Resources Top 5: ‘Bonanza’ gold, an explorer closer to mining and a new name breathes fresh life into junior

• Great Boulder a Top 5 winner again with another WA gold discovery
• Classic Minerals granted 21-year mining lease for Kat Gap gold project
• Strickland Metals becomes sole owner of Horse Well

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Wednesday May 5.

GREAT BOULDER RESOURCES (ASX:GBR)

Great Boulder makes it into Stockhead’s Top 5 Resources for a second day in a row, thanks to another significant WA gold find.

Yesterday it was news Great Boulder had a large-scale gold discovery at its Blue Poles prospect, part of its Whiteheads project. Today it is “bonanza” gold grades at its Mulga Bill prospect, part of the Side Well project in WA.

Drilling at Mulga Bill returned top results of 6m at 31.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 130m, including 1m at 136g/t; 3m at 34.5g/t from 32m; and 14m at 2.62g/t from 88m, including 4m at 5.86g/t from 88m.

Managing director Andrew Paterson said the results were “stunning”.

“We were initially excited with the AC result in hole 022 because it’s associated with quartz veining high in the weathering profile,” he said.

“That immediately draws comparison to the Wilber Lode at Andy Well. Resampling that intersection has returned even higher grades. To hit 6 metres at over an ounce per tonne below this zone, that is a sensational result.”

Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR) share price chart:

This tiddler has locked in a 21-year mining lease for its Kat Gap gold project in WA.

Classic says the granting of the mining lease is a major milestone in its progression from an exploration to mining company.

The project lies 170km south of Southern Cross and currently hosts a resource of 92,869oz at 2.96g/t gold.

Previous drilling at Kat Gap has delivered peak grades of up to 304g/t from just 79m, while test work has shown Classic can achieve recoveries of 95-96 per cent using a gravity and conventional cyanide leach process.

Classic Minerals (ASX:CLZ) share price chart:

(Up on no news)

White Cliff released its March quarter report earlier this week reiterating its plans to expand its horizons to New Zealand.

The company, which was previously solely focused on Western Australia, is acquiring Midway Resources, which owns three gold, copper and platinum group elements projects in New Zealand.

The Muirs gold project, located on the North Island, contains a non-JORC resource of 222,000oz at 1.34g/t, and has “significant exploration upside”, according to White Cliff.

The Mareburn gold project, in the Otago goldfield of the South Island, is about 8km from OceanaGold’s (ASX:OGC) 3.5 million oz Macraes gold mine and contains several initial walk-up extension drill targets.

The Longwood Range gold-copper-PGE project, also on the South Island, sits 40km west of Invercargill and historically produced about 88,000oz of gold and 1,500oz of platinum.

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) share price chart:

Strickland Metals witnessed its shares head north on news it is now the sole owner of the Horse Well project in WA’s Goldfields.

The company has bought Silver Lake Resources’ (ASX:SLR) 37 per cent stake in the joint venture for $1.75m.

The Horse Well project covers around 1,000sqkm of the highly prospective Archean Greenstone Belt and hosts an inferred resource of 5.7 million tonnes at 1.4g/t for 257,000oz of contained gold.

Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) share price chart:

(Up on no news)

Tennant Minerals also climbed on no news today.

The copper-gold explorer, which previously went by Blina Minerals, was suspended from the ASX in March last year over concerns surrounding its financial condition.

Blina undertook a recapitalisation and share consolidation and acquired the remaining 50 per cent stake in the Barkly-Babbler copper-gold project in the Northern Territory.

The company was relisted on the ASX as Tennant Minerals in early April this year.

Tennant is undertaking a technical review of the geological and geophysical exploration data from the Barkly project and plans to begin drilling soon.

Tennant Minerals (ASX:TMS) share price chart: