Battery metals or gold - where’s the next multi-bagger coming from?

Hitting the jackpot on a forgotten, ‘bottom-of the drawer’ microcap exploration stock is every investor’s dream.

Usually it’s tough — there are plenty of listed explorers that can’t find their own arse with both hands. But punters have been jumping onboard some legit small cap winners lately, particularly in the gold space.

Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) went from sub-$5m battler into $60m market cap project developer on the back of a huge gold find in West Africa.

Former $3m market cap minnow Metalicity (ASX:MCT) correctly predicted that a drill program at the unloved Kookynie project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields “would speak for itself”.

But often, the ‘spark’ can be less spectacular than a big discovery.

Like Riversgold (ASX:RGL), a sleepy explorer which grew its market cap from $1.9m to +$20m on a cluster of good news, which includes well-known mining investor Tolga Kumova joining the register.

Nearology – being ‘near’ a big deposit or discovery – was the spark that reinvigorated the share price of Golden State Mining (ASX:GSM), which is drilling right next door to De Grey’s (ASX:DEG) regionally defining Hemi discovery in the Pilbara.

Plenty of others have re-rated after they purchased a new project or dusted off an old one.

Currently, there are 27 resources stocks on Stockhead’s list with a market cap under $5m. Where’s the next multi-bagger coming from?

Here’s a list of ASX resources stocks with a market cap under $5m [intraday Monday September 21]

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop:

CODE	NAME	SHARE PRICE [INTRADAY MONDAY]	MARKET CAP
ACS	Accent Resources	0.01	$ 1,810,002.33
AKN	Auking Mining	0.002	$ 1,865,168.92
ANW	Aus Tin Mining	0.001	$ 3,329,774.06
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.0075	$ 4,892,314.74
AXT	Argo Exploration	0.014	$ 2,729,580.00
BEM	Blackearth Minerals	0.041	$ 4,659,876.36
CMD	Cassius Mining	0.012	$ 3,446,956.68
CVS	Cervantes Corp	0.004	$ 2,144,033.24
EFE	Eastern Iron	0.009	$ 4,263,168.91
HGM	High Grade Metals	0.0074	$ 4,189,676.43
HOR	Horseshoe Metals	0.012	$ 2,575,826.28
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.004	$ 4,599,869.49
MAR	Malachite Resources	0.04	$ 4,984,932.00
MDX	Mindax	0.003	$ 2,961,836.33
NIU	Niuminco Group	0.001	$ 2,800,160.07
NXE	New Energy Minerals	0.02	$ 3,689,432.42
OKJ	Oakajee Corp	0.05	$ 4,536,051.50
PNN	PepinNini Minerals	0.0016	$ 2,930,736.00
QEM	QEM Limited	0.097	$ 3,617,825.30
RAG	Ragnar Metals	0.011	$ 3,447,664.68
RBX	Resource Base	0.034	$ 934,706.68
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.016	$ 3,851,475.51
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.007	$ 4,988,386.47
SBU	Siburan Resources	0.002	$ 1,395,664.20
TAO	TAO Commodities	0.12	$ 3,766,400.04
TRM	Truscott Mining	0.02	$ 2,592,513.97
VKA	Viking Mines	0.014	$ 4,392,049.98

The goldies

Right now, gold is king which means finding an undervalued sub $5m market cap gold explorer is difficult.

Currently suspended stock Cervantes (ASX:CVS) owns the Primrose project in WA which includes 37 historical high grade workings.

“Most exploration companies would be happy to be exploring near or under one historical mine,” it says, “let alone 37.”

In September, Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX) announced the results of a moderately successful maiden RC drilling program at the Yandal East Gold project.

Significant intersections included 13m at 1.01 g/t gold from 58m, including 3m at 2.38 g/t.

A ‘gravity survey’ is now underway to help the explorer dial in on some new targets, which could be drilled prior to Christmas.

The battered (but busy) battery metals explorers

Blackearth Minerals (ASX:BEM) is an advanced, pure play graphite explorer which continues to progress the Maniry project in Madagascar towards a development decision.

The problem is that graphite isn’t very palpable to investors right now. Hence the $4.6m market cap.

“However, there are many good signs to take forward into 2021, including building a diversified market strategy for our products, and the medium to long term outlook for battery minerals remains strong,” chairman Phillip Hearse says.

QEM (ASX:QEM) IPO’d in 2018 with a market cap of $20m on the back of its unique Julia Creek ‘dual commodity’ vanadium-oil shale project in Queensland.

The vanadium hype of late 2018 is well and truly gone, and so has QEM’s market cap.

Still, the company continues to progress studies for the extraction of both hydrocarbons and vanadium. That means two potential revenue streams.

Like graphite and vanadium, cobalt is not in vogue with investors. Ausmon Resources (ASX:AOA) is keeping the faith, and has just finished a 10 hole, 1200m drilling program at the Stirling Vale cobalt-zinc-gold project in NSW.

“As we are still in the exploration phase, a discovery and successful development of cobalt may be timely to meet the future market improvement,” chairman Boris Patkin says.

“A gold and a zinc resource discovery in Broken Hill would [also] be most welcomed.”

Who wants a new project?

In June, long term shell Auking Mining (ASX:AKN) signed a deal to acquire 75 per cent in an advanced WA copper-zinc-gold-silver project in WA.

Auking now plans to raise at least $6m in late October/early November to fund the deal and hopefully relist on the ASX.

Argo Exploration (ASX:AXT), Eastern Iron (ASX:EFE), Lincoln Minerals (ASX:LML), Viking Mines (ASX:VKA), Siburan Resources (ASX:SBU), born survivor Resource Base (ASX:RBX), and Winner of Stockhead’s ‘Worst Small Cap Performer of 2017’ award — Accent Resources (ASX:ACS) — are all on the hunt for new assets.