The surging ASX share in question is Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX: BSX).

Blackstone Minerals shares closed yesterday trading for 3.5 cents. In late morning trade on Tuesday, shares are changing hands for 6.3 cents apiece, up a jaw-dropping 80%.

Here's what's got investors fired up.

ASX mining stock rockets on Philippines green light

In late October last year, the Municipal Mayor of Mankayan issued a Cease and Desist Order, halting exploration activities at Blackstone's Mankayan Copper-Gold Project, located in the Philippines.

That decision followed concerns from some local residents and government officials about the potential environmental impacts of the copper-gold mine.

As you'd expect, the ASX mining stock came under heavy selling pressure in late October following this news.

Today, Blackstone Minerals shares are shaking off those headwinds and rocketing higher after the company reported that the Cease and Desist Order has been lifted. Meaning exploration activities can now resume at the Mankayan project.

The ASX mining stock said that its affiliate, Crescent Mining & Development Corporation, has been working with local community groups, including indigenous peoples and regional and national government bodies, to achieve this positive outcome.

Blackstone Minerals said it expects to commence drilling at the Mankayan project in the "near future". The miner plans to drill up to 10 holes, averaging between 800 metres and 1,000 metres each.

Mankayan is reported to be the fourth largest undeveloped copper project in the Philippines. The project hosts a Mineral Resource of 2.8 million tonnes of copper, 9.7 million ounces of gold, and 20.4 million ounces of silver.

What did management say?

Commenting on the regulatory green light sending the ASX mining stock surging today, Blackstone Minerals executive chairman Geoff Gilmour said:

On behalf of Blackstone and CMDC, I would like to thank all our staff, community members and Regional and National Government departments for their constructive engagement and actions in achieving the lifting of the Order. With this behind us, there is a clear pathway forward to advance the Mankayan Project for the benefit of all stakeholders.

A project of Mankayan's size and international importance cannot be underestimated and I look forward to updating shareholders and stakeholders as the Pre-Feasibility Study work and associated drilling activities progresses.

Judging by today's price action, investors are expecting some materially positive updates from the resumption of those drilling activities.

The post Guess which ASX mining stock is rocketing 80% today on huge Philippines news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Shares in the mining exploration company were swapping hands at 56 cents apiece in afternoon trading, up nearly 1%. They were as high as 59 cents in early trade.

What did the company announce?

The Blackstone Minerals share price is climbing after the company provided an update on its Ta Khoa nickel project in northern Vietnam. The company holds a 90% stake in the project.

This resource includes the Ban Phuc and Ban Khoa disseminated sulphide (DS) deposits and the Ban Chang and King Snake massive sulphide vein (MSV) deposits.

A drilling expedition over the past year has uncovered 485 kilotonnes of nickel at the project, representing a 73% increase.

Commenting on the news driving the Blackstone Minerals share price, managing director Scott Williamson said:

An aggressive drill over the past 12 months has culminated into a global Ta Khoa mineral resource of enviable scale and increased confidence. Our mineral resource is an early indication of the potential of the Ta Koa nickel sulphide district, with further agressive testing already ongoing.

Ban Phuc, our large bulk tonnage disseminated sulphide deposit, will underpin base load feed to a large concentrator that is being examined in our upstream pre-feasibility study.

Ban Chang and King Snake are the first of many high-grade massive sulphide opportunities and the company continues to work diligently to increase surety of nickel supply for our downstream refinery in Vietnam, with exploration and resource delineation at Ta Khoa being a core part of our strategy.

What else is happening?

After releasing the nickel update to the market, Blackstone Minerals advised investors it has completed a share placement.

The company placed 56,692,782 new shares on the market at 58 cents, raising nearly $33 million before costs. Shareholder approval for this placement was received on December 16. An earlier share placement on November 10 raised $55 million.

Blackstone Minerals share price snapshot

The Blackstone Minerals share price has soared in the past 12 months, gaining 53%. Year to date, the company's shares are up 47%.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned more than 11% to investors in the past year.

Shares in the Blackstone have stagnated over the past month and are down 4% in the past week.

The company commands a market capitalisation of roughly $218 million based on the current share price.

The post Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) share price climbs on nickel news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Shares in the nickel mining company surged ahead after the company released an update, with the price reaching an intraday high of 50.5 cents.

At the time of writing, shares in Blackstone are trading 3.3% higher at 47 cents.

Let's take a look at what Blackstone announced.

Blackstone share price soars on feasibility study

Earlier today, Blackstone announced the completion of its pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its Ta Khoa Refinery Project (TKR) in northern Vietnam.

Blackstone highlighted that the PFS demonstrated the project will require low capital intensity to produce Class I nickel at scale.

The company noted that the project will have a refinery capacity of up to 400ktpa of nickel concentrate and a 10-year life-of-operations. As a result, Blackstone will be able to produce battery-grade nickel for the lithium-ion battery industry.

According to Blackstone's PFS, the life-of-operations revenue for TKR is estimated at US$14 billion. In addition, the project is estimated to produce an operating cash flow of US$4.5 billion.

Blackstone noted that an upfront project capital of US$491 million would be paid back in 1.5 years from first production.

Blackstone management highlighted the PFS as an important milestone towards achieving the company's vision to integrate lithium-ion battery supply chains and enable a green solution from mine to consumer.

More on Blackstone

Blackstone is a nickel mining company that has a 90% interest in its flagship TKR Project in Vietnam.

Ahead of today's news, Blackstone recently reported its first batch of precursor battery-grade nickel-cobalt-manganese. The results were generated using ore from its TKR Project and third-party feed.

According to the company, analysis of the precursor material confirmed that it met specifications for the lithium-ion battery industry.

Including today's bullish price action, the Blackstone share price has soared more than 50% since the start of July.

Overall, shares in the mining company are trading around 23% higher for the year to date.

The post Blackstone (ASX:BSX) share price charges 11% higher on update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Below we take a look at the latest drill results from the ASX resource explorer.

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%.

The post Why ASX resource explorer Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) share price is tumbling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.