Resources Top 5: Another niobium-rare earths hit steals the spotlight

Codrus hits high-grade rare earths and niobium at Karloning in WA
Nagambie raises $140,000 in share placement representing a 6.1% premium to last closing price
Castle Minerals, Tigers Realm Coal and Hannans up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Friday December 9.

CODRUS MINERALS (ASX:CDR)

Ooh, here’s another company-making big, niobium-rare earths rich hits – we haven’t seen one of these since WA1’s (ASX:WA1) niobium-rare earths discovery at West Arunta, which caused the stock to jump a barely believable 420% on the day.

CDR says assays confirm the potential for the Karloning REE Project in WA’s Wheatbelt to host high-value permanent magnet rare earths dysprosium, neodymium, terbium and praseodymium in xenotime, within a large-scale pegmatite.

The pegmatite system also hosts significant niobium, a critical metal used in the steel industry with applications including wind turbines and high-performance batteries.

Final assays for grab samples have returned outstanding high grades such as 2.85% dysprosium oxide, 6.41% niobium and 18.60% tantalum.

CDR says the large-scale pegmatite system at Karloning is estimated to be up to 1.5km long and up to 200m wide with the company having pegged additional tenure adjacent to the southwestern boundary of the Karloning Joint Venture tenement – which encompasses potential extensions to the pegmatite system.

“The project provides an outstanding opportunity for Codrus to diversify into the critical minerals space and build on its current gold and copper assets by securing exposure to a commodity sector with outstanding fundamentals and a strong growth outlook,” managing director Shannon Bamforth says.

TIGERS REALM COAL (ASX:TIG)

(Up on no news)

The Russia-based coal miner will breeze through annual production and sales guidance following a strong Q3, which has seen the company produce and sell 1.3Mt and 763,000t year to date.

This is against previous guidance of 1Mt-1.2Mt production and 850,000t-1Mt sales, which has now been revised upwards.

Overall, TIG’s numbers are up +57% on the same period in 2021.

With Aussie coal on the nose in the Middle Kingdom – and Russian coal on the nose everywhere else — TIG has focused on the Chinese market “with around 80% of our sales destined for Chinese end users”.

Power coal prices are also unnaturally high against steelmaking coal, says TIG, which also restructured sales contracts with a focus on thermal coal during the period.

NAGAMBIE RESOURCES (ASX:NAG)

~$35.08m market cap company, NAG, is flying after placing 2,039,669 fully paid ordinary shares at 7.0 cents per share to Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG).

The company raised $140,000 with Southern Cross now holding 53,361,046 shares in Nagambie – or 10pc of the company’s new total issued shares of 533,610,463.

The issue price of 7.0 cents represents a 6.1% premium to the last closing price of 6.6 cents and a 2.8% discount to the 15-trading-day volume-weighted average price of 7.2 cents.

That Southern Cross is willing to pay a premium to the 15-day VWAP speaks volumes about the value it ascribes to Nagambie’s mine of the same name in Victoria.

Funds will be used to continue the accelerated diamond drilling of high-grade, antimony-gold, Costerfield-Mine-style veins at the Nagambie Mine, NAG says.

CASTLE MINERALS (ASX:CDT)

(Up on no news)

At the end of November, CDT revealed its independent exploration target estimate for the Kambale large-scale graphite deposit in Ghana which sits at 16.82Mt to 50.56Mt at 6.74% TGC and 10.40% TGC.

A four-hole diamond core drilling program is underway to provide core samples for Phase 2 test work. This will also provide bulk density and structural information.

A follow-on 31-hole, 2,460m RC drilling program will increase drill density, especially within the higher-grade graphitic zones.

Combined, these two programs will facilitate a Mineral Resource estimate planned to be delivered around end-Q1 2023, subject to a number of factors including assay turnaround times.

HANNANS (ASX:HNR)

HNR is on a tear following re-admission to trading with a focus on LiB recycling and associated activities.

The company has rights (via licensing arrangements) to commercialise a lithium battery recycling technology developed by Neometals (ASX:NMT) – an emerging sustainable battery materials producer with three core battery businesses.

Neometals filed a patent application for its technology in 2018 and since that time has entered a joint venture arrangement with German engineering group SMS group which has led to further agreements with German automotive company MercedesBenz, North American steel company Stelco and Japanese trading company Itochu.

Neometals Investments is Hannans largest shareholder (26.09%).