Investor Insight

Asra Minerals is an emerging gold explorer with a compelling investment case as it focuses on strategic expansion and development of high-grade resources across its Leonora gold project in Western Australia.

Overview

Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) is unlocking the potential of its portfolio of existing resources and underexplored prospects within Western Australia’s renowned Leonora Goldfields. The company controls one of the largest and most prospective land positions in the district, strategically surrounded by high-profile gold producers such as Genesis Minerals’ (ASX:GMD) with its 8.9 million oz (Moz) Leonora Operations; Vault Minerals (ASX:VAU), which operates the 1.9 Moz Darlot mine and 4.1 Moz King of the Hills mine; and Northern Star (ASX:NST), which operates the 4.2 Moz Thunderbox mine.

With existing JORC 2012 resources of 200,000 oz gold and a clear strategy to reach 500,000 oz in the near-term, Asra Minerals is leveraging its 936 sq km Leonora landholding in one of Australia’s most prolific gold belts. Asra’s tenements span 75 km of strike length, including two primary zones – Leonora North and Leonora South – each with resource-stage projects, brownfields upside and newly identified high-priority drill targets.

A strategic reset in late 2024 led to a new CEO, technical team and drilling strategy aimed squarely at resource growth and project consolidation. With global unrest supporting sustained high gold prices and WA’s regulatory stability, Asra’s ground – historically underexplored and fragmented – is now primed for discovery, growth and value creation.

Company Highlights

• District-Scale Gold Project in Tier-One Jurisdiction: 936 sq km landholding in WA’s Leonora region, proximal to more than 15 Moz of gold resources across neighboring major mines.
• JORC Resource of 200 koz at 1.8 g/t gold: Existing resource includes high-grade shallow mineralization at Orion, Sapphire, Mt Stirling and Stirling Well.
• Aggressive Growth Strategy: Targeting >500 koz resource base in 2025 through near-resource and greenfield drilling.
• Ongoing Exploration: Systematic exploration underway across the portfolio with multiple high-priority targets identified for further follow-up.
• New High-impact Leadership: Rebuilt management and technical team in late 2024, including renowned gold discoverers behind Gruyere (6.2 Moz) and Raleigh (1 Moz).
• Undervalued Opportunity: With a ~$10 million market cap, Asra offers substantial re-rating potential amid rising gold prices and renewed institutional interest.

Key Project

Leonora Gold Project

Asra Minerals’ flagship Leonora gold project spans more than 936 sq km in Western Australia’s prolific Eastern Goldfields. The asset is subdivided into the Leonora North and Leonora South project areas. The region hosts multiple world-class gold operations, including Genesis Minerals’ Leonora operations, Vault Minerals’ King of the Hills, and Northern Star’s Thunderbox mine, all within trucking distance. Asra’s tenements lie along the highly prospective granite-greenstone contacts and major fault systems such as the Ursus Fault, known for controlling high-grade orogenic gold mineralization.

Leonora South

The Leonora South project is 549 sq km with eight granted mining leases, located within the historic Kookynie goldfields. This area is host to numerous high-grade deposits, including Genesis Minerals’ Ulysses Hub (~2 Moz gold). Asra is focused on the Sapphire and Orion open pit deposits, which together comprise a JORC 2012 inferred resource of 48,014 oz grading at 2.2 grams per ton (g/t) gold. High-grade intercepts include standout results such as 166 g/t gold over 6 m from 135 m, including 248.8 g/t gold over 4 m (Sapphire), and 46.4 g/t gold over 4 m from 3 m (Orion), demonstrating a potential for bonanza-grade extensions at depth.

Diamond drilling completed in Q4/2024 confirmed down-dip continuity of high-grade gold zones approximately 30 to 50 m below historical intercepts, with assays such as 47.95 g/t gold over 1 m from 115.2 m, 23.12 g/t gold over 1 m from 148.7 m, and 23.97 g/t gold over 0.8 m from 161.2 m. A new 1,300 m RC and diamond-tail drilling program commenced in Q2/2025 to test these high-priority targets, aiming to significantly increase the resource base. The mineralized quartz veins at Sapphire and Orion trend east-northeast and dip steeply – 50 to 80 degrees – southwards and remain open at depth and along strike.

