Resources Top 4: Two hard-pumpin’ lithium stocks and a germanium bonus

Tambourah up 90% on better-than-average volume since announcing tie-up with global lithium producer SQM
Greentech has pumped hard since mid-June – from 11c to 69c – on decent lithium rock chip assays from its Ruth Well project
Golden Deeps uncovers in-demand germanium and gallium at the Nosib vanadium-copper-lead-silver discovery in Namibia

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Friday July 7.

TAMBOURAH METALS (ASX:TMB)

The junior explorer is up 90% on better-than-average volume since announcing a tie-up with global lithium producer SQM (NYSE:SQM) yesterday.

SQM will spend up to $3m on exploration to earn up to 70% of TMB’s early stage Julimar North project in WA — a strong endorsement of Julimar North and its lithium potential, TMB says.

“The new relationship will allow TMB to draw upon SQM’s technical expertise in pegmatite hosted lithium exploration while allowing Tambourah to work in parallel on its other lithium and critical mineral projects,” TMB CEO Ralf Kriege says.

US$20bn capped SQM – which made US$1.65bn gross profit in the March quarter – has inked deals with other Aussie juniors, most notably Azure Minerals (ASX:AZS).

In January, SQM paid $20m for a 19.99% stake in the company, which then went on to uncover a potentially monstrous deposit at Andover.

At a current market cap for AZS of ~$630m, that stake is now worth ~$125m.

$6m capped TMB is up 115% year-to-date. It had $3.1m in the bank at the end of March.

GREENTECH METALS (ASX:GRE)

The explorer has pumped hard since mid-June – from 11c to 69c – on decent lithium rock chip assays from its Ruth Well project in the Pilbara.

Today it reported more high-grade lithium in rock chips – peak grade 1.8% LI2O – at Ruth Well, extending the mineralised zone at the Kobe prospect to 7.5km.

Test work carried out by Curtin University by way of XRF analysis on a sample from the first sampling program also confirmed that the lithium bearing mineral is spodumene. Good news.

Plans for drilling are well advanced, it says.

“We are extremely pleased to see a persistence in the tenor of the mineralisation over the entire length of the pegmatite zone identified to date,” GRE exec Thomas Reddicliffe says.

“We believe the consistency of the grades over a now 7.5km strike is evidence of a large mineralising system and underscores the prospectivity of this pegmatite zone.”

Ruth Well, which also contains a small nickel-copper resource, is down the road from GRE’s flagship Whundo project (6.18Mt @ 1.12% Cu and 1.04% Zn) and Azure’s Andover lithium discovery.

The $30m capped stock is up 385% year-to-date. It raised $3.5m via placement at ~14c per share in May.

GOLDEN DEEPS (ASX:GED)

GED has uncovered germanium and gallium at the Nosib vanadium-copper-lead-silver discovery in Namibia, days after major producer China imposed export restrictions on the critical metals used in computer chips and semi-conductors.

China imposes exports restrictions on gallium and germanium, along with their chemical compounds, both used in chip high-tech and chips.

According to @USGS, China produces ~98% of the world’s gallium and ~70% of germanium.

US imported ~$265 million worth of the two metals.

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) July 3, 2023

The market price of germanium is currently ~US$2,450/kg and gallium is ~US$230/kg, compared to vanadium (V2O5) at US$16.60/kg, copper at US$8.25/kg and zinc at US$2.41/kg, GED says.

“Demand and pricing for germanium and gallium are likely to be enhanced following China’s decision to restrict exports.”

GED says examination of one drillhole has returned hits like 8.70m @ 128g/t Ga, 11.3g/t Ge (1.84% Cu, 1.88% V2O5, 10.2% Pb, 3.6g/t Ag) from surface.

“The nearest project to us, the Tsumeb mine, averaged around 50g/t germanium,” CEO Jon Dugdale told Stockhead.

“So, it is in the ballpark of what people have been producing as by-product to get some value from it.”

Metallurgical concentrate testwork is close to completion, which will allow the company to finalise a maiden resource for Nosib.

Expectations are that gallium and germanium will be recovered in the concentrate alongside vanadium, copper, lead, zinc and silver.

The $8m capped stock is down 10% year-to-date. It had $6.2m in the bank at the end of March.

ARTEMIS RESOURCES (ASX:ARV)

(Up on no news)

In 2017, ARV rode the Pilbara conglomerate gold hype train all the way to a peak of 52c per share ($280m market cap).

The mention of “Witwatersrand-style” and “conglomerate-hosted” gold had investors salivating at the time. (Witwatersrand refers to the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa — a geological formation that houses the world’s biggest known gold reserves).

But the conglomerate gold story didn’t have legs, and ARV has since plummeted an astonishing 97% to 1.6c per share.

The explorer continues to plug away at its Pilbara copper-gold projects.

A geophysics survey kicked off earlier this week to define gold drill targets at the early-stage Lulu Creek intrusion, part of the Greater Carlow project.

Results from a MLEM (Moving Loop Electromagnetics) survey across Greater Carlow are also due mid-July.

“Preliminary information supplied by SGC indicates that four primary anomalies have been identified with two strong anomalies located in the vicinity of Carlow Castle,” ARV says.

The $20m capped stock is down 20% year to date. It had $2.5m in the bank at the end of March.