14-Sep-2020:  SGQ: Excellent Metallurgical Results for Mt Alexander

About the Mt Alexander Project:

The Mt Alexander Project is located 120km south-southwest of the Agnew-Wiluna Belt, which hosts numerous world-class nickel deposits.  The Project comprises six granted exploration licences.  The Cathedrals, Stricklands, Investigators and Radar nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE discoveries are located on E29/638, which is held in joint venture by St George Mining Limited (75%) and Western Areas Limited (25%).  St George is the Manager of the Project, with Western Areas retaining a 25% non-contributing interest in the Project (in regard to E29/638 only) until there is a decision to mine.

02-Sep-2020:  Maiden Ore Reserve for AM6 Boosts Cosmos Base Case

Also, Last week:  25-Aug-2020:  FY20 Full Year Financial Result and FY21 Guidance   plus   FY20 Financial Results Corporate Presentation   and   Appendix 4E & FY20 Full Year Statutory Accounts

[I'm not currently holding WSA, but I often do.  They are a profitable nickel miner.  My preference in the sector currently for nickel exposure is IGO, which I do hold - and I also hold S32.  All 3 companies (WSA, IGO & S32) are on my Strawman.com scorecard.]

24-7-2020:  WSA Quarterly Activities Report

WESTERN AREAS FINISHES FY20 IN STRONG POSITION – STRATEGICALLY SET FOR LONG TERM NICKEL PRODUCTION

Western Areas (ASX: WSA) is pleased to provide the June Quarterly Activity report.

JUNE QUARTER 2020 HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Odysseus underground mine development preparing for fresh decline take-off toward the Odysseus deposit
• Strategic 19.9% investment in Panoramic Resources Ltd completed for A$28.6m
• Exploration success at Western Gawler has the potential to unlock a new base metal province
• Forrestania and Cosmos operations continue materially unaffected by Covid-19
• Nickel production contained in ore mined of 5,841 tonnes. FY20 total of 23,391 tonnes
• Mill production of 5,114 nickel tonnes in concentrate. FY20 total of 20,926 tonnes (99.7% of guidance)
• Unit cash cost of nickel in concentrate of A$3.23/lb. FY20 total A$3.13/lb, reporting at the mid-point of guidance
• Operating cashflow of A$22.9m with cash at bank of A$144.8m and no debt
• Cash plus receivables and liquid assets of $190.6m (Mar Q A$193.3m)

Western Areas Managing Director, Mr Dan Lougher, said it has been a busy quarter at Western Areas across many fronts, including exploration, project development and operations, while also advancing and building long term strategic optionality into the Company via an investment in Panoramic Resources.

"Pleasingly our assets continued to operate reliably and consistently, enabling the Company to materially deliver into all FY20 guidance metrics, acknowledging a slight shortfall in nickel concentrate production, achieving 99.7% of guided production range.

Most encouragingly during the quarter, our systematic and sustained exploration effort at the West Gawler Project in South Australia has started to show its potential as a new base metal region, with the first diamond drill hole at the Sahara target area intersecting a significant interval of mineralisation,” Mr Lougher said.

--- click on link above for the full report --- [the above is just the first bit]

[I hold WSA shares]

Also:  (today, 24-7-2020):  Assays Confirm Nickel and Copper Sulphide at Sahara

And one month ago (23-6-2020):  Western Gawler Drilling Strikes Significant Nickel & Copper

Plus:  23-7-2020:  SGQ: Mt Alexander - Drilling Update

[WSA owns 25% of the tenements and the minerals contained within them - that St George Mining - SGQ - is discussing in that announcement]

Also:  19-6-2020:  Western Areas takes 19.9% Stake in Panoramic Resources (PAN)

23-June-2020:  Western Gawler Drilling Strikes Significant Nickel & Copper

Also:  Recently:  19-June-2020 (last Friday):  Western Areas 19.9% Stake in Panoramic Resources

