Directors' Trades: A trio of directors from this copper stock chipped in amidst the boom

This fortnight’s list of directors who traded over $100,000 in shares included a trio from NSW-focused copper explorer Peel Mining (ASX:PEX).

Peel undertook a rights issue and James Simpson bought $101,801, Simon Hadfield bought $100,150 and Graham Hardie bought $212,422.

One other director, Robert Tyson, bought in too but just under $80,000.

It’s been a busy 2021 for the company which has undertaken maiden resource definition drilling at its Wirlong project yielding results of up to 5.78 per cent copper.

While the company also has interests in silver and gold, undoubtedly copper is the space to be in right now. Benchmark copper prices are at decade highs and gaining 25 per cent in 2021.

Copper prices are being supported by industrial output and manufacturing continuing to rise from COVID-19 lows as well as concerns about potential mine disruptions.

Code	Company	Director	Change	Date	Volume	$	What
TTM	Titan Minerals	Matthew Carr	Buy	16 April	2,461,009	$247,420	On market
JXT	Jaxsta	Jacqui Scloorl	Sell	20 April	3,350,000	$251,250	Off market
ARO	Astro Resources	Jacob Leo Khouri	Buy	19 April	19,938,583	$273,077	On market
HNG	HRL Holdings	Alex White	Buy	21 April	3,847,216	$461,666	On market
BID	Bill Identity	David Hancock	Buy	22 April	135,000	$100,500	On market
ASM	Australian Strategic Materials	Ian Gandel	Buy	23 April	2,105,611	$10,106,933	Rights Issue
PEX	Peel Mining	James Simpson	Buy	23 April	384,156	$101,801	Rights Issue
PEX	Peel Mining	Simon Hadfield	Buy	23 April	377,923	$100,150	Rights Issue
PEX	Peel Mining	Graham Hardie	Buy	23 Apr	801,594	$212,422	Rights Issue
NXS	Next Science	Daniel Spira	Sell	26 April	362,342	$568,877	On market
HYM	Hyperion Metals	Todd Hannigan	Buy	23 April	453,317	$435,201	On market
NIC	Nickel Mines	Mark Lochtenberg	Buy	27 April	2,000,000	$2,280,800	On market
CTD	Corporate Travel Management	Laura Ziolkowski	Sell	22 April	50,000	$1,005,870	On market
PRL	Province Resources	Patrick Burke	Buy	23 April	6,666,666	$100,000	Capital raising
MAT	Matsa Resources	Paul Poli	Buy	24 March	1,281,000	$102,480	Rights Issue
MBH	Maggie Beer	Tom Kiing	Buy	26 April	757,143	$265,000	Rights Issue
MBH	Maggie Beer	Hugh Robertson	Buy	26 April	769,619	$269,367	Rights Issue
AX1	Accent Group	Michael Hapgood	Sell	28 April	2,500,000	$7,000,000	Off market

Other director purchases

Other buyers in the resources space included Matthew Carr of Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) who purchased $247,420 in his company’s shares. Titan’s flagship project is the 2 million ounce Dynasty project in Ecuador’s South.

The biggest buyer of all was Ian Gandel of Australian Strategic Minerals (ASX:ASM) who bought over $10 million in his company’s rights issue.

This company specialises in rare earths and other critical minerals and has tenements in near Dubbo in NSW. It is hoping to complete an optimisation study next quarter and is discussing offtake arrangements with South Korean manufacturing parties.

Mark Lochtenberg of Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) was a big buyer too, chipping in $2.28 million on market.

There were few other buyers in other sectors but following on from celebrity chef Maggie Beer’s purchase of shares in her company Maggie Beer (ASX:MBH), two other directors joined in.

Tom Kiing bought $265,000 and Hugh Robertson nought $269,367.

Sellers

There were two sales over $1 million this week.

One was made by Michael Hapgood from Accent Group (ASX:AX1), which owns footwear franchises. He parted with $7 million in shares off market.

Laura Ziolkowski of Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) sold just over $1 million in shares off market.

Neither director gave a reason for their sale, but Next Science’s (ASX:NXS) Daniel Spira, who sold just over $500,000 in shares, did so to fund tax costs of exercising options.

The company’s shares rose last week after its antibacterial solution was approved by the FDA.