Resources Top 5: Goldies have a starring role once again; Peako gains on capital raising

PGM applies for an exploration licence at the Jubilee Gold Project
SMS hits 4m at 16.8g/t gold at Tumblegum South
PRS kicks off diamond drilling in Slovakia while PKO hopes to raise up to $1.2m

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Wednesday August 3.

PLATINA RESOURCES (ASX:PGM)

This ~$16.2m market cap gold explorer is looking to expand its portfolio of gold exploration assets in Western Australia with an application for an exploration licence at the Jubilee Gold Project.

Spanning some 165km2 over 51 blocks and in the prolific gold producing Yilgarn Craton, the exploration licence is close Westgold Resources’ (ASX:WGX) Meekatharra Gold Operation which incorporates the 1.8Mt per annum Bluebird gold processing hub.

Jubilee also adjoins the eastern border of Great Boulder Resources’ (ASX:GBR) Side Well Project, host to the high-grade Mulga Bill prospect which has returned very high-grade drilling intersections.

PGM managing director Corey Nolan says Jubilee offers significant potential and once the tenement was granted, Platina could quickly mobilise via the Goldfields Highway and begin field activities.

This exploration work will include a gravity survey and a low-cost reconnaissance geochemistry program to identify targets for future drilling.

STAR MINERALS (ASX:SMS)

SMS was spun out of Bryah Resources with the goal of starting gold mining at the ‘Tumblegum South’ project within 12 months of completing its IPO.

SMS is now updating the 42,500oz resource at the WA-based project for a scoping study.

Assay results from phase-2 resource definition drilling confirm the continuation and extension of geology, as well as grade of course at Tumblegum South with hits including 4m at 16.8g/t gold, 3m at 14.74g/t gold, 4m at 8.23g/t gold, and 6m at 3.03g/t gold.

SMS’s CEO Greg Almond says assays support the company’s decision to progress efforts to define and develop this gold deposit.

“These assays and geological logging provide further information to support the existing resource and give us further untested potential targets.”

They will also assist in providing more information for an updated resource model as the company progresses its strategy to develop, mine and monetise this asset.

PROSPECH (ASX:PRS)

Gold-silver explorer Prospech is drilling hard in Slovakia.

Its main game is called Hodrusa-Hamre, which has produced ~2.4 million ounces of gold and 120 million ounces of silver, as well as 70,000 tonnes of zinc, 55,000 tonnes of lead and 8,000 tonnes of copper over the last ~1000 years.

PRS has kicked off diamond core drilling at Hodrusa on the Low Angle Normal Fault (LANF) structure, which hosts the known high-grade (12g/t gold) mineralisation in production at the Rozalia Mine.

The drilling program is the culmination of PRS’ previous exploration at the Ignac, Banky and Bauch targets, all of which lie on the surface trace of the LANF.

For the first time, LANF IP geophysics anomalies are being drilled for the first time, following its completion in December 2021.

Assay results from the recently completed Schopfer drilling are expected in mid-August with samples dispatched last week.

OMNIA METALS (ASX:OM1)

(Up on no news)

OM1 listed earlier this year with a focus on two projects, the Ord Basin project along the WA/NT border, and the Albany-Fraser project in the state’s southwest.

The company says meaningful exploration around the Ord Basin has been limited over the past 50 years, so the project represents “a district scale, greenfields exploration opportunity for copper, nickel and PGE deposit types”.

At the Albany-Fraser project, Omnia plans to leverage historical data to explore for intrusive-hosted nickel-copper sulphide deposits.

During the June quarter, the company’s attention revolved around the Ord Basin project, where it engaged geophysics contractors and completed Heritage Protection Agreements with the Malarngowem and Purnululu Native Title groups in Western Australia.

Back in March, reconnaissance fieldwork returned encouraging sampling results, with high-grade results up to 10.1% copper and 29g/t silver as well as 10.3% copper and 29g/t silver.

PEAKO (ASX:PKO)

While cap raisings usually don’t translate into share boosts, it has done exactly that for this $4.69m market cap explorer.

The company revealed a 1 for 5 non-renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer to raise additional capital up to $1.2m.

Funds will support Peako’s exploration activities including supporting the ability to carry out infill drilling at its Eastman PGE Project, prior to commencement of this year’s wet season.

At Eastman, exploration work is focused on the Eastman Intrusion, a large under-explored intrusive complex that Peako considers has potential for a major PGE resource.

It is located within the Central Zone of the Halls Creek Orogen, a province with established PGE endowment.

The company is currently undertaking a 4,500m RC drill program designed as a first-pass test of PGE endowment across the ultramafic stratigraphy along the Eastman Intrusion’s 16.5km strike length where historical data and anomalous PGE intercepts indicate the potential for an extensive PGE-mineralised system.