Sunday Edition: 31st August

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd and its associated entities may hold direct or indirect interests in securities referred to in this publication and may receive fees or other forms of consideration from entities mentioned. These interests and arrangements may create a potential conflict of interest in the preparation of this material.

The information contained in this communication is provided for general information purposes only and may relate to speculative investments. It does not constitute financial product advice, and has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any investment decision.

Silver and gold had great runs and both hit new highs on Friday night and into Saturday morning (Australian Time).

(Saturday morning is when global precious metals trading closes for the week).

ASX trading was already closed so ASX listed silver and gold stocks haven’t had a chance to respond yet to these price pops yet...

Monday we’ll be watching two things:

1. Will silver and gold prices keep going up when precious metals trading opens? (about 2 hours before the ASX opens)
   
   
2. How will our gold and silver stocks respond when ASX trading commences? (SS1, MTH, WCE and TTM)
   
   

Yesterday we wrote a bit about a potential generational move for the silver price - which would drive interest into the few listed silver stocks on the ASX.

We have been noticing a lot of “technical chartists” (who try to predict future price moves by analysing price chart patterns) talking about a multi-decade bullish “cup and handle formation” in the silver price chart.

Here’s what one generally looks like (we like the bit where the price goes up after the cup and handle formation if completed):

Chartists reckon there is a 50 year giant cup and handle forming in silver - one of the biggest and longest brewing ones ever seen...

(get it... “brewing”. Like coffee, which you have in a cup.)

Here is our interpretation:

(read what on earth this means from somebody who sounds like they know what they are talking about here or watch a chartist explaining it here).

In summary, the technical chartists’ consensus is that silver needs to decisively break above the significant resistance level of US$50 per ounce to complete the “multi-decade cup and handle formation”.

If this breakout above US$50 occurs, technical analysts reckon the next price targets for silver to be in the US$87 to US$96 per ounce range.

Some analysts even suggest prices could go significantly higher, potentially to hundreds of dollars per ounce when adjusted for inflation.

(or of course, it might also go down... even chartists get it wrong)

Anyway, US$40 on Monday morning would be a great start...

Yesterday we wrote about how the market needs a few macro themes to be firing at once to get into a proper sustained bull market for small stocks, and whether IVZ’s big Qatari deal could nudge life back into oil & gas explorers to contribute to the broader small cap sentiment....

Read: Gold, Silver, Critical Metals... and Now Oil & Gas? The 2025 Small Cap Rally Heats Up

Today we provide updates on the the following stocks: EMD, LKY TG1, HAR, SS1, RML, IVZ, SLM, MTH

EMD highest ever daily volume as the company presents future growth

EMD is the first (and only) company in Australia to have the regulatory approval AND the backing of a major health insurer to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Medibank will cover the cost of EMD's psychiatrist-led PTSD therapies for any of its eligible ~4 million members.

Almost 10% of the EMD share register (or $2.8M in stock) turned over on Wednesday when the company published a market update that outlined:

• First Medibank-funded patients have started their care
• Record monthly patient dosing activity
• Perth Clinic expanding its capacity to keep up with demand (“nearing capacity for 2025”)
• Avive Health clinic in Brisbane on track to open this year

The key highlight for us was that the Perth Clinic is “nearing capacity for 2025” and that “in August EMD expects to conduct more dosing sessions than the previous four months combined”.

The company also presented a webinar the following day to go through the results:

(Watch the video here)

In the webinar EMD teased the other potential funders for its program including:

• The Department of Veteran Affairs (who has committed to funding members for PTSD treatment, but doesn’t have a direct deal with EMD)
• Work Cover Australia - who is providing case-by-case funding approval

One key slide that stood out to us from EMD’s update is that of the 10 patients that had work related PTSD, all 10 went back to work within six months.

Work Covers largest expense is to the Australian Federal Police for PTSD, we see these results as game changing for the insurance companies:

On the corporate front, T2 shares from EMD’s 2.4 cent placement were issued after market on Friday.

Also, EMD’s has a live loyalty option scheme with a 1 option for every 4 shares held (exercisable at 5 cents).

The record date for the option is the 12th of September.

LKY partners with Washington DC advisory group

This week Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY | OTCQB: LKYRF) engaged the services of a US government lobby group GreenMet.

From their website, GreenMet is comprised of:

“Green Berets, ex-CIA officials, and other defense experts, the GreenMet team looks at the critical minerals industry through a unique national security lens.”