Exploration across Leonora South has identified 21 high-priority targets, of which 15 have never been drill tested. These were derived from detailed 2025 airborne magnetics, structural reinterpretation and geochemical mapping. Planned work includes follow-up aircore and RC drilling to expand the mineralized footprint, including at Gladstone and Jessop Creek, with approvals already received from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Leonora North

Situated 40 km northeast of Leonora and just 5 km from Vault’s King of the Hills mine, Leonora North is a brownfields gold asset with significant exploration and expansion potential. The area lies within the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane of the Yilgarn Craton and is hosted along the structurally controlled Ursus Fault Zone, a major gold-bearing shear corridor. The project contains multiple zones with a total JORC 2012 resource of 152,000 oz grading at 1.7 g/t gold, including:

• Mt Stirling–Viserion Deposit: 2.16 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 111,000 oz (inferred), plus 391,000 t @ 2.1 g/t for 26,000 oz (indicated).
• Stirling Well: 198,000 t @ 2.3 g/t gold for 15,000 oz (inferred).

The Mt Stirling resource remains open along strike and at depth, with high-grade shoots identified to the north. The flat-lying Stirling Well orebody has potential for parallel lodes and deeper extensions into mafic host rocks. A major aeromagnetic and litho-structural reinterpretation, completed in December 2024, identified +20 high-priority gold targets across the northern strike extensions. Several of these are situated adjacent to the historically mined Diorite King Mine, which reportedly produced at high grades. The untested 12 km Ursus Fault corridor remains a key focus, with ~9 km still unexplored.

Importantly, Asra secured 100 percent ownership of the Mt Cutmore prospect in May 2025, consolidating a highly strategic zone within the Mt Stirling region. This acquisition covers multiple live and pending tenements, and enhances Asra’s ability to deploy a focused drilling campaign across the Leonora North project area. Drill permits have been secured, and both AC and RC programs are planned for H2/2025 to evaluate new geophysical anomalies, follow up on known mineralization, and grow the current resource base.

Management Team

Paul Stephen – Managing Director

A seasoned mining executive, Paul Stephen has held various executive and directorship roles across ASX and LSE-listed companies prior to joining Asra. He was a co-founder and executive director of Crusader Resources, where he was instrumental in the discovery, development and operation of the Posse Iron Ore mine in Brazil. During his tenure, he oversaw the delineation of over 2.6 million ounces of gold, significantly contributing to Crusader’s market capitalization exceeding AU$160 million.

Paul Summers – Non-executive Chair

Paul Summers has been a legal practitioner since 1985, and founded his own firm, Summers Legal in 1989. He has been Asra’s counsel for more than 10 years and has provided extensive advice and service during the recent takeover of Cascade Resources. Summers is currently lead counsel – commercial, corporate and property of Summers Legal and is familiar with the company’s affairs, projects and strategy.

Mathew Longworth – Non-executive Director

Mathew Longworth is a geologist with over 35 years’ experience in large projects, exploration and discoveries in Australia, Greenland, Africa, South America and the Pacific. He is currently chairman of Ardea Resources and Greenfields Exploration, and non-executive chairman of Northam Resources. As a director and chairman, he has guided companies through challenging corporate times including IPO listings, takeovers, major capital raisings, 249D notices and joint venture negotiations while maximizing value for shareholders.

Leonard Math – Non-executive Director, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

Leonard Math is a chartered accountant with more than 15 years of resource industry experience. He was an auditor at Deloitte and is experienced with public company responsibilities including ASX and ASIC compliance, control and implementation of corporate governance, statutory financial reporting and shareholder relations. He previously held company secretary and directorship roles for a number of ASX listed companies.

Ziggy Lubieniecki – Technical Consultant

Ziggy Lubieniecki is a highly experienced geologist with over three decades of expertise spanning exploration, mining, management, property acquisition and company listings. His previous senior roles include chief mine geologist at Plutonic, exploration manager at Australian Platinum Mines, and executive director at Gold Road Resources. Along with a successful exploration track record, Lubieniecki is credited for the discovery of the 6.2 Moz Gruyere gold deposit.

Six month gold and silver price performance.

Source: Trading Economics (gold) and (silver).

Unless you are a professional, or even amateur, trader, it is best to look at gold and silver investment with a perspective of years or decades, rather than just days, weeks or even months. Since the start of the COVID-19 panic in March 2020, gold and silver have exploded 123 percent and 192 percent.

10 year gold and silver price performance.

