Last month, the company opened the three-for-five rights issue offer, under which it sought to raise NZ$3.45 million by issuing new shares at 1.7 cents.

The company said the majority of its top 20 shareholders participated in the offer.

“We are grateful to our shareholders for their strong support for our capital raise and particularly pleased to see such a high level of oversubscription at 33 per cent from those that participated,” Samantha Sharif, Chair of NTL, said.

While NTL fell short of its NZ$3.45 million target, the company said the amount raised was “substantial enough” to restart underground mining progress on its Talisman mine. The company also affirmed it would now allow applications for a shortfall offer with the same terms as the rights issue, which has already been gaining interest.

Previous chip sampling on the Mystery vein in the Talisman mine area showed an average value of 32 grams of gold per tonne. The vein appears to follow a north-south direction, and neighbours the Maria lode which historically produced 3.5 million ounces of precious metals.

“This now allows us to move forward with our strategic plan to commence bulk sampling on the Mystery vein at Talisman and finally begin to realize the potential of the company for shareholders,” Ms Sharif said.

New Talisman shares last traded at 1.7 cents on Monday afternoon.

According to the company, recovery tests showed the project could produce medium-grade ores with a grade of 68.4 per cent iron and 48 per cent weight recovery. Low grade ores produced at the site returned weight recoveries of 20 per cent.

The company’s study concluded its current beneficiation plant design requires minimal change from what was first proposed in its 2011 feasibility study. As a result, MGU shared that “considerable costs” will be saved through not repeating past design work.

Additionally, Magnum measured the ore’s hardness through crushing work and bond work indices. The company stated the ore’s hardness indicated less power will be needed to grind the ore.

The results from both tests will now be used to inform the company’s scoping study, which is currently in the works, along with an ore classification study.

Depending on the outcomes of these studies, data may be used to help optimise the materials flowsheet for better throughput and maximise the product’s quality.

Magnum Mining and Exploration shares climbed 46.7 per cent, trading at 2.2 cents at 10:40 am AEDT.

The initial resource includes five million tonnes at 0.14 per cent rubidium and lithium, containing 7300 tonnes of each mineral.

According to KTA, the resource estimate is larger than expected. Moreover, the mineralisation in the area lies close to the surface and remains open in all directions.

The company said it was now planning a follow-up infill drilling program to expand the resource estimate further.

“We have defined a robust resource at a solid grade and the overall numbers have come in beyond expectations, which places the company in an exciting position to continue to develop King Tamba into a major, multi-commodity, critical metals project,” KTA’s CEO, Mark Major, said.

“Work completed to date has provided the company with a better geological understanding of the pegmatite clusters surrounding the old historical tantalum mine, and we believe there are great opportunities to significantly grow the mineral resource through exploration and development efforts in 2023 and beyond.”

KTA will begin region-wide exploration work around the project shortly, primarily focused on known pegmatites south of the current mineral resource.

Before completing the resource estimate, historic drill holes were tested to find tantalum and niobium mineralisation but were not assayed for rubidium.

Krakatoa wanted to extend the resource by incorporating these historical drill holes but stated it wasn’t possible as the link between elements was not sufficient enough to warrant further exploration.

However, KTA believes following up on the historic drill holes can provide a near-term opportunity to fast-track the resource estimate’s growth.

Shares in KTA were down 5.71 per cent to 3.3 cents at 10:21 am AEDT.

According to the company, first-pass geochemical sampling identified a clear anomaly with up to 217 parts per million (ppm) lithium with pathfinder element support. So far, sampling work has covered 14.4 per cent of the project.

“This first phase of work has provided encouraging lithium results at our Paynes Find project so early in 2023, giving GSM great momentum for the field season ahead,” GSM Managing Director Michael Moore said.

“This outcome also provides vectors for drill targeting at the project later in the year.”

Additionally, two priority targets were outlined to be up to six kilometres long. The highest-priority area for follow-up infill drilling lies on the western side of the central tenement area in an area with several lithium anomaly samples.

The second priority area is on the northeastern end of the northern tenement. The highest lithium assay recorded at this location was 158 ppm along with 23.9 ppm caesium, and 157 ppm rubidium.

GSM shares were last trading at 3.9 cents at 11:55 am AEDT.

