BN - then the risk/reward on offer for a company drilling next door becomes a lot more attractive.

LKY at its last close price of 17.5c is capped at ~$42M (post the recent capital raise).

Again - there’s no guarantee that LKY makes an economic discovery, LKY’s share price can go down as well as up. LKY is a small cap, high risk investment.

Also this morning: LKY announces billion dollar fund manager has arrived on LKY’s share register

LKY just closed a $5.3M capital raise and has managed to attract “multiple Australian funds” and a fund manager with ~$1.7BN in funds under management - Tribeca Investment Partners.

It's not just capital that Tribeca is bringing to the table though - today LKY announced that Tribeca Capital has been appointed as strategic advisor to LKY:

(Source)

Tribeca came into LKY’s capital raise, and after today’s announcement, are also coming on as strategic advisors to the company to provide:

“advice on downstream processing, technology collaborations, government engagement, funding programs and product development initiatives specifically related to critical minerals projects and advanced material application”.

We think that US capital markets are just about to start paying attention to US based critical metals projects.

And US money is about to start flowing into ASX metals and mining companies with US critical metals projects.

Especially into those mining companies that have some sort of downstream focus for their business’.

Which is where that Tribeca partnership comes into play.

For some context - MP Materials is a miner with a big downstream business...

(“downstream” means that in addition to mining the raw minerals, they also process the minerals and use them to manufacture advanced end products)

MP owns America’s only rare earths mine AND owns rare earth magnet production facilities.

IF MP hadn’t had those downstream assets it may not have attracted the interest that it has...

LKY is one of the early movers into the US on its rare earths and antimony project (having acquired its project back in 2023).

LKY has said its exploring downstream processing in previous presentations and announcements (Source)

Now Tribeca is onboard to “identify potential downstream processing and technology collaboration opportunities:

(Source)

LKY is also listed on the OTC under the code OTC: LKYRF - which means the company is already accessible to US investors.

Now we just need LKY to get its story out in the US....

Which Tribeca will also be helping with according to today’s announcement.

We launched our Investment in LKY Friday last week, here is an overview of the 10 reasons why we Invested in LKY:

10 Reasons why we are Invested in LKY

1. “US Critical Minerals” is an emerging thematic right now - ASX listed companies with US projects are being re-rated on market and are finally getting access to capital to drill test their projects. We think US investors haven’t fully caught on yet.
2. LKY’s project is directly next to Mountain Pass, owned by $16BN capped MP Materials - MP’s project is the only producing rare earths mine in the USA and just did large deals with the Pentagon and tech giant Apple.
3. LKY could deliver early stage nearology re-rates like LKY - Our last US critical metals investment before LKY was LKY. LKY sits next to a project that is set to become the USA’s only domestic source of antimony. LKY is up over 480% from our Initial Entry Price. LKY sits next to the only rare earths mine in the USA.
4. LKY acquired the ground BEFORE US Critical Minerals theme was hot - LKY picked up its project in 2023, way before broad based market interest in US based critical minerals projects OR MP Materials. We like first and early movers in an emerging theme.
5. Drilling permits in place, drilling this quarter - LKY has permits in place for drilling on two of its projects. Drilling is expected to start this quarter.
6. One of LKY’s projects has produced antimony in the past - LKY’s largest blocks to the north-east of MP Materials is home to an old antimony mine and a small antimony smelter. We think that is a good sign there could be more antimony mineralisation on these blocks.
7. Institutional investors are backing LKY, cornerstoned by Tribeca - Tribeca Investment Partners have $1.7BN in funds under management, and have had a history of success in the mining sector. Tribeca cornerstoned LKY’s 9.5c placement (source).
8. LKY is listed in the USA via the OTC - LKY has been OTC listed for the last 6 weeks. When the US critical metals theme starts gaining more traction in the US, its possible more US investors invest in LKY via OTC (OTC: LKYRF)
9. LKY is looking to go downstream (mineral processing) right now - LKY has explicitly said in past investor presentations that it is looking at a “downstream” and processing strategy. Finding and mining the critical minerals is one thing, but processing them is another big national security issue.
10. The US Government plans to adopt “vaccine development during the pandemic” levels of urgency to boost US critical minerals (source)

LKY is drilling for rare earths and antimony this quarter

LKY is drilling this quarter and with all the attention on its neighbor MP Materials, we think that any whiff of exploration success could re-rate the stock (there is obviously no guarantee of drilling success).

