• Billionaire investor Eric Sprott will emerge as a major shareholder in E2 Metals
  • Haranga Resources, GTI Resources lead broad gains for ASX uranium stocks
  • Coal miner MC Mining, rare earths explorer PVW Resources up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Friday March 18.

 

MC MINING (ASX:MCM)

(Up on no news)

This tiny South African coal miner and project developer squeezed out an $US800,000 loss for the December half, still better than the $2.7m loss from the prior corresponding period.

In fact, all the important numbers improved due to higher prices except sales, which fell from 127,534t to 107,953t of high quality coking and thermal coal.

“The higher global demand for coal post the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant increase in international prices with an average API4 coal price of $151/t for the Period (H1 FY2021: $64/t),” MCM says.

So, how’s the company’s outlook?

Pretty good, if MCM can lock in the funds to develop the flagship ‘Makhado’ hard coking coal project.

Makhado would position the company as South Africa’s pre-eminent hard coking coal producer, MCM says.

“A number of parties are continuing their due diligence review for providing the balance of the funding required by the company to develop Makhado,” the company says.

“MC Mining remains confident that the parties taking part in the process will commit the necessary funds to complete the funding package, anticipated to be finalised during H1 CY2022.”

The $20m market cap minnow is up 30% year-to-date. It had $3.1m cash at the end of December.

 

E2 METALS (ASX:E2M)

Billionaire investor Eric Sprott will emerge as a major shareholder in the hard-drilling gold-silver explorer after he cornerstoned an $8.5m placement.

E2M’s main game is the ‘Conserrat’ gold-silver project in Argentina, where it is hunting giant deposits like AngloGold Ashanti’s nearby 8.9Moz gold, 137Moz silver ‘Cerro Vanguardia’ mine.

Prior to E2 beginning work in August 2019, Conserrat had never been drilled or subject to systematic modern exploration.

Subsequent exploration by E2 has returned several ‘blind’ discoveries, most notably Malvina, where hits include 14m at 8.7gpt gold, 2541gpt silver; Mia (18m at 49gpt gold, 207gpt silver), and ‘Andrea Sur’ (16m at 15gpt gold, 22gpt silver).

“We are excited to welcome Eric Sprott as a major shareholder of E2,” MD Todd Williams says.

“These funds will be used for drilling at Conserrat to further unlock this new and emerging gold and silver district, as well as an inaugural drill program at the exciting El Rosillo gold project where surface work has uncovered high-grade surface mineralisation.

“The placement strengthens the register and introduces a number of high-quality mining specialist institutional investors, validating the value inherent in the company’s projects and investment proposition of E2.”

The $36m market cap stock is down 15% year-to-date. It already had $6.7m in the bank at the end of the December quarter.

 

PVW RESOURCES (ASX:PVW)

PVW has been surging on the back of early success at its rare earths projects.

It is led by rare earths veterans George Bauk, Colin McCavana, and Robin Wilson, who helped build Northern Minerals’ (ASX:NTU) advanced Browns Range REE project from the ground up.

Exploration continues to highlight the significant, high grade heavy rare earths outcropping over a 18km corridor at PVW’s ‘Tanami’ project.

Multiple targets will be tested by 10,000m of RC and 25,000m of aircore drilling planned to start April/May, the company said today.

The $40m market cap stock is up 30% year-to-date. It had $2.4m in the bank at the end of December.

 

HARANGA RESOURCES (ASX:HAR)

(Up on no news)

It looks like uranium stocks are performing well today.

 

HAR – included in our ‘dirt cheap ASX uranium stocks with upside’ yarn – listed on the ASX earlier this year with a bunch of uranium and gold projects in West Africa.

The company considers its ‘Saraya’ uranium project in Senegal to be both an advanced-stage exploration project and large greenfield exploration project.

“On one hand we have mineralisation showing good results, partially drilled around 2010 by French government-owned Areva and relinquished due to falling uranium prices,” exec chairman Peter Youd told Stockhead in January.

“On the other hand, we have a large exploration permit, showing high order uranium anomalies, some with preliminary testing but most left unexplored.

“We have negotiated with Areva’s successor company, Orano, for access to their data room in Paris.

“We will be reviewing this data in coming months with a view to determining the scope for outlining immediate resources and forming the basis for ongoing exploration programs.”

HAR is now planning permit scale geochemical termite mound sampling, infill auger sampling, and orientation air core drilling “in order to assess the rooting of selected anomalies”.

 

GTI RESOURCES (ASX:GTR)

(Up on no news)

Another uranium winner.

Yesterday, GTR completed drilling at its ‘Thor’ ISR project in Wyoming.

In situ recovery (ISR) mining involves dissolving minerals in the ground and pumping a pregnant solution to the surface where the uranium can be recovered.

The 100-hole, ~15,000m program has already confirmed that the mineralised system, first discovered in 2021, keeps going, exec director Bruce Lane says.

“We look forward to providing a detailed analysis of results, during April, which we anticipate will help illustrate the project’s potential,” he says.

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