DIVISION 1: Predicting the Next
Legendary Junior Mining Buyout

WOODY:

Thanks for joining us at Division 1: Predicting the Next Legendary Junior Mining Buy-Out.

This is a deep-dive on the mining stock equivalent of Division 1 lottery wins.

We’re talking about the ‘A-side’.

Acquisitions.

Getting a bit of money into a tiny explorer share...

...BEFORE it gets strategically swallowed by a bigger fish.

Here’s what we’re about to cover for you:

• The names and ticker symbols of two ASX explorers who’ve just had STRATEGIC NIBBLES from majors 

Little 10% to 15% ‘buyout-bites’...

...that may just be telegraphing a full takeover of these two miners in 2025.

We’ll then move to…

• THREE CORE INGREDIENTS of any buyout deal likely to be greenlit in the next two years 

As a land grab for metal and mining assets sparks a spike in M&A activity...

...the deals that get inked will need to tick THESE THREE boxes.

Then we’ll move to intel you won’t hear anywhere else...

• Rare, inside-the-camp secrets on three of the biggest ‘Division 1’ deals to go down this century

Our geologist insider was EMBEDDED in these companies...in real-time...as these deals went down.

He was there when the private jets started landing onsite so the suits could sniff around.

He sat around a campfire as a CEO showed him an initial $1 million cheque he used to start the company...

...which, post-buyout, had just turned into $7.3 billion.

You’ll have probably read about these three deals in the mainstream media.

THERE’S NO CHANCE you’ll have heard the inside goss you’re about to learn here...

But the main event to stick around for...

Three potential ‘HARD BUYOUT TARGETS’ to consider getting a block of shares in as soon
as possible.

These three stocks are the share-buying equivalent of Division 1 lottery tickets.

At least in terms of small-stake outlay to high reward.

Of course, the risk of coming out with nothing, or losing most of your money, is high, but…

Just like the lottery, you have to be in it to win it.

...it should definitely be with these three stocks.

As our inside man, who you’ll meet in a moment, says:

If you just want to put yourself in the shoes of a big miner…

These big miners haven't invested in new projects for a long, long time.

And when it becomes apparent, like Codelco, and they do start to suffer from declining output...well, that's when the bidding war starts to happen on these junior miners.

And that's when you, as a shareholder, want to be owning these types of stocks.

We’ve reached a critical point in the mining dealmaking cycle...one that only comes along roughly every 20 years or so.

A little window has just opened where your chances of getting a Division 1-style buyout win are as good as they’ll ever get...

If you’ve never played the lottery, Division 1 is the promised land.

The top prize.

To win Division 1 you need to match all six winning Lotto numbers on a single line of your ticket.

When betting on a small miner getting absorbed by a bigger one...the odds are against you.

But it’s NOT like you have to randomly match six winning numbers.

If you have the right inside guidance...you can really improve your chances of pre-empting a deal...and getting into the shares before it’s official.

And if you nail JUST ONE...

Your investment portfolio will
never look the same again.

That was definitely the case with a junior called Azure Minerals [ASX:AZS] last year.

Our inside guy will run you through the mechanics of the whole negotiation.

But basically...a fierce takeover battle took Azure from nowheresville...to a $2 billion market cap...in the space of 12 months.

Mining mogul Gina Rinehart started building up a stake.

Then SQM Australia made a bid for full control of Azure.

THEN...another company...Mineral Resources [ASX:MIN]...tried to muscle in.

In the end, SQM clinched the buy last December.

This is what a Division 1 buyout win looks like.

For those who ‘owned the ticket’ early.

If you were lucky enough to watch all this bidding and courting and counterbidding unfold while you owned shares in Azure…

...you would have done so in growing amazement...as the share price rose 1,500% in a single year while the drama played out.

Azure’s an extreme example.

Not all successful buy-outs create 1,500% returns in a single year, but…

Almost without exception…they result in very big, very quick upward price re-ratings.

So, let’s bring in a guy who knows more about this topic than any of us do, even mining industry execs.

Most of you will already be familiar with James Cooper — the exploration geologist who’ll be driving the stock recommendations we’re about to cover.

Get ready to take some notes. Because from here James is going to walk us through how to predict the next potential legendary mining takeover...

Buy-Out Basics

WOODY:

Okay James, thank you for sitting down with us mate.

You were in and around Dacian takeovers.

And you were right in the thick of another famous buyout: Barrick’s takeover of Equinox’s copper assets in Zambia.

There's perhaps no better brain to pick on this topic.

So, let's start with the super basics.

What are mergers and acquisitions? And why do they happen?

JAMES:

Okay, so mergers and acquisitions.

We’re really focusing on ‘A-side’, the acquisitions…this is really where the excitement is for us as private investors.

So, this is when a larger company wants to increase its exposure to a certain commodity.

Maybe it sees a strong outlook for a certain commodity. So they want to build that exposure.

But it's also because of synergy. If you have an operation, the smaller company may own a tenement, some ground landholding, or an actual operation right next door to an existing producer.

Well, that synergy — or that opportunity for the bigger miner to take that smaller company on as one merged entity (or one acquired company) — it can improve the margins.

So it can improve the profitability if it brings this company on board.

They’re just a couple of reasons why an acquisition might take place.

On the other hand, mergers are when two equally matched companies, of similar market caps, come together.

A good example is Allkem [ASX:AKE].

Allkem was a lithium producer that was in the Diggers and Drillers list, which merged with Livent. And that company formed one large lithium producer known as Arcadium [ASX:LTM].

Now, there's certain reasons why the two companies decided to merge. Allkem was more focused on the upstream mining. Whereas Livent was more focused on downstream processing…so lithium chemicals for the battery market.

So with this merger, you had this one giant, fully downstream integrated miner…which was obviously going to create a bit of a monopoly in the market and become a major.

WOODY:

So, mergers of big companies create more operational efficiencies and increase profit margins of bigger companies.

