Good Morning Team.
Finally. We’re there.
In a world where Vast has their diamonds, literally anything is possible. And Asiamet has done it.
The BKM Ore Reserve has been updated.
The BKM Optimised Feasibilty Study has been published.
The BKM ITE report is out.
ARS has spent the better part of a decade training this sleeping dragon into a lean, mean, copper-producing machine.
So, for the love of long-suffering shareholders, the time has come to either finance this thing, or sell it.
For anyone new to the story, the completion of the OFS for BKM Stage 1 is not just another step in the countless steps that have come before. It’s a gigantic leap towards one of two endings:
A shovel in the dirt or a handshake at the negotiating table.
And one of these scenarios is coming in 2025.
Consider the numbers:
207kt of contained copper in ore reserves (15Mt Proven @ 0.8%, 13.3Mt Probable @ 0.7%)
Low strip ratio of 0.8:1 — a dream in open-pit economics
10kt/year of LME Grade A copper cathode, fully aligned with Indonesia’s downstream mandates
$1.192 billion in life-of-mine revenue
$122.4 million NPV (post-tax) at a conservative price deck, rising to $202 million if copper rises to $5/lb
Payback? 4.5 years
Market cap? £26 million.
I really hope I don’t need to spell out the upside here.
Build It Lean, Build It Fast
CEO Darryn McClelland and Executive Chair Tony Manini haven’t overplayed their hand. Instead, they’ve done something refreshingly rare.
Another team might have taken the setbacks over the past couple of years and run. But they didn’t. Instead, they’ve stripped back the project to its most financeable core.
This is not a ‘we’ll-build-it-all-now’ vanity venture - we’ve all seen how that plays out. Stage 1 is surgical — targeting higher-grade, near-surface ore with a standard heap-leach SX-EW circuit that’s tried and tested.
The capex is a reasonable $178 million, complete with contingency and a growth allowance. It’s the Goldilocks amount: large enough for debt markets and strategic partners to be interested, but not too large to be unattainable.
And with the Independent Technical Expert (ITE) report now in hand, lenders and offtakers who’ve been loitering in Tony’s inbox can finally dive into their final due diligence.
Buyout? Or Just Build It?
So here’s the question that’ll keep shareholders — and perhaps a few regional mining CEOs — up at night:
Do you buy it now, or do you let Asiamet start building?
Consider:
Buyout: With engineering de-risked, permitting advanced, and copper near $4.50/lb, this is a turnkey project for any mid-tier looking to bulk up in Asia. The BKZ polymetallic deposit, unmined sulphides, and vast exploration upside across the KSK license are sweeteners. If you’re a smelter-backed group or a trader with margin to burn, this is all very attractive.
Get Building: On the other hand, Asiamet might just decide to go it alone — at least for Stage 1. The economics are solid. The risks are mapped. And once the cathode starts flowing, you’re not looking at a small cap anymore - you’re looking at a cash generator in a copper-hungry world.
Either way, the window for inaction is closing. A decision is going to be taken and the share price is going to rise.
A Word on the Macro
Let’s not forget the copper market — a beast of its own.
Inventories are tight. Demand forecasts are bullish. And as the energy transition barrels forward, supply pipelines are alarmingly empty.
If you haven’t heard of the copper supply gap yet, don’t worry.
You will.
Indonesia, with its commitment to local refining and friendly investment framework, is rapidly becoming a strategic hotspot. And it’s clamping down on all that dirty Chinese nickel - so the Chinese are going to need somewhere else to put their capital.
BKM is perfectly placed.
Politically aligned, technically sound & economically feasible.
And — perhaps most critically — it’s finally ready.
The bottom line
So what’s next?
Appoint a project director. Engage construction contractors. Finalise permitting. Get cracking on the engineering.
But financing is the near-term play.
A Final Investment Decision is now a matter of when, not if.
And while Asiamet has kept its cards close to its chest on interested parties, we know the company has been talking to funders for years - the banks potentially underwriting the financing were the same ones who asked for the optimised figures.
So we either ride the re-rating as BKM goes live, or speculate on a takeover premium if someone decides to pounce.
Darryn notes ‘With the technical workstreams now complete, we are preparing to open a data room and expect to begin formal engagement with project finance lenders shortly. Additionally, we continue to receive strong inbound interest from strategic investors and look forward to progressing discussions that can deliver a financing solution for BKM Stage 1 and unlock the broader value potential across the KSK licence area.’
Give it six months and it’s either sold or financed.
Smashing.
Thank you Charles. Couple of questions.
1. How much are the financing costs?
2. Where is the money going to come from?