LOWELL RESOURCES FUND — Interim / Quarterly Report 2024

Nov 10, 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Funds Management Ltd. ABN 36 006 769 982 AFSL 345674

October 2024

October 2024 Performance Summary: Lowell Resources Fund (ASX: LRT) The Lowell Resources Fund’s estimated net asset value (‘NAV’) at the end of October 2024 was approximately AUD$56.2m, compared to AUD$49.8m at the end of September 2024.

AUD$5.7m worth of new units were issued at a price of $1.10/unit during October in a strongly bid placement.

The NAV per unit finished the month of October at $1.4116 vs $1.4382 at 30[th] September 2024, a decrease of 1.8% over the month.

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The last traded unit price of the ASX listed 400
LRT units at month end was $1.11/unit. LRT 5 Year Total Return
incl distributions
An SPP to raise up to an additional $2m will 350 Rebased to 100
close on 21 November 2024 . The SPP allows
eligible unitholders the opportunity to
subscribe for up to $30,000 of new units at an
offer price of $1.10 per unit. 300
FUND SNAPSHOT 31 October 2024
250
NAV per unit $1.4116
Post-placement
No. of Units on issue 39,776,701 200
Market Price (ASX) $1.11/ unit
Estimated NAV AUD $56.2m 150
FY 24 Distribution paid 15.2 cents per unit
100
Market Capitalisation AUD $44.2m
Responsible Entity Cremorne Capital
Limited 50
Fund Manager Lowell Resources
Funds
Management Ltd
LRT ASX300
ASX200 Small Res
Oct-19 Oct-20 Oct-21 Oct-22 Oct-23 Oct-24
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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

Fund Investment Actions – October 2024

Precious metals exposure was increased by exercising warrants in Alaska focused gold company Freegold Ventures (TSX.V), as well as subscribing for placements in African Gold, Lefroy Exploration and AuMega Metals (formerly Matador Mining). The Fund also increased its exposure to Cambodia-focused gold explorer Unity Energy & Resources Ltd through participation in a pre-IPO placement.

In copper, the fund exited its holding in Anax Metals, but topped up the position in Caravel Minerals.

After raising $5.7m in a strongly bid placement of new units in the Fund, the cash position was 17% at the end of the month.

LRF COMMODITY EXPOSURE 31 OCTOBER 2024

Mineral Sands Uranium Helium 1% 2% 1%

Cash 17%

Nickel 1% Battery 3%

Gold & PGM 45%

O&G 9%

Base Metals 15%

REE Silver 0% 6%

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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

Fund Top Holdings

Ramelius Resources (Market Cap $2,758m

RMS.ASX) announced unchanged FY25 gold production guidance of 270-300koz at A$1,5001,700/oz operating cost with a large portion of this coming in 2H FY2025.

Astral Resources (Market Cap AUD$173m

AAR.ASX) announced another high-grade drill result of 3m at 177g/t Au at its Kamperman prospect south of Kalgoorlie in WA. Kamperman is part of Astral’s Mandilla & Feysville gold projects where the total resource is 1.46 Moz.

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30%
20%
10%
0%
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LRF Portfolio Value by Project Stage 31 October 2024

Saturn Metals (Market Cap AUD$86m

STN.ASX) announced RC drill results including 9m at 3.5g/t Au from 166m and 12m at 3.0g/t from 246m at its 1.8 Moz Apollo Hill gold deposit in WA. Three RC rigs and one diamond rig were on site, as well as an aircore rig undertaking exploration lake drilling along strike.

Freegold Ventures (Market Cap CAD$512m

FVL.TSXV) announced drill intersections of 3.1 g/t Au over 42m and 1.36 g/t Au over 115.2 metres at its 24Moz Golden Summit gold deposit in Alaska.

Southern Palladium (Market Cap AUD$66m

SPD.ASX) announced Prefeasibility Study results at its 70% owned Bengwenyama PGM project in South Africa of NPV8 of US$1.06bn based on a maiden JORC Ore Reserve of 6.29 Moz at 6.17g/t PGM (6E). The total resource at the Bengwenyama increased to 40.25 Moz.

Fund Top Performer

Asian Battery Metals (Market Cap $48m

AZ9.ASX) share price rose 179% over the month of October. The company announced a drill intersection of 8.8m @ 6.1% Cu, 3.2% Ni, 1.6g/t Pt+Pd+Au, and 0.1% Co (CuEq 12.6%) from 107.2m at its 100% Oval Cu-Ni-PGE

prospect, located in the Gobi-Altai region of Mongolia. The intersection is located within a strike length of 800m+, which is open in most directions.