GreenMet is led by Drew Horn, who worked in the Defence and Energy departments during Donald Trump’s first term.

Horn represented the US’ interests in Greenland and inspected the rare earth potential of the state (when Trump was trying to “buy Greenland”):

Bloomberg also covered Drew’s trip to Greenland in this feature article.

With the US government showing its willingness to back US critical minerals projects, we are hoping LKY with the help of GreenMet can bring US government interest into its projects.

TG1 completes heritage survey, drilling next?

Our micro capped exploration Investment TechGen Metals (ASX:TG1) put out an update on its Blue Devil Project.

(this is our favourite project from TG1 where it plans to drill test a giant EM conductor target for copper)

TG1 has now completed its on-country heritage clearance survey, an important milestone that allows exploration to move ahead.

Here is the target:

TG1 has now:

• Signed a Heritage Protection Agreement with the Jaru people
• Completed the heritage survey (with the outcome / report now pending)

This sets up the company for the next milestone which is government granting of the tenure (pending the outcome of the survey).

Once granted, TG1 will be able to drill test its project.

Concurrently it’s working up drilling at Mt Boggola, which is also planning to drill soon.

TG1 is currently raising funds from existing shareholders via a rights issue, with shares priced at 1.8 cents and include 1 option for every 2 TG1 shares subscribed for and issued.

We intend to participate in this rights issue, watch the TG1 webinar from this week here:

HAR starts preparations for drilling at US gold project

Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR) is gearing up to drill its gold project in California.

After completing the acquisition earlier this month, HAR has now received approvals to start the dewatering process at its underground decline.

Once the dewaterings is done, HAR can get a drill rig down into the decline and start drilling.

We recently visited HAR’s gold project in California and saw the infrastructure around the project and entrance to the decline:

Read our full site visit here: HAR: Richest section of the California gold rush Mother Lode and fully permitted processing plant.... and we saw it.

SS1 assays 65 metres of antimony on US silver project

Our 2024 Small Cap Pick of the Year Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) assayed 65m of antimony mineralisation this week inside its giant 480M ounce silver equivalent JORC resource estimate.

SS1’s project is the biggest pre-production silver asset on the ASX and in the USA.

SS1’s current resource is built on over 200 historic drillholes.

SS1 is currently re-assaying those old holes to see if an antimony resource can also be defined on the project.

So far we have seen SS1 assay antimony across a 2.4km x 1.4km area over its resource.

Today, we saw another hole within that area come back with ~65m of mineralisation averaging ~0.1 to 0.11% antimony.

The assay results are well above the average grades of the current biggest antimony resource in the USA - ~$2.9BN Perpetua Resources project which has average grades of ~0.06% to 0.07% antimony.

RML ends asset sale negotiations

Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML | OTCQB: RLMLF) announced this week that it will not go ahead with the $225M non-binding indicative offer it received on 6th August from NASDAQ listed Snow lake.

RML said that the main reason for the deal being called off was because of the structure of the transaction.

With the deal off the table, RML’s share price can now find a level where no expectations are priced in from a proposed takeover.

We think that this opens up the better possibility for RML’s share price to re-rate on good drill results now (with expectations now lower).

Drilling has started, assays soon.

Members of Qatar’s Royal Family invest ~$38M for 19.9% stake in IVZ.

We see a lot of deals on the markets... but this one from Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) is pretty epic (by our standards), you be the judge.

This deal between IVZ and Al Mansour (the investment vehicle for the senior members of the Qatari royal family) is pretty unique:

• Al Mansour will invest US$25M (~A$39M) into IVZ at 9.5c (79% premium to IVZ’s last traded price)
• This will position Al Mansour as a 19.9% shareholder of IVZ
• Al Mansour will provide US$500 million of conditional future funding to bring the Cabora Bassa Project into commercial production.
• AND IVZ will get a 10% free carried interest in a new, Qatar funded Joint Venture mandated to find and develop more African Oil & Gas projects.
  
  

This Joint Venture wants to become “the largest private Qatari E&P [Exploration and Production] company with interests outside of Qatar”.

Yes...IVZ gets 10% of this new JV company... for no money down... it will be fully funded by members of Qatar’s royal family and IVZ’s management team will be running it.

Plus ~$38M now (with up to US$500M more) to get its current project into production...

(that is as good as a cap raise gets in the current oil and gas macro environment for an ASX listed small cap... AND allows IVZ to step off the perpetual cap raising hamster wheel that kept belting the share price in recent years)

Read More: IVZ: Qatar ruling royal family invests $38M for 19.9% stake in IVZ. Plus US$500M in conditional future financing. And IVZ free carried on a new O&G Joint Venture....

