Latin Resources director demonstrates confidence in multi-commodity strategy by exercising options

Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS) (FRA:XL5) director Brent Jones has demonstrated his confidence in the company’s multi-commodity, dual-continent strategy incorporating high-value minerals by exercising almost 1 million options. The non-executive director has exercised 999,201 LRSOC options to acquire 999,201 fully paid LRS ordinary shares for a consideration of almost $12,000. He now holds more than 22 million shares, 1 million unquoted loan funded shares and 20,833,250 Listed Options (LRSOC). Exciting time for LRS This show of confidence comes at an exciting time for the company as it progresses commercialisation of its South American lithium and copper assets and begins aggressive exploration campaigns at gold and halloysite-kaolin projects in Australia. Drilling is about to start at Noombenberry Halloysite-Kaolin Project in Western Australia and the company is confident it can emulate at least some of the success of Andromeda Metals Ltd (ASX:ADN) at its projects in the same high-value and high demand minerals. Drilling to start LRS’s WA project has very similar geology to ADN’s projects in South Australia and the company will soon understand more about the potential of its ground in the drilling campaign due to start this month. Halloysite is a globally scarce commodity with strong demand drivers while the global market for quality kaolin product is very established as kaolin is necessary for the manufacture of paper, ceramics, porcelain, cement, paint and polymers. Primary markets for halloysite are ceramics, batteries, supercapacitors, the construction industry and the petroleum industry as a catalyst for fluid catalytic cracking while there are also emerging markets developing such as nanotube technologies and cancer therapeutics. Confident of emulating ADN successes Andromeda has been one of the ASX’s success stories based on strong results with the market cap surging from $13 million when it first began exploring the Great White Kaolin Project in 2018 to in excess of $600 million in recent months. Publication of a robust pre-feasibility study, resource updates, test-work and strong ongoing results have also seen Andromeda’s share price trading up to 36.5 cents recently. While Latin’s shares have risen to as much as 4.3 cents last month, last trading at 3.5 cents, and the market cap has increased to approximately $37.3 million, it is not difficult to see why the company is confident of the upside potential. Lachlan Fold Belt gold prospects The company Is also upbeat about the prospects of its gold projects within the prolific Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales that boasts a number of multi-million-ounce gold projects. At Yarara project in the belt’s south Latin is about to begin on-ground exploration after signing land access agreements with key landholders. This follows a number of on-site meetings conducted by the company’s NSW-based land access team. Access agreements have also been signed with the relevant state authorities covering state forest areas. This allows the company to commence the on-ground reconnaissance mapping and prospecting work that is required to finalise drill target locations for ground-disturbing applications. New acquisition LRS has also recently secured a new project in the heart of the belt and in proximity to the massive Cadia gold-copper operations of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM). The Manildra Gold Project is also 60 kilometres west of Regis Resources’ large McPhillamys Gold Project, southeast of the operating Northparkes copper-gold project of China Molybdenum Co Ltd (CMOC) and south of Alkane Resources Limited’s (ASX:ALK) Tomingley Gold Operations. Following the granting of the new tenement, and securing land access and other statutory approvals, Latin proposes to complete regional and project scale first pass targeting exploration, which may include geophysical surveys and low-impact geochemical sampling, followed by RC drilling of any defined targets.