Resources Top 5: Axel REE confident large gallium resource will grow to top of the pile

• A maiden resource for AXL of 100Mt at 42ppm for 4200t of gallium is world-class
• WCE has returned more bonanza hits of up to 2m at 10,049g/t silver at Elizabeth Hill
• Gladiator Resources is joining the hunt for critical minerals in the US

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Friday, August 22, 2025

Axel REE (ASX:AXL)

A maiden 100 million tonne gallium resource establishes Caladão in Brazil as a standout, world-class deposit and there is strong potential for the project to be the world’s biggest.

The resource of 100Mt grading 42ppm in lateritic soils highlights the potential and as it is only from Area A, Axel REE (ASX:AXL) is confident of resource growth with Area B to be estimated.

Area B results indicate similar, if not superior, potential and with only around 20% of the project area drilled, there are other targets.

The world-class maiden resource of 4200t of the critical mineral that is essential for various defence applications has seen AXL reach a record 12.5c, a 52.5% improvement on the previous close.

As well as being a potential future alternative to Chinese supplies, Caladão represents Brazil’s first and one of a few in-situ gallium discoveries worldwide not associated with alumina or bauxite processing.

“The exceptional maiden gallium resource we have defined at Caladão is unique, with its own discrete layer of mineralisation at surface,” non-executive chairman Paul Dickson said. 

“We started our first drill campaign in August 2024, only a month after listing on the ASX and identified the gallium layer in December 2024 following a review of the assays from this phase of drilling. 

“To deliver a world-class gallium MRE has been the result of a lot of hard work from the Axel team and we thank them for their tireless efforts.”

The gallium resource was delineated from surface and limited to the lateritic cover averaging ~10m depth at Area A using a 35ppm cut-off and covering about 33km2.

Drilling and sampling to date have outlined a mineralised footprint of ~65km2 – or about 20% of the project area – with consistent near-surface REE and gallium grades across both areas.

Initial testwork by ANSTO has confirmed ionic adsorption clay REE that desorb under ammonium sulphate and NaCl leach conditions, with additional acid-leach tests indicating gallium recoverability.

Dickson noted that while the Area A resource already established Caladão as a standout gallium deposit, it did not factor in the upside from Area B.

“We are confident that the maiden gallium MRE from Area B will expand an already world-class resource base,” he added. 

West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE)

The silver potential of the past producing Elizabeth Hill project in WA’s Pilbara continues to grow with maiden drilling by West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) returning more bonanza hits of up to 2m at 10,049g/t.

WCE has been on a tear since the first drill results arrived with a bang in mid-July 2025, delivering 21m at 1047g/t silver from 10m that included 1m at 15,071g/t from 27m.

The latest results have seen the company improve 21.63% to a 12-month high of 22.5c. It has risen from 7.6c on July 7 and from 4.9c at the beginning of 2025.

Hole 25WCDD011 returned high-grade results such as:

• 17m at 858g/t Ag from 5m including 2m at 6349g/t from 7m;
• 10m at 850g/t from 47m including 3m at 2593g/t from 50m; and
• 13m at 1615g/t from 62m including 2m at 10,049/t from 63m.

And if that wasn’t enough to lift spirits, the hole also intersected 1m at 11.1g/t gold from 51m along with the discovery of native silver, which has sparked the start of investigations into the viability of simple and low-cost gravity separation to recover free silver.

“We are extremely pleased with the delivery of more outstanding results from our maiden drill program at Elizabeth Hill,” executive chairman Bruce Garlick said. 

“We have intersected more high-grade silver from surface and with grades up to 10,049g/t we are now very confident in the near-surface potential at Elizabeth Hill. 

“What is even more encouraging is the intersection of high-grade gold up to 11.1g/t in hole 25CWDD011.”

The 180km2 project includes one of Australia’s highest-grade historical silver mines.

Elizabeth Hill previously produced 1.2Moz of silver from just 16,000t of ore grading 2194g/t Ag in 2000 before it closed due to a low silver price of US$5 an ounce.

Reinforcing the discovery of native silver in hole 25CWDD011, native silver in the historically mined ore was recovered using gravity recovery.

Gladiator Resources (ASX:GLA)

Joining the hunt for critical minerals in the US is Gladiator Resources (ASX:GLA), which has entered an agreement with Apex USA Resources LLC with the aim of identifying and developing potentially promising rare earth tenements. 

The Apex team has been heavily involved in the US REE industry and Gladiator believes it is well placed to assist in identifying promising REE tenements.

“We are excited to enter into an agreement with Apex USA,” Gladiator chairman Matthew Boysen said.

“While we remain committed to our Tanzanian uranium projects, the board believes the company’s potential entry into the US REE exploration and development space, which takes advantage of the current geo-political environment for critical minerals, provides excellent diversification.”

Apex will receive the following incentives:

1. On the pegging tenements prospective for REE in the US, 110m options with a strike price of 1.2c, expiring September 30, 2027; and
2. On receiving confirmation that REE exists on the tenements, 90m options at 1.2c – expiring September 30, 2027.

Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9)

(Up on no news)

The first stage of a board refresh for Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) is the appointment of Leo Lithium director Brendan Borg as an independent non-executive director.

Borg has more than 25 years of experience in management, operations and project development roles across mineral exploration and mining.

He was part of Leo Lithium’s (ASX:LLL) leadership team that guided the company to sell LLL’s remaining 40% interest in the giant Goulamina lithium mine in Mali to China’s Ganfeng Lithium for US$342.7m ($526.04m).

Borg is currently the managing director of Bubalus Resources (ASX:BUS), a director of Kuniko (ASX:KNI) and geological consultancy Borg Geoscience. He has also worked for Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Magnis Resources, Celsius Resources, Tempus Resources, Firefinch and Sibelco Australia.

CC9 managing director Shanthar Pathmanathan, who has served in that role since ASX listing in October 2023, has been appointed executive chairman and will lead the company’s board while overseeing the day-to-day management.

Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM)

Phase two of rock chip and systematic soil sampling by Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM)  at the Bayan Springs South project along the prolific Carlin Trend in northeastern Nevada has delivered gold grades up to 8.25g/t.

As well as returning the highest gold grades yet, this work identified a strong Carlin-type signature and a number of high-priority drill targets.

This saw BMM reach a 12-month high of 21.5c, a lift of 48.28% on the previous close. Since July 4, shares are up from 3.5c.

Bayan Springs South is 10km north of Kinross Gold’s (NYSE:KGC) Bald Mountain Mine, a large-scale operation with 1.2Moz in probable reserves, 2.7Moz in measured and indicated resources, and 571,000oz in inferred resources.

“The consistency and scale of the anomalies particularly at the East and South targets have exceeded our expectations and firmly position the project as a standout Carlin-type opportunity,” director Fadi Diab said.

“Our focus is to build on this momentum with targeted geophysics and drill planning, supported by ongoing permitting and fieldwork.”

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Axel REE, West Coast Silver and Chariot Corporation are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.