LKY is fast tracking USA antimony mining AND now antimony processing too?

The US government needs more critical minerals and onshore critical metals processing.

Processing minerals is just as important to securing supply chains as finding them and digging them up...

Antimony is critical to the US defense sector, essential for producing ammunition, explosives, armoured vehicles and flame-retardant materials.

There’s a few big problems for the US though.

China has banned exports to the US and there’s no antimony mines in operation in the US.

Earlier in the week, our Investment Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY | OTCQB: LKYRF), signed a legally binding R&D agreement with Texas based Rice University to develop an antimony processing technology.

(source - LKY announcement)

Rice University has been associated with some of the most successful industrial projects on the ASX in the last few years.

Rice University is the same university that developed the:

• ~$600M capped Weebit Nano ReRAM semiconductor technology and
• ~$400M capped Metallium Flash Joule Heating technology.

Prior to both companies’ transformative Rice University partnerships, Weebit Nano and Metallium were tiny ASX stocks.

Here is how each stock traded in the years following Rice University licencing agreements:

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.

And now LKY is partnering with Rice University on the development of antimony processing technology.

Read More: LKY: Fast tracking USA antimony mining AND now antimony processing too?

SLM’s first hole shows visual mineralisation from surface

A very nice first hole...

Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM)’s onsite geologists have eyeballed the latest drill cores to come out and seen “extensive” porphyry copper from surface at grades they estimate to be between 0.1% to 0.4% copper...

SLM has the right type of rocks - “copper in a porphyry setting”.

And visual mineralisation extending ~460m from surface...

And visual estimates of grades range from 0.1-0.4% copper.

If all of that translates to strong lab assay grades of copper and gold it could be quite the first hit from the target we were most looking forward to.

IF the coming lab test results confirm the visual estimates announced this week... it could also come in better than the discovery intercepts that triggered a ~700% rally in ASX listed AusQuest’s share price (on similar targets, also in Peru).

(noting that visuals are not an accurate estimate, the lab assays will give us the best understanding of grades - they are due in a few weeks time. Also the past performance of AQD is not an indicator of the future performance of SLM)

Read More: SLM: First hole, visual mineralisation from surface - more holes to come and assays in a few weeks

MTH completes drilling at Target Area 5... results any day now?

Mithril Silver & Gold (ASX:MTH) has announced the first three drill holes have been completed at “Target Area 5”.

MTH is drilling right now to increase the size of its silver JORC resource in Mexico, and Target Area 5 is our favourite of MTH’s step out target areas.

This drilling was at the historical Apomal mine where MTH recently built road access for the drill rig.

Before drilling, MTH did some surface channel sampling and announced these grades a few weeks ago:

(Source MTH channel sampling results announcement July 29th 2025)

MTH also found an old 130m long underground adit parallel to a ~1.6km wide, 500m long vein system here.

Which tells us the old timers definitely saw something worth spending a lot of time on here...

After waiting a long time for drill rig access roads to be built, MTH just started the first ever modern drilling at this target to test below the historic mine shafts and into the giant mapped vein systems....

(which is why Target Area 5 is our favourite...)

The first ever results from this Target Area could be released any day now...

(Source - Today's MTH announcement)

MTH also revealed a 3.3m at 8.63g/t gold and 41.2g/t silver hit 500m away from its high grade 373Koz gold and 11Moz silver JORC resource at Target Area 1.

(MTH is looking to double the resource at Target Area 1 this year)

Two rigs are drilling now with a third drill rig on the way...

Read More: MTH Silver and Gold : First Target Area 5 drill holes completed.. results any day now?

(Source)

The psychedelics macro thematic is gaining traction.

This week psychedelics stocks in the US spiked on news of a US$1.2 billion transaction between AbbVie and Gilgamesh over a psychedelic-based drug acquisition:

This news follows reports last month that the United States Secretary of Health head of US Healthcare RFK Junior (and the Trump Administration) is in favour of psychedelic therapies.

(Source)

US stocks Mind Med and Atai Life Sciences spiked on the news:

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.

We think that these pieces of news is hinting that the psychedelic macro thematic is just starting to heat up:

We saw this play out in our own Portfolio with our psychedelic clinical services company Emyria (ASX:EMD) doing its largest ever traded volume on Wednesday:

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.

