FBM - Future Battery Minerals

[greggles]

AOU sold off over the last couple of months and now back to 14c. It's make or break time with the following news coming soon:

1. RC drilling at the Leinster Nickel Project – assay results pending
2. Assay results for the fifth diamond drill-hole (HNDD0011) completed at the Woodwind Prospect in which stringers of pyrrhotite and pentlandite were observed.
3. Next phase of RC drilling at high-priority target areas of the 10km of strike at the Nepean Nickel Project

AOU has been facing some strong headwinds with the end of financial year selling and recent downturn on US markets. The next month or two will be critical. I hope management keep the market informed and be sure to mark announcements as price sensitive when they deserve it.

 

[greggles]

Announcement through this morning that planning has commenced for a maiden 3,000m drill programme to explore for economic nickel sulphide mineralisation below the historic high-grade Nepean nickel mine workings.

The drill program is expected to commence at the end of July and will comprise up to five drill-holes. RC drilling will be utilised to collar the five drill-holes down to depths of approximately 300m, after which diamond drilling will complete each hole.

Good to see AOU keeping the drill rig busy. That will keep the news flow coming through and hopefully produce some good assay results.

 

[greggles]

AOU being accumulated today after this announcement was released this morning:

Sounds promising, and AOU are wasting no time putting the drill rig to work. A lot happening with AOU at the moment, and news flow should increase over the coming months.

AOU has come back nicely from the recent low of 14c and is now trading at 20c.

 

[greggles]

Assay results from the first of three diamond drill holes completed in May have been announced. NPDD007 was drilled to just 78 metres in depth and returned 4.64m @ 2.99% Ni & 0.13% Cu from 71.58m.

There are assay results from two further diamond drill holes and 15 RC drill holes that are currently pending.

The upcoming "Nepean Deeps" diamond drill programme is on schedule to begin within the next two weeks.

Initial results are very good with high nickel grades from NPDD007. More assay results coming soon and the "Nepean Deeps" diamond drill program commencing by mid-August should see news flow ramp up over the next couple of months.

 

[bux2000]

If I may could I put my name on RVR please Joe.

I live in the hope RVR doesn't succumb to that old Plumbers Lament .........'The Royal Flush'
Orchestrated this month by 'How low can you go?' and a moving rendition by 'Splash'

 

[greggles]

AOU's share price has firmed this morning after news that the company's permit application for a planned drill program at the Ragless Range Zinc Target of the Arden Project in South Australia has been approved. All necessary approvals have now been received and the program (comprising three to five diamond drill-holes for up to 1,000m) is expected to commence next month.

 

[greggles]

AOU has fallen back to 11c and is starting to look a bit oversold.

MD Aidan Platel presents an AOU Corporate Presentation at the recent South-West Connect ASX Showcase.

 

[Sean K]

AOU's share price has firmed this morning after news that the company's permit application for a planned drill program at the Ragless Range Zinc Target of the Arden Project in South Australia has been approved. All necessary approvals have now been received and the program (comprising three to five diamond drill-holes for up to 1,000m) is expected to commence next month.

What happened to the Nepean Deeps thing, Greggles? Dusters?

 

[greggles]

What happened to the Nepean Deeps thing, Greggles? Dusters?

They're still drilling. Lots of deep diamond drilling going on and more assays due this month sometime. Results so far haven't gotten the market too excited, but they have just scratched the surface. Impatient holders are getting out.

 

[greggles]

Triple bottom at 10c. Seems like pretty solid support. A confident break through 14c on high volume would be a very bullish move.

Being a nickel explorer, AOU is just waiting for a catalyst. Assays are pending from the Arden Zinc-Copper Project and the Saints Nickel Project with a planned upgrade to the Saints MRE due in the near future.

 

[greggles]

Latest AOU update from MD Aiden Patel. "Near term production" mentioned more than once and talk of possible JVs with mid tier or large producers. With the current state of the nickel market that's good news for shareholders.

Announcements coming in the next few weeks.

 

[greggles]

AOU is in a trading halt this morning pending an announcement regarding a proposed acquisition. Well, at least it's not a capital raising. It will be interesting to see what the details of the acquisition are.

