Member Info for ThomasFoulser

We have now completed the fundraise, raising £1.2 million at 5.5p per share, which is a solid outcome and demonstrates continued market support at this level. The company has also been sensible with cash, settling around £110k of costs in shares rather than cash, including payments to consultants and two directors who are fully aligned with shareholders through equity-only remuneration.

Following admission of the new shares, expected around 19 December, Ajax will be debt free with an estimated cash balance of around £2.6 million. This leaves the company in a very strong financial position as it moves into the next stage of its strategy.

The fundraise also sits alongside the previously announced US$400k investment from Appian Capital, which will be made on completion of the Pereira Velho Gold Project acquisition. Appian becoming a significant shareholder is a clear positive and adds credibility and backing from a well-known name in the resources space.

After admission, the share count will be just over 100.7 million with a clean capital structure and no treasury shares. Overall, this has been a straightforward, well-executed raise that strengthens the balance sheet, avoids debt, brings in a strategic investor and leaves Ajax well funded to progress its assets, which is a positive outcome for existing shareholders.

Https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/15/jose-antonio-kast-wins-election-chile-president

There’s a lot of good news stacking up for Ajax right now, especially after last weeks annnouncements, and now the Chile election result just adds to it. The company’s assets are sitting in one of the most respected mineral belts in the world, and positive political signals in the neighbourhood only reinforce the case for investment and exploration success. When one of the key regional players moves toward a more stable, business friendly environment it tends to lift confidence across the whole Andean corridor, which is exactly where Ajax’s projects are located.

Ajax’s Eureka project in northwest Argentina is part of that same geological system that has made Chile a global mining powerhouse. Even though it’s across the border, the infrastructure, expertise and investor focus around the Andes don’t stop at national boundaries. Argentina’s side of the belt has huge potential waiting to be unlocked and being geographically adjacent to Chile’s established mining districts is a real advantage when you think about logistics and market access for future production.

Now you add in a conservative win in Chile and it’s easy to see why sentiment could tick up. Northern Chile is one of the most mining friendly jurisdictions on the planet, with decades of proven development and a deep pool of support services. A leadership shift that markets interpret as pro stability and pro investment doesn’t just matter inside Chile itself. It resonates for neighbouring countries and companies working right along that same mineralised trend.

For Ajax this means the broader macro environment is moving in a direction that complements its strong asset position. You have a strategically located resource in a proven belt, improving regional confidence around policy and investment, and the kind of backdrop that helps resource stories get noticed. All of this underlines why this moment feels genuinely positive for the story and where it’s heading.

Agree with the above and would add a bit of context for anyone looking at this objectively rather than emotionally. A company does not price a raise at a 22% premium and then upsizes it unless demand is genuinely strong. The fact it’s ~90% covered before close, with the board and existing significant holders increasing exposure, tells you this was not a defensive fundraise but a confidence-led one. That matters. It also matters that this sits directly alongside the Pereira Velho acquisition, with Appian putting in their own capital on completion. Appian don’t do retail punts and they don’t need to participate unless they see asymmetric upside. Dilution at a premium to the last round, tied to a value-accretive asset, with strategic money and insider alignment, is about as constructive as fundraises get at this level. Short-term traders might fixate on the word “raise”, but longer-term holders should be recognising this as balance sheet strengthening ahead of execution, not weakness.

Had some work to attend to, yes the price is up but this stock deserves far more attention than it’s getting. The market is currently valuing the company at a fraction of the in-situ metal it controls, and when you break down the numbers asset by asset, the disconnect becomes hard to ignore.

Starting with Paguanta, the updated figures put the in-situ value at around US$871.9 million at today’s metal prices. That is one project, on its own, already dwarfing Ajax’s entire market cap.

Then you have Leon, which comes in at roughly US$708 million based on current spot prices. Again, a standalone figure that would justify a far higher valuation than where the company trades today.

The newly introduced Pereira Velho gold project, backed by Appian, is already sitting on an estimated US$461 million worth of gold in the ground using today’s price deck. That is before any further drilling, expansion, or resource upgrades.

When you total those three assets alone, you are already north of US$2 billion of metal in the ground.

And that’s before assigning any value to Eureka, which remains completely unpriced into the market, and before factoring in any additional acquisitions — which the company has clearly signalled is part of its broader strategy.

For a company at this stage, the scale of these numbers is remarkable. The RNS effectively confirms that Ajax now controls a portfolio with multi-billion-dollar in-situ potential, yet the market cap continues to sit at an early-stage microcap level. The re-rating potential from here is obvious, especially as more technical detail, development planning, and external validation continues to land.

