Resources Top 5: Antimony, gold, lithium news pumps up ASX explorers

Nagambie shoots to the clouds after securing diamond rig for gold-antimony resource expansion
Interest in the Paterson Province still high as Antipa rises on no news
Iris shows it can produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from its Beecher project in USA

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade, Friday, October 11. Prices accurate at time of writing.

Nagambie Resources (ASX:NAG)

Antimony is the gift that keeps on giving to ASX explorers and even a garden-variety move to secure a drill rig for its namesake project has sent NAG stocks soaring today.

In May, the explorer released a maiden JORC inferred resource below the West Pit at the small-scale Nagambie mine with 415,000t at 3.6g/t gold and 4.3% antimony (Sb) for in-ground metal content of 47,800oz gold plus 17,800t Sb.

It’s tiny, but when you price in current gold and antimony prices of ~$3850/oz and $35,076/t these things begin to look more impressive.

The diamond rig will be used to expand that resource, says NAG, across the landholding’s shallow C1, C2, C3 and N1 lode systems which are open at depth and along strike.

Earthworks for a 300,000tpa carbon-in-leach treatment plant commenced last month, of which NAG doesn’t have to pay a dime for, as 50% JV partner Golden Camel Mining is funding and commissioning the Stage 1 work.

Antimony stocks were some of September’s biggest ressie winners, due to China slapping restrictions on exports of the commodity of which it is by far the largest producer and processor.

NAG stocks went gangbusters on the open, rising 64%, and at time of writing have still settled up a more than decent 43% to trade at 2c per share, which adds to a 72% rise in value over the past three months.

Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY)

(Up on no news)

With exploration tenements surrounding major projects such as the Telfer gold mine, soon to be owned by Twiggy Forrest-backed Greatland Gold after its US$475m sale by Newmont, AZY is receiving keen investor interest, with its stock price up more than 100% over the last month.

It’s been heavily traded again today on the back of the recent-ish M&A activity, a 33% resource increase of its Minyari Dome gold project to 2.3Moz and its big cash injection of $17m from selling its 32% stake in the Citadel gold project to Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO).

The ASX goldie wants to scale up Minyari’s standalone development potential, yet with the recent consolidating of the Paterson Province, producers in the area could be looking to add more ounces to their operations.

This week has seen yet more speculation IGO (ASX:IGO) is targeting the purchase of Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) Winu project at the northern end of the Paterson.

Shares in the gold junior are up 8% to trade at 2.7c at time of writing.

Iris Metals (ASX:IR1)

IR1 has converted 6.1% spodumene concentrate from its Beecher project in South Dakota into 99.5% battery-grade lithium carbonate (LCE) using US-borne processes and IP, a milestone for the company to have a key role in North America’s domestic supply chains.

The Beecher project is licensed for production and is well advanced towards a maiden resource estimate, which IR1 expects to bust out by early next year.

On the back of the successful spod-to-battery grade conversion, IR1 has also signed an MoU with its conversion partner ReElement which is upgrading its demonstration plant to a commercial-scale critical mineral refining plant in Indiana.

IR1 stocks have shot up on the news, rising ~28% to trade at 23c.

Greenwing Resources (ASX:GW1)

GW1 may have put itself in the shop window today on the back of Rio Tinto’s eye-popping $10bn takeover of Arcadium Lithium (ASX:LTM), with a funnily non market sensitive announcement reminding the market it’s also exploring for the white stuff in Argentina.

It’s showcasing recent efforts at its 1Mt LCE San Jorge project at the San Francisco Salar in the country’s Catamarca Province.

The explorer is continuing to collect environmental data in the project area, to support the future project EIA preparation and submissions.

Planning of road access to Phase 2 drilling projects is also underway as GW1 continues to evaluate various direct lithium extraction techniques for development of the project.

Shares are up almost 16% to trade at 6.6c.

MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM)

(Up on recent news)

MTM’s flash joule heating (FJH) tech that recovers high grades of metals from e-waste without using toxic acids is getting more traction today after successfully recovering tin and palladium using its unique method.

“We are thrilled by the progress made in demonstrating the versatility of Flash Joule Heating for e-waste recycling,” MTM CEO Michael Walshe said.

“The successful recovery of tin and palladium, alongside gold, silver, and copper, highlights the significant potential of FJH as an efficient recycling solution for printed circuit boards.

“With e-waste representing a vast untapped ‘urban mine,’ our technology offers a sustainable approach without the environmental burden of traditional mining or hazardous processing.”

MTM is advancing discussions with industry partners as it continues on its path to commercialising FJH.

The junior’s shares continue their climb, up nearly 19% today to add to a monthly rise of >67% to trade at 8.2c.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Antipa Minerals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.