Member Info for Manlord

While we wait for the main man himself, just running the rough numbers here and assuming the 1.1 billion tonnes of mineralised material (Thomas) is vaguely correct with another assumption of an average TiO₂ grade of around 5%, we’re potentially looking at 55 million tonnes of contained TiO2.

Even on a conservative valuation, say a recoverable value of $15–$30 per tonne of ore once mined and processed, that puts the in-ground value of Thomas alone in the $16–$33 billion range (and that’s before we even consider any extensions, scale-ups, or the broader Pitfield system of 32b tonnes).

Still early days of course, and a maiden MRE will start to bring shape to it but the scale, both geologically and commercially, is already looking like something monumentally impressive.

ML

Trying again to keep this board discussing Empire as I can clearly see from the genuine investor replies today that it’s been proven AGAIN that someone is determined to try to blacken our investment. New investors, please be assured 99.9% of posters here are decent humans.

I have to say I’m really encouraged by the scale of the current drilling prospect, 11 square kms is no small patch of dirt. From peer exploration sites and projects, that’s a seriously large footprint, and it speaks volumes about the scale of the system we’re sitting on at Pitfield. We’re not chasing narrow veins and as SB has continually said, “this is about proving up a regionally extensive, titanium rich mineralised system, most likely amenable to large-scale, low-strip, open-pit extraction.

For context, most early-stage drill targets are lucky to span a couple of squared kms and we’re working on a zone that could swallow up Hyde Park and still have room for Canary Wharf (It’s massive!) That size gives us room to properly test the geometry, continuity, and grade across multiple structures and if the grades hold up across that area (which should be 5% - 8%) the tonnsge potential becomes extremely compelling. It also sets us up well for eventual resource definition and any strategic discussions that might come our way. The bigger picture here is really starting to take shape.

Now that we’ve zeroed in on the Thomas prospect, which covers that 11 square kms area, the scope of what we’re targeting is starting to look very real. If we scale things conservatively, based on Empire’s previously referenced 32b tonne exploration target across the broader Pitfield system, which I’d estimate covers around 100 square kms of prospective ground, then Thomas alone could account for around 3.5b tonnes (Ageos I need you here).

Again basic calcs give us a volume of 11,000,000 square metres of surface area, if we apply an average mineralised thickness of around 40 metres (based on what we’ve already seen), and apply a density of ~2.6 tonnes per metre cubed, we’re looking at a ballpark of 1.1b tonnes. That’s just a conservative estimate which doesn’t even factor in extensions, higher-grade zones, or anything deeper than the 40m 😮.

The 124 AC and 40RC totalling almost 11k metres of drilling is now fully focused on Thomas, with the aim of delivering a MRE by August. If continuity and grade hold across that footprint (and all signs point in that direction) we could be looking at a very meaningful resource here. The scale is big, the system is laterally extensive, and now it’s just about proving it up with the drill bit 🤞🏼

Not long until the majors MUST step up and take official and publicly communicated notice of Pitfield and Enpire.

GLA

Recommended Kongo!

100% agreed.

Whilst these little rises are nice, the BIG picture is monumental and I’m keeping focus on what the MRE will tell us. Loads of industry experts are now involved with Empire, so much so its look as if they fully endorse the probability of it becoming a globally significant titanium resource.

I’ll be here in 5 years too, hopefully awaiting a quarterly dividend for thousands of tonnes of titanium sold 🤞🏼

ML

As the subject heading says,

Congrats to Fahad Al Tamimi, the Saudi investor who got involved with Empire Metals 18 months ago. He is a prominent Saudi businessman and founder of Tamimi Investment & Mining Co. Ltd. and holds approximately 24m of Empire Metals’ shares, making him one of the company’s largest individual shareholders.   

Shaun announced a £3 million strategic investment led by TransOceanic Minerals, a natural resources investment group associated with Al Tamimi. This funding was intended to advance the development of the company’s Pitfield titanium project which Shaun said that Al Tamimi’s involvement would bring significant experience from major engineering and construction projects in Saudi Arabia, potentially opening avenues for future collaborations in the region. 

Beyond us, Al Tamimi holds leadership positions in other mining companies, including Mason Resources Inc. and Sabre Gold Mines Corp., reflecting his active role in the global mining and resource development sector. 

Be assured, he has contributed to the progress over the last 18 months and will continue to as we build into a titanium industry player.

No matter how big or small an investor you are, the day you start seeing profit on your investments is a good day.

ML

Good shout JLaL,

It also took the shine off this thread which had been very valuable up until it was taken over by unrelated posts.

Make no mistake, there is certainly 1, but maybe another who will do anything to disturb this BB, ESPECIALLY & ALWAYS when the company issue good news or when positive discussion is flowing.

Let’s keep the good work up 👍🏼

ML

Thanks Mavern.