The latest assay results from a drill hole at Bluebird returned a 5.7-metre hit grading 49.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 0.74 per cent copper from 161 metres within a wider 24-metre zone at 11.8 g/t gold and 0.66 per cent copper.

The peak copper grade from the latest assays topped 1.06 per cent.

Tennant said the Bluebird discovery zone remained open in all directions.

“With every new hole we drill, the Bluebird discovery is looking more and more like a repeat of some of the best-known high-grade copper-gold orebodies in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field, including the Peko deposit, only 20 kilometres west of Bluebird, which produced 3.7 million tonnes grading 4 per cent copper and 3.5 g/t gold from the 1930s to the 1970s,” TMS Chairman Matthew Driscoll said.

The company said it had already begun planning follow-up drilling to test the extensions of the bonanza-grade gold zone. It will also explore other targets with similar characteristics along the 2.5-kilometre Bluebird-Perseverance corridor.

“These targets will be further refined by new IP programs as we look to define additional high-grade resources to underpin the development of this rich new copper-gold discovery,” Mr Driscoll continued.

So far, a total of 16 holes over 4321 metres were drilled during the latest Barkly project drilling program. Further results are pending for four more holes at Bluebird and eight holes from the Bluebird-Perseverance corridor.

Shares in Tennant Minerals were up 3.13 per cent to 3.3 cents at 10:51 am AEDT.

Under today’s deal, MI6 will issue eMetals seven million shares at 30 cents per share in return for the project, which lies in WA’s Gascoyne region. This will give eMetals a 3.1 per cent shareholding in MI6 once all shares have been issued.

The closing of this acquisition is still contingent on the execution of a deed of assignment regarding an underlying royalty on one of the tenements.

The agreement is being completed through MI6’s subsidiary, ERL, and eMetals subsidiaries RWG Minerals and Iron Clad Prospecting. These subsidiaries are the current tenement holders for the project.

The Nardoo lithium and rare earth element (REE) project comprises seven exploration licenses covering a 789-square-kilometre area in the Gascoyne Province.

Historically, this area has been explored for gold, base metals, tungsten, and uranium. However, recent nearby work has given MI6 reason to believe the project is economically viable for lithium and REE deposits.

“The deal is consistent with [MI6’s] philosophy of targeting under-explored areas, previously considered less fashionable, with the potential to discover truly world-class mineral deposits,” MI6 Managing Director David Richards said.

MI6 said it would complete a detailed review of previous exploration data to help define targets for drill testing.

The company said its stable cash position would allow it to progress with this new project while also maintaining momentum at its key asset, the Moora/Koojan project in the WA Julimar region.

Shares in MI6 last traded at 32 cents on Monday afternoon, and shares in EMT last traded at one cent.

The company will issue 135.5 million shares at two cents per share to raise the funds — a discount of around 45 per cent to DTR’s last closing price of 3.6 cents.

Up to 81.6 million new shares will be issued under the company’s available capacity. The remaining 53.8 million new shares will be issued to investors following shareholder approval. The issuance of these new shares is expected to happen by March 7.

On top of the shares to be issued under the placement, Dateline will grant approximately 67.7 unquoted options over unissued new shares, each with an exercise price of three cents and expiring after three years.

According to the company, it will use the proceeds raised from the placement to advance its Colosseum gold and rare earth project and for general working capital.

Dateline Resources said it also received commitments from certain directors to convert up to $900,000 in existing debt owing to the same directors. The debt will be converted into new shares for the same price as the share issue.

Moreover, the company agreed to give its shareholders a rights issue to raise roughly $1 million at two cents per share on a one-for-12 basis. Reportedly, Peak Asset Management will assume any shortfall up to the same amount from the proposed rights issue.

As a result, one option will be granted for every two shortfall shares issued to Peak.

Shares in Dateline Resources were down 25 per cent to 2.7 cents at 10:20 am AEDT.

According to the company, the 20-metre sample taken from its Fence Gossan prospect produced up to three times as much REE enrichment from the head grade for a 70 per cent recovery rate.

“In short, the underlying REE system is shallow, extends over at least 4.5 sqkm, delivered results up to 3491 ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO), and produced up to 38.9 per cent magnetic rare earth oxides in diamond core,” Castillo Chair Ged Hall said.

“By all accounts, this is an excellent report card ahead of exploratory work ramping up.”

