Analyst note from diggers. Sticking with copper, another ASX...

Analyst note from diggers.

Sticking with copper, another ASX copper junior which caught my eye today was Venturex (VXR) (~A$50m mcap, A$1.8m in cash). VXR is developing the Sulphur Springs copper deposit in WA (NPV $338m, IRR 52%, capex $150m).  I had a good look at this company ~18 months ago, but decided not to pursue it because for me,
their study was lacking metallurgical testwork and they didn’t seem to have a clear plan.

But there has been a material change in circumstance at VXR recently.  Northern Star (NST) has taken a 19% stake in the company and recently put in a new CEO, an operator hand-picked by Bill Beament and Stu Tonkin by the name of AJ Saverimutto. I met AJ today and like him... I get the feeling he is a “doer” and the NST guys would not have recommended him for the role unless they thought he was very capable (a very strong endorsement in my view).

In addition to that, VXR released the results of the detailed metallurgical testwork today...  confirming better results than the figures assumed in the last study... and effectively doing the work that I thought was missing last time I looked at this company.  

With this back story, in my view, Venturex (VXR) is probably my top new pick from today at Diggers. A bankable study for Sulphur Springs is due by end September.