The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price is pushing higher on Tuesday.

In afternoon trade, the network services company’s shares are up 2.5% to $4.15.

Why is the Megaport share price rising?

The Megaport share price is rising today after the company acted swiftly to appoint a new chief executive officer (CEO) following the shock departure of Vincent English earlier this month.

According to the release, the company has appointed Michael Reid as its new CEO, effective 15 May.

Reid joins Megaport from Cisco, where he currently serves as chief revenue officer for ThousandEyes, one of Cisco’s fastest growing SaaS businesses.

The release notes that during his time with ThousandEyes, Reid transformed the organisation’s go-to-market efforts and helped grow the business into the largest cloud, SaaS, and internet visibility platform in the world.

In addition, Megaport’s new CEO expanded the ThousandEyes team from 150 personnel to nearly 400, grew ARR by 2.4 times, and extended the business into new regions across the globe.

Megaport’s founder and chair, Bevan Slattery, was pleased with the appointment. He commented:

We are thrilled to welcome Michael as the new CEO of Megaport. Michael is a proven technology growth leader with deep experience in developing and leading multiple global recurring revenue SaaS businesses. His expertise and drive will be pivotal to strengthening Megaport’s go-to-market strategy and product roadmap and leading the Company into its next stage of growth.

One in, one out

However, taking some of the shine off the appointment is news that there has been another big change in the Megaport c-suite.

The company has revealed that its CFO, Sean Cassidy, is leaving his position with immediate effect. Ms Leticia Dorman will be appointed as interim CFO while the company undertakes a global executive search.

The post Megaport share price jumps on CEO news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Megaport. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is rocketing on Tuesday despite only silence from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium hopeful. However, surging market sentiment for stocks involved in the battery-making metal is seemingly behind its gains.

ASX 200 lithium shares are roaring upwards after Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) revealed it rejected a takeover bid from industry giant Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) this morning.

Right now, the Sayona Mining share price is gaining 13.5% to trade at 21 cents.

For comparison, the ASX 200 is up 1.1% at the time of writing.

Let’s take a closer look at the news that’s seemingly driving investor sentiment for Sayona Mining and its ASX 200 peers this morning.

What’s boosting the Sayona Mining share price today?

ASX 200 lithium shares, Sayona Mining included, are surging on Tuesday amid news Liontown rejected an acquisition proposition from Albemarle.

The suitor offered approximately $5.5 billion – or $2.50 per share – for the company behind Western Australia’s Kathleen Valley lithium project. It came on the heels of a $2.20 per share bid posed in October and a $2.35 bid offered in early March, both of which were turned down.

Liontown dubbed the latest offer – representing a 64% premium on its previous close – “opportunistic”. It said the bid undervalued it and didn’t reflect recent work completed at Kathleen Valley or the project’s potential.

Meanwhile, Liontown has noticed Albemarle subsidiary RT Lithium has snapped up a 2.2% stake in its shares through on-market purchases.

The Liontown share price is roaring 60% at the time of writing to trade at $2.44.

Meanwhile, Sayona Mining is among the ASX 200’s best-performing stocks. Here’s how some of its lithium-focused peers are moving today:

• The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is up 19%
• That of Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) is rising 15%
• Shares in Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) are lifting 13%
• And stock in Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) is up 10%

Looking longer-term, the Sayona Mining share price has outperformed the ASX 200 in recent months. It’s gained 10.5% so far this year. Though, it’s fallen 4.5% since this time last year.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 is up 1.4% year to date and down 5% over the last 12 months.

The post Here’s why the Sayona Mining share price is shooting 14% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 200 shares cracking multi-year highs on Tuesday
• Why are ASX lithium shares going gangbusters on Tuesday?
• Why is the Core Lithium share price rocketing 19% on Tuesday?
• Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price rebounding 14% today?
• Liontown share price explodes 59% on new Albemarle takeover approach

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is steaming ahead today, up 1.14% to 7,041.5 points.

ASX energy stocks and materials stocks are leading the market today. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is up 3.94% and the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is up 2.27%.

Among the best-performing ASX 200 shares are these three businesses hitting multi-year highs today.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

The leader among all ASX 200 shares today is lithium stock Liontown Resources, with its share price up 57.38% to $2.40. In earlier trading, the ASX 200 stock was up by more than 60% and hit an all-time record high of $2.45.

