Resources Top 5: Delta Lithium as good as… gold, boosts resource at Mt Ida by 82pc

Delta Lithium upgrades Mt Ida gold resource to 6.6Mt at 3.5 g/t gold
ENR still surging after hitting high-grade niobium earlier this week
DRX, HVY, and A1G up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade, Friday June 28.

Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI)

Lithium may be its main game, but DLI has proven there’s more resources potential than just the shiny white stuff at the Mt Ida project.

As well as hosting a 12.7Mt at 1.2% Li20 and 207ppm tantalum resource, the aspiring WA lithium major has boosted its gold resource to 6.6Mt at 3.5 g/t for 752,000z at Mt Ida.

It reflects an 82% increase in contained gold in the Baldock deposit to 4.8Mt at 4.4 g/t gold for 674,000z.

“This is a wonderful result,” DLI managing director James Croser says.

“The Baldock is fast becoming one of very few, large high-grade undeveloped gold deposits in WA in excess of 500,000oz.”

DLI, up 15.22% at the time of writing, is now investigating the best options for shareholders to crystalise value from its gold, which can then be applied to further developing our core lithium business.

Diatreme Resources (ASX:DRX)

(Up on no news )

DRX, a Brisbane-based producer of mineral and silica sands based in Brisbane, is up some this morning after news that its unconditional take-over offer for Metallica Minerals (ASX:MLM) had been extended, now set to close on July 9.

Diatreme has a relevant interest in 63.79% of Metallica shares and expects its control position will increase in the next two weeks.

The company has decided to extend the offer given the large number of Metallica shareholders. DRX says this will provide them with the opportunity to participate in the many benefits of becoming a Diatreme shareholder.

Heavy Minerals (ASX:HVY)

(Up on no news)

HVY is on a tear this morning and we don’t quite know why but the industrial minerals company signed a non-binding MOU for the future sales of a minimum of 15,000tpa of garnet in April, which will be produced at its Port Gregory project for a three-year period.

Garnets are used for industrial blast-cleaning, polishing, filtration and water jet cutting, among other things.

HVY says the off-take will account for ~10% of the company’s annual future garnet production at the project and will be sold into the Australian and New Zealand sandblasting and water jet-cutting markets by ABSS.

Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR)

(Up on no news)

Earlier this week emerging niobium play ENR hit 52m at 3% niobium from 81m, including 16m at 6% niobium at the Crean carbonatite in WA’s red-hot West Arunta region.

Straddling the WA and NT border, the West Arunta has historically been touted by geologists as ‘something special’ due to its lightly explored and highly mineralised nature but is an area where, given its sheer remoteness, few have been able to spend much time and effort in.

It is the birthplace of WA1 Resources’ (ASX:WA1) monster Luni find, a ‘once in a generation niobium discovery’ when one of two drill holes uncovered 54m at 0.62% niobium, 0.18% rare earths and 3.85% potash.

Since then, explorers have started to pile in, including neighbour ENR whose tenements surround WA1’s landholding.

Continuous near-surface carbonatite has been intersected across four initial aircore drill lines at Crean with the second batch of aircore samples expected in July.

An aircore rig has now completed over 10,000m of drilling in its first month on site and will start on broad space traverses as it moves to closer spaced drilling.

African Gold (ASX:A1G)

(Up on no news)

A1G’s last major announcement to the ASX was back in April when revealed its plans to undertake a non-renounceable pro-rata offer to fund a reverse circulation drilling campaign on the Blaffo Guetto prospect in Cote d’Ivoire.

The company said the drilling program will target interpreted zones of gold mineralisation as well as advance the release of a maiden gold resource on Blaffo Guetto.

An infill auger drilling on the more than 10km long Poku gold trend with the wider Didievi project, would also be carried out to create targets for a follow up drilling campaign.

A1G set out to raise more than $2.09m at an issue price of $0.02 to eligible shareholders.