Resources Top 5: This goldie shows sentiment is back with a bang, Hawsons Iron surges on green steel investment interest

Orecorp catches waves this morning as work progresses at the Nyanza Gold Project
Hawsons Iron agrees non-binding Letters of Intent for up to 58Mt per annum of high-grade ‘supergrade concentrate’
Bellavista, Perpetual Resources, and Native Mineral Resources up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Monday December 5.

ORECORP (ASX:ORR)

(Up on no news)

Shares in ORR are catching some steam on no news this morning however the company has been working hard at securing finance and positioning its multi-million ounce Nyanzaga Gold Project in Tanzania for construction and operations.

ORR recently announced some changes to its board and management following the retirement of chairman Craig Williams.

Matthew Yates took over the reins as CEO and managing director during the interim, however, Henk Diederichs replaced Yates after the last annual general meeting on November 16 as the company transitions from developer to producer.

Nyanzaga delivered a robust DFS in August 2022, with the project set to produce 242,000 ounces of gold per year for 10 years with a highly competitive all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$954/oz.

Discussions to date with major European, African and Tanzanian banks has delivered nonbinding expressions of interest to provide debt finance of more than US$400mn.

HAWSONS IRON (ASX:HIO)

HIO has agreed non-binding Letters of Intent (LOIs) for the offtake of up to 58 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of high-grade Hawsons ‘supergrade concentrate’ from the global steel sector as pressure on the industry rises to decarbonise production.

According to HIO managing director Bryan Granzien the current list of 18 potential off-takers, predominantly targeting Asia and the Middle East, included 12 steel mill operators and six commodity trading houses.

Demand also exists from mining companies for discussion on offtake when a Bankable feasibility study (BFS) on the Hawsons Iron Project near Broken Hill is completed or nearing completion.

“This level of investment interest in the project and robust offtake demand is clearly a strong demonstration that making the transition to producing zero-emission ‘Green Steel’ is front and centre on the global steel industry’s planning horizon and that Australia is a preferred supplier of high-grade magnetite concentrate,” he says.

Shares are up ~20pc at the time of writing – the company had $4.8mn in cash and equivalents at the end of the September quarter.

BELLAVISTA RESOURCES (ASX:BVR)

(Up on no news)

Drilling is underway on new copper and zinc targets at the Brumby Project in Western Australia’s Upper Gascyone with a 2,500m reverse circulation program.

The program is following up highly promising zinc targets and adjacent copper targets where pXRF readings graded up to 5.7% copper over 10sqkm.

BVR says the targets were identified in recent field mapping and sampling, which outlined a large area of shallow copper mineralisation immediately east of the Brumby SEDEX-style zinc system.

Drilling will comprise ~11 RC holes to test for both SEDEX-style zinc and a separate zone of copper mineralisation.

BVR executive director Mick Wilson said earlier this month the company believes these targets are highly promising and potentially transformational for the project.

“With heritage surveys recently completed, we have chosen to start drilling phase two.

“The evidence to date suggests we could have two mineralised system here comprising a large SEDEX-hosted system and a separate zone of copper mineralisation.”

PERPETUAL RESOURCES (ASX:PEC)

(Up on no news)

Silica-sand play PEC is making headway on multiple environmental approval pathways at the Beharra Project, south of Geraldton in Western Australia.

Perpetual had previously updated the market on the company’s efforts regarding the process for environmental approval at the Beharra Project, which was being progressed for submission under the Western Australian Part IV approvals process.

In preparation for the Part IV submission, Perpetual had previously indicated an exhaustive and thorough assessment had been undertaken to ensure an approvals process would be backed by high quality data for regulatory agencies to make highly informed assessment.

The outcome of this third-party study program demonstrated that the Beharra project represents a “low risk” environmental impact.

PEC then engaged with the various relevant Western Australian based regulatory offices, with feedback consistently indicating that a faster and more efficient Part V (Native Vegetation Clearing Permit) approvals process should also be considered.

Should Perpetual’s Beharra Part V submission not prove successful, Perpetual has also prepared full Part IV submission documentation which will be submitted for subsequent Part IV approval.

NATIVE MINERAL RESOURCES (ASX:NMR)

(Up on no news)

NMR completed its second drill hole at the Maneater Hill poly-metallic breccia on Friday, December 2 which ended at 543.3m.

The company says the hole was oriented to the west-southwest and has significantly increased the potential size of the polymetallic (silver, gold, zinc, copper, lead, antimony) target.

NMR managing director Blake Cannavo believes the results are significant as the company was testing the south-western continuity of mineralisation which has now been demonstrated and proves that the sulphides are potentially much more voluminous than NMR first considered.

Assays from MPD002 are still being finalised before the company begins drilling a third hole.