Tony Locantro is an investment manager and small-cap expert. He is the Eddie McGuire of small-cap mining and energy stocks. He’s on almost every show going and in his 2023 wrap-up, Tony discussed his top mining and energy picks for 2024. And he even declared two as his best stocks for 2024. Let’s take a look at some highlights from various presentations and say “Lock it in Tony!”.
Read on for Tony’s Mining and Energy Stocks to Watch in 2024 or feel free to jump ahead.
2024 Mining and Energy Stocks to Watch
Tony Locantro has been a busy man leading into the end of 2023. When he wasn’t hosting his special webinars with CEOs and MDs of various companies, he was a regular on various shows, delivering his distinct take on the markets. Usually peppered with great one-liners and his world-famous “truth bombs”.
In this post, we take a look at some of Tony’s Top mining stocks for 2024. We take a look at the inaugural “Tony Award”, which is not awarded for excellence in live Broadway Theatre. This Tony Award is for the big man’s two best stocks which we cover in detail.
Let’s take a look at some market insights before we get stuck into the specific stocks.
Disclaimer: Please note that these are not Stock recommendations or personal information. This is an account of the Tony Locantro Mining and Energy stocks for 2024 webinar that was held on November 21, 2023. Along with some additional personal research, and quotes and notes from subsequent presentations captured in the References section below.
Tony’s Trifecta for 2024 – Gold, Silver and Copper
In a career spanning 25 years as an advisor, Tony is never afraid to be honest in his assessment of the past two years. “Shit House” is a term he recently used, but he is still optimistic about the market. Tony has seen it all before. He plans to stick with his companies, even though they have underperformed and struggled to raise money. They all have “fantastic fundamentals”.
At the moment, Tony believes that small-cap share prices are stupidly cheap. And these difficult years are where the war stories are created. Long-term successful people (like Rick Rule), bought stocks in the pennies and managed to hold them. They didn’t follow the herd. They stuck to the fundamentals, normality returned and they laughed all the way to the bank.
Tony’s Take on Gold in 2024
Tony believes that Gold has time to run in 2024.
Gold stocks have underperformed the gold price by a long way. The Junior gold sector has been “poleaxed” and has struggled to raise money. It is unbelievable that companies with a million ounces are capped at under 10 million dollars. But Tony believes that this will change.
Tony suggests that a focus on individual companies that can turn into a gold producer regardless of the gold price will do well. There is no fever like gold fever, and when the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) kicks in, it will “take a small increase in the participation rate to see gold fly”.
Tony’s Take on Silver in 2024
Tony is a massive fan of silver. And he believes that silver is the most explosive commodity/precious metal there is. Silver is not only a store of wealth but it can protect your capital and it has shown in the past that it can rally strongly.
It is a very tight market, and if the participation rate only increases a couple of points, it will be like “trying to suck an ocean through a straw”. There are “bugger all silver companies and that will turn into 3-400” when investors finally start to pile in. Tony recommends delving into Silver and doing some research, and the opportunities will become obvious.
Tony’s Take on Copper in 2024
Copper is one sector where the stocks have been “belted into the next postcode unjustly”. Tony believes that for the “green dream”, there’s not enough copper on the planet. And a lot of the copper is available 4000 meters above sea level and it’s 1%. Ultimately, the “copper crunch” means that there will not be enough for the EV revolution.
Now let’s take a look at the awards….
The Tony Award – Best Stocks of the Year
The prestigious and Innagural Tony Award for Best Stocks of the Year was a tie between two stocks Tony is super excited about. The winners are tied between Red Metal (ASX: RDM) and Maronan Metals (ASX: MMA).
The Annual Tony Award is not a trophy or a medal, it’s a Vegan Pizza delivered at 2 AM. Congratulations to the Big Winners – Red Metal and Maronan Metals.
Dear Reader, please continue to discover why Tony likes these companies and why they may be worth considering in 2024.
1. Red Metal (ASK: RDM)
Red Metal (ASX:RDM) is a mineral exploration company focused on giant copper, copper-gold, copper-nickel, and silver-lead-zinc deposits in Australia. It has been a listed ASX company for 20 years. The share price is currently trading at 9 Cents, down from a high of 42 Cents in 2007.
Reasons To Like Red Metal
Red Metal owns 50% of Maronan Metals and it has a Joint venture with BHP looking for huge copper deposits. They have what could be called a “World first rare Earth’s Mineralisation Discovery” near Mount Isa, and the results of that are incoming. Red Metal has been described as being similar to Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) with a Market Cap of $507 Million. And Red Metal has a wealth of projects rolling along in the background.
Tony’s Take on Red Metal
“Red Metal is a great all-round company. It’s been listed for 20 years Rob Rutherford runs it…. They’re due for a break… What he’s done is kept the share structure below 300 million shares… and they want to become a small company with a big share price. I think this is one of the cheapest emerging stocks or junior resource stocks on the market, even though they’ve been around for 20 years.”
2. Maronan Metals (ASX: MMA)
Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) focuses on the exploration, evaluation, and development of copper/gold and silver/lead deposits in the Cloncurry Region of Northwest Queensland. This is one of Australia’s most productive Mineral Provinces. Tony assisted in the Maronan IPO and the share price is currently trading at 25 Cents, down from a high of 39 Cents in 2022.
Reasons To Like Maronan Metals
Maronan Metals is one of the largest undeveloped silver-lead copper deposits in the country. With 105 million ounces of silver and 300k ounces of gold, along with 2Mt of lead and 170kt copper, Maronan has a sizeable resource with a 30 million market cap.
