ASX Round-Up: Looking at Altona Mining and Tiger Resources

For investors focused on the resource space, a good way to track companies listed in Australia is to look at the S&P/ASX 300 (INDEXASX:XKO). The index includes all S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) companies as well as about 100 smaller-cap companies, and as of April 2015 accounted for 74 percent of the Australian equities market. Specifically, the S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining (INDEXASX:XMM) division is a great source for companies to watch.
The Investing News Network is thus profiling companies on the S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining index. This week’s companies are Altona Mining (ASX:AOH) and Tiger Resources (ASX:TGS,TSX:TGS).

Copper-focused Altona Mining’s flagship project is the Queensland-based Cloncurry copper project. It’s one of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper projects, and has a resource of about 1.65 million tonnes of copper and 0.41 million ounces of gold.
The most recent update on Cloncurry came in June, when Altona concluded a binding framework agreement with Sichuan Railway Investment Group. The agreement will see the parties establish a joint venture over the project, with Sichuan taking a 60-percent stake in it and contributing US$214.46 million in cash. Altona will hold the other 40-percent interest and will contribute US$38 million in cash.
Once the transaction is complete, Cloncurry will be funded through to production. The companies’ initial plan is to develop a mine at Little Eva, located at Cloncurry. A 2014 definitive feasibility study for Little Eva outlines the construction of a 7-million-tonne-per-year open-pit mine and flotation plant with a capacity of 39,000 tonnes per year of copper and 17,000 ounces of gold. The mine’s life is pegged at 11 years.

Tiger Resources is also focused on copper, and produced copper-in-concentrate at its Kipoi copper project from 2011 to 2014. At that point, it transitioned to producing high-grade copper cathode; ultimately the company intends to produce 50,000 tonnes per year of copper cathode from the project. Kipoi is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The company released its Q2 2015 activities report at the end of June, noting that it achieved record performance, producing 6,732 tonnes of copper cathode and selling 6,972 tonnes of the material. Tiger was also able to decrease its cash operating costs for the period by 5 percent, to $1.48 per pound.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
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