“We believe that Anvil could make a good acquisition, merger or strategic partner for another entity, given the quality of the Kinsevere asset,” Mr. Barker said in a note to clients Thursday. “However, we believe the opportunity for a deal is limited, given the size of the project and small number of potential suitors.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Barker upgraded Anvil to an “outperform” Thursday due to a tighter supply/demand equation over the next few years for copper. He also raised his price target for Anvil to $2.50 a share, from his previous estimate of $1.50 share.

Anvil is still awaiting the go-ahead on its Stage II development of its 60,000 tpa SX-EW plant in Kinsevere while it awaits funding.

We believe Anvil is best suited as a long term investment as we expect limited returns and news catalysts over the next few years, until the SX-EW is up and running,” Mr. Barker said.

“We believe Anvil is best suited as a long term investment as we expect limited returns and news catalysts over the next few years, until the SX-EW is up and running. The key catalyst for the stock is the financing and believe there could be a re-rating when this is finalised,” he added. - Scott Deveau