When it comes to exploration, you would be hard pressed to find more enduring metals than gold and copper, which have been around since the dawn of human civilisation and have never been in greater demand than they are today.
Gold is the evergreen, the safe haven to which investors retreat in uncertain times, while copper is foundational in the infrastructure we need to power society.
Enter lithium, a critical mineral so prized that it’s at the centre of a new mining boom.
Like copper, it is sought after because it provides the foundation for a range of applications, but unlike copper, it is the new kid on the block and promises to unlock the emerging technologies that support our efforts to reach net-zero emissions.
Insatiable demand
All three metals are subject to an insatiable demand, and Australian companies, alert to this need and the related investor requirement that exploration takes place sustainably and in a risk-reduced, tier-one environment, are responding accordingly.
One such company is Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV, AIM:ARV, OTCQB:ARTTF), which is busy unlocking high-quality lithium and gold-copper projects in the resource-rich Pilbara Region of Western Australia.
The company has a dominant landholding in an emerging tier-one battery metals production hub, strategically located close to Karratha infrastructure and Dampier port.
Its portfolio of commodities provides exposure to battery and precious metals markets, while already boasting a high-grade mineral resource estimate on 100% owned tenure.
Importantly, Artemis controls more than 210 square kilometres in the critical Karratha-Roebourne lithium belt.
Artemis’ holdings include the Greater Carlow Castle Gold-Copper-Cobalt Project in the West Pilbara, a large land package that’s home to a high-grade 704,000-ounce gold equivalent resource with plenty of scope for expansion and several new gold and lithium targets.
High-grade gold and lithium
The company is also targeting a greenfield exploration opportunity at the 100%-owned Paterson Central Project in the Paterson Province. The project is a 600-square-kilometre tenement, boasting multiple prospective targets, adjacent to Greatland Gold/Newcrest’s recent 6.5-million-ounce gold-copper discovery at Havieron.
Artemis is also prospecting at the Osborne JV in the West Pilbara, in which it has a 49% stake alongside partner GreenTech Metals, where high-grade lithium pegmatites have recently been discovered with assays returning up to 3.6% Li2O in spodumene mineralisation.
The company also has some exposure to downstream operations. It owns the Radio Hill processing plant, the only processing plant in the West Pilbara region, 35 kilometres from Karratha.
Artemis acquired a large number of exploration projects from 2018, comprising more than 76 tenements covering an area of 2,400 square kilometres.
Following ongoing success at the Carlow project and the significant opportunity shown by early exploration at Paterson Central, the company rationalised its portfolio during 2021 and 2022, so that it’s now focused on these three projects.
Artemis' vision is to bring its key projects to a point which achieves maximum return for shareholders in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, while respecting and rewarding all other stakeholders on its journey to success.