Liontown told the ASX the news today that it has received and rejected a takeover offer from global lithium giant Albemarle (NYSE: ALB).

This is Albermale’s third attempt in six months to buy Liontown. It increased its offer price this time around to $2.50 per share. It offered Liontown $2.20 per share on 20 October 2022 and $2.35 per share on 3 March.

Liontown is among the 10 most shorted ASX shares, with 8.7% of its stock shorted by traders.

United Malt Group Ltd (ASX: UMG)

The United Malt Group share price is up by 31.25% at $4.515 per share. In earlier trading, the ASX 200 share hit a new 52-week high of $4.64 per share.

The maltster came out of a trading halt today, releasing its official response to a takeover proposal from French company Malteries Soufflet, which is the second-largest maltster in the world.

Malteries Soufflet is offering to acquire all United Malt Group shares for $5 per share in cash. That’s 45% above the United Malt share price at Friday’s close.

Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB)

The Brambles share price is currently up 0.07% to $13.51. In earlier trading, the ASX 200 share reached an all-time high of $13.65.

There is no official news relating to the ASX 200 share today. However, as my Fool colleague Tony reports, top broker Wilson’s reckons Brambles offers the rare combination of defensive and growth characteristics.

Equity analyst Anna Milne said:

We do think the pricing momentum is going to continue. The focus on profitability is only going to grow over the coming year.

Given all the market volatility, it’s around anything that’s earning US dollars. So that’s a watch for us, but operationally, Brambles is still a buy.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares cracking multi-year highs on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why are ASX lithium shares going gangbusters on Tuesday?
• Why is the Core Lithium share price rocketing 19% on Tuesday?
• The whopper Wesfarmers dividend is being paid today. Here’s what you need to know
• Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price rebounding 14% today?
• United Malt share price rockets 32% on $1.5 billion takeover approach

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) share price is pushing higher on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the energy giant’s shares are up over 1% to $8.25.

This means the Origin share price is now a solid 30% since this time last year, as you can see below.

Why is the Origin share price rising?

Investors have been bidding the Origin share price higher today after the company accepted an $18.7 billion takeover proposal from a consortium comprising Brookfield Asset Management and MidOcean Energy.

The consortium has tabled an offer of $5.78 per share and US$2.19 per share, which equates to a total consideration of $8.912 per share. This represents a 53.4% premium to the Origin share price prior to the first proposal on 9 November 2022.

However, this will be reduced by any dividends paid, including the interim dividend of 16.5 cents per share that was paid last week. As a result, the true consideration for shareholders is $8.747, which is a 6% premium to the current Origin share price.

This appears to reflect the fact that the deal is still subject to a few conditions. This includes shareholder approval, court and regulatory approvals (including FIRB and ACCC approval), and the independent expert’s report concluding that it is in the best interests of shareholders.

What’s next?

When it comes to the shareholder vote, the Origin board are unanimously recommending that they vote in favour of the scheme. This is in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to the independent expert’s report.

Origin’s CEO, Frank Calabria, is supportive of the proposal. He said:

The significant premium placed on Origin by the Consortium reflects the value of our strategy and our advantaged position to capture value from the energy transition. We believe this transaction is a great outcome not only for our shareholders, but for all stakeholders including our customers, employees and partners. We believe this transaction also stands to benefit the broader Australian community as it will unlock significant capital that can help accelerate the energy transition and deliver benefits in the form of cleaner, smarter and lower cost energy for our nation over time.

The post Why is the Origin share price pushing higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Origin share price on watch amid takeover agreement
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Why APM, Macquarie Telecom, Northern Star, and Origin shares are rising today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The share price of many S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank shares have gone down over the last few weeks. Hence, is it a good time to buy shares at the moment?

It’s interesting that so much is happening this year, but at the same time not surprising – interest rates have risen so much in a short amount of time that the knock-on effects of that are starting to play out.

I think there was a bit of mismanagement at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), but its collapse was also unlucky – it probably wouldn’t have happened if interest rates hadn’t gone up so much and there hadn’t been a massive withdrawal of depositor funds.

Credit Suisse has been taken over by UBS, which was a sign to me that it needed rescuing.

Will there be another bank failure? It’s impossible to say at this stage, we’ll know in the coming weeks and months. But, some investors have been selling their (ASX 200) bank shares and limiting that exposure.