But the A-side...that is where the immediate gains can happen for private investors.

By being in a smaller company that gets overtaken by a larger one. Right?

JAMES:

Absolutely.

Imagine a smaller company’s trading price. Well, a bigger company wants to grab hold of that company.

It needs to put a carrot in front of that small company.

So that's the premium that the big company or the big fish has to offer, to get that deal through.

And I guess how big that carrot has to be really depends on the market.

So, if it's a strong market, if commodity prices are rising, well, that premium has to be larger. That carrot has to be bigger to attract the smaller company shareholders…to attract the bid.

A good example was Azure Minerals from last year.

This company was a lithium explorer. It was trading for around 50 cents midway through last year.

And SQM, a big lithium producer based in Chile, moved in on this company midway through last year.

And that really started to send the fireworks happening for this company’s share price.

Azure initially knocked back the first offer, and it was a bit of wrangling between Azure and SQM…but there was also Gina Rinehart.

She moved in as well, and she took a strategic interest. All this activity just built the share price up and eventually, I think, a deal was closed…and the share price was hovering around the $4 mark.

So just this activity…acquisition, the speculation, the rival bids, the counter bids…is all working in the favour of the smaller company and driving up that share price.

WOODY:

That's what we really mean by Division 1, right?

Put yourself in the shoes of the private investor who gets into Azure, at what price?

JAMES:

It was around 40–50 cents.

WOODY:

And after a pretty significant takeover…pretty soon after you find yourself owning a share for four bucks.

JAMES:

That's right. And that's why you should be focusing on acquisitions if you want the large potential share price premiums.

WOODY:

Koza Gold [KOZAL.IS] is another example of the kind of premiums James is talking about.

It went NOWHERE for 12 years. 

THEN Koza entered the acquisition mix.

Eventually being bought by big Turkish miner Cengiz Holding for around $670 million in 2020.

And its shares did THIS.

By 2023 they were $28.69.

A bottom-to-top gain well over 5,000% if you were lucky enough to own shares at the 2018 low.

Now, multi-thousand percent buy-out premiums are absolutely outliers — Division 1 outcomes.

What can be MUCH more frequent on the back of merger and acquisition action are share price doublings and triplings...

...that come super-quick, like a bolt out of the blue...once a deal is publicly on-the-go.

Kaminak Gold [TSX:KAM]…its price almost tripled in 7 months after it was acquired by Goldcorp…

Sibanye-Stillwater [JSE:SSW]’s $1 billion buy of Hudbay Minerals [TSE:HBM] resulted in a 145% gain in six months…

In 2019, Northern Star [ASX:NST]’s $193 million offer for Echo Resources [ASX:EAR] saw a $0.14 to $0.33 share price climb...

In 2021, the Ramelius Resources [ASX:RMS]/Gold Road Resources [ASX:GOR] bidding war over Apollo Consolidated [ASX:AOP] resulted in the share price doubling...

Reunion Gold [CVE:RGD]…its shares doubled in four months during merger negotiations with G Mining Ventures [TSE:GMIN].

Nevsun Resources [NYSE:NSU], a copper/zinc miner went from $2 to over $4 in nine months during a buyout by China's Zijin Mining Group.

In some cases, you don’t even need
an actual buyout in the works...

...just a development that suddenly puts a junior, or what James calls a ‘PHASE ONE MINER’, on the buy-out radar.

Even a whiff of a buyout can send a stock soaring…

For instance, on May 9 this year Alliance Nickel [ASX:AXN] saw its share price surge 177% IN A SINGLE TRADING SESSION...

...when the Australian federal government granted its NiWest nickel-cobalt project ‘Major Project Status’.

Pretty basic point here:

The gains if you get on the right side of these deals can be BIG and FAST.

And all the above examples are from a lull period in M&A activity...

...when the dealmaking cycle has been off-the-boil.

The whole reason we’re talking to you now is we reckon we’re entering a prolonged phase of BUYOUT OVERDRIVE...

The Coming Dealmaking Frenzy

WOODY:

OK, so deal value across the whole mining space appears to be rocketing right now.

It seems like more and more bigger companies reckon the time to start snapping up assets has come.

A whole bunch of factors are at play driving this trend. You have shaky geopolitics, reshoring of supplies, underinvestment in mining and of course, the bigger trend of the green transition taking place.

What is your bird's eye view, James?

What's driving M&A activity into 2025,
and where do you see it all going next?

JAMES:

You've outlined a few key things.

And I think a lot of people think about the green energy transition, and about demand generally with commodities.

And that's where they see the growth. And I think all those things are important.

But I think the other side of the equation, which really isn't focused on enough, is supply.

There's not enough attention on where all this supply is going to come from.

And I think one of the really good examples is copper.

I think long-term readers of Diggers & Drillers would understand that I've been very strong on pointing towards higher copper prices in the future. And that's really driven by the supply issue.

So, if we think back to previous commodity cycles — so the early 2000 commodity boom — that was very much led by China.

Not a lot of people knew that through the 90s there was a lot of underinvestment in commodities. And that's what we've seen over the last 10 to 15 years.

And that was also a key driver in sending a lot of investment…a lot of mergers and acquisitions…a lot of activity in the mining industry…through the early 2000 commodity boom.

So the set up was there, because of the demand…but it was also the supply.

That boom was so big…I mean, people called it the once-in-a-lifetime commodity boom.

And the bust was probably equally as large...

I think one of the key reasons going into this next commodity boom will be lack of supply.

So not enough investment in exploration…not enough investment in new mine development.

And that's really just pushing us onto this path of lack of supply…which drives high commodity prices.

And that really just inflates the boom, once you get demand-driven supply coming in as well.

So it's these two major factors: One is heavily focused on by the market — which is the demand. And one is, I think, overlooked — which is supply.

WOODY:

So now let's go into the buyout elephant in the room right now.

Readers might have heard about it…the BHP Anglo takeover bid.