Here is where LKY’s initial drilling program is scheduled:

(Source)

With the rare earths drill program, LKY plans to test areas where a number of high grade rock chip samples were found, grading 1.20% to 6.87% TREO (rare earths).

With the antimony drill program, LKY plans to test for the extent of mineralisation near the historical antimony mine.

Over 24 surface samples 8 had over 17% antimony and 18 had over 1.4% antimony - these are very high grades for antimony projects.

Here are pictures of the old mining shaft and the antimony smelter from where the old timers were mining antimony on LKY’s ground.

(Source, Source)

We are hoping with this upcoming drill program that LKY makes a new mineral discovery.

Here is a video of Julian Woodcock, Technical Director of LKY talking through LKY’s upcoming drilling plans:

(watch the video)

Obviously, there is no guarantee LKY finds anything, mineral exploration is risky and there is a high likelihood that LKY finds nothing.

We have identified and accepted the risks of our Investment in LKY (risks listed below in our LKY Investment Memo) - our LKY position is only a small % of our overall Portfolio.

LKY is in an emerging macro theme with near term exploration share price catalysts that could move the share price significantly up OR down depending on the drill results, so we are adding LKY to our Catalyst Hunter Portfolio for shorter term exploration Investments.

What’s next for LKY?

Drilling (September) 🔄

LKY said in today’s announcement that drilling was expected to start in September.

Right now LKY is waiting for its expanded plan of operations to be approved (which is LKY expanding the size of its currently permitted drill program.

First results from the drill program are expected in Q4-2025.

(Source)

Update on downstream initiative🔄

LKY also flagged that it is actively looking at downstream opportunities.

Hopefully we see some newsflow on what the company has planned downstream in near term.

Ideally, LKY’s downstream strategy will be in place before the upcoming drill program.

(Source)

What are the risks?

LKY hasn’t started drilling yet and just raised capital so the main risk here is “permitting risk”.

LKY just lodged an “expanded plan of operations” to increase the size of its already permitted drill program.

There is no guarantee that this expanded program is approved.

For the full set of risks we have identified and accepted in making our Investment in LKY, see our LKY Investment Memo below.

Other Risks

The company's primary asset is a pre-discovery antimony and rare earth elements exploration project in California, and it is possible that LKY makes no economic discovery despite the proximity to the producing Mountain Pass mine.

LKY is highly sensitive to fluctuations in antimony and rare earth element prices.

While current geopolitical tensions have supported these prices, any easing of US-China trade restrictions or alternative supply sources could materially impact the project's economic viability and the markets interest in exploring the project.

While LKY does have current drilling approvals in place, there is no guarantee the expanded plan of operations the company recently submitted is approved. There is also no guarantee of timely regulatory approvals which could mean delays for the planned drilling program.

Finally, despite high-grade surface samples (up to 12.1% TREO and 46% antimony), these results may not be representative of broader mineralisation at depth, and the company has yet to conduct any drilling to verify continuity.

Investors should consider these risks carefully and seek professional advice tailored to their personal circumstances before investing.

Our LKY Investment Memo

You can read our LKY Investment Memo in the link below.

We use this memo to track the progress of all our Investments over time.

Our LKY Investment Memo covers:

• What does LKY do?
• The macro theme for LKY
• Our LKY Big Bet
• What we want to see LKY achieve
• Why we are Invested in LKY
• The key risks to our Investment Thesis
• Our Investment Plan