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Resources Top 5: Cheap iron ore stock up 70pc and ‘large lithium system confirmed’
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- Cheap iron ore play Pearl Gull Iron up 70% on no news
- Charger Metals says “large lithium system confirmed!” at Lake Johnston project
- Adavale Resources uncovers 14 previously unknown and untouched nickel targets
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Thursday June 9.
PEARL GULL IRON (ASX:PLG)
(Up on no news)
PLG is drilling into thick, high grade iron ore at the Cockatoo Island ‘Switch Pit’, including ~57m grading 68.9% fe from ~80m.
That’s high. The benchmark grade often quoted is 62% fe – anything higher than this can attract a substantial price premium from buyers.
Aside from rare exceptions like Mount Gibson Iron’s (ASX:MGX) Koolan Island mine – right next door to Cockatoo — Australia doesn’t have many high grade hematite resources like those in Brazil or Africa.
Geological and resource modelling has now kicked off and expected to be delivered very soon.
“Once our resource work is complete, we look forward to updating the market with further plans for our high-grade iron ore project,” chairman Russell Clark says.
The $3m market cap minnow is down 30% year-to-date. It had $1.1m in the bank at the end of March.
CHARGER METALS (ASX:CHR)
CHR says “large lithium system confirmed!” at the ‘Lake Johnston’ project (70% CHR, 30% Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT)) in WA.
A project-wide soil/rock chip sampling program has dialled in on three main lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite (lithium-hosting rock) target zones along a 50km long corridor.
The most advanced of these is ‘Medcalf’, where mineralised outcrops extended over at least 500m of strike and where rock chip samples returned between 1.51% and 5.13% Li2O.
That’s high grade.
Medcalf is being prepped for a 40-hole drilling program in the March quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, CHR is waiting on government approvals to drill the ‘Coates’ Ni Cu Co PGE project (WA) and ‘Bynoe’ Lithium project (NT).
“Charger has successfully delivered new, priority drill targets at each of the company’s three projects, and despite delays out of our control, we continue to work proactively with Western Australian and Northern Territory regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to commence drilling on each project as soon as permitting is finalised,” managing director Dave Crook says.
All three exploration projects are in great neighbourhoods.
Coates is just 30km from Chalice’s (ASX:CHN) Julimar discovery in WA.
The area around Lake Johnson has been attractive since the discovery of the Earl Grey/Mt Holland lithium deposits by Kidman Resources, which was acquired for $776m in 2019.
Bynoe is surrounded by tenements owned by advanced project developer Core Lithium (ASX:CXO).
The 17m market cap stock is up 10% in 2022, and 160% on its mid-2021 IPO price of 20c per share.
It had $3.9m in the bank at the end of March.
GLADIATOR RESOURCES (ASX:GLA)
(Up on no news)
GLA has five uranium projects in Tanzania.
The flagship 7.7Mt ‘Mkuju’ project includes the ‘Likuyu North’ deposit and uranium anomalies at Grand Central, Likuyu South and Likuyu North, the company says.
Additional targets will be ranked, prioritised, and then systematically explored by auger drilling trenching and drilling.
The ‘Minjingu’ uranium project also contains high grade phosphate, along with rare earths and gold.
Assay results from an exploration pit program – which defined an anomalous area of 600m by 300m – are due soon. Samples were also taken from a nearby phosphate mine.
“The company believes that there is potential for intervals with higher grade zones hosted by the extensive phosphate layers at Minjingu and will continue to progress the exploration program,” GLA said 14 April.
The $15m market cap stock is down 37% year-to-date. It had $1.9m in the bank at the end of March.
ADAVALE RESOURCES (ASX:ADD)
A gravity survey has uncovered 14 previously unknown nickel targets over a 30km strike length at the ‘Kabanga-Jirani’ and ‘Luhuma’ projects in Tanzania.
Gravity surveys calculate the density of subsurface rock. The info can help geologists build 3D geological models and visualise geological structures – hopefully mineralised — deep within the Earth’s crust.
There is potential for more targets to be defined given that the gravity survey is only 60% complete.
Once this is completed, ADD will fly a heli-borne electromagnetic program to dial in tighter on targets.
Drilling will follow.
“The regional gravity survey program has been extremely successful in identifying a series of new and previously undiscovered nickel exploration targets that pave a very clear exploration path and strategy, that we hope will deliver exceptional shareholder value,” ADD exec director Dave Riekie says.
“These results have exceeded our expectations with respect to their scale, number, and the intensity of the signatures.
“We hope to also add new target areas from the surveys in Kabanga East and West.
“We consider the processes we have instigated will be the key to unlocking the potential of our dominant ground holding in the globally significant East African Nickel Belt.”
SOUTHERN CROSS GOLD (ASX:SXG)
(Up on no news)
This red-hot goldie is preserving gains made after hitting a spectacular 119m at 3.9g/t gold equivalent drill hit at the ‘Sunday Creek’ project in Victoria last month.
This latest result from hole SDDSC033 — drilled to test a 120m gap between three mineralised shoots — is “unprecedented”, managing director Michael Hudson says. This sort of width of high-grade mineralisation is rarely, if ever, seen in the Victorian goldfields.
“A result of 119.2m @ 3.9g/t AuEq places the Sunday Creek project into a new realm and builds on what was already a remarkably successful drill program,” he says.
“Continuity, with great width and grades, is now evident down to 335m vertical depth in the Apollo Shoot that remains open to depth, while multiple adjacent shoots remain to be drilled out.
Priority drilling is now underway to target wide and high-grade extensions to mineralisation found in SDDSC033.
Beyond that, there is a 10km mineralised trend at Sunday Creek that has yet to receive any exploration drilling and offers potential future upside, SXG says.
This spinout of TSX-listed Mawson Gold explorer is enjoying the dream start to life on the ASX, up 185% on its May listing price of 20c per share.
