for what it's worth, article via Livew*re ARGONAUT’S...

for what it's worth, article via Livew*re

ARGONAUT’S BUPs:
Argonaut’s annual analysis of the best undeveloped projects (BUP) owned by ASX-listed companies has just landed. A nice bit of work it is too, all 104-pages of it, as it guides investors to those companies with projects that are likely to amount to something, which is not all that easy to divine sometimes in the heavily promoted junior space. In all, Argonaut has selected 18 projects/companies as its 2024 BUPs, and another six that are deemed worthy of a special mention in that they could be advanced to BUPs status in future. In the past, selected BUPs have outperformed. That wasn’t the case in 2024 with the share prices of the lead BUPs nominated in 2023 falling by 17%, weighed down by the performance of lithium and rare earths inclusions. But the smaller pool of special mentions increased by an average of 58% to comfortably outperform both the broader market and sector indices. The key criteria for inclusion as a BUP remains the same - projects are low cost, high margin assets with the capability to maintain strong financial returns through the commodity price cycle. The idea is that the quality of such projects enables a broader range of financing options and underpins likely development, as well as increasing M&A appeal. Eighteen BUPs and six special mentions is too long to list today. But it is certainly worth listing the eight BUPs where Argonaut’s valuation (not all BUPs have an Argonaut valuation) is at a premium of 99% or more to the market price, and the four special mentions on the same basis. The eight BUPs in the 99%-plus club were Aura (AEE, 186%), De Grey (DEG, 103%), Develop (DVP, 99%), Northern Minerals (NTU, 189%), New World Resources (NWC, 186%), Predictive (PDI, 124%), Patriot Battery Metals (PMT, 206%) and West African Resources (WAF, 137%).