Pure or primarily PGE (platinum group elements) stocks are rare on the ASX. This is to be expected, given the dearth of PGE projects in Australia. A few companies have PGE prospects that are secondary to their main endeavours, three are listed. Numerous companies suggest they have PGE prospects, mostly without meaningful evidence. However, I have listed four companies that address pegged after Chalice’s discovery, they all have reasonable prospects.

Zimplats Ltd (ASX: ZIM)

Price (c) 52 Week Low 52 Week High Shares (M) MCAP (M)
1420 696 1420 108 1528

Zimplats is the only ASX listed PGE producer and is an 87% owned subsidiary of Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. It has operations on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe. For the September 2020 quarter it produced 142,000 6E (Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Au) oz, mostly platinum and palladium, along with silver, nickel, copper and cobalt.

Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX: CHN)

Price (c) 52 Week Low 52 Week High Shares (M) MCAP (M)
356 14.5 444 336 1194

Chalice discovered the Julimar PGE project in March 2020. It is located 70km northeast of Perth. The discovery hole intersected 19m @ 8.4g/t Pd, 2.6% Ni, 1.0% Cu, 0.1% Co. Seven high grade zones have been discovered to date and a maiden resource is expected in 2021.

This the most significant PGE discovery in Australia. Previously PGE’s were only known to occur at very low levels in Kambalda-style nickel deposits.

Podium Minerals Ltd (ASX: POD)

Price (c) 52 Week Low 52 Week High Shares (M) MCAP (M)
9.5 1.5 14 259 25

Podium holds the Parks Reef project in WA. It hosts a PGE resource of 25Mt @ 0.77g/t Pt, 0.66g/t Pd, 0.09g/t Au, 0.08% Cu, 0.09% Ni. It also hosts a base metal resource of 14.9Mt @ 0.12g/t Pt, 0.08g/t Pd, 0.12g/t Au, 0.24% Cu, 0.09% Ni. The contained PGE and gold total 1.39Moz, with the expectation that this will increase substantially with further drilling.

The project also hosts rhodium, the grade is unquantified but is expected to be 3 to4% of of the combined Pt, Pd, Au. If so this would add substantial value to the resource. Metallurgical testwork has returned positive results and the company is expected to commission a scoping study in the near future.

Impact Minerals Ltd (ASX: IPT)

Price (c) 52 Week Low 52 Week High Shares (M) MCAP (M)
2 0.4 3 1779 36

The company holds the Broken Hill PGE project to the south and east of Broken Hill, NSW. It hosts some of the highest PGE grades in Australia. For example, a drill hole at Plat Central, released this month, returned 1m @ 10.9g/t Pd, 7.3g/t Pt, 0.9g/t Rh, 1.3g/t Os, 1.4g/t Ir, 0.6g/t Ru, 0l.1g/t Au, 3.3% Ni, 1.0% Cu, 0.25% Co 23g/t Ag. These are not only spectacular grades but includes the full PGE suit which is very unusual.

The mineralisation occurs in channels similar to Kambalda style nickel deposits. At least 10 prospects have been discovered to date.

 

Several companies hold non-core platinum projects, as below:

Clean Teq Holdings Ltd (ASX: CLQ)

Platina Resources Ltd (ASX: PGM)

Panoramic Resources Ltd (ASX: PAN)

 

Address pegging was widespread after Chalice discovered the Julimar project. Companies with some of the better prospects are:

Devex Resources Ltd (ASX: DEV)

Mandrake Resources Ltd (ASX: MAN)

Anson Resources Ltd (ASX: ASN)

Caspin Resources Ltd (ASX: CPN)

16 December 2020 Commodities Tags: , , ,