That was a recent example of what we're talking about…the big buyout story all year, really.

But as we record this, it looks like BHP is walking away from this deal.

So, what's your take on that, James?

JAMES:

So this deal is probably going to be the biggest acquisition — or attempt — for 2024…the biggest M&A story for 2024.

This deal was a little bit convoluted. It had certain requirements for BHP and on Anglo to divest certain assets in South Africa…platinum and iron ore, projects.

Really, the acquisition was all about copper. Copper in South America. These highly profitable projects, and BHP target growth ambitions, really is about copper.

So I guess it brings us back to the main story here — or the main theme — which is of course, copper.

But when we're talking about commodity wide booms, it is a much broader story than just copper.

And that's where we can start to think about, are we approaching a commodity supercycle?

And if we are, that's where the M&A activity is really going to start to build.

And I think this BHP Anglo takeover attempt is really the beginnings of perhaps something much bigger…maybe something like what we saw in the China-led boom in the early 2000s.

And if you can pick the right stock…that sits in the crosshairs of a big company…that’s the sweet spot as an investor.

Important too, these are low-probability events. But...if you’re in these Division 1 stocks, in this type of market…that’s where you get the big gains.

That’s where the premiums are offered…by a larger miner looking to get these smaller companies. And this happens when commodity prices are rising.

And that’s what we’ve got right now.

WOODY:

Yeah, an important point to make is that you're not making this up as you go along.

This whole M&A wave phenomenon is something that played out in the last mining boom.

And you were there, right in the thick of it.

JAMES:

Yeah. That's right.

I think we have a real blueprint of what we had 20 years ago.

So, there was a company called WMC — Western Mining Corporation.

This company was well-established in Australian mining.

It owned the Olympic Dam project. It discovered it, and brought it into development.

That’s a big copper mine in South Australia.

Now, a reason I bring up this company is…

20 years ago, BHP put in an offer for this company…just like what it's doing with Anglo today.

Now, this was at the very early stages of the last commodity boom.

It wasn't this rampant M&A activity like we saw at the end of the last commodity boom, which happened in 2010–2011.

It was at the very early stages. Things were still very rational.

There was the emergence of China. Commodity prices were starting to strengthen, but definitely nothing euphoric.

So again, another example of what we have today. But this offer with Anglo is a real reflection of what we had 20 years ago.

And I think this is just another clue of what we might be embarking on over the next few years…with a potential surge in commodity prices.

$1 Million into $7.3 Billion:
The Equinox Takeover

WOODY:

All right, let's drill down and get inside just how these deals work.

So the Equinox–Barrick Gold takeover, you were knee deep in this one.

Equinox Minerals was a small Australian copper miner you were exploring for in Zambia.

It got snapped up by Barrick Gold when you were there, with Barrick forking out a pretty nuts 140% premium over Equinox’s prior trading price.

Barrick paid over, $7 billion, I think?

JAMES:

$7.3 billion.

WOODY:

That’s mental.

So it's been widely reported since as being way too much.

But the point is, in any case, it translated into an overnight windfall for Equinox investors.

JAMES:

Absolutely.

WOODY:

Now, you were there.

You were right there. What’s it like to be right there at the coalface on these deals?

JAMES:

Yeah, so really fond memories of that time.

Equinox — I just remember as a geologist, I was working on the ground, we often would roll out the red carpet for the mining execs and the analysts that would come through.

And it was pretty obvious to us in those days what their intentions were…they had takeover offers in their minds.

Just to bring readers back. So 2011, this was when copper was making all-time highs.

The China-led commodity boom was at its most euphoric peak, there was a lot of excitement in the commodity sector, M&A activity was really rampant at that time…

And it wasn't long after the private jets took off that the first bids started coming through.

So the first bite came from MMG.

So, this is a Chinese owned multi commodity powerhouse. But, to Equinox’s credit, they really played the market.

As I said, it was a very euphoric time and they held out for a stronger bid.

So that bigger bid, it came through Barrick Gold.

Now, this company was the world's largest gold miner at the time. It was Canadian owned. It was listed on the TSX. And, as I said, this was the big buy.

This was the $7.3 billion offer, which I guess the junior mining shareholders really dream of. This is the perfect acquisition story.

So, what it was like on the inside, I guess there was a lot of excitement around… as employees, we used to have some shareholdings in the company through employee options and that sort of thing.

So there was certainly some tangible impact for us as well.

But I guess it was really just the excitement of being at the epicentre of this sort of merger and activity…excitement that it was happening.

And, so I just remember about two weeks after that final bid was accepted from Barrick…Equinox’s CEO flew into our little exploration camp.

And this is where it really all started for Equinox back in the late 90s.

It was the same exploration camp that he and another geologist took this company from…just a minor, little fledgling exploration company.

So he brought his $1 million cheque that he got from the World Bank, and said to us around the campfire…

“Okay, so thanks to you guys and all the work we've done…”

“We've turned this $1 million check
into $7.3 billion.”

WOODY:

OK, so as more deals get struck and more juniors get gobbled up...

...who are the next potential Equinox’s?

James is about to get to the good stuff.

• STRATEGY: Three key signs to look for that hint that a junior’s about to get pounced on.
• ACTUAL STOCK NAMES: Two buy-out potentials to watch over the next six months if the sharks start circling, and…
• THREE HARD TARGETS where that buy-out might be even more imminent.

If you’re game, you might want to consider adding these stocks to your portfolio right now.  

1. HARD TARGET 1: James reckons it could be only a matter of time before the big guys take a ‘strategic slice’…or just buy them outright.
2. HARD TARGET 2: They’re a 26-cent ASX-listed explorer with a new, large-scale copper deposit the majors might go after, and…
3. HARD TARGET 3 is the TRUE Division 1 play. It’s sitting on not one, but SIX major undeveloped copper projects and two new large-scale greenfield copper discoveries.

But there are good potential buyout plays to be invested in…and there are not so good ones.

