• Xanadu hits high grade copper-gold at Kharmagtai porphyry project in Mongolia
  • Former unloved minnow TAO has gained ~520 per cent since announcing plans to acquire the ‘Titan’ titanium project in Tennessee.
  • Alicanto Minerals buy historic high grade silver project in Sweden

Here’s your top ASX small cap resources winners in morning trade Monday, February 15.

 

XANADU MINES (ASX:XAM)

The explorer has pulled up a 226m long drill intersection grading 0.68 per cent copper and 1.43g/t gold at its Kharmagtai porphyry project in Mongolia.

That includes a 61m-long high grade portion grading 1.43 per cent copper and 3.76g/t gold, 651m from surface.

The mineralisation is similar to that found at the mammoth Oyu Tolgoi porphyry project, the company says.

“This hole provides a snapshot of what the lower zones of mineralisation at Kharmagtai could look like with increasing gold to copper ratios,” Xanadu chief exec Dr Andrew Stewart says.

“The tenor of gold within the bornite is impressive, containing two to four grams of gold for every percent copper.

“Our team is currently designing follow up drilling to test this exciting new target.”

 

ACCENT RESOURCES (ASX:ACS)

(Up on no news)

This sleepy, tightly held gold-iron ore explorer is now up 275 per cent in February on no news.

Accent “continues to assess investment opportunities and projects for acquisition or development” in conjunction with majority Chinese shareholders Rich Mark Development Group (+67 per cent) and Xingang Resources (21 per cent).

 

RED HILL IRON (ASX:RHI)

(Up on no news)

This explorer owns a large, low grade iron ore project in WA.

Red Hill listed on the ASX in 2005, trading at big volumes and at prices north of $6 per share.

The share price has shrunk dramatically since then on the perception that the Red Hill Iron Ore Joint Venture (RHIOJV) “is a stranded project of modest grade and high impurities”, said chairman Josh Pitt in November.

The modest grade, high impurity part is true — but this project is also cheap to mine, and iron ore is booming.

“[We] have had some preliminary discussions about how to advance that opportunity,” Pitt says.

“We anticipate more positive news in the months ahead.”

The stock is up 66 per cent year-to-date.

 

TAO COMMODITIES (ASX:TAO)

Former unloved minnow TAO has gained ~520 per cent since announcing plans to acquire the ‘Titan’ titanium project in Tennessee.

TAO wants to produce low-to-zero carbon, low-cost titanium powders for the space exploration, aerospace, electric vehicles and defence sectors.

It has now signed a deal to develop titanium powders using a breakthrough tech invented by a team at the University of Utah.

Research funding would come from ARPA-E, with Boeing and Arconic (formerly Alcoa) as industrial partners.

ARPA-E is a US Department of Energy agency which funds transformational advanced energy technology projects, TAO says.

 

ALICANTO MINERALS (ASX:AQI)

Alicanto is buying a historic high grade silver project in Sweden.

Last mined in 1962, the Sala Project produced over 200 million ounces of silver at eyewatering grades of up to 7,000 g/t.

There’s significant exploration upside, the company says, with mineralisation ‘open’ at depth and along strike.

‘Open’ means there is probably more silver to find.

The outlook for silver demand and pricing remains strong, with Jeffrey Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs calling it  “a turbo-charged version of gold”.