Castillo Copper believes separating the REEs from clay on the prospect’s East Zone could produce higher-quality concentrates. As a result, the company’s board approved the appointment of a metallurgy specialist to help it better understand what opportunities exist for improved separation methods.

The specialist will complete a metallurgy testwork program on samples from the area to help Castillo attract more attention from possible offtake partners.

Additionally, re-assays for the project’s Reefs Tank area have been received, with values up to 2587 ppm TREO over a one-metre zone. Reportedly, the results suggest there may be a widespread shallow REE system across the central part of the project.

CCZ shares were up 7.69 per cent to 1.4 cents at 1:39 pm AEDT.

Antipa said it struck a deal with Newcrest under which it would reclaim the complete rights and operational control of a 733 square kilometre tenement package that includes the Tetris, Pacman, and Pixel targets. As a result, Newcrest will be given a 1.5 per cent net smelter royalty over those tenements.

Antipa’s Managing Director, Roger Mason, said the company was “delighted” to have regained control over these targets.

“With this regained interest, our wholly-owned landholding in this exciting gold-copper province expands to almost 900 square kilometres, all within 50 kilometres of Minyari, and provides us with significant future exploration optionality.”

The Wilki project now covers an area of approximately 1470 sqkm. The project still includes the previously defined Chicken Ranch and Tim’s Dome deposits that hold a combined 103,500 ounces of inferred mineral resource estimates. Reportedly, these deposits are close to the Telfer gold-copper-silver mine and processing facility.

Otherwise, all former terms of the existing Wilki farm-in and joint venture agreements are unchanged for the reduced project area. Newcrest can earn up to 75 per cent in the reduced project by paying $60 million in exploration expenses by March 2028.

Newcrest said it remains focused on the farm-in agreement, having spent over $8.5 million on greenfield exploration for the aforementioned targets.

Antipa shares are trading grey a 2 cents at 11:12 am AEDT, while Newcrest shares are down 2.59 per cent to $22.60.

The company has also downgraded its forecast milk collections for the season to 1465 million kgMS from its previous forecast of 1480 kgMS.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell said the revised forecast for the company’s milk price range and collections was due to a decrease in demand during a time of “balanced supply”.

“Demand for whole milk powder, particularly from Greater China, has been soft, with prices down around 5 per cent since the beginning of December,” Mr Hurrell said.

He said Fonterra would continue to take cautious action given a soft economic growth outlook in many global markets.

“Looking at milk production, while Fonterra’s collections for the season are up on this time last year, cyclone Gabrielle and dry conditions in the South Island have impacted the co-op’s full season expectations.”

The company is currently examining its position for next season and will provide an opening forecast in May.

Shares in Fonterra last traded at $2.83 on Thursday, February 23.

Following additional exploration and modelling, the company re-estimated its WIM100 deposit to contain an indicated mineral resource of 380 million tonnes of material grading 4.6 per cent heavy minerals for 18 million tonnes of contained heavy minerals.

Furthermore, the inferred mineral resource category was reported to have 70 million tonnes of material grading 4.3 per cent heavy minerals for three million tonnes of contained heavy minerals.

This means between these two categories, the resource estimate came to 450 million tonnes grading 4.6 per cent heavy minerals for 21 million tonnes of contained heavy minerals.

According to the company, this is a 9 per cent increase in the total reported resource tonnage and an 11 per cent increase in the indicated resource category compared to its last resource estimate in November 202.

On top of the updated resource estimate, Iluka released a probable reserve estimate for the WIM100 deposit of 180 million tonnes grading 5 per cent heavy minerals for 9.9 million tonnes of contained heavy minerals.

WIM100 is the company’s primary focus for the Wimmera project. The project was recently approved by Iluka’s board for a definitive feasibility study.

Iluka first flagged the resource update on Tuesday this week but released a revised version of the announcement containing some extra details late on Wednesday.

Shares in Iluka Resources were down 0.95 per cent to $10.40 at 10:07 am AEDT.

According to the company, this expansion includes the development of the Roswell and San Antonio deposits, diverting a section of the Newell Highway to the west, new and relocated infrastructure, as well as a minor upgrade of the existing Tomingley processing plant.  Underground mining at Roswell is expected to start before the end of this year.

For its next steps, the company stated it would progress with its environmental protection licence and mining lease applications. These applications reportedly cannot be refused following the Minister’s approval.