And it’s important you know the difference before we start naming stocks in the crosshairs...

Predator Becomes Prey

WOODY:

So another miner that you worked for has been a bit of a takeover magnet called Dacian.

They're a cool example because they've been on both sides of the M&A action in a short period.

Now when you were there, Dacian first took over a smaller gold producer called NTM.

Now, that resulted in a bottom to top share price gain of 1,600%.

And in 2022, the predator found itself the prey, right? Dacian had a $75 million takeover bid launched on them from a bigger miner called Genesis.

Now that's pretty crazy. And again,
you were right there.

So can you walk us through those takeovers from an inside perspective?

JAMES:

Okay. So, that was really a hotbed for mergers and acquisitions.

This is the Leonora Eastern Goldfields area of Western Australia. You've got Dacian, Genesis, Saint Barbara and NTM...

…and so I walked in around the time this takeover was happening between Dacian and NTM.

And there's a really important backstory to this as well.

Dacian was a mid-sized gold producer, whereas NTM was the small explorer which had just recently found the hub discovery…which is around a 300,000 ounce gold deposit.

Now, the reason for Dacian wanting to grab NTM was really to resupply its depleting assets. So it comes back to this supply story.

Dacian has the Mt Morgans mine. It also had a very large processing facility. So it was churning through gold very quickly at Mount Morgans.

And that just meant it needed to resupply, with more gold output.

So, that was the key driver behind the NTM takeover.

NTM offered a lot of exploration potential. But it also had these existing deposits which were just discovered.

Unfortunately for Dacian, it really came too late. So Dacian left exploration…it left new mine development too late in the cycle.

It really needed these NTM projects to come online much faster, and that really couldn't happen quick enough with the depleting asset at Mount Morgans.

So again, I think it will become a broader story in the mining sector, where you've got these established miners really desperate for new supply.

And it's the explorers which hold these assets which the big miners desperately need.

WOODY:

And then the same thing I guess happened to Dacian, correct?

They had assets depleting and then they needed someone to come in.

JAMES:

Yeah, that's right.

Now, I would probably call this not a successful takeover bid.

For Dacian, as I said, it came too late, this NTM acquisition.

They needed new supply, the asset was depleting, and the share price was falling hard. And with that, there was also a big board shake out.

The CEO had been given the boot. So Genesis, another company, which I think is much more well-known now, which operates in this area.

It saw Dacian, this existing producer with all this infrastructure. It had processing plants, crushers, accommodation village.

And for a new, upcoming junior miner — which was Genesis — that was looking for all this infrastructure so it could develop its own projects near Leonora...Dacian’s falling share price was just perfect timing.

So what Genesis ended up with was, a company, which was Dacian, whose share price had fallen. So it really got all this infrastructure for cents on the dollar.

So I guess the main point from this story for investors is…

You should be focusing on the junior companies.
The up-comers.

WOODY:

The Equinox’s over the Dacians.

JAMES:

That's right. So don't focus on the producers, the companies with depleting assets that need to find new supply. Look at the explorers. And I think that's really where the opportunity is in this market.

Three Telltale Tip-Offs
of a 2025 Buy-Out

WOODY:

Okay. So, let's talk about the strategy behind that opportunity now.

So it's fairly clear that a land grab for metal and mining assets is leading to a spike in M&A activity… both here in Australia, and all over the world.

But you know from experience, right, that not every mining junior that talks a good book is viable.

JAMES:

Yeah, far from it.

WOODY:

Give us a bit of an edge here on
predicting the next deals…

There are some pretty obvious things to look for in potential targets, like promising deposit in a critical metal in a strategic location.

So, going into 2025, what are some less obvious factors that will put a target on the head of a junior miner?

JAMES:

Alrighty, so the nuts and bolts.

But before I get started, I think it's important to put a couple of disclaimers.

Not every acquisition target or every stock we recommend is going to become an acquisition from a major. So I think it's just important to understand that.

But I think if we focus on certain qualities in that company, in its own right, it could do well.

With that said, there are certain factors which make some companies, really set higher as a potential buyout for the majors.

The first factor I really like to focus on is the geology.

Yeah, that probably sounds a little bit biased coming from a geologist.

Ask a mining engineer or some analysts and they'll probably tell you, look at the books, look at the production over several years — is there consistency, has it met guidance and all that…

And that's still valid if these companies are existing producers.

But as I said, we should be focusing on explorers at this stage of the cycle.

And for those explorers, it's the assets sitting in the ground that haven't been mined. That's the geology.

So we should be looking at things like grade, metallurgy, how much metal can you actually recover from that mining?

Also, exploration upside. A big miner looking at these projects wants to know whether there’s some potential discovery. Can they add value to that deposit?

But I guess that brings me to the second factor and probably the key thing to look for: size of deposit.

Size of deposit relates to the geology as well.

Because you need a big deposit to attract the attention of a major.

And that really boils down to sort of ‘economy of scale’.

So a big company wants a project that's going to last for several decades…years and years of output.

And that's critical, because these projects require a lot of capital expenditure on infrastructure.

And these projects take years to develop....up to 10–15 years in some cases.

So size…and that may sometimes, be at the expense of grade. Sometimes, you might not get high grade at some of these larger, say, porphyry type deposits.

WOODY:

I guess you could have the highest grade possible. But if you've only got a tiny amount of it, it's pointless.

JAMES:

Exactly. And that's the type of deposit, say, a narrow vein deposit where you have high grades. But you don't have the scale.

So it could be done on a junior production level, but you're not going to get a big miner moving to those sort of projects. So that's the key measure.

Then, there's the third factor I target:
strategic bites.

This is probably not available for all investors.

But you want to look at the share registry.

You want to look at what companies or individuals, say mining magnates like Gina Rinehart, own a decent chunk of these smaller companies.

WOODY:

They might own, say, 5% or 10% of the potential acquisition target.

