Sunday Edition: 14th September

A few of our team is in Las Vegas right now...

Fresh from a day out visiting Locksley Resources’ (ASX:LKY | OTCQB: LKYRF) project - right next door to the A$17BN capped MP Materials.

(and less than an hour drive out of Vegas)

Before they tapped out for the night, they managed to send us some photos and words about what they saw (full write up coming soon):

(Plus further down the page is a comprehensive wrap of everything we wrote, read, and watched last week)

This morning we drove from Las Vegas down to the $120M capped LKY’s project right next door to the A$17BN capped MP Materials.

We saw in real life just how close it LKY’s ground is to MP Materials’ mine:

MP Materials is the only producer of rare earth materials in the US.

MP Materials has secured a US$400M investment from the Department of Defense (soon to be re-named the Department of War?) and a US$500M offtake from Apple.

The A$120M capped LKY will soon be drilling at its small land claim within MP Materials ground to look for rare earths mineralisation - it’s called the ‘El Campo Prospect’ in the map below.

Here are some our photos of the rare earth outcropping from site:

Here’s a map of LKY’s entire landholding in the region, including the new claims they picked up this week:

The other part of LKY’s project is its North Block, where there was an old antimony mining operation from the 1920s..

We were surprised at how advanced this operation had been - the underground mine was much bigger than we expected and way bigger than it looks in photos.

And we went inside...

Here are the photos inside LKY’s mine shaft where roughly 2,000 to 4,000 tonnes of antimony were produced during WW2, which was used for various military applications:

Here is the old smelter that processed antimony mined from the shaft:

LKY’s goal is to be the first producer of antimony within the United States

LKY is aiming for a small scale operation at its Desert Antimony project - something that can be quickly brought into production.

We saw enough on site to think that this could be a reality.

(The US is desperate for antimony ever since China banned antimony exports in September last year due to its importance in military applications).

To evolve into a US domestic antimony producer within the next 18 months, LKY will be leveraging its:

• Very strong connections into the US Department of Defense through its agreement with GreenMet to secure government funding and fastrack permitting,
• Antimony processing technology that it is developing with Rice University

LKY will be drilling at its Desert Antimony project before the end of the year... so we should get a better understanding of the project’s antimony mineralisation and potential.

Keep on reading for what else we had to say about LKY this week further down.

LKY was our second last stop on this US trip, next we will be visiting Resolution Minerals’ (ASX:RML) Horse Heaven project in Idaho...

For an update on the Precious Metals Summit at Beaver Creek read our Saturday note here: Gold and Silver Bulls Take Beaver Creek

(and yes, we have a new silver stock coming next week...)

Stocks we covered this week: KAU, HAR, LKY, TG1, TTM, RML, EIQ, SGQ, L1M

KAU has halted production at its A1 gold mine in Victoria following a strategic review, prompted by lower gold production.

...and the market seemed to like it, since then KAU has hit new 3 years highs.

KAU has a healthy balance sheet, and retains its profitable Henty Gold Mine in Tasmania.

Our attention in Victoria is now on the exploration drilling happening at Maldon ~4.1km away from KAU’s processing plant, meanwhile profitable gold production from Henty in Tasmania continues.

You can also check out Argonaut’s latest analyst report on KAU after the A1 decision.

HAR hit high grade gold from shallow aircore drilling in Senegal - the market liked the news and almost ~$5M in stock was traded on Wednesday.

We definitely weren’t expecting results that strong from a ‘side asset’ - so the market reaction is understandable. HAR still has ‘very high grade’ drilling at California to come (on its its core asset).

LKY signed a non-binding agreement with EV Resources to take antimony concentrates from its project in Mexico that can be fed into LKY’s downstream partnership with Rice University.

The deal should mean LKY can go faster on its downstream tech strategy.

TG1 raised $1.2M in a top-up placement (on top of the $2.5M raised from the recent rights issue). It’s not everyday you see a fully underwritten rights issue be followed up with a top-up placement.

We took up our full rights in the rights issue. Looks like TG1 is getting a fair bit of interest in its two big copper exploration targets...

TTM announced drill results from its Joint Venture with a subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. The giant copper porphyry now extends across 1km of strike and over 1km depth...

Phase three of the JV deal is also underway, so clearly Gina’s crew likes what they are seeing.

Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML | OTC: RLMLF)

Our US gold and critical minerals Investment Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) recently started drilling next door to the $3BN Perpetua Resources.

Earlier this week we got our first update from drilling operations on site.

RML’s local technical experts have confirmed “host rock mineral textures observed in the drill core are very similar to that observed at the adjacent Perpetua Resources’”

Including the presence of “quartz veins associated with fine grained sulphides”, which is what Perpetua Resources giant gold-antimony deposit is hosted in.

A few months back RML hired an ex Perpetua geologist as a Technical Advisor - so RML has the in-house knowledge on what is next door at the $3BN company.

We even got some fluorescent tungsten visuals in three drill holes:

It's still early days here, with seven more holes still to be drilled, plus all assays to come back - but so far, so good...

RML’s project already has a non-JORC 283k ounce gold resource estimate and has produced antimony, tungsten and gold in the past.

RML is aiming to emulate a discovery similar to that of $3BN Perpetua Resources.

With RML capped at $70M (undiluted) and Perpetua at $3BN, something even 1/10th the size of Perpetua’s project could deliver a re-rate for RML...

