Copper markets have once again lit up after the key energy transition metal saw a more than 25% price increase over the past 6 months to break US$10,000/ton, moving closer to all time highs.

And capital markets, including ASX listings, are not far behind.

Key base metal projects next to the world’s largest EV battery market

Asian Battery Minerals is an exploration company with three projects in the copper, nickel, graphite and lithium space. All projects are located in Mongolia, the vastly underexplored, yet rapidly advancing mining jurisdiction adjacent to the largest EV battery market in the world – China.

Having been one of only seven out of hundreds of companies applying for the investment and expert advice granted by BHP’s coveted Xplore Program in 2023, it is no surprise that the Asian Battery Minerals team sees the company on the cusp of a major discovery for its flagship Oval project.

Following a successful scout drilling campaign which saw mineralisation for every hole, an initial 6.5Mt exploration target has been outlined, but with geophysical targets that could extend to a larger resource base if the geology proves to be consistent – which sets the scene for the drill rigs to immediately start turning post listing.

With veteran copper analysts like Max Layton forecasting the red metal as having potential to hit US$15,000 in 2025, it is an opportunity to get exposure to a company that was priced in January before the recent bull run – and is being run by a management team with deep expertise in the region.

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Join us for a live investor briefing to discover why Asian Battery Minerals experienced leadership team believes the company is on the right track for success. Click here to book your spot or request a replay.

Flagship Copper-Nickel Project at the Epicentre of the Energy Transition

In the heart of the low-cost, pro-mining Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the company’s flagship magmatic copper-nickel sulphide Oval project was subject to a scout drilling program that was extremely successful, with every hole encountering mineralisation up to 200m in depth. Notably, the last hole reached 200m and ended in mineralisation.

Standout drill intersects include 73.0m @ 0.59% Cu, 0.42% Ni, 0.2g/t E3 from 127m, including 6m @ 1.92% Cu, 1.05% Ni, 0.67g/t E3 from 170m in OVD009, 33m @ 1.85% Cu, 0.44% Ni, 0.64 g/t E3 from 1m in OVD004, as well as a semi-massive sulphide intersection of 10.8m @ 0.52% Cu, 0.42% Ni, 0.1g/t E3 from 80m including 1.8m @ 1.25% Cu, 0.95% Ni, 0.17g/t E3 from 89m was recorded in drillhole OVD008.

This campaign was limited to the ‘Oval Prospect’, which consists of a 0.5km strike length area in a broader geophysical anomaly over 1.2 km, which was subject to gravity and IP surveys that have identified potential extensions of mineralisation. There have been disseminated, dense disseminated, globular, and semi massive sulphide texture detected in the drilling campaign.

There are also the 1.2km strike MS1 area, which has been subject to IP, gravity and magnetic surveying, and the 3.4km strike MS2 area, which has been subject to geology, magnetic and geochemistry analysis. There are also other targets across the 106 square kilometre exploration tenement.

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There are numerous features of the project that imply a significant mineralisation event occurred at Oval, which is a good sign for the project but also the entire region.

There is also a favourable tectonic setting, where a margin of craton in a pre-collisional setting was identified (based on the study by GETECH) and is relevant to more than 81,000 km2 in the region and makes it prospective for Ni-Cu-PGE exploration. This district scale potential is backed up by Devonian to Permian magmatism in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) collisional (arc/post-subduction) region, which was possibly derived from hydrous pyroxenitic mantle, enriched and hydrated during subduction.

Goldman Sachs sees the market needing US$150 billion of capital expenditure investment into new operations over the next 8 years in order to meet demand, with the investment bank and numerous other groups including BlackRock and CRU Group forecasting copper prices between US$12,000 – US$13,000/ton as the only way the spending will occur.

Click here to request the prospectus or make your bid

Join our live investor briefing with Gan-Ochir. Click here to book your spot or request a replay.

World Class Jurisdiction with Tier 1 Copper Assets

There are few large copper mines and projects in Mongolia in different parts of the country, and most are known for porphyry style copper mineralization.

Open pit mining began at Oyu Tolgoi in 2011 and the copper concentrator, the largest industrial complex ever built in Mongolia, began processing mined ore into copper concentrate in 2013. It is on track to become the fourth largest copper producer in the world, predicting enough of the red metal to make 6 million new electric vehicles or 60 of the biggest wind farms every year. Upon reaching full capacity in 2030, it is expected to increase the Mongolian economy by around 30%.

After piling in billions of dollars during the initial construction, Rio Tinto committed to a $7 billion expansion project in 2022 that will see it boost production to 500ktpa of copper, up from the current 168ktpa. In March 2023, underground production began at Oyu Tolgoi, making it a high-performing surface and underground integrated copper business, and one of the most important copper producers in the world.

Mongolia is on a mission to grow their GDP by growing their mining industry. The country was traditionally an agricultural based economy, but underwent extreme transformation during the 1990’s which saw mining emerge as the largest revenue generating industry.

Mining makes up 93% of total exports, 58% of the Foreign Direct Investment, 30% of the national budget and 23% of the Gross Domestic Product. Currently, over 10,000 deposits of more than 80 types of minerals have been discovered in Mongolia, including copper, gold, coal, iron, petroleum, tungsten, uranium, zinc and rare earth minerals.

Click here to request the prospectus or make your bid.

Click here to hear directly from Gan-Ochir in our live investor briefing.

Veteran Management Team and Graphite Kicker

There is an interesting link between the vast Oyu Tolgoi project and the company when it comes to the people in charge.

After serving on the board of Oyu Tolgoi, Asian Battery Minerals Managing Director Gan-Ochir utilised his deep expertise and connections in the region to acquire a highly prospective tenement package that could become substantial copper discovery. ASX investors will remember Gan and his team from the Aspire Mining (AKM) IPO, which they listed and took all the way to an $800 million market cap.

Gan has also brought back Non-Executive Chairman David Paull, who has over 30 years of experience in mining, including the last 10 years in Mongolia with ASX-listed Aspire Mining Ltd as Managing Director and Chairman.

With the Asian Battery Minerals team is Non-Executive Director Neil Young, who is also CEO of $150 million market cap Elixir Energy (ASX: EXR), and Non-Executive Director Kirsten Livermore, who led the Australia Mongolia Extractives Program.

Oval is not the only project that Gan managed to acquire, with a Kukh Tag shaping up to be an excitingly large and sustainable graphite tenement. The project’s current mineral resource is 12.2Mt @ 12.3% TGC, of which almost 90% is inferred. However, this appears to barely scratch the surface of the project given the exploration target the company has released reveals the potential for an additional 13.6Mt-84.3Mt @ 5.2%-9.1% TGC, outlining the possibility for almost 100Mt .

Kukh Tag exhibits attractive metrics, with the potential for  much lower CO2 emissions, and  less transportation costs than African suppliers. The resource is based on a cut-off grade that is derived from ore mining and processing costs of US$3.3/t and US$19.03/t, respectively.

Graphite produced from Kukh Tag will have a very short journey to travel in order to get over the border and into China, where a gigafactory is waiting in close proximity. Kukh Tag is 35km from the power grid, 80km from a railway, 70km from a paved road and 335km from UB City.

Ultimately, the Asian Battery Minerals team has been able to utilise their strong track record and deep understanding of the Mongolian mining landscape to gain priority access to low cost, low risk projects that have significant exploration upside potential. These projects are aimed at making a positive contribution to the global renewable energy transition and the Mongolian economy.

Click here to request the prospectus or make your bid. If you would like to speak to an adviser, please call Reach Markets on 1300 80 57 95.

Click here to hear directly from Gan-Ochir in our live investor briefing.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.