Thought I’d put together “a bit of a summary” on this great company as it can be a bit hard for new/potential investors (and even some long-termers) to keep up with all the projects/targets/activity that these guys churn out.
Before going any further, watch the latest presso (per below link) for the quickest way to do your DD (and/or get a really good start at it, plus all of the below info will make more sense if read after watching the presso (and then watch the presso again after reading the below!)):
Current Activities:
Best example of the pace of these guys is the upcoming newsflow that’s due over the next 2.5 or so weeks (11 trading days):
- 6 to 8 announcements due from:
-- target definition & generation at the Mangaroon project
-- additional FLEM survey results from Orion Ni-Cu-PGE (Tarraji project)
-- airborne mag survey over Yampi & Wombarella projects
-- additional rock chip results from REE targets at the Mangaroon project
-- quarterly activities
-- quarterly cashflow
-- drilling & results (start of) from Tarraji-Yampi (11 targets; 7 x VMS, 2 x Cu-Au, 2 x Ni-Cu-PGE)
-- additional target definition at the Tarraji-Yampi project
--- assumes that no further announcements are made for start of drilling at each of the 4 Cu-Au & Ni-Cu-PGE targets + the 7 VMS targets)
--- assumes that results for only 1 of the 11 targets get released in July and the rest in August
2021 Work Plan (busy bees):
Valuation:
MC: $98M (at 4.0c)
Cash: $4M
EV: $94M
Few quick (top of the head) Comparisons:
- DEV.ax - MC is currently $90M and was $150M recently
-- similarities:
-- proven Management in building juniors into +billion-dollar companies
-- Management are the biggest shareholders of the company
-- although, DRE’s targets are better and bigger in number
- COD.ax - MC is currently $113M and was $150M recently
-- drilling/chasing big Cu-Au targets
-- 1,000m deep targets though (DRE going for <250m deep targets)
- ESR.ax - hit a $192M MC on a 2.9m massive nickel-copper sulphide hit (from 430m depth)
-- good comparison for DRE’s Texas and Orion targets and what they give on a similar hit
-- although Texas and Orion targets are a lot shallower (<180m depth)
-- from there, it's up to further results
The Potential (Prize):
DRE’s benchmark, definition of success, and what they’re aiming to achieve are what others have achieved from the same situation that DRE is currently in (similar projects/targets, located in unloved/underexplored districts, junior drilling for a big discovery, etc):
If they have success with the drilling, then their story should follow a similar path to the above-mentioned success stories.
This is also what will reward Management for being the hardest working team on the asx (a big discovery) as they’re the biggest shareholders of the company.
DRE’s potential to achieve what the above-named benchmark companies have achieved is just as good as them, if not better.
Management:
- have a very successful track record who (amongst other takeovers/success stories):
-- started SLR.ax which is currently a $1.5B gold producer
-- started DCN.ax which is currently a 100,000oz+ gold producer
-- started AVB.ax which got taken over by OZL.ax for $323M
-- started DRE.ax which is following a similar path
- one of/the hardest working teams on the ASX and literally non-stop news/announcements (averaging more than 1 price-sensitive announcement per week)
- ~85% of all spending is going into the ground
- Directors have put in $1.3M of their own cash into DRE (and take out $0 cash as payments (NED’s))
- Board/Management own 19% of all shares
- Geos also put in “quite a bit of money” into the last CR (ie. that $1.3M and 19% are even higher when geos are included)
Projects (West Kimberley Project Portfolio):
Below image is a really good summary of their flagship project and covers a lot of points that summarise DRE’s potential at Tarraji & Yampi – each word/bit of the image is worth reading slowly and digesting:
Summary of the 2 lead projects within the Kimberley portfolio (both entirely within the Govt./Defence Reserve & off limits to exploration since 1978):