Source: Trading Economics (gold) and (silver).

In the shorter term, the gold price is driven by what economist John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits.” In the longer term, it is driven by “monetary spirits.” And not just as protection, but also for performance. The Presidential Gold Guide highlights both in chapters four and five.

Source: Fisher Liberty Gold.

Gold unsurprisingly protects

Economist and investor Mark Skousen has wisely noted that: “Since we left the gold standard in 1971, both gold and silver have become superior inflation hedges.” Gold has more than countered the results of inflation, as measured by CPI, and the drivers of inflation, as measured by M3.

And the numbers back that up. The Gold Protects chart below compares the gold price, CPI and M3 in terms of cumulative growth of each from 1971 to 2025. That is throughout the whole era of gold as an investment, which officially started in 1974 once private ownership was restored.

During this era, gold grew by 541 percent, CPI by 214 percent and M3 by 384 percent. Annual average growth for gold was 10 percent, CPI at 4 percent and M3 at 7 percent. Maximums were 92 percent, 14 percent and 29 percent, respectively. CPI only failed to grow twice, ie. 0 percent in 2009 and 2015. M3 decreased twice, by -4 percent in 2023 and -6 percent in 2024.

Sources: FRED (CPI) (M3); World Bank (gold).

Gold surprisingly performs

The highly respected In Gold We Trust (IGWT) report states: “When dealing with the specific level of gold allocation, it is advisable to differentiate between safe-haven gold and performance gold. The Big Long strategy emphasizes the potential of performance gold in the coming years.”

IGWT thus recommends an investment portfolio ‘rule of thumb’ that includes 15 percent in “safe-haven gold” and 10 percent in “performance gold.” The Gold Performs chart below compares gold price, S&P 500 and nominal GDP in terms of cumulative growth of each from 1971 to 2025.

Gold grew by 541 percent, the S&P 500 by 484 percent and GDP by 339 percent. Annual average growth for gold was 10 percent, with the S&P 500 at 9 percent and GDP at 6 percent. Maximums were 92 percent, 45 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Gold did have a higher standard deviation of 27 percent, compared to 17 percent for the S&P 500 and 3 percent for GDP.

Sources: FRED (GDP); Shiller Data (S&P); World Bank (gold).

Animal and monetary spirits

Gold protects as a hedge or safe haven, not just from inflation, but from the flip side of that same coin of the boom-bust cycle. Both are driven, in the longer term, not by “animal spirits,” but by “monetary spirits.”

Inflation is when money inflation has a widespread impact as price inflation. A bubble is when money increases have a more concentrated impact such as in certain asset values. The bubble eventually bursts when “monetary spirits” are finally reined in by monetary realities.

I say “monetary spirits” because of the role of fiat money, as indicated by, say, M3. When money supply outstrips money demand in a localized way, then that is a bubble, and when in a general way, that is inflation.

The former shows up in certain asset, wholesale and/or producer prices, whilst the latter shows up in CPI. Asset prices include the S&P 500. But nominal GDP is also ‘ginned up’ as it is ultimately a price times quantity measure as well. Price is expressed in money terms.

Conclusion

Gold can have ups and downs, as standard deviation indicates, due to the “animal spirits” of fear and uncertainty, that tend to be daily, weekly or monthly. Yet gold both protects and performs due to the “monetary spirits” of inflation and boom-bust, which tend to be decennially.

In particular, gold performs when the S&P 500 does not, like in the aftermaths of the 2001/2002 dot-com collapse, the 2008/2009 global financial crisis and 2020/2021 COVID-19 lockdowns.

Therefore, when it comes to gold, “follow the money” of central bank “money printing” and fractional reserve bank “fountain pen money,” for both superior inflation protection and boom-bust performance.

And besides, Skousen rightly ‘begged the question’ as follows: “Gold and Silver have always had value, never gone to zero. Can you say the same for stocks and bonds?”

About Darren Brady Nelson

Darren Brady Nelson is chief economist with Fisher Liberty Gold and policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He previously was economic advisor to Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts. He authored the Ten Principles of Regulation and Reform, and the CPI-X approach to budget cuts.

Bullet briefing — CATL closes mine, Mitsubishi invests in copper

CATL temporarily closes lithium mine

Contemporary Amperex Technology (HKEX:3750,SZSE:300750), better known as CATL, said on Sunday (August 10) that it will halt production at a lithium mine in China for at least three months.

