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Resources Top 5: ASX gold, lithium stocks spike
Mining
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- Gold-focussed MetalsTech is the latest explorer to dust off an unloved lithium project
- Sayona picks up more lithium ground, taps industry veteran to spearhead project development
- Brightstar (gold), West Wits Mining (gold) and Accelerate (gold) up on no news
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade Thursday, March 11.
ACCELERATE RESOURCES (ASX:AX8)
(Up on no news)
Last week Accelerate unveiled some thin, high grade and shallow gold hits at the Rossland project in British Colombia.
Highlight intercepts included 29cm at 110.1g/t gold from 4.75m, and 4m at 15g/t from 27m.
Promising. Assays from another hole are due to be released very soon, the explorer said March 3.
Accelerate – which listed early 2018 as a Tasmanian cobalt explorer – is down ~30 per cent since acquiring the Rossland project in September last year.
Gold-focussed MetalsTech is the latest explorer to dust off an unloved lithium project “to capitalise on the booming battery metals sector”.
It has appointed lithium industry veteran Chris Evans to “deliver a commercialisation strategy” for its advanced, high grade Cancet hard rock lithium project in Quebec, Canada.
“We are firmly focussed on growing our one million ounce plus resource at our world class Sturec gold mine and we firmly believe in the strong outlook for gold,” MetalsTech chair Russell Moran says.
“We are also very fortunate to own a portfolio of very prospective hard rock lithium assets.
“Market sentiment towards lithium has surged and we are positioning our company to take advantage of this renewed interest.”
Today’s +50% share price surge trims some of MetalsTech’s losses over the past six months as gold sentiment has waned.
Down the road in Quebec (as the crow flies) is hard-working lithium play Sayona.
Sayona has increased the size of its Tansim lithium project by 44 per cent “amid accelerating demand for the key battery metal.”
It also appointed former North American Lithium (NAL) chief operating officer Yves Desrosiers as director of the flagship Authier project to spearhead the approvals process.
Sayona is also bidding for now-defunct NAL’s assets in Quebec, which include a lithium mine and concentrator.
“Sayona Québec is delighted to have Yves onboard as part of the team,” Sayona Québec chief exec Guy Laliberté says.
“His expertise will be crucial in ensuring a successful outcome from the BAPE [permitting] process for our Authier project, while his former senior position at NAL strengthens our already world‐class bid advisory team.
“We are now in an excellent position to advance from exploration to development and ultimately downstream processing.”
Sayona is up ~220% over the past six months.
West Wits has pencilled in first production at its 4.37 million ounce Witwatersrand Basin gold project (WBP) for 2021.
But first it needs a South African mining right application, which has ostensibly been delayed by COVID.
This crucial decision will be handed down by March 16, the company says.
“The company is pleased to have received advice from the DEFF that the Minister has been informed and a decision on the appeals is imminent,” West Wits chair Michael Quinert says.
“West Wits remains confident in a successful outcome with the lengthy delay being attributed to the impacts of COVID-19 and a backlog of matters at the DEFF.
“The West Wits team continue to advance exploration and feasibility works at the WBP and look forward to ramping up development activities towards maiden underground production in 2021 upon a successful appeals outcome.”
The +$120m market cap stock is up ~770% over the past year.
BRIGHTSTAR RESOURCES (ASX:BTR)
(Up on no news)
Previously known as Stone Resources, Brightstar is focussed on its namesake 445,000-ounce gold project in the Laverton region of WA.
It also owns a mothballed 330,000 tonne-per-annum processing plant, which sets it apart from most explorers on the ASX. This could potentially shorten any timeline to production.
The once-sleepy stock is up 1,300% over the past 12 months.
