Resources Top 5: Eyewatering silver hits send small cap explorer into low orbit

Indiana raises ~$2m to explore Central Gawler Craton gold-rare earths-base metals project
Lode Resources hits super high-grade silver at the ‘Webb Consol’ project, including 2.9m at 1,126g/t silver eq
Lachlan Star, Many Peaks Gold, Duke Exploration up on no news

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Tuesday June 21.

LODE RESOURCES (ASX:LDR)

LDR listed mid-2021 with three main projects – ‘Uralla’ (gold), ‘Fender’ (base metals) and ‘Webbs Consol’ (silver, zinc) — in the underexplored New England Fold Belt of NSW, north of the better-known Lachlan Fold.

LDR is currently punching holes into a number of high priority targets at Webbs Consol, including several shafts with a history of high-grade silver production along a 3km strike which have never been drilled.

That includes ‘Tangoa West’, where LDR today announced eyewatering hits like 2.9m at 1,126g/t silver eq.

This was part of a larger 26.7m intersection grading ~400g/t silver eq from ~300m. The share price took off in response.

Tangoa West is 2km south of Webbs Consol ‘Main Shaft’ where drilling previously returned an intercept of 27.5m @ 468g/t silver eq from 104.6m.

Webbs Consol Silver-Base Metals Project – Phase I Drill Results.

“We are very excited about the high-grade silver-base metal discovery at Tangoa West as it extends the high-grade Webbs Consol mineral system to 3km,” LDR managing director Ted Leschke says.

“In addition, the newly recognised vertical mineralisation and alteration zonation identified in drilling to date has strong implications for mineralisation at depth at Webbs more broadly.”

Electromagnetic surveys – which enable the company to ‘see’ into the ground without drilling – are currently underway prior to deeper drilling, LDR says.

The $10.5m market cap explorer is up 21% in 2022. It had $2.9m in the bank at the end of March.

LACHLAN STAR (ASX:LSA)

(Up on no news)

In June 2020 the former shell paid ~$350,000 for 75% of the ‘Koolan’ project near Chalice Gold Mines’ (ASX:CHN) regionally defining Julimar nickel-copper-PGE discovery near Perth in WA.

It was a good move. Liontown (ASX:LTR) spin-out Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6) has since farmed into Koolan, where a recent maiden aircore drilling program provided ‘first pass’ testing of a number of newly defined anomalies. Drill assays are pending.

MI6 can acquire 51% in Koojan project by spending $4 million on exploration within five years, with a minimum expenditure commitment of $500,000 before having the right to withdraw.

$20.5m market cap LSA is down 57% year-to-date. It had $4.3m in the bank at the end of March.

DUKE EXPLORATION (ASX:DEX)

(Up on no news)

DEX is focused on the flagship ‘Bundarra’ copper project in Queensland, where the explorer has been drilling a bunch of targets in 2022.

One of these is ‘Quorn’, where encouraging drilling results announced earlier this month show a mineral system “intermittently mineralised to over 300m depth and … open ended at present”.

Importantly, this thing is starting to smell like an iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) system, DEX says.

Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) — like BHP’s Olympic Dam mine or more recent Oak Dam discovery — can be tremendously large, and simple-to-process concentrations of copper, gold and other economic minerals.

“This is an extremely exciting development and will be followed up with further diamond drilling,” FEX managing director Philip Condon said June 2.

“The RC priority target scout drilling program elsewhere on the Bundarra property is continuing with drilling on the priority targets on the northern side of the BIC currently underway.”

The $7.5m market cap stock is down 50% year-to-date. It had $7.8m in the bank at the end of March.

INDIANA RESOURCES (ASX:IDA)

IDA has locked in $1.8m via placement plus a $255,000 government grant to explore its ‘Central Gawler Craton’ gold-rare earths-base metals project in South Australia.

IDA directors collectively subscribed for $110,000 worth of placement shares, which is always a good sign.

“Funds will be deployed towards advancing our ongoing exploration activities at our Central Gawler Craton Project, which continues to generate high-grade gold drill intercepts and demonstrate strong potential for Rare Earth Elements and base metals mineralisation as recently identified,” IDA exec chair Bronwyn Barnes says.

“With an active exploration programme planned for the remainder of the year, we look forward to providing regular updates on operational progress.”

The $30m market cap stock is up 7% year-to-date.

MANY PEAKS GOLD (ASX:MPG)

(Up on no news)

The fresh IPO is targeting gold and gold-copper in the southern part of the Yarrol Geological Province in Queensland.

Reconnaissance work across mineral occurrences and historical workings has identified three project areas – the ‘Mt Weary’ gold project, ‘Rawlins’ gold-copper project, and the ‘Monal’ gold project.

Assays from the eight holes of an 11-hole program at Mt Weary announced earlier this month included a highlight 7m @ 2.04g/t gold from 13m.

The results nearly double the strike extent of gold bearing intrusion and gold mineralisation remains open in all directions, MPG says.

Assays are pending for the remaining three holes.

The $8m market cap stock is up 20% on its IPO price of 20c per share. It had $5.1m in the bank at the end of March.