JAMES:

Exactly. And the reason that's so important is that's their backdoor entry into that company.

Sometimes it's to get some sort of technical information — these companies often share the technical team.

So imagine the geologists sitting at the junior…they're going to be sharing information with the technical teams of the bigger company.

That's often part of the deal. And, that just gives the bigger company a little bit more insight into what's happening at that small project, and whether a bigger acquisition...or a full-blow takeover deal...is worthwhile.

And, I guess that's some of the machinations that happen in the background, with these little small bites.

Time to Start Naming
Possible Buy-Out Plays...

WOODY:

So just a quick summary:

1. Geology
2. Size of deposit or size of potential resource.
3. Strategic bites, in other words, looking at whether a bigger player owns a small portion of a potential explorer.

Now let’s get a little bit more specific and start naming names.

I know you have some hard targets. Actual recommendations that you're making right now, specifically because of that buyout potential.

And we're going to get to them soon.

But more generally, what deals do you know of that are percolating at the moment?

And is there a stock or two that wouldn't surprise you if they got some buyout attention soon?

JAMES:

Okay. So I think, there'll be a lot of readers who subscribe to my Diggers & Drillers service. So, I'll focus on one of the D&D stocks in our portfolio, and that's Sovereign Metals [ASX:SVM].

And I think this company stands out as a really clear company that could be an acquisition target.

There are a few reasons for that.

But first, Sovereign is a company that's based in Malawi.

It's listed on the ASX, it's Australian owned. It operates — well, it's developing — a rutile graphite project in Malawi, which is a stable country in Africa.

I know Africa is known for instability, but Malawi is definitely one of the safer countries. I've been there.

Now, what makes this project really stand out?

I said to our readers that, graphite is a bonus, but our real focus here is the rutile.

Rutile one of the richest forms of titanium. And right now, titanium is the ‘hottest’ metal on Earth.

It's used in all sorts of industries related to the green energy transition, but a lot of traditional energies as well. So, aircraft frames and that sort of thing.

It adds strength without compromising on weight. So that's one of the key reasons.

Now, Sovereign owns the world's largest rutile deposit. So that's your biggest green light there.

And we got into this company, I think it was early last year.

And, last year — I think it was in around November or December — Rio Tinto walked in and put in a 15% offer, or strategic purchase, for the company.

So a small bite, probably a larger ‘small bite’ than you'd normally see. So this is again a good signal that Rio Tinto is interested in Sovereign.

Rio Tinto does have an interest in these smaller metals.

It owns some other titanium dioxide assets in Canada. So it could be looking to broaden its scope with this sort of niche commodity.

So these are some factors which line up to a potential takeover deal in the future.

So I guess it brings us back to the size.

This is the world's largest rutile deposit and the strategic bite…Rio Tinto has walked in with a 15% shareholder acquisition.

WOODY:

I think there's another one. Filo Mining [TSX:FIL]?

JAMES:

So this company is based in South America, so on the border of Chile and Argentina.

And this is really the land of the giants for copper miners. So it's a TSX — Toronto Stock Exchange — listed company.

But what really makes this stand out? Its copper, gold, silver projects.

Look at where the prices of these commodities have gone in 2024. You've got the treasure trove there...the trifecta.

So these three commodities are all sort of hitting or flirting with all-time new highs.

And this deposit is huge. So, as D&D readers will remember, the company struck an over 1,000-metre intercept of copper, gold and silver through several of its exploration drill holes. And that just gives you the scale of this deposit.

Something else, BHP has taken a 10% bite of this company. So, again, fitting our criteria of the size and also the strategic interest.

So again, another company that could really sit higher, as a potential takeover target for a major.

WOODY:

OK! So let’s dig even deeper.

While both these stocks James just named are potentially legit takeover targets...they’re NOT super-junior explorers.

Filo’s a $3 billion dollar company.

Stock price $17.

Even a ‘double’ there — a 100% gain — is a long-shot in the near term. Let alone a 1,000% ‘Division 1’-level return.

And Sovereign’s well on the way to becoming the world’s biggest rutile and graphite producer.

Both are decent holdings that MIGHT catch acquisition buzz in this next M&A cycle, for sure.

But...

As James has been explaining, the REAL share price fireworks...

...the Division 1-type wins...

...are most likely to come at the junior explorer-level…

The ‘PHASE ONE’ miners.

These are the really small fish swimming in the explorer pond...

...share prices often in the low cents...

...market caps generally in the low millions...

Where ONE BIG STRIKE can suddenly put them on the buy-out map.

Meteoric Resources [ASX:MEI] is a perfect Phase One example.

A tiny company with shares trading for peanuts.

Then it announced ‘off the charts’ grades in its Caldeira rare earths project in Brazil.

And the share price went ballistic...

1,500% in three months.

Here’s an update.

In mid-2024, the sharks are circling around Meteoric.

A big US bank has just announced it’s backing them to the tune of $250 million.

But I want to really stress the risk element before we get to our three ‘hard targets’.

If you’re going to buy them, you need to be clear that things can wrong, too. Not all these deals work out.

A recent example…

A lithium company called Liontown Resources [ASX:LTR].

Things looked great for these guys early last year. 

US mega-miner Albermarle [NYSE:ALB] came calling.

If you got in early when shares were trading sub-10 cents...it LOOKED like Liontown was your Division 1 win.

But then Gina Rinehart...

...you’ll notice that name keeps popping up here!...

...put a spanner in the works. One of her companies bought up almost a fifth of Liontown. 

Albermarle got spooked.

They walked from the deal.

Then THIS happened...

This is what can transpire...quite quickly...if you’re holding shares in a company where a deal falls through.

I hope you appreciate our transparency here.

This is among the riskiest investment plays you’ll ever make.

But the bet...if you’ve got the spendable capital and the balls to make it...is pretty simple:

We’re in a phase now where the likes of BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Barrick...as well as huge-institutional-money interests...

...come knocking on the door of lots more Phase Oners like Meteoric.