Read More: RML drilling update: So far so good... next door to $3BN Perpetua

EchoIQ (ASX : EIQ)

A 400% gain in 6 days...

That’s the share price impact for ASX medtech company 4D Medical after having its product approved for reimbursement under a “Category III code.

We are Invested in EchoIQ (ASX:EIQ), which is also a medtech company in the imaging and diagnostics space.

EIQ is awaiting news on the exact same decision for its technology in the coming weeks.

(The past performance of 4D Medical is not an indicator of the future performance of EIQ.)

An American Medical Association (AMA) panel meeting is locked in for September 18-20th in Chicago to reach a decision on EIQ’s technology - this association determines who gets the reimbursement codes.

EIQ’s CEO said in a recent interview they would be presenting to the AMA on the 18th September.

We think EIQ could receive a Category III code receipt a few weeks later.

Read More: EIQ: A similar stock went up 400% in the last 6 days - EIQ gets its own outcome in the coming weeks

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ)

The US is banning its domestic defence contractors from using Chinese-sourced rare earth magnets and metals in any weapons system.

The US has set a date for when rare earth import bans come into effect - 31 December 2026 (Source) (Source).

From 2027 onwards, anyone buying rare earth products from China risks losing their valuable defence contracts with the US government.

Time to move fast, US magnet makers...

This looming deadline probably helps explain why REAlloys, a “leading US government (rare earth) magnet supplier”, just signed an MoU with our rare earths development stage Investment St George Mining (ASX:SGQ).

SGQ’s new potential downstream partner REAlloys is an integrated magnet materials & magnet producer for high-performance “US Protected Markets” including the:

• US National Defense Stockpile (NDS),
• US Defense Industrial Base (DIB),
• US Nuclear Industrial Base (NIB),
• Robotics, Electric Aviation and Critical Infrastructure Industries and
• for US Partner Countries with Defense Treaties, Alliances & Agreements.

The image on the front of ReAlloys website says it all:

(Source)

Read More: SGQ signs strategic rare earths alliance with US defence industry magnet maker

Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY)

The US urgently needs to onshore its critical mineral supply chains.

Especially critical minerals that are used in things like fighter jets, tanks, drones and AI infrastructure - like rare earths and antimony...

At the moment there is only one rare earths producer in the US - the $19BN capped MP Materials.

MP operates the Mountain Pass rare earths mine in California, with a processing facility next door.

Here’s our fresh photos from our site visit here today:

Our Investment Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) was one of the first ASX listed companies to see what was coming and secured ground around MP back in 2023.

Earlier this week LKY doubled its landholding next to MP Materials, and now has it surrounded.

MP wants to 10x its facility - and the Department of Defense (soon to be Dept of War?) and tech giant Apple are backing MP with a combined US$900M in funding.

Right now MP’s project and the ground around it is some of the hottest property on the ASX small cap market...

But LKY has pole position directly next door to MP, and has the giant surrounded...

Read More: LKY doubles landholding next door to $16BN US rare earths national champion

Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M)

The ASX small cap market appears ready and willing to re-rate strong gold exploration results.

Great timing for our exploration Investment Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M) - who is set to drill test its newly acquired Mt Turner gold-copper project in Queensland next week.

(the timing looks even better given another Queensland gold-copper ASX stock went up ~90% yesterday on a strong exploration result - more on that later... also - past performance is not an indicator of future performance)

L1M is due to start up to 1,300m of diamond drilling this week, following up strong historical gold hits.

L1M will be drilling targets below five historic open pits that were mined for gold back in the 1980s and 1990s - all along a horizontal fault structure.

L1M got a speeding ticket on Friday so perhaps news about L1M’s pending drill campaign is beginning to spread...

Read More: Micro cap L1M - Gold exploration drilling set for next week

Mining.com - Perpetua is eyeing a $2B US loan to restart its Idaho Stibnite project through the Export-Import Bank (EXIM), rapidly moving to re-establish America’s domestic antimony supply.

Financial Times - The UK is facing a growing stockpile of used EV batteries, with tens of thousands in storage due to limited recycling capacity and declining raw material prices.

St George Mining - MST Access Report

Kaiser Reef - Argonaut Report

American Uranium (ASX:AMU) - Strategic Rebrand & Partnership Targets Growing Nuclear Demand - American Uranium (ASX: AMU)

Canyon Resources (ASX:CAY) - Fast-Tracking World's Largest High-Grade Bauxite Development - Canyon Resources (ASX:CAY)

Lunch With The Boss: Craig Lindsay, JOEY Bentall One in Vancouver - Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML | OTCQB: RLMLF)

The New Gold Rush: Why Australia’s Miners Say This Time Is Different (Bloomberg Television)

A word of caution...

While we aim to highlight developments in the small cap space, investing in early-stage and small cap companies - like those we cover - is inherently risky.

These companies often face funding challenges, regulatory hurdles, and market volatility. Announcements may reflect aspirations more than guaranteed outcomes.

Things can, and often do, change.

Just because a company has signed a deal, released drill results, or appointed a new director doesn’t mean success is assured.

Always assume delays, cost overruns, or results that don’t pan out.

We’re here to share insights, not offer personal financial advice - so please do your own research and speak with a licensed adviser before acting on anything mentioned.

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Bye for now.