EMD is the first (and only) company in Australia to have the regulatory approval AND the backing of a major health insurer to deliver psychedelic assisted therapies.

EMD has a deal with Medibank to cover the cost of EMD's psychiatrist-led PTSD therapies for any of its eligible ~4 million members.

This week EMD announced an operations update (which was the same day that 10% of the share register turned over):

• First Medibank-funded patients start their care
• Record monthly patient dosing activity
• Perth Clinic expanding its capacity to keep up with demand (“nearing capacity for 2025”)
• Avive Health clinic in Brisbane on track to open this year

We think that the psychedelics macro theme is very much in its infancy, and more deals like the $1.2 billion AbbVie one will bring more investor attention to the sector.

EMD is only one of a handful of plays on the ASX for psychedelic therapy and mental health treatment.

Saudi Central Bank Reportedly Takes Historic Stake in Silver ETF - The Deep Dive

Every so often, a major shift in capital allocation signals the start of a new investment cycle.

This week a strong signal came from an unexpected place: Riyadh.

According to reports, the Saudi Central Bank has quietly taken a historic stake in a silver ETF, its first ever, maybe even the first central bank to do so.

Russia has also earmarked that it will be employing a similar strategy in regards to allocating silver in its reserve fund from this year.

Why is this important?

Because central banks almost exclusively buy gold when it comes to reserve assets.

For a sovereign wealth powerhouse like Saudi Arabia to diversify into silver suggests a growing recognition of its role not just as an industrial metal, but as a monetary one.

This is happening against a backdrop of:

• A surge in physical silver demand, particularly for green energy technologies (solar panels, EVs etc).
• Tightening supply, with global mine production having stagnated over the last decade (lack of price = lack of incentive for capital investment).
• Silver’s traditional role as a cousin to gold during monetary stress (silver has traditionally acted as an elastic band absorbing pressure while gold moves, until it eventually snaps releasing that energy).

Silver has already outperformed gold year-to-date, yet mainstream investors are still slow to react to the move.

ETF flows into bullion funds are picking up, but allocations into silver miners still remain subdued, much like gold miners before they started and continue to re-rate.

Importantly this is with considerably less silver exposure options available, and even less quality ones...

Which we see as a recipe for a sustained move.

While Gold remains the go to safe haven, perhaps with the Saudi’s move, silver might be beginning to step into the spotlight as the “other monetary metal.”

If more central banks follow suit, this could mark a new structural source of demand.

Here are our current sIlver exposures:

• Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) - has the biggest pre-production silver asset on the ASX and in the USA (which could also host a giant antimony resource). SS1’s current resource estimate sits at 480M ounces silver equivalent.
  
• Mithril Silver and Gold (ASX:MTH) - 373k ounce gold, 11M ounce silver JORC resource estimate in Mexico. MTH is looking to have three rigs on the ground and grow that resource to ~2.5-3M ounces gold equivalent over the next 12-14 months.
  
• West Coast Silver (ASX: WCE) - looking to extend the Elizabeth Hill silver mine (which was the highest grade silver mine in Australia when it was last in production in the 1990’s). WCE is trying to extend the leftover resources at the mine and hopefully make a repeat discovery on its regional targets.
  
• Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) - which has a 3.1M ounce gold, 22M ounce silver JORC resource estimate at one of its four projects in Ecuador. TTM also has a Joint Venture with a subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting on its copper project in Ecuador.

Invictus Energy Webinar - Strategic partnership with AI Mansour Holdings - Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ | OTCQB: IVCTF)

Titan Minerals CEO on Dynasty results, Cerro Verde and Linderos JV Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM)

Locksley teams up with Rice University on critical minerals Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY | OTCQB: LKYRF)

Ellis Martin Report with Resolution Minerals’ Craig Lindsay #gold #antimony #Tungsten #silver $RLMLF Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML | OTCQB: RLMLF)

Hanging Out in Hated Places with Rick Rule (Money of Mine)

Key takeaways:

• Rick Rule is bullish Oil & Gas as “currently neglected” commodity
• Rare earths are being driven by government influence, when asked if all of the easy money from rare earths is gone “I don’t think so”.
• Late in the podcast (56:49) Rick Rule gives his bullish silver sentiment. He thinks silver could go crazy soon in the current bull market, and have several consecutive days of large moves. Rick Rule notes that ‘the punter community in Australia’ is not yet investing in silver, USA investors more across the silver story.

Portfolio update

We have moved Euro Manganese (ASX:EMN) to our bottom drawer.

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.