September 2019 (?) I think...  Western Areas (WSA) is one of a small number of pure nickel plays on the ASX, and probably the most prominent one.  Nickel prices have been rising since December (up around 20% over the past 3 months).  I don't have a view on the company specifically in terms of management, balance sheet, etc., but purely as a nickel play, it would be one of the more obvious ones.  Warehouse levels are falling.  The price is rising.  The perception of future demand is that we are going to need more nickel for EV and other batteries to store energy.  There are not currently many new nickel mines that have been approved for development and construction.  WSA is a smaller company, and doesn't get much attention, but if nickel goes for a run, they will get a lot more.  They are a producer now, not an explorer or a developer, so they get the full benefits of a rising price as it happens.  They also have two of the highest grade operating nickel mines in the world in Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll (at Forrestania in WA) - see here:  http://www.westernareas.com.au/operations/forrestania-australia.html

22-Apr-2020:  Nickel prices are smashed now - they've been coronered along with all base metal prices - and I reckon copper will turn positive first, and then nickel will follow, so I'm not actually holding any WSA currently.  I do hold Sandfire (copper) (SFR) and I'll probably buy IGO & WSA when copper heads north again and nickel follows.  I think IGO and WSA are the best nickel plays on the ASX.  I also still hold S32, who do produce some nickel, but I hold them on a valuation basis - coz they look cheap - and they're reasonably diversified across alumina/aluminium, met coal, nickel, zinc, lead, silver and manganese.  I don't mind holding them through the cycle, and SFR, but a pure nickel play like WSA is a little riskier when the global growth outlook is so negative.

05 August 2019:  Western Areas (WSA) Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum Presentation 2019 (Kalgoorlie, WA, August 2019)

19 July 2019:  Offtake Agreement for High Grade Nickel Sulphide Product

May 2019:  This is the bull case for WSA from WSA (i.e. in their own words, taken from a recent quarterly report):

Western Areas has Australia’s highest grade nickel mines and is a low unit cash cost producer.  Its main asset, the 100% owned Forrestania Nickel Project, is located 400km east of Perth in Western Australia.  Western Areas is also Australia’s second largest independent sulphide nickel miner producing approximately 22,000 to 25,000 nickel  tonnes in ore per annum from its Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll mines - two of the lowest cost and highest grade nickel operations in the world.  

An active nickel project developer at Cosmos and explorer at Western Gawler in Australia, the Company also holds exploration interests in Canada through shareholdings in Grid Metals (formerly Mustang Minerals). Additionally, the Company has exposure to the emerging lithium market via its shareholding in Kidman Resources Limited.  

The Board remains focused on the core business of low cost, long life nickel production, new nickel discoveries and  generating returns to shareholders. It has put in place the cost structure and capabilities to prosper throughout the cycle by adopting prudent capital management and an opportunistic approach.  Its latest presentation can be found at  http://www.westernareas.com.au/investor-centre/corporate-presentations.html

--- ends ---

That was taken from their March Quarter Activities Report.

Disclosure:  I hold WSA shares.  I bought some more yesterday (27th May 2019) after the nickel price rose again.  Because they are a single commodity producer, you would need to be bullish on nickel, because if nickel goes down, so do they, but if you like the exposure to nickel, they're a good company within that space. 

Additional:  Matt Haupt, the lead PM for WLE (WAM Leaders Fund) holds WSA in WLE.  He also holds IGO (as I do).  He also holds Oz Minerals (OZL) among the smaller miners, as well as the usual suspects - the big names like BHP, RIO & S32.  OZL are a copper miner mostly - which I don't hold.  My preferred copper exposure is via Sandfire (SFR, copper & gold) and Independence Group (IGO, nickel, copper, gold, cobalt).  I do hold S32, but not BHP or RIO currently.   I think the time to buy / hold iron ore miners is when the iron ore price is low, not when it's high - like it is now.  And the best exposure to iron ore on our market - when the price is high - is via FMG, which, again, is best bought when the iron ore price is low.  BHP is up a lot this year, RIO and FMG are up even more, within a couple of percentage points of their 12 month highs.  WSA on the other hand is well down on where they were a year ago, and that makes them a lot more interesting to me.  They're smaller, riskier, and leveraged to a single commodity but it's a commodity I'm comfortable with exposure to, and that's why I've recently (yesterday) topped up my WSA shareholding.