Resources Top 4: Nickel junior rockets 60pc after uncovering ‘substantial sulphide body’

Corazon hits 55.4m of complex sulphide mineralisation at flagship Lynn Lake project in Canada
Iceni Gold picks up more high-grade rock chips up to 3880g/t gold at Everleigh Well
Heavy Minerals, Metal Hawk up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources movers in morning trade, Thursday July 13.

CORAZON MINING (ASX:CZN)

Drilling has intersected a “substantial sulphide body” at the Fraser Lake Complex, part of the flagship Lynn Lake nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide project in Manitoba, Canada.

One of two drill holes into anomaly MTC3 hit 55.4m of complex sulphide mineralisation, including metre scale intervals of massive sulphide, intermixed with semi-massive to disseminated style sulphide mineralisation.

A second drill hole successfully intersected sulphide mineralisation between 22.4-26m down hole.

Several similar anomalies yet to be drill tested, the company says.

Unlike many of its peers, CZN is urging caution in assuming nickel grades before the assays are released.

“The most significant outcome from this drilling is proving that our new geophysical techniques can identify the targeted magmatic sulphides, as well as these late, metal-rich ultramafic pipes,” managing director and all-round good bloke Brett Smith says.

“This drilling is the first in testing several similar geophysical anomalies, some of which link into areas of known nickel mineralisation.

“Although we have not previously seen barren magmatic sulphides associated with these rocks, the fine-grained nature of the sulphide mineralisation is atypical of the coarse-grained Lynn Lake sulphide bodies, and as such we advise caution in assuming the tenor of nickel within the Sulphide Zone.”

This drilling is part of a plan to expand the already substantial 16.3Mt resource (116,800t nickel, 54,300t copper, 5300t cobalt) at Lynn Lake, a prolific historical nickel-copper-cobalt mining centre that was mined for 24 years before closure in 1976.

Mining studies examining a low-cost operation are also underway.

CZN is today’s small cap bolter, up +60% in morning trade. The $10m capped stock had $3.4m in the bank at the end of March.

ICENI GOLD (ASX:ICL)

Renowned nugget finder ICL has picked up more high-grade rock chips up to 3880g/t gold at Everleigh Well, part of the 930sqkm 14 Mile Well project in WA.

Analysis of soil anomalies, rock chips and the +800 gold nuggets picked up so far indicate the potential for a large, buried intrusion, the company says.

“The exceptional high-grade rock chip assays returned from the Everleigh area are interpreted to link the various mineralised outcrops, gold soil/nugget anomalies, and drill intercepts together,” ICL technical director Dave Nixon says.

“The Everleigh target area continues to deliver very positive results and remains a high priority focus for Iceni in the search for a significant high-grade orogenic gold discovery at 14 Mile Well.”

A drilling campaign in the hunt for source of all this gold is being designed, the company said late June.

Everleigh Well is one of eight target areas discovered thus far at 14 Mile Well, which is in elephant country close to Gold Fields’ +10Moz Granny Smith/Wallaby operation and Anglo Gold Ashanti’s 7Moz Sunrise Dam mine.

The $30m capped stock is up 80% year-to-date. It had $2.1m in the bank at the end of March.

METAL HAWK (ASX:MHK)

(Up on no news)

The junior explorer has been bouncy on a bit of volume since late June after reporting wide zones of clay-hosted REEs grading up to 4120ppm at the sizeable ‘Fraser South’ project in Esperance.

MHK will now test select samples to see if REEs can be leached from the clays. If the results are good, more drilling could follow.

It has since secured an option to buy the large scale Yarmany nickel-lithium project in WA’s eastern goldfields from Horizon Minerals (ASX:HRZ) for cash and shares.

The tenure has 50km of strike potential along the Ida Fault, home to Delta Lithium’s (ASX:DLI) advanced lithium project of the same name.

“We are pleased to have secured this quality belt-scale nickel and lithium project, which complements our existing goldfields portfolio,” MHK MD Will Belbin said earlier this month.

“The Yarmany project has seen very little nickel sulphide exploration activities since the 1970s and limited lithium exploration.

“With a favourable geological setting along the Ida Fault, this large and contiguous tenement package presents as a tremendous discovery opportunity for the company.”

MHK is aiming to fast-track plans for lithium and nickel drilling in 2023.

MHK also has another interesting iron in the fire – namely, exploration joint ventures worth $9.75 million with IGO (ASX:IGO) and Chalice (ASX:CHN) gold spinoff Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL).

The $10m capped junior had $1.35m in the bank at the end of March.

HEAVY MINERALS (ASX:HVY)

(Up on no news)

The microcap recently boosted resources at the Port Gregory garnet project in WA by 23% to 166Mt at 4% for 6.6Mt total heavy mineral (THM).

That includes 5.9Mt of contained garnet, representing ~5 years of current global demand, HVY says.

Port Gregory will contribute more than 10% to world garnet production when the mine comes online, pencilled in for 2027.

“The updated mineral resource estimate now credibly positions HVY to be the next potential garnet producer in the Port Gregory region,” HVY CEO Andrew Taplin says.

A 2022 scoping study – the first proper look at the economics of building a project – envisaged a 16-year project producing 141,000t garnet and 6000t ilmenite per year.

It would take 4.2 years to pay back the $110m capex bill, with free cash flow expected to be $588m over life of mine.

“The updated Mineral Resource estimate will inform the Port Gregory Project Pre Feasibility Study that is scheduled to commence imminently and is expected to contribute further value to the already strong financial metrics.

“The company remains of the view that its Port Gregory garnet project is a world-class asset.”

Garnet sand is a good abrasive, and a common replacement for silica sand in sand blasting. It is also used in waterjets to cut steel, and in water filtration.

HVY says industrial garnet demand is forecast to outstrip supply in the coming years with a widening deficit forecast from 2024 onwards, unless additional supply is brought to market.

Pricing has already begun to respond accordingly, the company says.

The tightly held $12m capped stock (~53m shares on issue) is up 90% year-to-date. It had $892,000 in the bank at the end of March, which means some sort of cap raise is probably imminent.