If you’re willing to swallow the risk, now’s the time to pre-empt which juniors they might go after.

Right now...the next generation of big mining executives are gearing up for a shopping spree.

They’re on the hunt for tier one assets...like Meteoric’s Caldeira rare earths treasure chest...

And they want to BUY THEM OUTRIGHT.

Put simply...

It’s BUY versus BUILD…

And BUY is about to become the go-to play.

Unlike Diggers & Drillers...James Coopers’ Mining: PHASE ONE advisory focuses squarely on very small explorers with these kinds of assets.

The juicy but low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked.

This calibre of company is Mining: PHASE ONE’s bread and butter.

In fact, we launched this advisory back in 2022 in anticipation of where we are in the cycle right now.

Which brings us to the million-dollar, Division One question...

WHO MIGHT BE NEXT?

James’ Three Potential
Buyout ‘Hard Targets’

WOODY:

Let’s get to the nitty gritty, James…your hard targets for 2025.

JAMES:

Okay, so these companies AREN’T in Diggers & Drillers.

That’s because these are very small companies.

And, just a couple of disclaimers, I suppose, because they are small and we are talking to a large audience.

We can’t give away the names outright. To get your hands on those, you’d obviously have to be a subscriber to the Mining: PHASE ONE service.

And that’s just for a few reasons. We don’t want to cause the share price to blow up on these stocks.

That’s not what we’re about.

We’re about investing in these companies, sometimes for the long term, to really ride this commodity supercycle and really benefit from the wave of M&A activity that that could come about now…

HARD TARGET #1:
A massive deposit – with a
‘strategic bite’

Okay, so the number one acquisition target that currently sits in our Mining: PHASE ONE portfolio, that I think investors should have top of their list as a potential acquisition target…

…is a Canadian-listed company. It’s based in Canada.

So it’s in a tier one location. Canada’s a great place for mining, just like Australia.

It’s safe. There’s very little jurisdictional risk with having an operation in Canada.

Now, this company owns a giant copper-gold porphyry deposit.

’Porphyry’ means this company owns a multi-billion pound copper deposit, right alongside a multi-million ounce gold deposit.

So, that’s a huge gold deposit in its own right…but it’s principally a copper deposit.

So that ticks our first box…the size of the deposit.

That’s critically important for an acquisition target.

Second, it has a strategic bite from a big company. And that company is Rio Tinto.

It’s taken a 5–10% bite in this company.

And that’s showing you it’s looking for a backdoor entry into sharing the technical information…and perhaps looking at a full blown buyout later in future.

HARD TARGET #2:
‘Only a matter of time’
before a big fish bites

Now we’ll move to the second hard target.

So, this company is a little closer to home.

It is based in Australia, so it’s ASX-listed.

And that actually makes it quite unique because this is another copper-gold-silver porphyry deposit.

And it’s another very large deposit.

For these types of geological finds, that’s unique for Australia.

And given that Australia is arguably the best place to mine, that just makes it even more valuable for a big miner looking to spend a lot of money — and a lot of time on due diligence — in picking up a project.

So this company actually hasn’t got a strategic bite…any official on-the-record attention from a big player…yet.

But as commodity prices start to rise, I don’t think it will be long before we start to see at least one strategic purchase come through.

HARD TARGET #3:
Potentially the STRONGEST
buyout contender of the three

Now I’ll shift to the third company I see as the most likely contender for a buyout target in the medium-term future.

This company is not based in Australia or Canada.

It’s actually based in the ‘land of the giants’, in Chile.

But it is ASX listed. It’s an Australian owned stock.

It’s exploring for another copper ore free deposit.

What makes this deposit stand out though, is it already has a large reserve.

And there’s also a lot of exploration upside…

A lot of what geologists call ‘open mineralisation’…a big area where there could still be a lot of potential to build this deposit…and make it even larger.

And that’s what the majors like to see as well.

And I guess just one more point on this company.

It’s low altitude, so it’s not like a lot of these deposits — which form in the high altitude Andes region.

This company is unique because it’s very low altitude. It’s around sea level. So that that’s a clear distinction for the big miners operating in Chile, targeting these big projects.

WOODY:

One thing that I’ve noticed about all these targets is that copper is a major theme with all three of them.

JAMES:

Absolutely.

And that’s not to say that there’s not going to be other opportunities in Mining: PHASE ONE for other commodities.

We’ll absolutely be looking at other commodities. And we have, like we’re doing with Sovereign in Diggers & Drillers.

But I think where the market stands right now…

Copper is generally an early leader in a commodity cycle.

We’ve seen copper hitting all-time highs.

It breached $5 per pound.

That’s a really important level for copper, and it did that just a few weeks ago.

It’s now sort of consolidating just below that level. I think it is setting up for even stronger prices in the future.

But again, it comes back to this supply issue with copper…

It’s one of those commodities which has seen under investment in new projects and new mines.

We talked about Codelco, the world’s largest copper miner, which is now suffering from declining output.

And these types of big companies are desperate to get a hold of these smaller juniors holding big deposits…or the potential for larger projects.

WOODY:

That’s where the opportunity is for private investors on the ground here in Australia. I mean…

Would you rather be on the hunt for these types of opportunities late in the cycle, or right now?

Which, as we discussed earlier, is pretty much like we’re back in the early 2000s, when we had this big supercycle ahead of us.

This is not at the late stage. It’s the beginning.

JAMES:

You want to be early.

And I think we are still in the early phases.

WOODY:

The rational phase, as you said.

JAMES:

Absolutely.

And I’ve been there on the ground when the big miners suffer from this FOMO, this ‘fear of missing out’.

And that’s what signals the peak of a cycle…when these big companies are paying huge premiums for smaller companies, like Barrick did with Equinox.

But at the moment, any good acquisition or M&A activity is still very rational.

We’ve seen that with the Anglo deal. There are a lot of conditions behind that deal, and…

This just shows you we’re still in the early stages of this commodity cycle.

