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Metals One (LSE: MET1) is in penny share territory after its share price fell from a 52-week high of 55p to 10p at the time of writing (23 July). The market cap is down from £295m to £54m.
The shares had spiked in May 2025 on news of an acqusition in Norway that could give it access to gold, copper, and nickel deposits. One commentator claims the mineral reserves could be worth £3bn, and tips the stock for a 2,000% share price surge.
Another talks of a “massive” uranium find, claiming it could put Metals One at the epicentre of a global transformation driven by technology-led metals demand. Neither is a financial source I’ve ever heard of. We need a closer look.
The results say
The company’s 2024 results, which were released in June, spoke of the new Lillefjellklumpen project in Norway. It calls the project a “potential acquisition,” adding it “comprises a 20 km² exploration licence“. There’s nothing to hint at that £3bn valuation. Or any valuation.
In the Financial Review section of the results, I read: “As an exploration company, Metals One currently has no revenues.” Ah, I see. The balance sheet carried net assets of £8.7m at 31 December, though only £33,640 in cash and equivalents.
But an April equity issue raised £3.1m after costs. Also, “the company issued cash warrants to the investors in the equity fundraise which are exercisable for a period of six months from the date of grant and, if exercised, would bring in up to £10 million in additional gross proceeds“. It all sounds a bit complex.
Rise and fall
Why did the share price climb so high earlier in the year? It looks like a fair bit of hype around acquisitions of uranium and vanadium projects in the US in April gave it a boost. And sky-high speculation, like the examples I gave above, will surely have had an effect.
Why the later fall? Some blame it on poor reception to warrants-related new share issues. The company has admitted to “heavy dilution through hand-to-mouth fundraisings to keep the project moving forward” in 2024. And that the 2025 equity raise also “resulted in significant dilution for shareholders“.
On the day of results, Metals One announced an application to admit 76,450,000 new AIM shares. They’re to cover an exercise of warrants, some priced at 2p per share. It means 280 million ordinary shares are now in existence
Screaming buy?
The confusing equity picture has to be part of the reason for the dip. But I also suspect profit-taking by those who got in before the climb. With a company as small as this, it sometimes doesn’t take many sellers to trigger a slide.
What I’m more focused on is a loss of £1.62m from ordinary operations last year, suggesting the cash just raised should keep the lights on for another couple of years.
The long-term financial prospects for Metals One? As far as I can see, impossible to even guess at. There might well be riches ahead for those taking the risk, but I fear I’ll be doing the screaming if I buy now.
