September Newsletter

Written By Hunter Wardman

Welcome to the second edition of the Engage Strategic newsletter.

At Engage, we saw a gap in how companies communicate and engage with investors. Founded by seasoned professionals with deep ASX, executive and operational experience, our mission is to bring strategic clarity, measurable outcomes, and digital innovation to investor relations.

This is our second newsletter where we:

  • Explain the Engage Strategic business model

  • Analyse latest ASX Junior performance - this time for copper players

  • Highlight several client companies

  • Share key market facts about copper

What does Engage Strategic do?

Engage Strategic is our core service - from defining business models/milestones, crafting equity stories to delivering content and analytics through our Investor App, we help companies tell compelling stories, attract capital, and build lasting investor confidence.

Traditional IR services merely polish and distribute. We go further.

ASX junior trends

Engage is also building a next-generation AI-powered platform to analyse ASX company announcements, delivering actionable industry and peer insights. Our clients and broker network will receive regular intelligence updates, helping them stay ahead of emerging trends.

In September, we continue our analysis of the June quarterly releases. This month, we deep-dive into copper explorers and developers. We identify these key market shifts:

  • 179 copper companies reported (including polymetallic projects)

    67 copper companies raised capital — up from 21 last quarter — with total funds raised reaching A$215 million, more than double the quarterly average over the past year.

Selected client company backgrounds

Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA)

A well-funded South Australian explorer advancing a portfolio of tenements in the highly prospective Central Gawler Craton Province in South Australia, strategically located between the historic gold mining centres of Tunkillia and Tarcoola.

  • Initial phase of ~5,000m aircore (AC) drilling program on track to commence in early October. This will test multiple gold targets along the Lake Labyrinth Shear Zone

  • The Lake Labyrinth Shear Zone hosts the Minos Prospect, where Indiana has outlined gold mineralisation over a 650m strike length and to 380m below surface

  • The Minos Prospect sits within the wider Minos Gold Project in South Australia’s Gawler Craton where Indiana holds a dominant exploration footprint of more than 5700km2

Equity story:

  • Cashed up

  • Gold, Rare Earths and Titanium

  • A transformational year for its gold project

  • (South) Australia

  • Engaged disciplined management

Theta Gold Mines Limited (ASX:TGM)

  • Decision to Mine for its TGME Project, with bulk earthworks to begin shortly.

  • Follows the successful securing of US$35M cornerstone funding, with debt syndication now underway.

  • The company is also preparing to release an updated Feasibility Study with economics based on a US$3,000/oz gold spot price

Equity story:

  • Shovel-ready gold producer

  • Resource base 6.1 million ounces (4.17g/t) - one of the largest undeveloped gold resources on the ASX.

  • First gold pour in Q1 2027.

  • Production plan is scalable, ramping from 50–70koz/year to 160koz/year over three phases.

  • Project fully permitted & led by an experienced team.

Market facts - Copper

🏺 Ancient Origins: Bling Before Batteries

  • Circa 9000 BC: Humans discover shiny rocks. Cue the first metal flex.

  • 3000 BC: Bronze Age begins - to copper’s accidental collaboration with tin.

  • Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Chinese use copper for swords, jewellery, and medicine. It’s the original multitasker.

🏛️ Trade Routes & Empire Building

  • Romans mint copper coins. Cyprus becomes copper’s namesake.

  • Medieval Europe puts copper on cathedral roofs—because divine architecture deserves a green patina.

  • Copper becomes the Swiss Army knife of ancient economies.

⚡ Industrial Revolution: Copper Gets Wired

  • 1800s: Electricity enters the room. Copper becomes the MVP of telegraphs, lightbulbs, and eventually toasters.

  • Thomas Edison probably whispered sweet nothings to copper wires. No judgment.

📱 Digital Age: Copper Goes Incognito

  • Inside your phone, your car, your walls—and yes, your bloodstream.

  • Copper is the backstage crew of modern tech: essential, invisible, and underappreciated.

🔮 Future Prospects: Copper’s Green Renaissance

  • Demand set to double by 2050, driven by EVs, solar panels, and wind turbines.

  • 80% of all copper ever mined is still in use. It’s the metal equivalent of a zero-waste guru.

  • New discoveries are rare—mining companies are playing hide-and-seek with ore deposits.

Resources

Australia’s copper story began in 1842 with a chance discovery at Kapunda, SA.

By the 1860s, South Australia earned the title Copper Kingdom, hosting some of the world’s largest mines.

Today, Australia ranks among the top global copper producers, with world-class deposits like Olympic Dam, Mt Isa, and Prominent Hill driving our strategic importance in the global energy transition.

Copper reserves by country – Source UN Trade & Development

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Hunter Wardman
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