Anyone following the sector will know that markets don’t ignore this kind of asset base for long. I expect after todays news the investor base to rise continuously into the new year.

Correct. Tight free floats under institutional accumulation often lead to persistent upward pressure when new investors attempt to enter. And given the structured nature of the work programme—validation drilling, geochem expansion, geophysics, followed by 3,000m of targeted drilling—the news cadence is unusually strong and predictable for a junior. Add today’s gold environment and the valuation potential becomes even more asymmetric. This is precisely the type of setup that tends to reward early positioning.

Absolutely. Heap leach operations are among the most sensitive to metal price changes due to their low operating costs. When gold strengthens, the margin expansion is extremely pronounced. For context, a shallow oxidised, free-gold system with low strip ratios can remain economic at gold prices hundreds of dollars below current spot. The fact that we are operating in a historically strong gold environment means that Pereira Velho’s economics could look materially better than similar-stage projects modelled even a year or two ago. This is one of the most favourable macro environments Ajax could have launched this acquisition into.

Exactly the point. With gold prices now consistently trading near historic highs, the economics of shallow oxidised ounces are substantially enhanced. Heap leach operations thrive in this price environment because the cost structure is low and the margins expand rapidly. If you overlay current gold pricing onto a potential 350k ounce resource, even at conservative recovery and dilution assumptions, you arrive at project values far in excess of the company’s present valuation. The market is simply not pricing in the disconnect yet.

The existing dataset is unusually robust for an early-stage asset. Over 6,300 metres drilled across 47 holes, multiple intercepts of consistent near-surface mineralisation, free-gold oxidation, and a structurally controlled system that aligns with known regional deposits. Appian is not gambling here. Their internal geological teams would have reconstructed the drill models, re-logged the mineralisation, reviewed the structural controls and mapped the extension potential. The upside exists because the foundation is already strong.

Correct. The milestone mechanism ensures shareholders benefit first. Appian does not receive that larger tranche unless Ajax proves the resource expansion to a defined and audited standard. This locks Appian’s upside behind demonstrable performance, which is extremely shareholder aligned. Also bear in mind that the cash value of the metal in the ground in a jorc of 350k ounces is $1.5 billion. Even if only 0.5% of this goes on the balance sheet before Appian get their shares then this is a $75 million cash boost.

Money - The dilution is controlled and strategically placed. Because the majority is already committed by long-term holders and the board, the new shares are effectively being ring-fenced into strong hands rather than distributed widely. That stabilises the register rather than weakens it. The capital is being deployed directly into value-creating activity—JORC preparation—not overhead, which means the dilution is catalytic rather than erosive. Resources that convert into compliant ounces generally lift the entire valuation, offsetting the increase in share count.

The fundraise being effectively spoken for before it even opens to the market is another strong indicator of where the confidence sits. Six hundred thousand from existing holders, sixty thousand from the board and Appian’s subscription alongside that. When the people with the tightest information and longest exposure put money in first, it generally marks an inflection point where retail is no longer the primary driver of volume. That tends to be when proper, sustainable repricing begins.

Overall this RNS lays out a clearly defined, multi-stage path: validate the historic dataset, expand the geochemical footprint, conduct a 3,000m drilling programme and deliver the maiden JORC. It is structured, funded and institutionally backed. For a junior on AQSE, this is a rare alignment of technical, financial and strategic vectors. Investors will need time to absorb the depth of what has just happened here, but it is one of the strongest RNS’s I have seen from a microcap in years.

What an extraordinary RNS. This is one of those rare moments where a small company announces something that fundamentally alters its strategic trajectory, but the magnitude only becomes fully apparent when you break the wording down carefully. Appian entering as a shareholder at the same price as the fundraise is not just a financial contribution, it is a technical endorsement of the highest order. This is a five billion dollar mining private equity group whose operational model is built on exhaustive due diligence, internal geological modelling and financial stress testing across multiple scenarios. They do not take equity positions in juniors unless their internal team is already convinced that the underlying asset has the potential to scale meaningfully.

The Pereira Velho acquisition is structured in a way that tells you a lot about how confident both sides are in the potential upside. The upfront cost is de-risked, modest and partly offset through Appian’s subscription. The major consideration is locked behind a performance trigger that requires Ajax to deliver a JORC-compliant resource of at least 350k ounces. At current gold prices this is a jorc compliant gold resource valued at around $1.5 billion.