WOODY:

Which is the stage you want to be invested.

JAMES:

Definitely.

That’s because this is when the premiums are being driven into these junior miners…

When there’s still a lot of value on offer.

And I think that’s exactly when you should be targeting these opportunities as investors.

So, I guess if you just want to put yourself in the shoes of a big miner…these big miners haven’t invested in new projects for a long, long time.

And when it becomes apparent, like Codelco, and they do start to suffer from declining output...

...well, that’s when the bidding war starts to happen on these junior miners.

And that’s when you, as a shareholder, want to be owning these types of stocks.

WOODY:

Okay, you can see that JOIN NOW link below.

JOIN Mining: Phase One NOW

We’ve only opened Mining: PHASE ONE a couple of times since we launched the advisory.

It is NOT a pure buy-out advisory.

Mergers and takeovers are the optimal, Division 1-style outcome.

But juniors like Meteoric can do very well indeed on their own merits in this climate...without any kind of dealmaking.

However...

Potential deals being struck on these much smaller-cap recommendations IS going to be our central focus for the foreseeable future.

In that regard, Mining: PHASE ONE will be actively chasing the price premium when two majors start bidding for a tiny stock you own.

What James and his members DON’T want to do...is influence the price with their own buying.

That’s still going to happen from time to time…

After all, we’re talking about some stocks that trade for 5–10 cents. Even 50 people buying shares at the same time will have a temporary impact there.

But this is a much smaller and more intimate advisory than Diggers & Drillers in terms of membership.

Diggers, at the time of recording, has over 7,000 members.

Mining: PHASE ONE is a much smaller and elite crew of speculators.

It may not be for you.

But...for the reasons we’ve been talking about...we’re briefly opening the doors.

First thing you’ll get if you join right now is a sizeable one-time membership discount.

This deal is for a few days only, though.

It must end at the time you see on screen.

That’s non-negotiable.

If you want in, we must get your confirmation before that time. 

This special discount does come with a 30-day membership fee refund period.

You’ve a full month to explore the service, and ask for every cent refunded, if you so desire.

And look, virtually nobody in this space offers that assurance.

We’re offering this refund period because we know Mining: PHASE ONE isn’t for all investors.

We want you to be able to take a nosey around...and be able to change your mind and back out, if you so choose, without being-out of-pocket.

Second thing you’ll get is this.

This is the detailed run-down on the three hard targets James was just describing.

Literally days before recording this, and a few blocks away from where I speak right now...

Newmont – the world’s biggest GOLD miner – announced at the Melbourne Mining Club that it was on the hunt for copper assets.

That’s BIG news. It’s PRECISELY what we’re talking about.

The big guns are mobilising.

But here’s the reality.

Only a fraction of Phase One explorers right now are going to be of interest to the likes of Newmont.

90% of listed explorers DON’T have the goods the multinational miners are looking for, BUT…

The three plays dissected in this report...James reckons...are the three best ‘real deal’ acquisition targets in the junior space right now.

Not just in Australia.

But in the whole mining world.

You’ll learn more about why that is if you click the link below and join Mining PHASE: ONE today.

And I’m absolutely certain you won’t find a comparable service anywhere…

Helmed by an exploration specialist who’s spent years working INSIDE these very deals. And at the forefront of finding the kind of reserves and grades that make or break the very stocks we’re talking about here.

That makes Mining: PHASE ONE a stock trading service in a club of one.

No one else...at least to my knowledge...is doing anything like this.

If this sounds too risky for you, please give this a pass.

If you’re already a Diggers subscriber...and think you might be content with just that...fair play.

Just know that Diggers & Drillers will NOT be covering the kind of plays we’ve been talking about today...

WOODY:

So, the crux of what separates Mining: PHASE ONE from Diggers & Drillers is the liquidity issue, right?

JAMES:

That’s right.

So, we’ve been recommending bigger companies within Diggers & Drillers.

We’re starting to focus more on producers as the Diggers & Drillers subscriber base gets larger.

We’ve got thousands of subscribers now. That just means we can’t go into these small-cap stocks where you might cause their share price to just blow up.

WOODY:

When you say smaller cap stocks, you mean sub-$500 million, even below $100 million, right?

JAMES:

That’s right. And that’s what we focus on at Mining: PHASE ONE.

So, the explorers…the companies with market caps of well below $500 million, and often as low as $10–20 million.

For these types of companies, you need a small list of members…and this restriction is primarily based on the liquidity of these companies.

You can’t have a lot of people purchasing these companies at once.

And that’s why we keep this service exclusive.

Of course, that comes with a higher price, but that’s what allows us to get into these smaller companies.

And that’s what really allows us to ride the opportunity that is coming from this next wave — or this next turn — in the commodity cycle.

So if you are looking for the real fireworks, which is the explorers…the potential acquisition targets…you can find it all within Mining: PHASE ONE.

Basically, it all comes back to where we are in the cycle.

So, in normal conditions, I think Diggers & Drillers probably offers most investors what they need.

Good exposure across different commodities, different companies at different stages…mostly production.

But as we get to this more speculative phase…as commodity prices start to break into all-time new highs…as we see deals like Anglo and BHP start to emerge…

This is when you really want to be in these junior mining stocks, owning these quality assets.

I’m not talking about every junior mining stock.

I’m talking about specific companies which sit in the crosshairs of the big miners.

So that’s the size of the asset, strategic bites, and — just broadly — the geology.

And really, you can only get that by focusing on the explorers.

WOODY:

OK, so if you’re KEEN on drilling down solely on the explorers...and putting yourself in the running for those potential buyout premiums...

...you’ve found yourself in a small window where you can join us.

Mining: PHASE ONE does not have a technical membership limit.

But the nature of the trading...the membership dues...and the fact we only open the doors once or twice a year...tends to keep numbers at a natural low...so we can move a bit more freely in and out of these plays. 

