Oz is not the only ASX pure play copper miner that could be in...

Oz is not the only ASX pure play copper miner that could be in the cross-hairs of big money investors. The following table includes Oz and three other potential candidates.

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6	Column 7
0	Company​ (CODE)​ Market Cap​	Enterprise Value​	Share Price​	52 Week % Change​	P/B​ (Tangible)​	5 Yr Expected P/EG​	2 YrEarningsGrowth Forecast​
1	Oz Minerals​ OZL​ $1.2b​	$798m​	$4.23​	+15%​	0.53​	0.27​	+24.3%​
2	Sandfire Resources​ (SFR)​ $970m​	$952m​	$6.19​	+13%​	2.70​	0.51​	+29.9%​
3	Avanco Resources​ (AVB)​ $145m​	$79m​	$0.06​	-33%​	1.11​	--​	+65.8%​
4	Tiger Resources​ (TGS)​ $69m​	$219m​	$0.061​	-76%​	0.33​	--​	+201.6%​

We included Enterprise Value in the table because it is considered a better measure of what a company is worth and is used by big money players considering acquisitions or major stake investments. Market Cap is simply a measure of current market price times outstanding shares. EV includes common and preferred shares, minority interest ownership, and total debt, minus the company’s total in cash and cash equivalents.
From that measure we can see of the two major miners in the table, Oz Minerals (OZL) and Sandfire Resources (SFR), Sandfire appears to be valued close to its market cap. The stock that jumps off the table screaming “Buy, Buy, Buy” appears to be tiny junior miner Tiger Resources (TGS), with an EV a little more than three times its market cap. The company has an astonishing 2 year earnings growth outlook. Tiger reported $0.04 per share in FY 2014, which is expected to quadruple in 2015 to $0.018 per share and then double to $0.037 per share in 2016. Tiger has the lowest P/B in the table, less than half the current P/E for the Materials Sector, which is at 0.90. And yet the share price has been beaten to a pulp over the last year. However, the company also has the weakest balance sheet, with gearing at 117% with debt at $182 million and cash on hand at $32 million as of the most recent quarter.
What the company has going for it are two 100% owned copper projects and one promising exploration permit, all in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The projects are in Central Africa’s Katanga Copper Belt, which includes the DRC and neighboring Zambia. Together, the reserves in the two countries are said to be the second largest in the world, behind Chilean copper reserves.
On 30 January the share price fell about 60% in response to troubling news in the company’s December quarterly reporting. After incurring more debt to buy the 40% stake of its partner in its flagship project, the company was forced to postpone its planned expansion. Some analysts questioned the quality of company management, but as of 17 August, the CEO is gone and Tiger is searching for a replacement.
On 28 August Tiger reported 2015 Half Year Results with an impressive 111% rise in revenue, but profit fell 5.6%. The company processes copper into copper cathode for use in wiring, cable, and copper rods. Despite the debt concerns, TGS has an Outperform analyst consensus rating, with two analysts at Buy, three at Hold, and one at Underperform.