Company	Commodity	% of Gross Investments
Cash	Cash	17.3%
Ramelius Resources	Gold	6.9%
Astral Resources	Gold	6.1%
Predictive Discovery	Gold	4.0%
Saturn Metals	Gold	3.5%
Freegold Ventures	Gold	3.5%
Mithril Silver & Gold	Ag & Au	3.1%
Southern Palladium	PGM	2.5%
Comet Ridge	Gas	2.4%
Unico Silver	Siver	2.4%
Caravel Minerals	Copper	1.8%

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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

Performance Comparison – October 2024

Over the past 5 years, the Lowell Resources Fund’s change in underlying estimated net asset value per unit (inclusive of reinvested distributions and after fees and expenses) was 24.4%pa. The Fund has outperformed the benchmark S&P/ASX Small Resources Accumulation Index (XSRAI), the ASX Resources 300 Index (Total Return) and the ASX 200 Index (Total Return) over five and ten years.

Total Portfolio Performance to 31 October 2024	LRT Change in NAV per unit incl distributions	S&P/ASX Small Resources Accumulation Index (XSRAI)
			ASX Resources	ASX 200 Index
			300 Index	(Total Return)
			(Total Return)
12 months	0.8%	14.3%	-0.7%	24.9%
2 years p.a.	6.9% pa	5.9% pa	7.3% pa	13.4% pa
5 years p.a.	24.4% pa	9.6% pa	9.6% pa	8.2% pa
10 years p.a.	13.4% pa	8.8% pa	8.7% pa	8.3% pa

The LRT ASX traded unit price at the end of October was $1.11/unit, compared to $1.255/unit at the end of September 2024.

Market Notes

Economics

• US GDP rose at 2.8% pa annualized rate in the third quarter, lower than the 3.0% pa rate in the second quarter.

• Stronger-than-expected US labour data weighed on US Treasuries, with US 10 year yields continuing to rise in October, to over 4.2%pa.

• A summit of BRICS countries hosted by Putin, saw members look to enhance financial cooperation between BRIC countries. There was a consistent emphasis on de-dollarisation .

Metals

• The AFR reported that Australian miners “paid more corporate tax than all other sectors of the economy combined in 2022-23, new data from the Australian Taxation Office shows, with Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue paying a combined $43 billion.”

• Gold hit an all time high of $2,790/oz after Israel said it had been targeted by rockets fired by Iran.

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MONTHLY UPDATE

October 2024

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

• However, physical demand for gold across key markets fell as prices continue to rise, with some retail consumers opting to sell their holdings and book the profit, industry players and analysts said. Spot gold is heading for the biggest annual gain in 14 years - fuelled by the start of U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and geopolitical tensions. India, the world's second-biggest bullion consumer after China, slashed import duties on gold in July to tackle smuggling but then saw local prices rising to all-time highs.

• The global refined copper market showed a 91,000 ton surplus in July, compared with a 113,000 ton surplus in June according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG). The ICSG expects a 469,000-ton global supply surplus this year followed by another 194,000-ton surplus in 2025. The scale of oversupply is more than double that forecast when the group last met in April. The group's increased surplus forecasts for 2024 and 2025 are almost entirely due to changes on the supply side. Expected copper mine production growth of 1.7% in 2024 will fall just short of last year but is a significant upgrade from the 0.5% forecast in April. The ICSG expects the growth rate to accelerate to 3.5% next year as big mines such as Kamoa-Kakula in the Congo and Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia ramp up capacity and the new Malmyzhskoye mine in Russia enters production.

• In a Reuters report, Tsingshan cut ferronickel production in Indonesia due to persistent shortages of ore caused by delays to mining quotas.

• Palladium prices rose after the US asked G7 allies to consider sanctions on Russian palladium and titanium. Russia produces 40% of global palladium output, although most is sold to China. Palladium has fallen about 37% since the start of last year and almost two-thirds from a March 2022 peak, which miners attribute to a subdued global economy and destocking by manufacturers. The possibility of removing Russian palladium from the market may tighten the market as “South Africa and the other major producers won’t be able to fill the gap,” said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading.

• Zinc surged to a 20-month intraday high as major producer Teck Resources Ltd. lowered output targets following a fire at its Canadian smelter, stoking anxiety about supply after a string of mine disruptions.

• Sibelco and Quartz Corp have both shuttered quartz operations in North Carolina following damage from Hurricane Helene. BloombergNEF estimated last year that the two operations account for over 80% of global high purity quartz supply. The high purity quartz is fed into the solar and semiconductor industries to produce the inner layer of crucibles.

