Asian Battery Metals has reached an important metallurgical milestone on the path to development at its flagship Oval copper-nickel-platinum group element discovery in Mongolia.

ABM has announced excellent copper recoveries from Oval of up to 95%, using a simple flotation process, demonstrating the project's potential to generate a marketable copper concentrate.

Further metallurgical test work is underway to optimise the nickel and by-product recovery.

Managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said the excellent interim results were highly encouraging and reinforced the company's confidence in Oval's development pathway.

"ABM is in the process of ticking off one of the critical criteria to measure any mineral properties," he said.

"It shows that the Oval project has potentially viable metallurgy, that could be crucial in commercial studies on the asset.

"ABM management is not only exploring but keeping in mind the technical feasibility of the project, even in its early stages of the discovery."

Expanding explorer making rapid progress

After four years of systematic exploration in Mongolia, ABM made the Oval discovery at its Yambat project in October last year.

The headline intercept graded 8.8m at 6.08% copper, 3.19% nickel, 1.63g/t platinum, palladium and gold (E3) and 0.11% cobalt.

Less than 12 months on, ABM is now eyeing camp-scale potential in southern Mongolia's frontier copper-nickel belt.

It expanded Yambat in the September quarter with the addition of Bayan Sair, a new 3,327.17ha exploration tenement to the south.

It has also secured the option to acquire the Maikhan Uul copper-gold project, just 8km from Oval.

ABM says the high-grade sulphide intercepts at Oval have validated a geophysical targeting model, that it's applying to the broader pipeline of prospects.

Well-funded work program

The company is well-funded for its continuing work program, having entered the second half of 2025 with A$4.1 million in cash.

For the Oval project, initial metallurgical testing will resume once a mineralogy study on three composite samples is completed.

Assay results from recent drilling are expected within weeks, and the company is continuing its interpretation of electromagnetic survey data to refine and identify further targets.

Within Yambat, step-out and scout drilling is focused on the MS1, MS2 and Quartz Hill targets.

ABM is also advancing its due diligence on Maikhan Uul ahead of the potential acquisition.

Copper standout 

ABM is among a handful of red metal explorers listed on the ASX, at a time when copper demand is forecast to significantly increase due to its fundamental role in the global energy transition.

Zunduisuren said ABM's solid foundation and great potential made the company a compelling investment opportunity.

"With high-grade intercepts from drilling at our Oval copper-nickel discovery, and camp-scale potential in our larger land package, we're an efficient and active explorer in one of the under-explored yet geologically well-endowed regions of the world," he said.

"We're a locally experienced operator making greenfield discoveries of such mineralisation in this part of Mongolia.

"And management is ticking the boxes that are required to mine, one by one, systematically."