Local banks have actually been falling since February 2023 as investors learned that there is intense competition in the banking sector, which may lead to lower lending profits than expected.

However, after this pain, could banks be beaten-up opportunities?

How much have valuations dropped?

Share prices change every weekday, and every minute when the share market is open. Let’s look at the current situation since 14 February 2023, which was the date of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) FY23 half-year result, and where investors got a lot of insights into the local banking situation.

The CBA share price has fallen 13%.

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has dropped by 13%.

The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has declined 11%.

The ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has dropped around 13%.

The Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price has declined around 11%.

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price has dropped around 13%.

If an investor ignores everything else and just looks at the potential purchase price, we can clearly see that share prices are substantially down from where they were a month and a half ago.

As a shorter-term idea, I’d suggest that most, perhaps all, of them are better value in the short term. But, the ASX 200 bank share prices did fall a bit further in 2022 and dropped a lot further in 2020. So, I wouldn’t call this the best opportunity of the 2020s, unless there’s a crash. More bank failures could cause that decline, so watch that space.

Which ASX 200 bank share to buy?

If we take a shorter-term approach, I think most banks may be able to deliver outperformance at this level because of the lower starting valuation and higher dividend yield as a result of the share price decline. However, in the medium term, I’m cautious about a normalisation of bank credit provisions and bad debts as households adjust to higher interest rates.

Of the banks I’ve mentioned, I’d probably prefer to choose some of the larger ones first because of their stronger balance sheets and the fact that I think Australians are less likely to withdraw their money en masse from the big four ASX 200 bank shares.

Of those four, I think the CBA share price is too expensive relative to the others, while ANZ could be distracted by its acquisition of the Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) banking operations.

Therefore, I’d choose NAB and Westpac. I think NAB is making great progress toward becoming a high-quality bank under Ross McEwan’s leadership, while Westpac is working on cutting costs.

But, I do have to say that Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) could be the best ASX 200 bank share to buy after its recent 13.5% drop, in my opinion. I like its global expansion and diversification, which I covered in another article.

The post Is right now a once-in-a-decade opportunity to buy ASX 200 bank shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Should I use the banking crisis as an opportunity to pounce on Macquarie shares?
• Investing in ASX 200 banks for dividends? Read this
• Will the turmoil among global banks trigger a stock market crash?
• Banking crisis ‘clearly not over’: ANZ
• A director is buying up CBA shares. Should you?

SVB Financial provides credit and banking services to The Motley Fool. Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended SVB Financial. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bendigo And Adelaide Bank and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SVB Financial and Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is soaring above the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Tuesday. Its gains come amid news one of the lithium favourite’s peers has rebuffed multiple takeover bids from industry monolith Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB).

Right now, the Pilbara Minerals share price is $3.93. That’s 14.24% higher than its previous close.

For comparison, the ASX 200 is gaining 1.21% at the time of writing.

Let’s take a closer look at what might be going right for the ASX 200 lithium icon’s shares today.

Is this driving the Pilbara Minerals share price today?

ASX 200 lithium shares, including Pilbara Minerals, are roaring out of the gates today amid news a company housed in the space has batted a takeover offer away.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has rejected a $2.50 per share takeover bid posted by Albemarle.

It was just the latest bid the US$26 billion company posted for its ASX 200 counterpart. It also faced rejection on a $2.20 bid in October and a $2.35 bid earlier this month.

The most recent offer represented a premium of 64% on the Liontown share price’s previous close – $1.52. However, the company said the bid is opportunistic, substantially undervalues it, and isn’t in shareholders’ best interests.

Not to mention, the company has uncovered some potential sleuth buying by Albemarle subsidiary RT Lithium, which now holds around 2.2% of its outstanding shares.

 Right now, the Liontown share price is roaring 50% to trade at $2.29.

And plenty of Pilbara Minerals’ other peers are also watching their share price rocket, seemingly on the back of soaring investor sentiment:

• The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is leaping 18.6%
• That of Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) is up 13.5%
• Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) stock is up 12.1%
• Shares in Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) are jumping 12%

Today’s gain included, the Pilbara Minerals share price has risen 9% year to date. It’s also 23% higher than it was this time last year.

Comparatively, the ASX 200 has gained 1% so far this year and has fallen 5% over the last 12 months.