Appian is effectively saying they are prepared to defer the majority of their compensation until Ajax proves out significant scale. That is not a typical vendor stance. It is more akin to a partner that wants to unlock value after the upside is crystallised.

Geologically the project is exactly the sort of early-stage system that tends to fly under the radar until the first independent resource arrives. The fact that only ten percent has been drilled yet Appian publishes an internal estimate of 110k ounces speaks volumes. Add to that the mineralisation being entirely oxidised and free gold, which immediately places the project in the low-capex, near-surface, open-pit heap-leachable category. These are the projects that can be advanced far more rapidly and economically than deeper sulphide systems.

The district context is perhaps the most compelling part of the entire RNS. Pereira Velho sits twenty kilometres from Serrote, a project Appian bought for thirty million dollars, advanced, optimised and exited for four hundred and twenty million dollars earlier this year. When a group repeats a geographical move in the same region, it is rarely coincidence and almost always the product of deep familiarity with the geological model. They know exactly what they are looking at. They know the structures, the alteration, the host rocks and the metallurgical profile. The decision to back Ajax here is rooted in that specific regional experience.

Morning Botham no I don’t use telegram I can try download it

More action in Argentina this week and it feels like the country’s mining sector is finally waking up after years of silence. Mendoza signing off on its first large scale project in over twenty years isn’t just another procedural step it’s a genuine shift in attitude. The Cobre Mendocino approval didn’t slide through easily either. Thirteen years of baseline work, a ten day public hearing, thousands of submissions and still strong public backing. For a province that’s long been considered a closed door, that’s a meaningful turn.

It also changes how people should be thinking about Argentina as a copper jurisdiction. The country hasn’t produced copper since Alumbrera shut in 2018 yet sits on serious untapped potential. Now a 40k tonne per year project has been given the go ahead to enter feasibility with full institutional buy-in. That chips away at the narrative that nothing substantial can get approved in Argentina and reminds everyone that when the groundwork is done properly, things can still move.

This is exactly why Ajax on Aquis starts to look increasingly undervalued. Although the assets aren’t in Mendoza, the broader theme is the same. You’ve got genuine geological value sitting inside a market perception that hasn’t caught up to the reality of what’s happening in the country. When you see a province reopen the door after two decades, it forces a reassessment of what else has been overlooked simply because sentiment was stuck in the past.

Which makes today’s drop frustrating to watch but also fairly obvious in hindsight. It felt more like a last opportunity to get in cheap before the next sustained attempt at 10p and, in my view, the eventual break of it. Nothing fundamental has deteriorated. The copper backdrop globally keeps tightening and Argentina is slowly stepping back into the frame as a place where new supply can actually come from.

Seems a simple disconnect between Ajax’s assets and its valuation is becoming too wide to justify, especially when the broader environment is shifting in favour of exactly the type of projects it holds. At some stage that gap closes.

Https://www.mining.com/argentinas-mendoza-province-approves-559m-copper-mine/

Https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/AJAX.PL/conditional-acquisition-of-the-leon-project-blv0mjguu0lw8lb.html

What makes this even more compelling is that Leon sits in a mining friendly part of Salta with strong infrastructure access water nearby and a local service industry already established. Ajax is not trying to open up a remote frontier. This is a proven region with operating mines and clear permitting pathways.

All of this creates a setup where the downside is largely protected and the upside is enormous. It is exactly the kind of RNS that opens people’s eyes once they take the time to read past the headline. Ajax has quietly moved into position on an asset that could transform the entire company and the terms they locked in show smart negotiation and a steady long term strategy.

If the market actually absorbs what has been announced here it is hard to see how this does not rerate. The scale the data the metallurgy the minimal upfront cost and the growth potential all point in one direction. This is easily one of the strongest pieces of news Ajax has released and it feels like the wider market will finally see what it’s true worth is and a big rerating should ensue.

Great news to wake up to and one of those RNS drops you genuinely have to read a few times just to take in the scale of what Ajax has pulled off here. The market often throws out forgettable announcements but this is not one of them. The Leon Project deal is far bigger than the share price reflects and the details are unusually strong for a company at this stage.

What jumps out first is how much serious work has already been done at Leon long before Ajax got involved. Paramount’s original drilling programme in the nineties outlined almost forty five million tonnes at around 0.8 percent copper with healthy silver grades. That is not desktop theory but physical drilling backed by over three thousand metres of core. This was then followed by about ten thousand metres more drilling which supported a JORC resource prepared by ACA Howe. That JORC number covers only the shallow oxide zone yet still comes in at 6.6 million tonnes at 0.62 percent copper and 18 grams silver. None of the deeper sulphides have ever been drilled which is where the real upside could be sitting. The geometry of sediment hosted copper systems often means the oxides are just the surface expression of much larger zones beneath.