Tony’s Take on Maronan Metals
“Maronan Metals has delivered exceptional drilling results with no appreciation from the market. I think it’s grossly undervalued. They lack a profile and I think they’re a corporate Target… I look forward to their mining studies coming next year.”
3. Saturn Metals (ASX: STN)
Saturn Metals (ASX:STN) is a Gold exploration company in Western Australia. It is developing the 1.84M ounce Apollo Hill Gold Project. It is projected to deliver robust financial outcomes as a stand-alone large-scale open pit mine and heap leach processing facility. It also has joint ventures in NSW. The share price is currently trading at 18 Cents, down from a high of 88 Cents in 2020.
Reasons to Like Saturn Metals
Saturn Metals has a very elegant story where it’s a simple deposit with a simple processing circuit. The gold doesn’t have a beautiful grade, but there’s no copper and there’s no arsenic. It’s just gold in quartz that is easily liberated with cyanide which is very economical.
The deposit has 1.84 million ounces in a single, simple pit. The value proposition of Saturn Metals represented in their preliminary economic assessment has been likened to the trajectory of Capricorn Metals (ASX: CMM) which has a market cap of 1.82 billion, which Tony sees as a benchmark in the gold sector. And Saturn Metals just received a $3 million investment from Lion Selection Group (ASX: LSX).
Tony’s Take on Saturn Metals
“Speaking of undervalued gold stocks, …I’ll go back and I’ll look into one of the gold companies I missed in Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM). Look at a chart of that one, they started with a low-grade deposit then they moved on. So I say high risk… I can’t reiterate that enough. But this is quality”
4. Lion Selection Group (ASX: LSX)
Lion Selection Group (ASX: LSX) is a Listed Investment Company (LIC) that is focused on Junior Miners. It was founded in 1997 and invests in the best Australian-based mining projects to generate “Outrageous successes”. Lion Selection Group manages a portfolio of 15-20 mining companies, and they are a simple way to invest in a top selection of Junior Mining companies. The share price is currently trading at 44 Cents, down from a high of 70 Cents in 2013.
Reasons to Like Lion Selection Group
With a $74 Million War Chest, Lion Selection Group can come in and scoop up distressed companies to help them develop their assets. And they continue to invest and develop their portfolio which is managed by a professional mining investment team. It’s an ideal way to get exposure to early-stage resources with a passive investing strategy.
Tony’s Take on Lion Selection Group
“Lion Selection Group is trading at a sizable discount to NTA and they have a history of paying dividends…. It is the most conservative vehicle you can take in junior resource investments. So again, upside with a chance of a dividend”
5. Pac Gold (ASX: PGO)
Pac Gold (ASX:PGO) is a gold exploration company. It has eight mining leases and five exploration permits in the Alice River region of North Queensland. Tony believes it’s “one of the most exciting drill out stories on the market at the moment” The share price is currently trading at 20 Cents, down from a high of 31 Cents in 2007.
Reasons to Like Pac Gold
Pac Gold has a very tight capital structure, strong institutional support, and really a low enterprise value. They have a 30-kilometer strike zone at Alice River. The project has been overlooked for 30 years and they have had success rolling out geophysics on a really large regional scale. This success has attracted the attention of high-quality, institutional investors. They are backing the company for this big scale project which has multiple million ounces.
Tony’s Take on Pac Gold
“I think I’m on the money here because I see the multi-millionaires potential. I’m getting a bit old for small deposits… it’s a fantastic story and I look forward to the growth.”
6. Mako Gold (ASX: MKG)
Mako Gold Limited (ASX:MKG) is an Australian-based exploration company. It is focused on advancing its flagship Napié Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire located in the West African Birimian Greenstone Belts which hosts more than 70 +1Million ounce gold deposits. The share price is currently trading at 1 Cent, down from a high of 18 Cents in 2018.
Reasons to Like Mako Gold
Mako Gold already has 868,000 ounces in their main resource and they have another 17 targets they would like to drill. They also have a “potentially world-class discovery” of Manganese, which is being called the “next lithium”. While this Manganese discovery is being explored, Mako Gold is very focused on its gold “flagship project”
Tony’s Take on Mako Gold
“Mako Gold is one of the best gold explorers on the ASX. Unfortunately, existing shareholders, including some institutions, have seen the value of their investments decline by over 90%. But funnily enough, they’re still very excited about the story. And I guess they certainly have a longer-term view.”
Final Thoughts
After a couple of tough years, Tony Locantro admits that he can’t win every year. But Tony will stick with companies that are fundamentally fantastic but unfortunately, have underperformed. Which makes these stocks some of the best buying opportunities Tony has ever seen. Hopefully, you will agree with the sentiment after reading some of the insights above.
You can find Tony Locantro on his new website, tonylocantro.com. While you’re there. sign up for his newsletter and receive future insights and potential special event invitations in the future. Or take a peek at his YouTube channel.
If you missed Tony Locantro’s Biotech Stocks to Watch in 2024 post, catch up on some great insights on some genuinely exciting BioTech stocks for 2024. This invite-only session was fantastic, as Tony spoke with CEOs and MDs from various Biotech companies.
M. Moneyman
References:
- Making Money Matter on YouTube – What a year! Will 2024 be the year of living dangerously? Tony Locantro at his witty best
- DFA on YouTube – DFA Live Q&A: Its Tony Locantro’s Christmas Cracker…
- Tony Locantro Mining and Energy stocks for 2024 webinar – November 21, 2023
