Recharge Metals lists on ASX today, work to begin on main copper target immediately

Base metals and gold make up the portfolio of the latest stock exchange listing as Recharge Metals (ASX: REC) joins ASX ranks today with an immediate focus on the Brandy Hill South copper project.

Recharge recently raised $5 million at $0.20 per share. The company is the newest in a long line of mineral exploration initial public offerings that have attracted Australian investors over the past year.

The success of the raising will allow Recharge to meet tenement acquisition costs, to acquire licences for which it has applied, and to kick off exploration.

Upon listing, the company will immediately begin exploration to follow up wide historic copper intercepts at its flagship project Brandy Hill South, which is located 160km east of Geraldton and prospective for copper.

It lies directly south from the Deflector project, owned by Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR), which began producing gold in 2016.

Recharge’s other projects are Hyden, south of the town of the same name in southern Western Australia, which is prospective for nickel, copper cobalt, and Bohemia which lies southeast of Fitzroy Crossing and where the company will be targeting zinc and lead.

Gold discovered in 1894 at Brandy Hill South

Brandy Hill South has a long history of exploration.

The first recorded discovery was in 1894 when two prospectors pegged what they called the Reward Claim.

But more intensive work began 39 years ago when Goldfields Exploration, after mapping and sampling, discovered the New Phoenix quartz-sulphide vein.

In 1992 a subsidiary of the US-based Reynolds Metals did extensive work and, due to heavy alluvial cover, carried out drilling in 1993 and 1994.

Then the former Julia Corporation followed up with 24 drill holes which, as Recharge explains, returned a “hinted extensive copper mineralisation over a 300m width across a major shear, with hints of gold and silver mineralisation”.

Three holes ended in copper mineralisation

Then, in 2006-2008, Independence Group (ASX: IGO) carried out airborne surveys and completed two drill holes.

Finally, in 2019, the Perth-based private exploration company Revolution Mining drilled three shallow reverse circulation holes, all of which intersected “significant copper mineralisation over a large part of the drilled strike length”.

All holes ended still in mineralisation.

Brandy Hill South consists of two granted tenements and three applications.

Hyden and Bohemia

Hyden comprises three granted tenements — one to be finalised after listing, one over which Recharge has an option, and a third held by Recharge (and is reliant on the option for the second tenement being exercised).

Previous exploration across Hyden has identified copper, nickel and gold.

Bohemia comprises three tenements for which an application has been made. Historical exploration at Bohemia returned anomalous zinc, lead, and silver.

Driving Recharge

Recharge’s managing director is Brett Wallace who has a varied career path, starting out as a geoscientist specialising in greenfield exploration for copper, gold, nickel and iron, and later becoming a solicitor.

Chairing the company is Simon Andrew who has worked for global investment banks. He is also on the boards of Riversgold (ASX: RGL) and Western Australian-focused Mamba Exploration (ASX: M24).

The other non-executive director is Felicity Repacholi-Muir, who has 19 years’ experience as a geologist and consultant, and is a director of gold hunter Indiana Resources (ASX: IDA).