The post Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price rebounding 14% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Liontown share price explodes 59% on new Albemarle takeover approach
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Monday
• This ASX 200 lithium stock could be THE ONE to buy right now
• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week
• Could buying Pilbara Minerals shares under $4 make me rich?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The United Malt Group Ltd (ASX: UMG) share price is rocketing 31.7%, currently trading for $4.53 per share.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) maltster were placed in a voluntary trading halt yesterday, pending the company’s response to a takeover proposal.

The United Malt share price closed on Friday at $3.44.

Here’s what the company released on the takeover offer this morning.

What’s happening with the takeover proposal?

The United Malt share price is flying higher after the company reported it’s entered into a process and exclusivity deed with French maltster Malteries Soufflet.

Malteries Soufflet is the largest commercial maltster in Europe and the second-largest maltster in the world.

And Malteries Soufflet has submitted a conditional, non-binding, and indicative proposal to acquire all of United Malt’s stock for $5.00 per share in cash. That’s a heady 45% above the United Malt share price at Friday’s close.

If United Malt pays out any dividends before the proposed transaction is completed, the $5.00 per share offer price will be adjusted accordingly.

With 299.18 million United Malt shares outstanding, the deal values the ASX 200 maltster at just under $1.5 billion. On Friday, the company’s market cap was quoted at $1.01 billion.

United Malt today reported that Malteries Soufflet and its major shareholder, the InVivo Group, had previously approached it with unsolicited offers to combine the companies. United Malt provided them with limited non-public information on a confidential and non-exclusive basis.

Malteries Soufflet then submitted several confidential, non-binding, and indicative proposals to acquire all of United Malt shares.

On 16 December, Malteries Soufflet offered $4.15 in cash per share. On 6 February, it offered $4.50 in cash per share; on 8 March, it offered $4.90 in cash per share. Then, on 14 March, it submitted the indicative proposals, valuing the United Malt share price at $5.00.

United Malt has granted Malteries Soufflet the opportunity to conduct due diligence on an exclusive basis for a 10-week period.

Should Malteries Soufflet provide a binding proposal for at least $5.00 per share, the United Malt board said it would unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favour of the potential transaction, in the absence of a superior proposal.

United Malt shareholders do not need to take any action at this time, the company advises.

United Malt has also appointed Macquarie Capital as its financial adviser.

United Malt share price snapshot

As you can see in the chart below, today’s big boost has put United Malt stock up 33% in 2023.

The post United Malt share price rockets 32% on $1.5 billion takeover approach appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Guess which ASX 200 stock is on ice following a takeover approach
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It has been a stunning day for the Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price.

In morning trade, the heavily shorted lithium developer’s shares are roaring 59% higher to a 52-week high of $2.42.

This is quite a turnaround for the Liontown share price, which was down as low as $1.29 just a little over a month ago, as you can see on the chart below.

Why is the Liontown share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been scrambling to buy the company’s shares this morning after it revealed that it has received and rejected a takeover approach from lithium giant Albemarle (NYSE: ALB).

According to the release, Albemarle made an unsolicited, conditional, and non-binding indicative proposal to acquire all of the shares in Liontown at a price of $2.50 per share via a scheme of arrangement.

This proposal was subject to a number of conditions before it would become binding. These include Liontown providing exclusive due diligence, the Liontown board unanimously recommending the proposal, regulatory approvals, and entry into a mutually acceptable scheme implementation deed.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Albemarle has been knocking on the company’s door. It previously had two other proposals rejected by Liontown. The first was for $2.20 per share in October and the second was earlier this month on 3 March for $2.35 per share.

The release also highlights that RT Lithium, a subsidiary of Albemarle, has been building a stake in Liontown through on-market purchases. Based on the most recent share registry information available, RT Lithium holds ~2.2% of Liontown’s issued shares.

Why did it reject the offer?

Liontown has labelled the takeover proposal as opportunistic. It explained:

In coming to its decision, the Liontown Board noted the opportunistic timing of Albemarle’s Indicative Proposal, coinciding with recent softness in companies exposed to the lithium sector and the pre-production status of the Kathleen Valley Project.

Management also believes the offer fails to reflect other factors, such as the scarcity value of the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project. It notes that “there are few other lithium assets of this scale, quality and mine life this close to production in Australia, one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in the world.”