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that CATL, which is the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, failed to extend a key mining permit. The company is reportedly in talks about a renewal, but is prepared for a months-long shutdown.

Share prices of lithium miners rose on the news, buoyed by expectations that the CATL mine closure will help reduce oversupply. Excess output has caused Chinese lithium prices to drop 80 percent since the end of 2022, and investors are keen to see a turnaround for the beleaguered battery metal.

Hudbay, Mitsubishi team up on copper

Mitsubishi (TSE:8058) is set to acquire a 30 percent stake in Hudbay Minerals’ (TSX:HBM,NYSE:HBM) Arizona-based Copper World subsidiary for US$600 million.

Hudbay called Mitsubishi its ‘strategic partner of choice,’ while Mitsubishi said the investment will help advance its copper growth plans. A feasibility study is in the works for Copper World, and a definitive feasibility study is expected in mid-2026.

Hudbay shareholders reacted positively to the news, which comes on the back of a strong focus on copper supply after last month’s announcement of a 50 percent tariff on US imports of semi-finished copper products and intensive copper derivative products. The company projects that Copper World will result in a direct $1.5 billion investment into the US critical minerals supply chain.

Markets and commodities react

In Canada, equity markets were mixed this week.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was in record territory, closing Wednesday (August 13) at an all-time high of 27,993.43, but it had slipped by Friday to close the week up 0.41 percent at 27,905.49.

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) was flat, posting a slight loss of 0.12 percent to 790.77. The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) had another strong week, gaining 3.58 percent to 156.87.

US equity markets rebounded this week and finished near all-time highs.

The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) set a new record on Thursday (August 14), closing at 6,468.53, but slipped to register a 1.49 percent gain on the week to 6,449.79. The Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) also set a new record of 23,849.04 on Wednesday, but fell in the last two days of trading, recording a weekly gain of 1.08 percent to 23,712.07.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was above 45,000 points for the first time since December 2024, but failed to achieve a new record. It posted a 2.01 percent gain to finish the week at 44,946.13.

The gold price slumped this week following clarification from the White House that imports of 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars from Switzerland will not face tariffs. Gold had fallen 1.81 percent by 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday to reach US$3,338.36 per ounce. Silver also retraced this week, losing 0.7 percent to hit US$37.97 per ounce.

Copper saw little change this week, posting a 0.44 percent gain to US$4.54 per pound. The S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) commodities index posted a slight decline of 0.8 percent by close on Friday, finishing at 545.59.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Focus Graphite (TSXV:FMS)

Weekly gain: 94.44 percent
Market cap: C$25.18 million
Share price: C$0.35

Focus Graphite is working to advance its Lac Knife and Lac Tétépisca projects in Québec, Canada.

Lac Knife covers 3,248 hectares in Eastern Québec. An April 2023 updated feasibility study outlines an after-tax net present value of C$284.8 million with an internal rate of return of 22.57 percent and a payback period of 3.38 years. Lac Knife is expected to produce 50,000 metric tons (MT) of graphite concentrate annually over a mine life of 27 years.

For its part, Lac Tétépisca spans 6,629 hectares in Central Québec. An April 2022 technical report shows an indicated resource of 59.3 million MT grading 10.61 percent graphitic carbon for 6.3 million MT of in-situ natural flake graphite. The inferred category stands at 14.8 million MT grading 11.06 percent graphitic carbon for 1.6 million MT.

On Wednesday (August 13), Focus resumed work on the environmental and social impact assessment for Lac Knife. In total, it has to complete 16 technical reports as required by the province to advance to the construction phase. Focus previously halted work due to funding delays, but now expects the reports to be complete in early 2026.

The firm is also moving forward with geochemical analysis of over 1,000 samples collected from 2022 exploration drilling at Lac Tétépisca. It will use the results to finalize a resource estimate, which it expects to deliver this fall.

This week’s news comes after Focus said on August 8 that it had closed a non-brokered private placement for C$891,000. Funds will be used to maintain existing operations and for general capital.

2. Libra Energy Materials (CSE:LIBR)

Weekly gain: 56.67 percent
Market cap: C$13 million
Share price: C$0.235

Libra Energy Materials is a lithium-focused exploration company that is currently working to advance its Flanders North, Flanders South and Soules Bay-Caron (SBC) projects in Ontario, Canada.