Additionally, Alkane Resources will submit its required updated management plans. Each of these is needed to commence physical mining and construction work.

In other news, Alkane Resources secured $50 million in debt funding for the extension project from Macquarie Bank. This was done together with the hedging of 100,000 ounces of gold with a weighted average price of $2825 per ounce for March 2024 to December 2026.

Alkane Managing Director Nic Earner said the approval and funding were “significant” milestones in the life of the company’s Tomingley gold mine.

“We intend to be mining underground from Roswell before the end of the year, and we’re targeting a 100,000-ounce-per-annum run rate in 2025,” Mr Earner said.

“We’re continuing to explore nearby exploration targets, including Macleans, which is immediately adjacent to our vent rise at Roswell.”

Alkane Resources owns a gold processing plant near the village of Tomingley, about 50 kilometres southwest of Dubbo in New South Wales. The plant has been operating at the design capacity of one million tonnes per annum since May 2014.

Mining in this area is currently occurring on three gold deposits. An exploration drive currently extends over 2.4 kilometres toward the Roswell and San Antonio deposits.

Alkane Resources shares were up 2.4 per cent to 64 cents at 12:28 pm AEDT.

The company issued roughly 33.4 million shares at 0.44 cents per share to raise the funds.

MEC Resources said it intended to use the funds raised from this private placement to expedite its compliance requirements, work associated with moving it towards reinstatement for trading on the ASX, and general short-term working capital requirements.

The new shares are subject to a holding lock pending the release of a prospectus by the company. The transaction was completed through LeMessurier Securities, which will receive a 6 per cent capital raising fee plus GST.

MEC Resources is a pooled development fund that invests in exploration companies that target large energy and mineral resources. The company’s number of fully paid ordinary shares on issue following the closing of the private placement is now 842,651,515.

MEC Resources shares have been in voluntary suspension since early 2020 and last traded at 0.4 cents.

As one of Australia’s largest export items, the mineral brought in roughly $154.2 billion in 2021.

According to the Minerals Council of Australia, Australia is the largest supplier of this crucial steel-making material. The 2021 income set a new record for the country, up 32 per cent from the previous year — which had also set a record at that time.

It’s no surprise, then, that so many juniors hedge their bets on the iron ore space as they try to establish their place in the mining industry.

Even once a company finds some prospective ground, however, it’s no easy feat to develop a project into a commercial mine. Often, companies rely on partnerships and teamwork to get their prized asset off the ground.

And ASX-listed Macarthur Minerals (MIO) in a prime position to land a strategic partner for its Lake Giles iron project in WA.

So, how have other companies in similar positions landed their partnerships?

Often, juniors work to make their projects attractive to big miners with deep pockets, and investors in the explorer are rewarded in the form of an acquisition or a merger.

For example, Red Hill Iron (RHI) spent years working alongside joint venture partners Baowu, AMCI and POSCO to develop what was known as the Red Hill Iron Joint Venture.

The partner businesses drilled, surveyed and explored until they could confidently report ore reserves of 537 million tonnes (Mt) at 57.2 per cent iron at a strip ratio of 0.79:1 covering multiple deposits in September 2015.

This piqued the interest of listed big-cap Mineral Resources (MIN), which ended up buying Red Hill’s share of the JV in a $400 million deal back in July 2021.

This isn’t the first transaction of this type for Mineral Resources, either: in 2018, the company bought a string of iron ore assets from New York Stock Exchange-listed Cleveland Cliffs to further develop its presence in WA’s Yilgarn region.

Mineral Resources snapped up all of Cliffs’ tenements and its iron ore plant, equipment and non-process infrastructure, as well as its assets at the Port of Esperance.

While Cleveland-Cliffs is by no means a junior, its subsidiary, Cliffs APAC, developed these assets but exited Australia during the downturn of the iron ore commodity cycle. MinRes subsequently acquired the assets and optimised the operation by leveraging its existing operations in the region.

While oftentimes big miners team up with juniors to bring projects to production, sometimes juniors work together to seek financing as they jointly develop their assets.

For example, Legacy Iron Ore and Hawthorne Resources teamed up to form the Mount Bevan joint venture in the Central Yilgarn region of WA. The project hosts 1.17 billion tonnes of magnetite resources at around 34.9 per cent iron.

