Why ASX resource explorer Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) share price is tumbling today

When shareholders have high expectations, sometimes even positive drill results aren’t enough to lift ASX resource shares.

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Bernd Struben

Bernd Struben earned his economics degree in the US. Following several years writing about the tourism industry in the Caribbean, he moved to The Netherlands to cover the EU's booming commercial real estate markets. He moved to Australia in 2010, where he transitioned to analysing the Aussie equity markets. He employs a combination of macro economics and company specific data to gauge what he believes are tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you're likely to find Bernd at the beach or dabbling away on a new work of science fiction.

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What drill results did Blackstone report?

Blackstone Minerals’ share price is moving lower today. This negative movement comes despite the company reporting positive results from its latest assays. The results come from an ongoing resource extension drilling campaign at its King Snake Massive Sulfide Vein (MSV) prospect.

King Snake is situated within Blackstone Minerals’ Ta Khoa project in Northern Vietnam. In particular, the project is focused on nickel, copper, and platinum group elements (PGE).

New intersections from the latest drilling, combined with historic results, have defined a strike length of roughly 900 metres at King Snake. The company said this includes “MSV, semi-massive sulphide vein (SMSV) and disseminated sulfides (DSS)”.

Furthermore, Blackstone Minerals in-house geophysics crew will now perform Downhole Electro-magnetic (DHEM) surveys at King Snake. These surveys have the potential to identify new sulphide targets at depth. Additionally, they will also “inform infill drilling” at its King Snake prospect.

Commenting on the latest results, Blackstone Minerals’ managing director Scott Williamson said:

King Snake is our most exciting active MSV drill target and we are pleased that it continues to deliver excellent results. The latest drill results have extended strike at the King Snake prospect and we look forward to assessing the outcomes of DHEM currently being performed by our in-house geophysics team.

Copper prices remain at near-record highs, with copper currently trading for US$10,258 (AU$13,322) per tonne. That’s up 142% from the US$4,790 per tonne that copper was trading for on 27 March 2020.

The price rise has largely been driven by supply shortages just as demand has grown. Copper is also in strong demand with massive new global infrastructure plans. Additionally, this demand is due to its prevalence in electric vehicles (EVs). EVs contain around 4 times as much copper as combustion engine vehicles.

Blackstone Minerals share price snapshot

Although the Blackstone Minerals share price is down 5.33% today, shares remain up 108% over the past 12 months. That handily outpaces the 24% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date the Blackstone Minerals share price is down 9%.