It's a small-cap ASX mining share that's got the attention of a mega-cap mining CEO.
Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest AO is the founder and executive chairman of the iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG).
In a disclosure to the ASX today, nickel miner Mincor Resources NL (ASX: MCR) revealed that Forrest invested $36.7 million in new shares between 31 May 2021 to 3 November 2022.
Forrest was already a 'substantial holder', meaning he already owned more than 5% of the company's shares on issue. In fact, he owned 15%.
Over the 17-month period, he bought 27.44 million shares on-market, according to the disclosure. This and some other trading activity took his net overall stake in the company to 18.68%.
Forrest holds Mincor Resources shares personally, as well as through his private company, Tattarang, and also through Wyloo Metals, a subsidiary of Tattarang. Wyloo develops low-carbon mining projects.
Why is Forrest buying up this ASX mining share?
It's no secret that Forrest is one of the leaders in Australian business pushing for a lower carbon future.
He's investing substantially in every aspect of the global energy transition via his Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) business.
Forrest famously spent much of the first year of COVID-19 on a private jet with a special team travelling the world to pursue new mining and investment opportunities.
FFI is now developing a host of renewable energy and green hydrogen projects.
Nickel's role in the energy transition largely has to do with powering electric vehicle (EV) batteries. It gives the batteries longer life. Nickel is also used in renewable energy storage systems.
What is Mincor Resources?
Mincor Resources is a nickel sulphide developer and explorer with three mines in Western Australia's Kambalda and Widgiemooltha areas. It has a market capitalisation of $685 million.
Mincor has not produced nickel for six years but the company is now producing it again. It has an offtake agreement with the Nickel West concentrator owned by BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).
The company is now calling itself "the Premier pure-play Australian nickel producer", according to a presentation given to shareholders today.
Mincor Resources AGM today
The company held its annual general meeting today (AGM) and provided an investor presentation.
In his address, interim executive chair Brett Lambert said although Kambalda is a mature nickel mining district, discoveries at two new and previously unmined deposits indicated "clear potential remains to identify new nickel sulphide deposits of significance".
He said:
To grow and sustain our business, we are continuing to explore our extensive Kambalda tenure. This is a core activity for the Company. Over the past 12 months we have expanded our capabilities …
We are applying these enhanced capabilities not only to the acquisition and evaluation of new data in the field, but also to the re-evaluation of historic data.
This is leading to the expansion of Mincor's already broad portfolio of exploration targets, both greenfields and near mine.
Lambert said Mincor's most outstanding exploration success in FY22 was "undoubtedly" the LN04a mineralised surface found in just the second drill hole of a 1.2 km untested area.
The initial ore reserve for LN04a was announced last week. At 12,500 tonnes of contained nickel, the reserve is 58% higher than previous estimates and extends the life of the mine by about one year.
Lambert said:
It is very pleasing to have achieved this so early and it reminds me of the very last words of my 2020 Chairman's address, which were – "I see the five year plan mapped out in the DFS as just the beginning". I say now that I am very confident there is much more to come.
The history of this ASX mining share
The Mincor Resources share price is up 0.14% to $1.41 as the close of trade draws near.
It's down 20% year to date and up 7.7% over the past 12 months.
Over the past five years, this ASX mining share has delivered shareholders a 225% capital gain.
