Weekly Metals Mining Rundown for Week Ending 21 Mar 2025 - Biggest Gainers Include Rhodium and Cobalt Metal Prices, and Uranium Junior Mining Stocks

This past week’s top & bottom metal price and mining company peer group movers include:

This past week’s top 40 performing metals mining stocks (out of Peer Table’s 432) include (share price rounding errors apply, as sourced from Google Finance):

No mining company announcements incorporated into this week’s Peer Table (resource updates, economic studies, changes in attributable project ownership) include:

• 19 Mar 2025 - Copper producer AIC Mines Limited (ASX:A1M) announced an updated resource for its Australian Eloise Copper underground mine and nearby satellites, following exploration and definition drilling completed in 2024. Importantly, resources grew significantly at the closest satellite (Jericho) which remains open along strike and at depth, with its indicated resources growing most by 54% in contained copper and 68% in contained gold which should bode well for future reserves conversions and plans for mill expansion to 1.1mtpa from 0.725mtpa for capex of A$60M. Overall combined resources across 4 deposits grew by 16% (copper) and 14% (gold) to 603 Mlbs CuEq (0.94 Moz AuEq) at a decent grade of 2.0% CuEq (2.6 g/t AuEq) - both at our estimated 3-month trailing average metal prices according to our Peer Table. A1M stock has outperformed since this announcencement, trading up 11% over past week (vs. peer group median flat +0%) to a Friday (21 Mar) closing market cap/lb of US$0.10/sh (vs. management’s stated discovery cost of A$0.02/lb Cu for these new resources) - now in-line with our copper producer median market cap/lb of $0.10/lb CuEq ($62/oz AuEq). But what makes A1M most attractive is growing resource potential (feeding growing future production) from its wide open Jericho deposit, along with its vast regional land package of additional growth potential, all feeding its central processing hub at Eloise (for which there may even be room for additional expansion beyond 1.1mtpa in the longer-term).

• 16 Mar 2025 - Intermediate gold producer Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and past-producer Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) announced a transformational combination, where RMS will acquire all ordinary shares of SPR for A$0.25 and 0.6957 new RMS shares (for each SPR share), representing a value of A$1.78 per SPR share, and a 11% premium to Friday 14 Mar closing price and market cap of US$1.3B (which we would attribute roughly half towards SPR’s mill replacement value and half to its mineral resources). SPR’s assets include its Dalgaranga mine with 2.9 Moz Au resources with 2.5 mtpa processing plant (mill), which is nearby to RMS’s strong cash-flowing Mt Magnet mine in Western Australia. The deal looks like it makes sense for both sides - SPR gets an 11% premium to its already solid market cap/oz resource of US$489/oz ($544/oz with premium) - which sounds high but also includes a 2.5 mtpa mill - and SPR also gets needed access to capital to bring Dalgaranga back online. This helped SPR shares rise 9% on Monday 17 Mar (vs. gold peer group medians rising 1-6%). RMS on other hand sold off -1% Monday, but closed the week-ending 21 Mar up 1% (vs. peer group median drop of -1%). This follows RMS’s announced 2.1 Moz, 17-year Mt Magnet mine plan update on 11 Mar that included mineral reserves of only 1.1 Moz (remainder of mine plan included resources) that re-rated RMS’s share price down -16% over past month (vs. peer group median gain of +9%). So while RMS had been in good shape with its March 11th announced 9.2Moz resources and strong near-term, low-cost, production profile; its mine plan’s reserves of 1.1Moz together with production guidance falling from 270-300koz this FY to 200koz next FY appeared to concern some investors. This acquisition of SPR should ultimately help alleviate that, especially once RMS has a chance to convert a chunk of Dalgaranga’s 2.9Moz resource to reserves (in a reserve update targeted before CYE 2025). Pending a shareholder vote, this deal is due to close July-Aug 2025. And the proforma combined entity closed trading Tuesday at a proforma RMS market cap of US$2.9B (including an additional 891M sh to be issued to SPR) which equates to a week-ending (21 Mar) market cap/oz resource of US$233/oz including the SPR resources (only slightly above where RMS traded before the deal, but leaving it much better positioned on market cap/oz reserve). This proforma RMS market cap/oz just over 70th-percentile of our intermediate gold producer peer group - a justified premium to middle-of-pack for RMS’ 100-200kozpa+, low-cost, strong-cash flowing near-term production profile. And this premium could widen as this strong production profile is extended and shored up for the coming decade through conversion of the companies vast growing resources already at 12.1 Moz, which also makes RMS an attractive acquisition target for senior gold producers, whose peer group median market cap/oz of US$213/oz is more in line with that of RMS.

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