It was enough to garner the attention of private mining business Hancock Prospecting, owned by Australian mogul Gina Rinehart, which forged an agreement in November 2021 to pay $9 million to Hawthorne and Legacy for a 30 per cent interest in Mount Bevan.

Hancock agreed to fund a pre-feasibility study (PFS) to bring its interest in the project to 51 per cent.

Funding partnerships such as those mentioned above often only come once an exploration project has been developed far enough to appear on the radar of investment funds or big miners.

Mineral Resources’ interest in the Red Hill JV followed the delivery of a strong ore reserves report.

Hancock snapped up its interest in Legacy and Hawthorne’s assets once Mount Bevan was ready for the beginning of PFS work.

Macarthur Minerals’ Lake Giles iron project, on the other hand, is already further developed than any of these projects were at the time of their partnership deals.

The project tenements overlap some of the Yerilgee Greenstone Belt, within the Southern Cross Province of the Yilgarn Craton.

Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman and CEO of Macarthur Minerals, said:

“The Lake Giles Project is more advanced than any other magnetite project in the region, thus it can be in production years before anyone else… [the project] enjoys a lot of existing infrastructure in the region.”

Earlier this year, Macarthur completed and shared its long-awaited feasibility study for the project, which indicated a 25-year mine producing three million tonnes per annum (dry basis) of high-grade magnetite concentrate.

“Our feasibility study was completed in a very high-cost environment when there were supply chain and high-cost labour issues,” Mr McCall said.

“Our project is economically viable based on a very high CapEx environment and a long-term iron ore price. Macarthur’s project is also ideally located in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, where it can leverage existing rail and port infrastructure in the region to lessen capital intensity and insulate the project from capital escalation for significant infrastructure components. 

“Capital avoidance for major infrastructure items is a key benefit in the development of any new project.”

The project’s maiden ore reserve, announced earlier this year, stated Lake Giles had a mineral reserve comprising 237 million tonnes of ore at proven and probable classification, demonstrating that Lake Giles is both technically and economically viable under long-term iron ore price forecasts.

The project contains 74 million dry tonnes of iron ore concentrate.

For Macarthur, priority number one is now to secure a strategic partner to assist with bringing Lake Giles to life. To do this, the company appointed a dedicated sub-committee tasked with the development, assessment, and implementation of the company’s plans.

“This sub-committee now draws together these intentions in a coordinated fashion and signals the commencement of the company’s delivery phase of the Lake Giles Iron Project,” Mr McCall said.

The takeaway for investors is that Macarthur has positioned itself well to prosper off a prolific region, and a strategic partner will further unlock the potential of its flagship Lake Giles prospect.

However, recent important socio-economic and legal developments across Chile have opened up a significant blue-sky mining investment opportunity in the country, which is already an established global resources powerhouse.

And the world’s biggest miners have noticed.

Chile, is the world’s leading copper producer, controlling roughly 28 per cent of global production, and has the largest copper reserves by far, home to some 200 million metric tonnes of copper. Chile has held its position as the world’s leading copper producer for five decades.

Meanwhile, Chile is the second-largest lithium producer on the planet, accounting for roughly 23 per cent of global lithium and currently holding over 50 per cent of the world’s lithium reserves.

What’s more, the Chilean government this year took some major steps towards improving the country’s position on the global resources stage.

In May, a constitutional Chilean assembly rejected a major overhaul to mining rights in the country that would give the state more control over its lithium and copper assets.

The proposed changes faced fierce opposition from the country’s mining sector, and while some made it across the line, major resources groups put their money where their mouth was to showcase how valuable the industry could truly be for the South American nation.

BHP, for example, said in March it was committed to investing over US$10 billion (A$15 billion) in Chile to fuel growth across the nation, but only under very specific regulatory and fiscal situations.

BHP said it could only invest in Chile’s growth if it knew it had fiscal stability, legal certainty, and a clear pathway to mining permits in the nation.

It’s likely such a dramatic commitment from one of the world’s largest miners helped keep the major regulatory overhaul at bay.

The Chilean government has now changed tack and taken steps towards supporting its resources industry: in September, Chile’s leaders announced a significant plan to boost investment in the country over 2023 to address its weak economy.

The “Invest in Chile” plan includes better access to financing and tax advantages for private investments. It will also give new copper mining projects a five-year exemption from a proposed new tax on the value of the mine’s output.