ML

Oh that’s a pity AG,

2 months back (for fun) I said we’d be at 18p by the end of June. Looks like I’ll be wrong 😂

Where’s all the sausages that said “I’m not buying more until it drops back to 6p”

I could name them but best left in the past, along with the single digit SP.

ML

The reason I have that figure in my head is that Shaun had said to me that many II's or funds cannot and will not engage with us until we’re at this level or above.

If we can achieve a £100m market capitalisation it will open doors to a broader range of institutional investors. Many institutional investors have minimum market cap thresholds to ensure sufficient liquidity and stability in their investments. I know the thresholds can vary but reaching the £100m mark is often seen as a significant milestone that can attract interest from larger funds and institutions.

ML

Nobody ever went broke banking profit and always nice to leave some on the table.

ML

It’s also worth noting that it’s Shaun’s 3 year anniversary this week on becoming our MD.

The Mcap on the day he took the reins was £10.1m and today we stand at £85m and counting.

Not bad Shaun, not bad at all.

That also goes for all members of the Empire board and management team who have clearly demonstrated a strong work ethic and understanding that shareholders are not here to pay for their lifestyles.

ML

Absolutely and this is why we should have good engagement between shareholders across all aspects of this project.

The results due any day now will offer additional clarity.

ML

Hi JLaL,

Yeah there’s still some important data required across the whole process flow sheet to be accurate.

The 78% referenced came from the 7th Nov 2024 RNS - please see below.

Highlights

· A heavy mineral concentrate was achieved from the preliminary gravity tabling tests on the anatase-rich weathered zone samples, with high a recovery of titanium and iron (up to 80% and 92% respectively) and importantly a high rejection of aluminium and silica minerals.

· Preliminary froth flotation testwork on the weathered samples has also been positive. Sighter rougher tests produced a concentrate containing 78% of the TiO2 bearing minerals with a rougher concentrate grade of 8.8% TiO2.

Subsequent to that RNS, on Feb 13th 2025, Empire reported that froth flotation tests on the finer fraction of the ore produced a rougher concentrate, with subsequent acid leaching achieving a peak titanium extraction rate of 91%. That was a significant step in designing an efficient and robust process flowsheet for TiO2 recovery.  

The ongoing metallurgical test work aims to further refine the purification and refining stages to achieve a high-purity, high-value TiO2 product. This includes assessing various titanium product development options and determining the steps required to reach purities approaching or exceeding 95% TiO2

By the time the MRE is communicated, the flow sheet and process should have 6-10 additional months of improvements so let’s hope it’s all coming together nicely, although SB did say he has zero issues with increasing those figures.

ML

Absolutely RP.

I’m being ultra conservative but if we look at it under the 70% ownership we have the following economics.

If we take the 1.1b tonnes of ore grading around 5% TiO2 (likely billions more tonnes and potentially up to 8% content) and apply a simple in-situ valuation of £12 to £22 per tonne (which is reasonable for a large-scale industrial minerals project at this stage), that gives a total project value of between £13.2b and £24.2b.

Empire holds 70% of Pitfield, so their attributable share comes in at roughly £9.24b to £16.94b.

From there, if you apply a 1% to 3% realisation factor which is standard for early stage projects before metallurgy, offtake, and development plans are in place you get a risked valuation range for Empire of about £92m to £508m.

With 670 million shares in issue, that works out at roughly 14p to 76p per share depending on where you land on the valuation assumptions (mine being as safe as possible).

At the current price of 11.95p, this suggests a significant misalignment between the share price and the underlying project value. I think it’s a clear opportunity where the market has yet to fully recognise the scale and potential of Pitfield, leaving us notably undervalued and exactly how Shaun sees it too.

Add in higher grades, increase the tonnage to 32b, increase the recovery, reduce the Capex / Opex & with additional data available, we could go to a 10% realisation factor where the figures go parabolic 📈

Ok I’m going to leave it there, see you at the results RNS all.

DYOR as my calcs are all educated assumption based.

ML

Thanks Fuzzy. Appreciate the reply and that’s to all others that commented also.

In relation to your query, if & when mining costs and profits start being modelled post-MRE, 70% of the nett revenue and cost responsibility is Empire’s.

In case of a future sale, a 70% share would generate proceeds for us as shareholders.

In essence, my calculations are based off Pitfields economics, of which we own 70%, Century with the remaining 30%.

ML

Thanks MBOD.

Maybe Shaun was right when he said “This is a unicorn deposit”

ML

Currently we have about 690m shares in issue, and the share price is roughly 11.95p giving the company a market cap around £82.5m.

If we apply the valuation percentages I just mentioned to the estimated £13b to £24b in situ profit value, here’s what I got (please feel free to challenge these figures as I don’t want to miss anything).

At 1% of in situ value, the market cap would be £130m to £240m which translates to a share price of about 18.8p to 34.8p

At 3%, the market cap jumps to £390m to £720m, or 56.5p to 104.4p per share.

