Strategic Minerals has reported magnetite sales for the quarter ended 30 June of US$1.296m, up by around 250% on the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
It’s the highest June quarter sales figure on record, and has led to an upgrade in expectations for the full year.
Overall, sales for 2024 are now expected to exceed US$4m.
The bumper figures come as the company’s major buyer at the Cobre iron ore project returned after a period of absence. Additionally, a major new client has also started buying magnetite.
Full year sales volumes are now expected to exceed 60,000 tons, up from 17,965 tons in 2023.
The strong performance has allowed Strategic Minerals to catch up all creditors and to repay one of the two previously outstanding short-term funding facilities. Two further facilities, amounting to A$100,000 in total, remain in place, but repayment is now expected by the maturity date in October.
There remains more than US$500,000 in deferred remuneration owed to the board.
"The quarter's sales have exceeded our expectations and bode well for a strong performance at Cobre in 2024,” said John Peters, managing director of Strategic Minerals.
Meanwhile, the company also continues to progress negotiations with potential investors on its Redmoor and Leigh Creek projects.
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The comparable figures look good when set against the previous year, since the major buyer was absent. But it’s worth noting that the numbers for the most recent quarter are also up by around 95% on the corresponding period. That points to a more solid underlying trend, and investors were cheered by the receding prospect of dilution in the near-term and rewarded the company with a 33% boost to the share price on the day.