 

[greggles]

AOU acquires 80% interest in Nevada Lithium Project located close to other large lithium deposits including that of INR for 7,200,000 AOU shares and reimbursement of US$220,000 to the vendor for expenses already incurred in relation to the project.

This announcement ticks a lot of boxes but it hasn't exactly put a rocket up the share price, possibly because of the extremely speculative nature of the project and a little lithium fatigue in the market. Too early to tell whether the project has any real potential.

Just as interesting as the news of the acquisition is the company stating at the end of the announcement that it intends to undertake an internal review of its non-nickel assets with a view to unlock value, including potential demergers and separate listings. It's a bit short on detail, but at least management is being proactive about maximising the value of its assets.

 

[greggles]

AOU have released an Resource Upgrade for the Saints Nickel Project this morning. 2.3% Ni is a good grade. Hopefully continued drilling will define a larger resource and turn around AOU flagging share price.

Market cap is under $30 million.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Pushing higher,. ... Lithium this time

NEVADA LITHIUM PROJECT UPDATE
Highlights
• Site visit and key stakeholder meetings completed by senior management
• Experienced Nevada-based team has been established
• Updated mapping of key prospect areas has been completed, in addition to a review of all historical data, confirming high prospectivity for significant lithium mineralisation
• Maiden 1,000m drill programme has been planned and necessary work permits are being submitted and processed in the coming weeks
• Soil-sampling programme at Kanyaka and Hawker Rare Earth Element (REE) Prospects at the Arden Project in South Australia to commence next week

 

[greggles]

Pushing higher,. ... Lithium this time

NEVADA LITHIUM PROJECT UPDATE
Highlights
• Site visit and key stakeholder meetings completed by senior management
• Experienced Nevada-based team has been established
• Updated mapping of key prospect areas has been completed, in addition to a review of all historical data, confirming high prospectivity for significant lithium mineralisation
• Maiden 1,000m drill programme has been planned and necessary work permits are being submitted and processed in the coming weeks
• Soil-sampling programme at Kanyaka and Hawker Rare Earth Element (REE) Prospects at the Arden Project in South Australia to commence next week

Their nickel assets haven't really performed up to expectations, so perhaps they can do a little better with their lithium and REE projects. Time will tell but the market is clearly more excited about their lithium and REE prospects and with the AOU share price up 31% today.

 

[greggles]

Aiden Patel resigns as MD and CEO of AOU effective 1 January 2023 "to pursue other opportunities". AOU is in a tenuous position at the moment with $2.8 million in cash at the end of September. The last 18 months has seen the share price decimated with their nickel assets not living up to expectations and the company making an unexpected leap into the lithium business, which looked a little desperate.

The resignation can be viewed as the captain deserting his sinking ship, or as pressure being brought to bear because of the company's under-performance and new blood being sought to try and turn the company around. Whatever the reason, new blood is probably a good thing at this point.

A capital raising at current levels is far from ideal, but it almost seems inevitable given the company's current cash reserves. Management has really fumbled the ball in 2022 and someone needs to pick it up and run with it, but time is running out. Tick, tock...

 

[greggles]

Some good news for AOU finally with recent drilling intersecting high grade lithium at the Nepean Project.

However, this is what is interesting about these results in my opinion. The two holes that have been reported were drilled 150m apart, and both holes were approximately 420m away from a previous drill hole that intersected high grade lithium. This indicates there may be a sizeable lithium deposit as Nepean.

AOU is immediately commencing a high priority exploration programme to follow up on these results, which is probably the smartest thing they can do at the moment given that there will be a CR early in 2023.

 

[greggles]

AOU in a trading halt pending an announcement regarding a capital raising. It is unfortunate for shareholders that AOU needs to raise capital at current levels, but when you run out of cash, well, you run out of cash. I hope management have very specific plans following this capital raise to get the share price moving in the right direction in 2023, necessitating only modest dilution this time around.

The announcement is due Monday so we will find out the details then.

 

[greggles]

AOU raising $2.65 million in an oversubscribed placement at 4.8c to accelerate exploration at its lithium projects. They got this away at a reasonable price and are raising a relatively modest amount of cash. A better result that I expected. Now it's time to start delivering some results.