At 5% to 10%, the market cap ranges from £650 million to £2.4 billion, with a share price between 94.2p and 347.8p

Right now, the market cap is roughly 0.34% to 0.63% of the estimated in situ value, which is very low, even by early stage exploration standards and especially low given the scale and location (which has a far lower risk premium that often suppresses valuations in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, or Latin America). It also makes the project vastly more appealing for future joint ventures, project finance, or offtake negotiations with end-users or majors.

In terms of peer comparisons, my workings follow an industry trend so again I keep getting these confirmations? Again feel free to challenge as I don’t want this to be a one-sided vacuum.

Sovereign SVML (ASX/AIM) was trading at 3% to 5% of in situ TiO2 value once its resource was defined, even though it’s in Malawi, a much riskier jurisdiction.

Andrada Mining (AIM), despite being in Namibia and focused on lithium and tin, trades around 2% to 3% of in situ once metallurgy and expansion plans were outlined.

Iluka Resources, the largest pure-play titanium company in Australia, of course trades at much higher valuations but shows how the market supports these types of deposits once de-risked.

These aren’t perfect comparisons but they give us a rough guide. Once we have the MRE out and metallurgy confirmed, there’s every reason to think we could move into that 1% to 3% bracket initially, even conservatively. That alone would be a significant re-rate.

I don’t want this to be misleading in any way so happy to discuss this in detail. There are obviously still many steps to go before this value gets recognised fully in the share price. The MRE needs to confirm the size, the metallurgy must show recoveries (78% already secured) that support the margin assumptions, and we will need to communicate a clear path to development and production which SB says he is confident of achieving.

That said, if the MRE comes in strong and the project is derisked further, I think there’s every reason to believe the market will rerate us substantially higher, potentially multiple times the current price.

The upside potential here is real, and as shareholders, we’re in a good spot if the story continues to unfold positively. Roll on August.

ML

I know you’re probably sick of me posting but I’m only doing so in the hope of being challenged & corrected on what almost seems too good to be true. As some of you are aware, I’ve done a serious amount of research into Empire over the years (probably weeks worth) and as we get closer to the Mineral Resource Estimate coming out, I really wanted to step it up to ensure I’m not missing anything. I think it’s useful to share how companies like Enpire are usually valued, especially when the deposit could be as big as it looks and in one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world.

For companies Empire, valuation isn’t about earnings or revenue today. Instead, the market tends to look at the in situ value which is the total estimated profit sitting in the ground from the resource (Pitfield Thomas Prospect). From what I can see the market typically applies a % to that figure, depending on the stage of the project, how much risk there is, the quality of the resource, and where it is located.

As I outlined yesterday (Ageos has agreed in general) the early numbers suggest about 1.1b tonnes of titanium ore. If we take an estimated profit margin of roughly £12 to £22 per tonne (converted from the $15 to $30 I used based on Oz) that points to an in situ profit value somewhere between £13 billion and £24 billion (I know it sounds crazy which is why I’m checking over and over). That’s not revenue, and it’s definitely not guaranteed profit, but it is a massive indication of what “could” be in the weathered cap.

The market rarely values companies at 100% of in situ value, especially at this stage but even getting a small fraction of that can translate into a huge re-rating compared to the current MC.

Typically, junior resource companies like us are valued on roughly these %’s of in situ value. Early exploration companies might trade at 0.1% to 0.5%.

With a defined resource and some basic economic data, valuations move toward 0.5% to 1.5%.

Scoping studies or pre-feasibility studies tend to push valuations into the 1% to 3% range.

Once a definitive feasibility study is done, permits are secured, and strategic partnerships, JV or offtake deals are in sight, valuations often reach 5% to 10% or more!

The location of the project matters a lot too and as we are located in Western Australia, one of the safest, lowest-risk, and infrastructure, experience rich mining jurisdictions in the world. That reduces risk premiums and usually means investors are willing to pay higher multiples than they would for similar projects in more challenging countries.

CTD……

Hi Ageos,

I was hoping I had estimated the tonnage of ore relatively conservatively but it’s great to have it confirmed by yourself.

Many thanks as always for taking the time to reply. It is also my understanding (could be wrong) that you have potentially discussed Empire with industry peers and they have also come to a conclusion that this project has potential to be of global significance. As an expert in this field (which I am certainly not), this is a strong indication that what Shaun and the board are trying to achieve, is achievable.

Chat soon and thanks again.

ML

Joanne Hart was bang on, apart from her timelines. Everything she said then, is true now, but even more appealing for investors.

HTTPS://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-12912237/amp/MIDAS-SPECIAL-Joanne-Harts-tips-shares-showing-mettle-2024.html

ML

1 year cup & handle in play if not already confirmed?

18p to 22p estimate from better chartists than me.

HTTPS://youtu.be/wfyelVzxIHw?si=-t4Kd3UfPMEjRp_Z