The properties are part of a November 2024 earn-in agreement with KoBold Metals. Libra can earn a 75 percent stake by incurring C$33 million in exploration expenditures across the properties over the next six years.

Flanders North and South cover 40,000 hectares, and initial surveys in 2023 revealed hundreds of pegmatites, with surface exposures of up to 200 meters in width and grab samples of up to 2.86 percent lithium oxide.

SBC covers an area of 15,000 hectares and is located near Pickle Lake, Ontario. Exploration work carried out at the property in June 2024 earned the company the Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year Award. The discovery included several spodumene-bearing pegmatites with widths of up to 30 meters, and spodumene grades of 15 to 25 percent across SBC. During the program, the company collected 184 grab samples with up to 6.64 percent lithium oxide.

Shares of Libra gained this week, but the company did not release any news.

3. Q-Gold Resources (TSXV:QGR)

Weekly gain: 50 percent
Market cap: C$10.48 million
Share price: C$0.18

Q-Gold Resources is a gold explorer focused on the acquisition of the Quartz Mountain project in Oregon, US. On April 3, it entered into a definitive agreement with Alamos Gold (TSX:AGI,NYSE:AGI) to acquire the property.

The measured and indicated gold resource for Quartz Mountain, which spans 2,000 hectares, comes in at 339,000 ounces at an average grade of 0.87 grams per MT (g/t) from 12.16 million MT of ore; its inferred resource stands at of 1.15 million ounces with an average grade of 0.91 g/t from 39.21 million MT ore.

Q-Gold’s latest news came on August 8. It said company representatives intend to visit the project site for the first time. They expect to conduct sampling of select diamond drill cores and verify the current status of all claims at the project.

4. Gienstar Minerals (CSE:GIEN)

Weekly gain: 49.12 percent
Market cap: C$17.58 million
Share price: C$0.85

Glenstar Minerals is an exploration company working to advance projects in Nevada, US.

Its Green Monster property consists of 35 lode claims and covers 700 acres southwest of Las Vegas. The property hosts nickel, copper, cobalt and zinc mineralization, and has mine workings dating back to the late 1800s.

The most recent update from the property came this past Wednesday, when Glenstar announced that it will switch the focus of its Phase 2 drill program to extension drilling following the discovery of a new polymetallic zone. The drilling will be centered on a high-grade zinc occurrence with grades above 30 percent and assay results of up to 177 parts per million (ppm) silver, 523 ppm nickel, 91.9 ppm cobalt and copper of 0.36 percent.

The company also owns the Wildhorse property in Southern Nevada. The early stage project has had limited exploration, but assays from a sampling program were released on July 23. In that announcement, Glenstar said four grab samples from the Coca Cola zone returned copper grades of 1.6 percent, 5.3 percent, 2.3 percent and 5.1 percent, with an average of 21.6 ppm silver, 156 ppm bismuth and 72.5 ppm tungsten.

Four samples were also collected from the Highland zone, which returned average grades of 0.16 percent copper, 1.23 percent zinc, 1.98 percent lead and 43 ppm silver.

5. Sterling Metals (TSXV:SAG)

Weekly gain: 47.69 percent
Market cap: C$13.3 million
Share price: C$0.48

Sterling Metals is an exploration company working to advance a trio of projects in Canada. Over the past year, its primary focus has been on exploration at its brownfield Soo copper project in Ontario. The 25,000 hectare property has hosted two past-producing copper mines and has the potential for larger intrusion-related copper mineralization.

On January 15, Sterling announced results from a 3D induced-polarization and resistivity survey that covered an area of 5 kilometers by 3 kilometers and revealed multiple high-priority drill-ready targets.

The company intends to use the survey results, along with historical exploration, to inform a drill program at the site.

The company’s other two projects are Adeline, a 297 square kilometer district-scale property with sediment-hosted copper and silver mineralization along 44 kilometers of strike, and Sail Pond, a silver, copper, lead and zinc project that hosts a 16 kilometer long linear soil anomaly and has seen 16,000 meters of drilling.

Both properties are located in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The most recent news from the company came on August 7, when Sterling reported that it had commenced Phase 2 drilling at Soo. The 3,000 to 5,000 meter program is designed to test areas defined through the Phase 1 program, as well as historic drill data and geophysical interpretations.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.