Leon has something else you almost never see in a project available to a junior. It has already been trial mined and processed. Alexander Mining ran heap leach operations and even electrowinning on site back in the mid 2000s which produced actual copper cathode. That means the metallurgy is not theoretical. It works in practice. Over twenty five million dollars has already been invested historically and it shows in the level of data Ajax is now walking into.

Then look at the terms Ajax secured. There is no big upfront cost. One hundred thousand US dollars in shares for the option and nothing more until the company decides to exercise it which is years down the line and only after full environmental approval. The three million purchase cost is only payable if Ajax chooses to buy after everything checks out. They have ninety days of exclusivity for technical legal environmental and community due diligence and they can walk away with zero obligation if anything doesn’t meet their standards. This is as low risk as it gets in this sector. Even the royalty is tiny at 0.5 percent and can be bought out for four hundred and fifty thousand which is extremely favourable for an asset of this scale.

The CEO made the point that the in situ value of the existing resource is already north of four hundred million dollars at today’s metal prices and that is before any drilling into the untested sulphides. When you consider that Ajax’s entire market cap is a fraction of that the valuation disconnect becomes obvious. If due diligence confirms what the historical operators saw this immediately becomes a company maker. It is rare to see such a mismatch between asset potential and current valuation even in the small cap mining space.

What ties the whole portfolio together is consistency. Ajax is not collecting early stage licences; it is targeting projects with genuine historical production, extensive prior technical work and clear pathways to value creation. Both Eureka and Paguanta fit that template precisely. The group has taken time to curate these opportunities, screening a wide range of assets since listing before deploying capital into the two that best matched its strategy.

Taken together, the interview and the company’s recent operational updates paint a coherent picture of an emerging South American mining group progressing on multiple fronts. Eureka is moving into its first modern drill campaign, alluvial gold offers near term revenue potential, and Paguanta provides scale, resource backing and copper upside in one of the world’s strongest mining jurisdictions.

With the share price having advanced from four pence at listing to the seven pence area at the time of the interview, the market is beginning to recognise the momentum, and based on both the assets and the execution to date, the company appears to be at an early but increasingly well defined stage of its development.

The Edison TV interview with Ippolito Cattaneo offered the clearest view yet of how Ajax is being built. The first point that comes across is the depth of alignment at board level. With roughly thirty five percent of the company held by the board and associated parties, this is a management team operating with a genuine owner’s mindset. That informs the pace, discipline and selectivity in every acquisition they have made.

Eureka is the core asset and the interview underlined why. Ajax acquired it for one hundred and seventy thousand dollars despite Bezant originally paying eight million dollars for the same ground.

It is highly unusual to see a four hundred year mining district that has never been drilled. Historical work by Codelco and Penoles produced non JORC estimates around sixty two million tonnes at approximately one percent copper plus more than fifty thousand ounces of gold. Those figures are not compliant and must be validated through drilling, but they demonstrate why this project has always attracted attention.

What matters now is execution, and the company has already secured the funding for the initial drilling phases. The environmental process in Jujuy has progressed through the expected steps, and drilling is scheduled to commence as soon as formal approval is confirmed. There is no ambiguity about the work programme: the objective is a maiden JORC mineral resource next year.

The alluvial gold initiative at Eureka is an important operational lever. Ajax has expanded the land position significantly since May, adding licences with clear alluvial potential at minimal cost. The plan outlined in the interview—using compact teams led by a specialist geologist to process shallow gravels using gravity methods—is straightforward and well suited to the local environment. Even initial production at conservative levels would provide meaningful revenue and create a buffer against the inherent variability of exploration outcomes. This is a pragmatic way to bring early cash flow into the group while the hard rock drilling advances.

Paguanta in Chile complements Eureka very effectively. It is a historic silver, zinc and lead project with approximately thirty five million dollars of past investment, including close to sixty seven thousand metres of drilling and an existing mineral resource at the Patricia zone. The asset also includes two untested copper and silver targets—Doris and La Rosa—situated in a region known for major porphyry systems. Ajax is acquiring a controlling interest on exceptionally attractive terms, with a modest upfront commitment and a structure that ties further payments to material technical milestones. Following due diligence, the revised agreement lowered the initial cash requirement and reduced the royalty obligation, further strengthening the economics. It is a classic example of securing a technically credible asset at a fraction of its historical spend.