On top of all this, Chile’s government announced it planned to reopen foreign investment offices in Europe and North America and create public-private task forces in the construction, energy, transport and mining sectors.

Essentially, the new investment plan protects and promotes Chile’s prolific mining industry.

The country attracted investments in exploration of US$653.5 million in 2019, when it also ranked fourth in terms of total company exploration budget on a global scale. During the same year, the mining sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP was 11 per cent and represented over half of the country’s total exports.

Now, with the new government incentives, global investment in Chile’s mining sector is only set to grow.

With BHP committed to the nation’s growth — and not to mention South 32’s (S32) recent US$1.55 billion purchase of a 45 per cent interest in Chile’s Sierra Gorda copper mine — it’s no wonder investors are turning to the nation for a blue-sky opportunity against a backdrop of global mining tension.

One key market player, Culpeo Minerals (CPO), has already been showing excellent results from exploration work at its Lana Corina project.

Recently, Culpeo discovered a high-grade copper deposit on the property, with several holes defining a large body of copper mineralisation.

Its next steps will now include completing its current surface mapping to define the 13 high-priority breccia targets, indicating a large copper porphyry system.

The company has two more assets: the Las Petacas project and the Quelon project. Both areas have seen historical mining and Culpeo has been able to identify bodies of copper mineralisation within both projects.

Of course, copper may hold itself as the king metal in Chile, but precious metals such as gold are also being explored and produced in large quantities, with U$930 million of gold exports in 2020.

Tesoro Gold (TSO) has made a major new gold discovery and unearthed the first Intrusive Related Gold System (IRGS) in Chile. Tesoro’s El Zorro gold project is strategically located with easily accessed and established infrastructure including roads, power and water.

El Zorro is district-scale and covers more than 600 square kilometres of highly prospective geology in the Atacama region of Chile, roughly 800 kilometres north of the Chilean capital, Santiago and 140 kilometres by road from the regional capital, Copiapo.

The takeaway for investors is this: Chile is a blue-sky investment opportunity grounded in mining.

Whether it be the present, near future, or distant future, one thing is for sure: Chilean miners and explorers are here to stay.

It’s why you may be certain the small bistro in your hometown has tastier, healthier, and cheaper food than your local McDonald’s, but it will never be as popular. It’s why China-based Xiaomi can develop smartphones with better functionality and longer battery life than the iPhone, but no one you know owns one.

It’s why a mediocre handbag can sell for hundreds of dollars more the second someone slaps a Louis Vuitton sticker on it.

As such, it’s no surprise businesses often dedicate huge chunks of their budgets to building their brand equity.

At its core, brand equity is all about how customers perceive a brand rather than the brand’s actual products.

It means it’s essential for businesses that their relationship with a customer does not end once a sale is made.

A key driver of brand equity, then, is customer loyalty. It’s no secret that it’s almost always cheaper for a business to retain previous customers than to find new ones, so building a loyal customer base is crucial.

While rewards programs and loyalty perks can go a long way to building good customer rapport, new customers will only become returning customers if they have a positive experience: authentic products, strong engagement, and brand protection are critical.

Brand awareness forms another key pillar of brand equity because strong awareness of and knowledge about a brand from customers makes them inherently more likely to trust that brand’s products. The more a brand can get its name out there, the more customers will choose it over its competitors.

Hand-in-hand with brand awareness comes brand associations: what do customers think of when they hear a brand’s name?

Nike is associated with its unmistakable swoosh, athletics, and high-quality sporting gear. Disney is associated with cinema, Mickey Mouse, the happiest place on earth, and capitalism. Amazon is associated with cheap labour and fast deliveries.

Brand associations can be positive or negative, but brands that actively and intentionally work to position their brand with positive associations fare best when it comes to sales and reputation.

Finally, brand quality ties this all together by ensuring customers’ expectations are met when purchasing a product or service.

Brand quality does not necessarily mean a product has to be a cut above the competition: it simply means customers need to feel that what they paid matched what they expected from a product.

One would expect a restaurant charging premium prices for a prime cut of steak to cook better-quality food than a quick-service family restaurant. If the quality of the meal does not match the higher price, customers will be disappointed.

Brand quality grows with consistent products, strong service, and effective customer support.

