Venture Minerals has multiple routes to a re-rating in 2022

A joint venture with Chalice and tin-tungsten exploration are just two irons Venture has in the fire, any of which could be a game changer for the company in 2022.

Lots Venture’d

2021 was full of noteworthy milestones, namely the first shipment of iron ore from Venture’s Riley mine in Tasmania; recommencing exploration drilling at the Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project; starting the underground feasibility study at Mount Lindsay and; Chalice starting and completing the first stage of its joint venture earn-in.

Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) had reached steady state iron production from Riley in August and made its first shipment of iron ore before suspending operations due to the rapidly declining price of 62% iron from US$230 per tonne to US$106/t.

This was coupled with lower demand for lower-grade ore and rising shipping prices.

Over at the Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project, the restart of exploration has begun with the discovery of two new mineralised skarns while drilling targeting high-grade zones within the existing deposit continues to return substantial intersections of high-grade mineralisation including 147m grading 1% tin and 0.2% tungsten.

The company has also started a feasibility study into the potential for an underground mine focused on the high-grade tin and tungsten zones within the project, which is already one of the largest undeveloped tin projects in the world with over 80,000t of contained tin metal.

Meanwhile, Julimar owner Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) has completed the first stage of its joint venture to test a ‘Julimar lookalike’ at the South West project after spending the $300,000 it requires to move on to the next stage of exploration.

It has now completed an electromagnetic survey over the Thor target that has already defined new EM anomalies of similar strength conductors to those that yielded wide and significant palladium intervals during the early drilling phase at Julimar.

All these are setting the stage for 2022 to be a watershed for the company.

Upside potential

With the strong demand for battery minerals and base metals required for the ongoing push for greater electrification, the ongoing work on the South West JV project and Mount Lindsay could deliver significant upside for the company in the event of a success or successes.

Chalice is expected to use the data from the EM survey to interpret resulting bedrock conductors early next year, ahead of soil geochemistry to define potential drill-ready targets.

Any successful intersection of nickel-copper-platinum group element mineralisation from any drilling that might result from this could supercharge the company’s shares by providing both a project with in-demand metals and a well-regarded partner.

Tin and tungsten are also highly-valued with prices of the former trading at near record levels, meaning that any new discovery at Mount Lindsay will also be warmly welcomed by investors.

Additionally, while its Riley iron ore mine remains suspended, it remains ready to restart operations at the drop of a hat should iron ore demand return and prices climb.

This article was developed in collaboration with Venture Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.