Map of the West Kimberley (controlled by IGO, DRE & CHN – best ground (off limits to exploration since 1978) entirely in the Govt./Defence Reserve is held by DRE):
- Tier 1 discovery potential
- flagship project (particularly the Tarraji & Yampi projects)
- Ni-Cu-PGE, Cu-Au (IOCG), VMS
- massive 2,660km2 in size
- DRE is the second biggest landholder in the region (behind IGO.ax, and in front of CHN.ax)
- DRE has a majority/pretty much all of the prospective ground within the YAMPI Govt./Defence Reserve area (YSTA), which was until recently off-limits to exploration since 1978
- DRE is a first mover in the YSTA and beat Rio Tinto (and all others) to the main project (Tarraji)
-- Rio got the Yampi project 7 days later
--- completed a VTEM survey over Yampi + Tarraji
--- realised they got the bit that’s not potential enough for a Rio-sized Major
--- the bit they wanted was the bit that DRE has (Tarraji)
--- Rio then sold the Yampi project + the data for both Yampi & Tarraji to DRE
- Tarraji project:
-- entirely within the Govt/Defence Reserve
-- off limits to exploration since 1978
-- half of all mineral discoveries in Australia were found after 1978
-- last exploration at Tarraji (Grants & Wilson prospects) was undertaken by the legendary late Roy Woodall himself with WMC (BHP) in the late 1950’s
--- Roy went on to discover 150+ mineral deposits worth trillions of dollars (yes, actual numbers)
- Yampi project:
-- entirely within the Govt/Defence Reserve
-- off limits to exploration since 1978
-- half of all deposits in Australia found after 1978
-- last exploration at Chianti target was undertaken by Australian Consolidated Minerals (Newmont) in the 1970’s
- DRE is currently drilling at the Tarraji-Yampi projects:
-- current drilling campaign will test 11 targets
-- 7 VMS targets at Chianti-Rufina
-- 2 x Ni-Cu-PGE targets at Texas & Orion
-- 2 x Cu-Au targets at Fuso & Paul’s Find
Texas target (Ni-Cu-PGE):
- just finished drilling 1 hole (DD - TXDD001, 140m depth)
-- hit sulphides over 0.8m (dominated by pyrrhotite with minor pyrite & chalcopyrite) at the Southern edge of the EM plate
- expanded drilling campaign & are currently drilling another hole (TXDD002, 180m depth) and trying to hit the centre of the EM plate (and intersect some pentlandite)
- potential for expansion to a third hole to be drilled, depending on how the second hole goes
- all drilling to be completed in July
Texas target (TXDD001 Core):
Orion target (Ni-Cu-PGE):
- best part of the first Texas hole hitting sulphides is that it greatly increases the prospectivity of the Orion target
-- both Texas & Orion have coincident EM conductors and intense magnetic anomalies, sitting within outcropping Ruins Dolerite
--- Orion is much bigger than Texas
--- Orion has 3 EM plates which are up to 3 times stronger than the Texas EM plate
--- additional FLEM survey to be undertaken (on Northern part of Orion) before drilling at Orion starts shortly, to identify further EM plates/drill targets
-- FLEM survey at Orion + all drilling to be completed in July
Texas & Orion targets (EM Plates & Planned Drill Holes):
Fuso & Paul’s Find targets (Cu-Au):
- showing a lot of similarities to the Ernest Henry & Brumby deposits
- Ernest Henry resource: 166 Mt @ 1.1% Cu, 0.54 g/t Au
- outcropping/walls of copper-gold everywhere
- first holes ever to be drilled into Fuso & Paul’s Find
- Fuso: 6 holes for 1,500m (250m hole depth)
- Paul’s Find: 3 holes for 750m (250m hole depth)
- all drilling to be completed in July
- company-makers if either one hits
Planned drilling at Fuso & Paul’s Find:
Fuso & Paul’s Find Opportunity Summary:
Chianti-Rufina: 7 VMS Targets:
- last exploration at Chianti target was undertaken by Australian Consolidated Minerals (Newmont) in the 1970’s
- 7 targets to be tested (1 hole each, for 1,260m)
- FLEM anomalies, with associated gossans, and/or magnetic and surface geochemical anomalies
Chianti-Rufina Opportunity Summary & Drill Plan:
New/more targets:
- these guys don’t stop for a rest
- perfect example is the MD taking his wife to go do some soil sampling, during their Xmas holidays!
