Weekly wrap: AZ9 High-Grade Copper & Natural Hydrogen in the Spotlight

Natural hydrogen gains momentum, AZ9 delivers high grades, and what small-cap investors should watch in early 2025

Our first weekly wrap of 2025 brings updates from Asian Battery Metals (ASX: AZ9) with their latest high-grade copper results from Mongolia, while the natural hydrogen sector continues to draw attention.

Key developments this week:

• AZ9 reports final Phase 2 assays above 3% copper and nickel

• Natural hydrogen gains government recognition in NSW

• Top End Energy's (ASX: TEE) neighbour receives global clean tech award

• Our core themes for 2025 taking shape

Let's dive in.

Australian Financial Review highlighting natural hydrogen.

AZ9’s High-Grade Hits And What Lays Beneath

Asian Battery Minerals kicked off the week with the grades for the last of their significant massive sulphide discoveries in Mongolia. The results delivered what we wanted to see - copper and nickel grades both above 3%.

The standout numbers from this round:

• A standout intersection of 6.1 metres grading 4.16% copper and 3.51% nickel from 98.2 metres - impressive grades over a substantial width from shallow depth.

• 1.8 metres grading 3.21% copper and 3.32% nickel from 105.0 metres nestled within a broader mineralised zone of 19.8 metres at 1.23% Cu and 0.98% Ni.

What makes these results significant is their location - 500 metres from the original discovery zone. Four separate massive sulphide hits across this distance point to a potentially large mineralised system.

Management has stayed true to their word and is aggressively exploring this fertile region. Drilling to test deeper targets begins in March.

If AZ9 can locate the source of these high-grade zones and uncover the motherlode hidden beneath, we'd expect significant share price movement from current levels.

Natural Hydrogen Stealing The Headlines

Back in December, when we bought into Top End Energy (ASX: TEE) at 10 cents, we talked about natural hydrogen becoming a major theme in 2025.

While most investors were still focused on traditional renewables or Twiggy's green hydrogen dreams, we positioned ourselves in what we think could be the next narrative in the evolution of clean energy.

This week added another bit of weight to that theory.

The New South Wales Government came out swinging on Monday, describing natural hydrogen's potential as "enormous" - particularly as an emission-free energy source that could be pulled straight from the earth.

This follows Queensland's $4 million commitment earlier in the year to study natural hydrogen potential.

“Natural hydrogen holds the potential to be a new, emission-free energy source, especially if it can be recovered at low cost from the earth directly for use.”

- NSW Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos

While government enthusiasm doesn't guarantee success, the science behind the government interest adds weight to the growing buzz around this sector.

USGS geologists recently estimated earth's subsurface holds up to 5.6 trillion tonnes of natural hydrogen. Their findings suggest accessing just 2% could meet global hydrogen demand for 200 years.

Energy Impact Partners also dubbed natural hydrogen the "dark horse" of the hydrogen revolution, pointing to its low-cost extraction potential.

The smart money is now moving quickly. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas have joined Gates and Bezos in backing heavyweight Koloma.

And which natural hydrogen explorer sits right next door to Koloma and trades at a fraction of the value? Top End Energy. (You can probably see where we’re going with this…)

Investment Magazine is another that took notice this week, mentioning Koloma and Top End Energy and saying, "You can bet the majors are watching [natural hydrogen] very closely."

It all comes as Koloma was named on the 2025 Global Cleantech 100 on Thursday, a list of the most innovative and promising companies working on clean technology solutions globally.

This is a big deal because the recognition on a respected list in the clean energy space highlights Koloma as a company with groundbreaking technology and strong growth potential.

Additionally, Koloma received the Rising Star Award, distinguishing it as the highest-ranked first-time entry on this list. This accolade indicates their efforts in natural hydrogen are not only being noticed but are also highly valued by industry experts.

All in all, the din around natural hydrogen is slowly turning into a rumble – and we daresay it won't be long before it becomes a roar.

Our main themes for 2025 in the small-cap investment space include natural hydrogen, gold and copper. We don’t think you can go wrong with a brand-new energy source, precious metal, and a metal used for electrification.

2025 is shaping up to be one hell of a ride. Stay tuned - we're just getting started.

Disclosure: Equities Club owns 375,000 shares of TEE and 750,000 shares of AZ9 at the time of publishing this article. Equities Club has been engaged by both companies at the time of writing.