Resources Top 4: Strike busts up bourse on LEL lithium investment; WAK whacks home $7m raise

Strike strikes it potentially lucky amid major Lithium Energy asset sale to Chinese battery minerals player
WA Kaolin bags a big capital raise for its Wickepin plant endeavours
Anson Resources also turning heads – on big lithium deal-related news with LG Energy Solution

Here are some of the biggest resources winners in early trade, Wednesday May 1.

Strike Resources (ASX:SRK)

Minerals exploration junior Strike has bowled over other ressie gainers on the ASX at the time of writing, with a strong 45% gain.

It’s up on initially slightly inscrutable news that actually hit late yesterday, with the company coming off a trading halt that related to an announcement from Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) – and that regards the sale of LEL’s Solaroz Lithium Brine Project in Argentina.

It’s a major and valuable asset that materially affects SRK’s investment in the lithium company. Strike is a 27% shareholder in LEL.

Strike notes that LEL recently released a market announcement entitled “Sale of Solaroz Lithium Project for A$97 Million”.

Essentially what’s happening there is that LEL has entered into a binding share sale agreement with a company called CNGR Netherlands New Energy Technology for the sale of LEL’s 90% interest in Solaroz for what amounts to nearly $100m.

The market clearly sees potential for Strike to materially benefit from the sale due to its invested relationship with LEL.

CNGR Netherlands, by the way, is a subsidiary of CNGR Advanced Materials – a Chinese company, and one of the world’s largest producers of precursors cathode active materials used across the global battery materials supply chain.

SRK share price

WA Kaolin (ASX:WAK)

Mineral exploration, extraction and processing company WA Kaolin’s main game is high-grade, kaolinised granite.

That’s all good and granite-tastic, but why’s it rocking on up more than 20% at the time of key tapping?

WAK’s only about to whack home a whopping great $7m share placement capital raise.

It’s a two-tranche affair, raising at an issue price of A$0.06 a share. Aware that rhymes, and moving on swiftly.

MD Alf Baker provided the ASX with this context:

“We are very pleased to have the company’s biggest offtake partner, major shareholders and others commit funds in support of the company as we execute our strategy to produce premium finer grades of kaolin at our Wickepin plant.”

Never met an Alf I couldn’t trust, good with that.

Specifically, WAK will use the funding for equipment it says will enable it to achieve its goal of “high yield production of premium finer grade kaolin” at Wickepin.

The funds will also ensure the company has sufficient working capital to carry out its endeavours.

WAK share price

Anson Resources (ASX:ASN)

Lithium project developer Anson Resources is also up after signing a massive, beaut deal. A binding offtake arrangement with none other than battery making giant, LG Energy Solution.

It’s a deal that will see LG Energy Solution buy 4000tpa battery grade lithium carbonate per year.

That’s a whole lotta lithium, and it will come from Anson’s 100% owned project within the Paradox Basin in Southern Utah, USA.

One thing to note, however, production for this won’t kick off till 2027, and this will represent approximately 40% of the project’s start-up production capacity of ~10,000tpa.

Anson notes that LG Energy Solution is “an ideal partner, with its diversified customer base of tier one OEMs and strong investment to expanding production in North America.”

LG Energy Solution is a global leader in delivering advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobility and IT applications and energy storage systems.

The deal represents five years, beginning in 2027, with an option to extend another five.

ASN share price

Rincon Resources (ASX:RCR)

Rising critical metals (REEs, niobium, copper, gold) junior player Rincon is having a beast of a week, month and year to date and is now up about 228% so far in 2024.

We mentioned earlier this week in this column that RCR was still basking in the glow of its recent uncovering of a ‘bullseye’ target at its project in the West Arunta region.

That’s still the case but there’s something else today helping it to a 20% intraday rise and keeping it on its rocketing trajectory.

And that’d be the announcement that the company’s RC drilling campaign is beginning at its West Arunta Project, targeting up to 2,000m at Pokali to test four target areas (see image below).

Pokali East will extend IOCG copper mineralisation by up to 600m to the east of historic drilling intercepts that include, among others, 14m at 1.00% Cu from 168m, within 62m at 0.39% Cu from 152m; and 4m at 1.36% Cu from 222m, within 42m at 0.33% Cu from 196m.

The Dune target meanwhile is an initial drill test of the NEW Dune gravity target, adjacent to the south of existing mineralisation at Pokali East.

Pokali North will see additional drilling to test a coincident magnetic/gravity target area for copper-gold and REEs.

And Jewel will see testing of a new coincident magnetic/gravity anomaly that the company notes is identical to the Pokali East deep geophysical target.