So what do you get with Mining: PHASE ONE?

As I mentioned, first and foremost you’ll receive this: Three Division 1 ‘Hard Targets’ to Consider Buying Now.

As a literal land grab for metal-and-mining assets continues to spike M&A activity in 2025...these are the three juniors with the greatest potential to get pounced on.

This resource explains the rationale behind each potential buyout.

And the steps that need to happen for it to morph into a successful takeover or merger.

From there – James will be in regular contact with you with any further action to take on three plays as the need arises – and often this can come out of the blue...so you need to make sure you can check your email fairly regularly.

You’ll also get James Cooper’s Buyout Prediction Playbook.

Most of what you get fed on mining deals comes from finance journalists. They may have an interest in mining. They may have covered M&As themselves for years.

But they’ve never got their hands dirty and actually explored.

They never experienced a buyout from start to signature, from the inside. James has.

In this report he breaks down the exact criteria he reckons MUST be met for a company to fall into the buyout crosshairs in this particular cycle.

And remember, every mining cycle is unique. What made a junior a juicy acquisition 20 years ago is completely different to now.

In this resource, James shows you the ‘tells’ that may signal a deal – from mineralisation and proximity to curious moves in insider buying.

But James’ three takeover ‘hard targets’ are not the entirety of the service. Far from it…

Join today and you’ll get unrestricted access to the entire Mining: PHASE ONE buy list, and every NEW trade as well.

You’ll be kept abreast of every development — be it a curious site visit from a Rio Tinto mining exec...

A bolt-from-the-blue new find...

A Top Gun geologist with discoveries under his belt that’s just been recruited...

Or rumours of a ‘strategic bite’ from a big player.

Most importantly, you’ll be told simply and directly — when to buy, at what price, and WHEN TO sell.

Again — this will all come to you from an actual exploration and takeover veteran.

That’s what makes this advisory so unique...and so valuable!

So, what will you pay for this service?

Well, there are private equity funds out there that specialise in ‘growth-oriented mining companies’.

They say they use capital, expertise, and capabilities to position you into the best growth plays in the mining ecosystem.

But few, if any, have pure geologists on their teams.

I would say NONE of them have guys who were right in the mix of several of the biggest mining takeover deals of the last 20 years…

Those private equity firms are ‘money guys’ who’ve only been in a mine when taken on a tour by guys like James!

They certainly have their place. Phase One explorers wouldn’t get the capital they need without private equity.

But it’s a set-and-forget, ‘give-us-your-money-and-leave-it-to-us’ strategy.

And you’ll need a LOT of money.

To get into deals like the ones we’ve been talking about today, the minimum private equity investment tends to be $50,000 right up
to $25 million.

Now, Mining: PHASE ONE has a full ticket price of $3,999 a year.

I know.

Not cheap.

But you’ve seen what we’re doing here and you know the mission.

For this kind of niche trading intel...from an exploration specialist whose been at the heart of these deals...this is actually a steal when you think about it.

If even just one of these Division 1’s get landed...it could pay off that fee multiple times over.

But this is a fee that will rule out investors who perhaps shouldn’t be playing this field to begin with…

But for this intake, we’re opening
Mining: PHASE ONE with a special deal.

$2,000 off your first year.

A 50% price slash.

But when the countdown you see on-screen hits zero, we’re pulling this deal.

Doors will close. And the 50%-off deal expires.

Again, just $1,999 gets you entry into the Mining: PHASE ONE fraternity.

$1,999 instead of four grand.

That’s a two-grand discount.

But also, there’s an even better deal if you’re totally bought-in to this buy-out trend...

Today, you can lock in TWO years of
Mining: PHASE ONE for just $2,999.

So – if you can stretch an extra grand – you’ll get TWO YEARS of Mining: PHASE ONE for a thousand dollars LESS than the official price for ONE YEAR.

That’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.

It means if you go for the two-year deal...you’re getting a 62% discount on years one and two.

A total saving of $4,999.

But, as I say, clock’s ticking on this intake.

This hot-patch in dealmaking is unlikely to play out in just 12 months.

Going by the last boom, it could take several years for these deals to start reaching fever pitch.

And for the opportunities in the junior mining space to intensify.

This little two-to-three year window
is what we set the whole service up for.

So, if it were me, I’d lock in that two-year deal while it’s there. But completely up to you.

If you’d rather stick with the $1,999 ‘50% off’ one-year option, no worries.

Just know BOTH deals expire at the time you see below.

And a really important point...

Just know that with BOTH deals, the 30-day
window to ask for a refund still applies.

Whether you take one year for two-grand...

...or two years for $2,999...

...you can still request a full refund any time within the first month.

That gives you breathing space to look into James’ three hard buyout targets...

To look behind the Mining: PHASE ONE paywall...

To check out EVERY active buy in the portfolio...

And just get a general feel for the whole advisory.

If it doesn’t float your boat — get a 100% refund!

100% refund options, as you likely know, are pretty rare in the financial advisory space.

That’s a reflection of how much we back this guy, James Cooper.

So…

The stopwatch is running.

The stage is set.

And the big players are telegraphing their moves.

James is actively working to anticipate what those moves might be...and get you in right stocks before those moves go public.

Remember your 30-day subscription refund window.

That’ll give you a little time to acclimatise (and paper trade, if you like) James’ three acquisition hard targets, as well as his other active buys.

If at any time in that first 30-days you feel this is not for you...then let us know and we will refund you your subscription.

Easy.

Whether you take one year at half-price...

...or two years at a 62% discount...

...you need to move now.

Click the JOIN NOW button below and you’ll be taken to a secure application form.

Fill that in, and you’ll be directed to all the onboarding materials and your first trades.

Thanks for taking part in this discussion today, I really hope you learnt some interesting stuff, even if you don’t decide to join.

If this IS for you, though, don’t mess about.

Click the JOIN NOW button below and let’s get cracking.

JOIN NOW