In Australia, there are currently three ASX-listed companies that actively deal within this market. Some are solely product-focused, championing the user and producer experience, whereas others have moved toward a more supply chain transparency and sustainability focus.

These companies have their own individual strengths and are leading the way in both bettering brand equity as well as improving strategies to protect them.

Founded in 2011, YPB Group Limited (YPB) develops and sells a suite of product authentication and consumer engagement technologies designed for a world where authenticity triggers engagement, and the value of consented first-party data is ever increasing.

The combination of YPB’s covert tracer and smartphone authentication technologies together with its proprietary Connect platform allows product packaging to become connected. YPB’s technology opens cost-effective, digital, and direct marketing channels between brands and their consumers, while protecting both against counterfeits and allowing tailored marketing campaigns directly back to the scanning smartphone.

The company’s smartphone-enabled offerings both prevent counterfeiting and help clients learn about their consumers to maximize engagement, making them the sole ASX-listed company focused on both enhancing as well as protecting brand equity.

YPB is focused on the rapidly growing Australian, South-East Asian, and Chinese markets, with a specialised interest in dairy products, official identification documents, alcohol brands, FMCG manufacturers, global packaging partners and integrators. YPB’s target markets represent billions of items and are growing rapidly.

YPB solutions can be tailored to simplify the authentication process for any industry. Standout offerings include:

The YPB Tracer, a scannable, virtually indestructible microparticle technology invisible to the human eye that can be combined with ink, varnish, plastic, fibres, or paper for instant verification.

MotifMicro, a recently released smartphone readable microparticle technology, is the first anti-counterfeit software of its kind and works by detecting the patented tracer technology within products. What makes it special is its ability to be downloaded directly onto any android or apple device by way of the related app store. Having the app available in such a convenient environment allows businesses to identify counterfeit goods and deceitful supply chains, providing them with much-needed ease of mind and potential cost savings.

ProtectCode Plus, a digital transfer technology printable at scale on HP Indigo, UV inkjet, offset, gravure, and desktop laser printers to monitor for fake product codes.

MultiSec shield, smartphone readable overlaminate-based security features bring peace of mind whether dealing with important documents or mass-produced document ID cards such as licences.

In terms of brand equity, YPB harvests first-party verified insights from its solutions through its Connect® Platform, enabling targeted marketing initiatives and unique consumer relationships.

When a user confirms a product’s authenticity through their smartphone, a brand can immediately engage with them, customizing its approach based on the individual’s previous brand interactions.

Whether an institution seeking to enhance document security or a multi-national conglomerate keen on expanding product trust and awareness, YPB’s bespoke technologies have an established track record of optimizing brand perception for the long term.

The company has been serving businesses and governments across all sectors and markets since its inception.

Security Matters focuses on the tracking and tracing of supply chains using blockchain technology.

The company’s patented system can mark any physical object with unique, invisible sub-molecular particles, and create a digital twin for it on the blockchain, facilitating real-time quality assurance and reliable producer accountability throughout the object’s life.

Security Matters’ mission is to address brand liability through a global record of physical goods that enables a sustainable economy.

It is currently active in the chemical, plastics, electronics, mining, fashion, agriculture and food & beverage industries.

Dotz Nano offers carbon-based molecular technologies for tracing, authentication and anti-counterfeiting. The technologies lack any distinct chemical signature, making them virtually irreplicable for increased supply chain protection.

Dotz’s solutions can be embedded in everything from plastics to liquids to cannabis plants, creating unique codes of origin for organizations of any size.

The company boasts a global presence in research, production, and marketing with distributors in North America, Europe, Japan, China and Australia equipped to meet each market’s unique requirements.

Potential investors in the brand protection and equity generation space stand to benefit from durable competitive advantages.

Companies that strengthen brands play a foundational role in the global capitalist system, sharpening the competitive forces that keep markets vibrant and thriving.

If the companies add quality and meaning to the consumer experience and increase brand loyalty on a consistent basis, they are arguably essential services wherever commerce takes place.

If the companies cater to the consumer as well as the producer side of the equation, and their technology is designed to glean insights from both parties, they may also benefit from providing tailor-made solutions that maximize revenue and reinforce their own positive associations with clients.

Most importantly, the influence of brands on how individuals express their identities is pointed perennially up and to the right. As a secular trend, backed by centuries of positive momentum, its presence is too ubiquitous to ignore. As such, proven companies that help brands gain an edge over their competition offer long-term investment prospects worth a deeper investigation.

