Might be some small interest hitting the silica sands sector for a change (or not) my basis of n=1 is not an entirely compelling argument for such a thing...........
However..............
VRX moving along atm and seeing some nice volume and price action today.........that's "interest" right........???
DRX is one I do hold in this sector..............and they haven't really been doing much at all of late price or volume wise to suggest there's some resurgent interest in the Silica Sands sector, but who's to say, anything can happen in this game.
Both companies have their merits I do believe.............and personally I'm long term holding on these types of plays (as once into production they can exhibit some very favorable metrics).
If you don't know much about silica sand projects or the sector it's worth some time having a gander imo............projects are typically low capex/opex with high margins and rapid payback. Capex spend to NPV ratios are generally excellent for silica sand plays imo.
These quotes from DRX:
Soaring silica sands consumption parallels rising demand worldwide for solar PV panels, whose primary component (70%) is glass sheeting manufactured from “low iron” sand.
Solar panel manufacturers’ feed stock requires >99% purity silica with “low iron” less than 100ppm iron oxide levels.
Solar panel PV market forecast to reach US$48.2 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 34.7%*
There does seem to be 'little' interest in general from the market most of the time for these plays, so they can just meander along for months without exhibiting much 'excitement' so to speak.................(patience needed in abundance, but worth running a ruler over a few imo).
Punters it seems are not that enticed by 'good metrics' most of the time (unless long playing a stock).............they want high grade gold hits or mega projects and Tech plays that have captured the imagination, (nothing wrong with that of course, i hold my fair share in this category to be sure) .
On the subject of metrics for high grade silica sand see the two examples below.
DRX ($20mill mcap at 1.2c).
2019 Scoping Study showed favourable economics, including CAPEX A$24m, pre-tax NPV $231m, IRR 150% and capital payback in 8 mths.
Offtake MOU’s with potential to supply up to 750,000 tonnes for solar PV market.
VRX ($48mill mcap 16c ish).
Exceptional economics with combined post tax NPV10 of $728m, capex of just $87m, annual EBIT of $137m and IRR of 83%, all based on conservative Silica Sand sales prices