- another new target identified last week (and expect more of these):
-- called Rough Triangle
-- previously identified by WMC/BHP in the 1950’s, but not sampled
-- 20% rock chips
-- 1.2km long lode
-- potential for a substantial system
-- their projects are bigger than quite a few countries in the world, and they’re in one of the most prospective parts of the world (WA), and in some of the most underexplored areas within that; so expect many more targets to be defined and tested
Rough Triangle – new Tarraji target, as announced last week:
Projects (Mangaroon):
Map & size of the Mangaroon project:
- Tier 1 discovery potential
- Ni-Cu-PGE, Gold, Rare Earths
- massive 4,500km2 in size
- acquired in November 2020
- area only explored by pastoralists previously (who discovered and mined gold at “multiple ounces per tonne”
- outcropping gold mineralisation
- Ni-Cu-PGE mineralisation confirmed over 20km of strike, within a 50km long & up to 500m wide mafic/ultramafic intrusion, with outcropping high-tenor blebby three phase sulphides
- work to date supportive of the system being able to produce accumulations of massive
sulphides
- scale being compared to deposits like Jinchuan Ni-Cu-PGE in China (one of the biggest in the world at >500Mt @ 1.2%, 0.7% Cu, 0.4g/t PGE) (imagine that in Australia, or even a fraction of it)
- if the scale and size of the intrusion weren’t enough then the below rock chip made one of the biggest miners in the world jump in for a JV with DRE at the project:
-- $20B MC First Quantum Minerals (FQM) JV’d with DRE recently (April 2021)
-- $15M spend over 5 years (ie. $3M per year) for 51% of part of the project, for base metals only
-- option to go to 70% by sole funding everything up to Decision to Mine
-- FQM is one of the biggest miners in the world and one of the best performers in 2020
-- FQM operate the Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine in WA (their only Australian mine)
JV Area (for base metals only; gold still 100% DRE’s through JV area):
- target generation currently ongoing by First Quantum & DRE
- targets to be drilled later in the year (after the Kimberley project drilling)
- to date, 10kms of the 50km intrusion has been mapped producing 5 areas of blebby, high tenor, three phase sulphides containing chalcopyrite and pentlandite:
Areas of interest along the 50km long Money Intrusion:
Close-up of an area of interest along the 50km Money Intrusion:
Blebby sulphides along the 50km long Money intrusion:
Blebby sulphide along the 50km long Money intrusion with chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite:
- DRE has also recently (June 2021) identified high-grade Rare Earth Element (REE) outcropping ironstones at Mangaroon
- 12 prospects identified on DRE’s grounds which adjoin (to the south-west) HAS.ax’s grounds that host their Yangibana REE Project
- DRE’s Yin prospect is 2.5km+ long with rock chips assays of up to 11.2% TREO, including 3.6% NdPr (similar characteristics to HAS.ax’s Yangibana project)
- 11 more prospects to be inspected (results due in July 2021)
- DRE applied for the grounds to the west of HAS.ax’s REE project
- HAS.ax:
-- currently at $300M MC
-- in construction/development of Yangibana REE Project
-- with Capex of $500M
-- becoming Australia’s next REE producer
-- recently announced that their REE is the highest grade in the world
-- adjoins DRE’s REE prospects just identified (with more to come)
--- I wonder what a double-up of their project size is worth to them (ie. to buy DRE’s REE side)
DRE’s REE prospects & HAS.ax’s REE deposits next door location + rock chip grade comparisons between the two:
Projects (Illaara):
- Gold, Iron Ore, Tantalum/Lithium, VMS
- 880km2 in size (whole greenstone belt)
- 75km of strike
- acquired from Newmont in June 2019 (due to change in priorities), plus subsequent deals for parts that Newmont didn’t own
- previously explored by international multi-billion dollar iron ore companies (ie. $15B MC Cleveland Cliffs) (until iron ore prices sunk)
- Metzke’s Corridor is the most advanced gold area of the project (12km-long gold corridor) (+ multiple other similar gold corridors at the project)
-- recent results and gold soil contours per below image
-- resource for Metzke’s due in the SEP 2021 quarter
-- from drilling done to date, it should contain a small, shallow & high-grade (~10g/t Au) deposit that can be monetised (30-40Koz @ ~10g/t Au)
- RMS.ax’s Marda Gold Mine is down the road (RMS.ax is also one of the biggest DRE.ax shareholders)
- next to Metzke’s Find there’s Black Oak, which looks like a large mineralised system (3km strike & open to the South - broad, low-grade results so far from first 14 shallow holes, with more drilling to come)