• US-listed Arcadium Lithium said it had had a takeover approach from Rio Tinto in a deal shaping up to be worth at least $US4bn. Arcadium operates in the same jurisdictions as Rio, including Argentina where Rio Tinto has the Rincon Lithium project, and has hard rock lithium in Canada where Rio has operations in commodities iron ore and mineral sands. “Lithium is necessary in almost any construct of a battery, so there will be growth in lithium.” Said Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm.

• Ongoing disruptions in Guinea and China, coupled with falling freight rates has seen Guinea bauxite FOB prices hit a record high of US$62/t.

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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

Energy

• Oil surged after Iran fired rockets at Israel, before falling back below US$80/bbl WTI at the end of October as speculation of Israeli or Iranian strikes on energy infrastructure eased. Iran exports 1.7mn barrels of oil a day, mainly from a terminal on Kharg Island, about 25km off the country’s southern coast.

• Oil exporters in the OPEC cartel together have more than 5mn b/d of spare production capacity, mainly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which could be brought online in case of disruption to Iranian supplies. But if Iran blocked tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, dubbed “the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint” by the US Energy Information Administration, the move would halt about a fifth of global consumption.

• 2024 has seen a rush of demand for nuclear plants from the so-called ‘hyperscale’ tech companies, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, which need vast amounts of low-carbon, 24-hour electricity to run their data centres. In fact, Microsoft even has a new position called “Director for Nuclear”.

• The US Department of Energy forecasts the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear plant capex will fall by 50% as a result of economies of scale efficiencies in the plant build-out. The first new nuclear reactors in the USA since 2016 (Vogtle 3 and 4) came online this year, massively over budget and schedule.

• French nuclear energy group Orano SA is suspending its uranium mining operations in Niger , after the ruling military junta blocked the company’s exports in the wake of a coup last year. Niger accounted for about 4% of global uranium mine production in 2022.

• Origin Energy abandoned its hydrogen venture in a blow to a key element of the Australian Federal Labor government’s decarbonisation strategy, as the economics of clean hydrogen projects increasingly fail to stack up. The ASX-listed electricity and gas giant said it would not proceed with its investment in the NSW Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, one of the most advanced clean hydrogen developments in the country and one that has been shortlisted for funding as part of Labor’s $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart scheme. Clean hydrogen is made using renewable energy and has been touted by advocates and policymakers as a replacement for gas. “It has become clear that the hydrogen market is developing more slowly than anticipated, and there remain risks and both input cost and technology advancements to overcome,” said Origin chief executive Frank Calabria.

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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

What is the Lowell Resources Fund? (ASX: LRT)

ASX-listed Lowell Resources Fund is focused on generating strong absolute returns from the junior resources sector. Our team of fund managers has many years of experience in this high risk, high reward sector. Lowell Resources Fund Management (LRFM) manages the portfolio of exploration and development companies operating in precious and base metals, specialty metals and the oil and gas space. LRFM has a successful 20-plus year track record managing LRT. An investment in LRT provides investors with exposure to an actively-managed portfolio focused squarely on one of the most rewarding sectors of the Australian, as well as global, share market.

LRT Holdings by Value 31 October 2024

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October 2024

MONTHLY UPDATE

Lowell Resources Fund. (ASX: LRT)

Characteristics of the Fund

Number of Investments: 77

Unlisted Investments by value: 8.7%

Nature of Fund Long only, absolute return fund Investee companies Junior resource companies, including gold, base and specialty metals, and energy Investment type Focus on global listed and unlisted resource equities Distribution policy 100% of taxable profits distributed annually

WARNING

The information given by Lowell Resources Funds Management Ltd “LRFM” (ACN 006 769 982, AFSL 345674) is general information only and is not intended to be advice. You should therefore consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs before acting on it, seeking advice from a financial adviser or stockbroker as necessary.

DISCLAIMER

Cremorne Capital Limited (ACN 006 844 588, AFSL No: 241175) is the responsible entity of the Lowell Resources Fund (ARSN 093 363 896). You should obtain and consider a copy of the product disclosure statement relating to the Lowell Resources Fund before acquiring the financial product. You may obtain a product disclosure statement from Cremorne Capital Limited at www.cremornecapital.com/lrf-pds/. To the extent permitted by law, Cremorne Capital Limited and Lowell Resources Funds Management, its employees, consultants, advisers, officers and authorised representatives are not liable for any loss or damage arising as a result of reliance placed on the contents of this document. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The investment objective is not a forecast and returns are not guaranteed.

This release has been approved by the Responsible Entity’s Board of Directors

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