Whether Albemarle returns with another improved offer, only time will tell. But in the meantime, the Liontown board will keep shareholders and the market fully informed of further developments as appropriate.

Furthermore, it is business as usual for the company. Management notes that the company continues to progress a number of attractive funding options for the remaining capital at the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project and expects to update the market on this front in the near term.

The post Liontown share price explodes 59% on new Albemarle takeover approach appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week
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• These ASX lithium shares are a buy despite explosive supply forecast: UBS
• Why Adairs, Liontown, Qantas, and Synlait shares are dropping today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Stock in All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) industrial services provider SRG Global Ltd (ASX: SRG) is gaining this morning. It comes after the company revealed its secured a $55 million contract with iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG).

The SRG Global share price is lifting 2% shortly after open to trade at 74 cents right now.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest news of the All Ords stock’s business with S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) giant Fortescue.

ASX All Ords stock lifts on $55m Fortescue contract win

The SRG Global share price is in the green after the company announced its new infrastructure contract with Fortescue.

The new deal sees the diversified industrial services provider having announced more than $1 billion of new contract wins since the beginning of financial year 2023.

Its latest mine site project will see it building a 21-kilometre haul road at the iron ore producer’s Eliwana Mine, located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The contract is expected to kick off this month and take around nine months to complete.

It’s just the latest deal between the All Ords company and the ASX 200 mining favourite.

SRG Global signed a $150 million, five-year contract to provide services at the iron ore giant’s Pilbara operations in 2021.

Its Aboriginal joint venture Bugarrba was also awarded an approximately $40 million, five-year contract with Fortescue’s Iron Bridge in October. That was on the back of an approximately $25 million contract Bugurrba signed with Fortescue in 2021.

Commenting on today’s news, SRG Global managing director David Macgeorge said:

We are pleased to extend our longstanding relationship with Fortescue and look forward to delivering these works for Fortescue in addition to the asset maintenance works we are performing across a number of Fortescue’s site locations.

SRG Global share price snapshot

The SRG Global share price has outperformed the broader All Ords so far this year.

The stock has gained 10% since the start of 2023. It’s also currently 14% higher than it was this time last year.

For comparison, the All Ords has gained 1% year to date and has dumped 6% over the last 12 months.

The post Guess which ASX All Ords stock is lifting on a $55m deal with Fortescue appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price has returned from its trading halt with a bang.

In morning trade, the mineral exploration company’s shares have risen 9% to $6.87.

Why is the Chalice Mining share price jumpinh?

The Chalice Mining share price is racing higher today after investors responded positively to the release of a mineral resource update at the Gonneville deposit of the Julimar nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project in Western Australia.

According to the release, drilling and re-modelling have resulted in a ~50% increase in the contained nickel equivalent metal relative to the July 2022 estimate to approximately 3Mt.

Importantly, while this is a massive resource, it represents only 7% of the Julimar Complex strike length.

And it may not end there. Drilling is continuing at Gonneville outside the resource, with assays currently pending for 52 drill holes. Furthermore, two diamond rigs continue to test for extensions of high-grade mineralisation at depth and the deposit remains open beyond a depth of ~800m, with step-out drilling indicating that mineralisation extends to at least ~1,100m.

Management believes this points to a significant underground resource growth opportunity.

Chalice’s managing director and chief executive officer, Alex Dorsch, commented:

The ~50% increase in the Gonneville Resource to ~3 million tonnes of nickel equivalent is quite a remarkable achievement for the Chalice team given it is barely three years since the discovery of the Julimar Complex. Gonneville is now the 2rd largest undeveloped nickel sulphide resource in Australia.

The latest numbers continue to demonstrate the world-class endowment, scale and quality of the Gonneville Deposit, while also highlighting a compelling picture of upside along the remaining ~28km strike length of the Julimar Intrusive Complex.

What’s next?

The company revealed that it is continuing to respond to strong strategic interest in the Julimar Project and intends to commence a formal strategic partnering process.

This includes with downstream, trading and end-user parties, as well as potential mining/operating partners. The company’s aim is to explore a broad range of transactions that maximise shareholder value.

Management advised that the partnering process will continue in parallel with the progression of development studies and has the potential to influence the optimal development plan for Gonneville.

The post Why is the Chalice Mining share price jumping 9% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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