Illaara - Iron Ore potential:
- MIN.ax’s 7 Iron Ore operations surround DRE.ax’s Illaara project which contains high-grade iron ore
-- MIN.ax wants to buy it and DRE.ax wants to sell it
-- just need to agree on the price - negotiations ongoing for a while; a blinking contest now
-- DRE recently reduced the royalty from Newmont to help with the MinRes/any other potential deal
-- MIN.ax have $1.1B+ in cash
-- MIN.ax is building a 270km long haul road, up the side of DRE’s Illaara to get to Mt Richardson
-- MIN.ax’s Mt Richardson is a high-grade, low phosphorus deposit (same as DRE’s Illaara Iron Ore, which MIN.ax need to blend out the rest of their ore)
-- DRE has stated that they will commercialise their Iron Ore (whether it’s with MIN or not)
-- proceeds would go into funding DRE’s other (gold, nickel, copper) exploration
-- DRE have also stated that they would potentially pay back to shareholders any/excess cash received from a sale (ie. capital return/dividend)
Illaara - Tantalum/Lithium potential:
- early days but:
-- high-grade Tantalum rock chips
-- potentially a large & fertile system
-- critical metal & unsecure (mainly prod in Africa)
-- will likely build it up a bit more and sell it to fund other (gold/nickel/copper) exploration (like they’re doing with the Iron Ore)
Illaara - VMS potential:
-- early days
-- no drilling yet
-- BHP poked around in the 1980’s for VMS
Fun Facts (DRE’s Massive Country-Scale Projects):
- Kimberley: 2,660sqkm, bigger than 28 countries in the world
- Mangaroon: 4,500sqkm, bigger than 30 countries in the world
- Illaara: 880km/whole greenstone belt, bigger than 24 countries in the world
- DRE’s projects cover 0.1% of the Australian landmass (ie. for every 1,000km2 of Australia, 1km2 belongs to DRE’s projects (let me know if my maths doesn’t add up there!)
-- hence why they have/are finding anything and everything at the projects (Gold, Nickel, Copper, Iron Ore, Rare Earths, Tantalum/Lithium, Copper-Zinc-Lead-Silver):
Fun Facts (The Billions Connections):
- RMS.ax: $1.3B ASX Gold Major - is one of biggest DRE holders & topping up their holding with each CR
- First Quantum Minerals: $20B Canadian Miner - one of biggest miners in the world and one of best performers in 2020 – they’re currently JV-ing into DRE’s Mangaroon project for 51% by spending $15M ($3M per year) (applies to base metals only, and only on parts of the total project area)
- SLR.ax: $1.5B MC - ASX gold producer which was started by DRE’s Management
- MIN.ax: $10B MC - Iron Ore deal being negotiated for sale of DRE’s IO (surrounded by MIN’s 7 IO operations)
- Newmont: $68B MC & the biggest gold miner in the world - DRE acquired their Illaara Project/whole greenstone belt from Newmont (project also owned by multi-billion dollar Iron Ore companies before Newmont (ie. $15B MC Cleveland Cliffs))
- IGO.ax: $6B MC - is watching DRE’s every move in the Kimberley and will have their eyes glued onto DRE's current drill program (especially the Ni-Cu-PGE) (IGO is the biggest and DRE 2nd biggest landholder in the area, with DRE owning pretty much all of the ground that was off limits to exploration since 1978 due to Govt./Defence Reserve). IGO is also a Major shareholder and JV partner of another company that the DRE Chairman is the Chairman of
- OZL.ax: $7B MC - like IGO, will be watching the current Kimberley drilling campaign (especially the Cu-Au targets) - relationship already exists as DRE’s Management previously sold AVB.ax to OZL for $323M (takeover)
- CHN.ax ($2.5B MC), DEG.ax ($1.6B MC), SFR.ax ($1.2B MC), SIR.ax ($1.8B takeover), GOR.ax ($1.1B MC): companies that are DRE’s benchmark, definition of success, and what they’re aiming to achieve (ie. similar projects/targets, located in unloved/underexplored districts, junior drilling for a big discovery, etc):
- with some luck (which DRE’s Management have had a lot of in the past) from the drill bit shortly, we’ll see if DRE can make it into its own Billions
Chart (like everything else, looking good and breaking all previous levels, on massive volume):
Upcoming Newsflow:
- 6 to 8 announcements to come out over the next 2.5 weeks (JUL), by which time the AUG schedule would’ve filled up similarly
- all current drilling (11 targets, including at least 4 potential company-makers) will be completed over the next 3 weeks
A Few Images of those Outcropping Walls of Copper & Gold (that Dean refers to in the pressos):
The End!
Cheers,
GB.
DRE Price at posting:
4.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
