Resources Top 5: ‘Best ever’ gold hits and a (potentially) huge finance deal

Ironbark could get up to ~$US216m from US Credit Agency for project development
Stavely hits 16.7m section grading 3.13 per cent copper and 17.83g/t gold at Cayley Lode discovery
Bass Metals (graphite), Iron Road (iron ore), and Tigers Realm (coal) are all up on no news

Here’s your top ASX small cap resources winners in morning trade Monday, November 2.

Ironbark Zinc (ASX:IBG) is closer to financing its big Citronen zinc-lead project in Greenland.

A non-binding letter of intent (LOI) was signed with the US Government’s export credit agency, which will consider financing up to ~$US216m of Citronen’s development costs.

“The execution of this LOI is another significant, and potentially transformational, milestone in the Ironbark journey towards Citronen’s development and the long-promised move from developer to producer,” Ironbark managing director Michael Jardine says.

“Ironbark intends to maintain this initial momentum by pursuing similar arrangements with other relevant ECA and commercial lenders.

“When the feasibility study is completed in early 2021 to a bankable standard, Ironbark will then seek to convert these preliminary arrangements into binding financing agreements for the development of Citronen.”

An incredible ‘best ever’ gold hit at Stavely Minerals’ (ASX:SVY) Cayley Lode discovery sent the stock flying in morning trade.

The shallow, 48m-long intercept includes a 16.7m section grading 3.13 per cent copper and 17.83g/t gold, about 80m from the September 2019 discovery hole.

“This is another pivotal moment in the history of the discovery, with an exceptional new intercept including a stunning high-grade gold component which eclipses the discovery intercept of 32m at 5.88% Cu, 1.00g/t Au and 58g/t Ag in metal equivalent/value terms,” Stavely chairman Chris Cairns says.

The explorer was surprised by the high-grade gold in this latest hole.

“While we had nominated this drill hole for priority assay at the lab because we liked the look of the copper mineralisation – which is very visual – we have no easily recognised indicator of high-grade gold,” Cairns says.

“We eagerly await additional drill results from extensional drilling in the north-west sector of the deposit.”

Stavely are hoping to define resources for a Phase 1 open pit operation before moving underground for a “multi-decade” Phase 2 development.

Up on no news:

Minor graphite producer Bass Metals (ASX:BSM) reckons it is well placed to supply “the growing market for advanced graphite and graphene applications”.

South Australia-based Iron Road (ASX:IRD) is pushing to develop the Cape Hardy Stage project, which it needs to get the long-life Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) up and running.

Iron Road and its partners are targeting financial close of the port project by Q3 2021.

The stock is up 154 per cent so far this year.

The outlook for thermal coal producers and explorers in Australia for the decade of the 2020s and beyond appears uncertain.

But some ASX coal companies have a sunnier outlook — like Tigers Realm Coal (ASX:TIG), which sells Russian coal from its mines in eastern Russia to markets in Japan, Korea and China.