The copper intersects were made at planned targets of the Canbelego Main Lode. The company also received copper assays for the upper portions of property’s Western Lodes.

Assay results include a 5.3-metre hit at 3.34 per cent copper. This discovery is one of the highest results to date. The company stated drilling is still going to continue testing the Main Lode, the new Western Lodes, and the Caballero prospect.

“We are building up a very active program initially focused on drilling along the Rochford Trend and building up the copper mineralisation around Canbelego,” Managing Director Mike Rosenstreich said.

Helix stated that if it continues to see its desired results at Canbelego, it will also work on testing a series of earlier stage copper targets along both the Rochford and Collerina trends.

“It is also very pleasing to have continued to locate further visual copper sulphide hits which continue to demonstrate the fertile nature of our ground in the well-endowed Cobar basin of NSW,” Mr Rosenstreich added.

The company is running new sampling programs and surveys in hopes of advancing more targets throughout the whole property portfolio and ramp up its exploration work.

Shares in Helix Resources are steady at $0.01 as of 10:49 am AEST.

Telus has offered to buy all 123.38 million Appen shares for $9.50 apiece. Telus still needs to settle its financing arrangements for the transaction and also requires Appen’s board to unanimously agree on the proposal.

Appen said its board was working with Telus to improve the terms of the proposal. As such, its board will be providing Telus access to limited business and financial information, contingent on Telus agreeing to enter into a mutually-acceptable confidentiality and standstill agreement.

However, Telus has yet to receive any material non-public information from Appen.

Appen has told shareholders they are not required to take any action regarding this proposal just yet.

Appen said it was considering any revised proposal from Telus which would be in the best interests of all Appen shareholders. All discussions are currently only conditional and are not determinative of a transaction being completed.

Appen works with data for the artificial intelligence lifecycle. Its services include data sourcing, data annotation, model training and deployment, and model evaluation by humans. Appen’s system can help organisations launch innovative artificial intelligence systems.

Appen said Cognilytica, a research, advisory and education firm, estimated the artificial intelligence industry would grow by 32 per cent each year from 2021 to 2027.

According to global market research firm Precedence Research, as of last year, the global artificial intelligence market size was valued at US$87.04 billion (A$122.7 billion).

Appen (APX) shares last traded at $6.40 per share on May 26.

The company said the proceeds from the sale would go towards the completion of a definitive feasibility study for its Cabinda phosphate project and other studies for the Capanda Green hydrogen-ammonia project in Angola.

Further to the rare earths project divestment, Minbos said it had also received an updated resolution from Angola’s power network operator, RNT-EP, regarding the commercial parameters of a power supply arrangement between the two parties.

Minbos has been asked to provide key milestones and studies relating to the Capanda project and to the wider Angolan fertiliser and agricultural sector.

Minbos CEO Lindsay Reed said the company had “multiple potential business opportunities” on the table in Angola.

“Our positioning with the green hydrogen-ammonia project puts the company ahead of most, if not all, other ASX listed peers, giving Minbos a significant time, infrastructure spend and power pricing advantage,” Mr Reed said.

“These advantages cannot be underestimated.”

Minbos said it had already received enquiries from potential investment partners with numerous offers to help with natural gas prices, investing in a long-term supply of ammonium nitrate, and the green hydrogen-ammonia project.

Shares in Minbos Resources were up 7.69 per cent to 14 cents each at 10:07 am AEST.

Perseus has received 223.7 million Orca common shares, meaning it now holds a 100 per cent interest in Orca.

Perseus already owned 39.09 million Orca shares before purchasing the remaining number of available shares. This meant Perseus only had a 15 per cent holding in Orca shares at that time.

Orca shareholders received a total of 125.2 million Perseus shares as a result of the transaction, valuing the deal at around C$200 million (A$221 million).

With this acquisition, Perseus owns 70 per cent of the Block 14 Development Project in Sudan and a 31.4 per cent stake in the Koné Gold Project in Cote d’Ivoire.

As an extension of this deal, Perseus now holds 33 million shares in Montage Gold Corp — roughly 31 per cent of Montage shares on issue. Before the deal, Perseus had no equity in Montage Gold.

Perseus Mining (PRU) last traded at $1.75 per share on Thursday, May 19.