Resources Top 5: Great Divide all set to restart Challenger gold mine

• Great Divide Mining will begin operations at Challenger this month to restart gold production
• Dateline sold non-core Udu copper project in Fiji to focus on its Colosseum gold and rare earths project
• Resource Mining slapped with ASX price query after launching analysis on soil and auger samples from Mpanda

Your standout resources stocks for Friday, May 16, 2025

Great Divide Mining (ASX:GDM)

Shares in the company jumped after it announced that it was now in a position to restart the Challenger gold mine within Adelong, New South Wales.

This readiness to begin recommissioning work at the mine, which has historical production of over 80,000oz old, comes about following site preparation and inspections.

Great Divide will now start operations towards the production of gold later this month.

Chief executive director Justin Haines said the move is a big step in the company’s evolution from a gold explorer to an explorer and producer.

“The production of gold from the Challenger mine is not only historically significant but will deliver to GDM its’ first revenue stream.”

The company had secured a 15% interest in the mine in March 2025 by paying the vendor Adelong Gold $300,000.

It can increase this stake up to 51% upon achieving first gold pour with Adelong being carried by Great Divide until gold production begins.

Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR)

(Up on no news)

While Dateline had no news out today, the company had sold the non-core Udu copper project in Fiji earlier this week to private Australian company Viva Metals for cash, shares and a deferred consideration worth up to $4.35m.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to accelerate development of its flagship Colosseum gold and rare earths project in California.

The upfront consideration of $350,000 will go immediately to support ongoing work including the recently started bankable feasibility study on the gold resource and preparatory exploration of its rare earths potential.

The BFS is based on open-pit mining of the north and south pipes at the 1.1Moz project with processing of 2Mtpa of ore expected to produce ~75,000oz of gold per annum for 8.5 years.

Its scoping study released in October 2024 had indicated that Colosseum could generate NPV and IRR – both measures of a project’s profitability – of US$235m and 31% respectively using a conservative gold price of US$2200oz.

Gold is currently priced at US$3223/oz.

Dateline is also on track for a Q3 2025 listing on the OTCQB venture market that will provide access to a broader pool of institutional and retail investors in the US.

Resource Mining Corporation (ASX:RMI)

(Up on no news)

Shares of RMI have remained buoyant for the last three days with no fresh news, leading to the company being issued a speeding ticket this morning.

Earlier this week a laboratory analysis workstream for soil and auger samples collected at the Stalike and Kabungu prospects was launched as part of current exploration works across the Mpanda copper-gold project in Tanzania.

Combined with previous results from auger drilling, trenching, rock chip and soil sampling for the two prospects, the objective is to generate high potential drill targets.

Previous results from the project have returned impressive gold and copper grades from rock samples up to 36.7g/t gold and 11.89g/t copper from Kabungu and 13.58% copper and 3.24g/t gold from Stalike.

RMI executive chairman Asimwe Kabunga said a targeted drilling program is planned for the Stalike and Kabungu prospects following completion of this current soil and auger sample analysis work stream.

Antares Metals (ASX:AM5)

(Up on no news)

Antares had no news to report today but it recently launched its Phase 2 RC drilling campaign at the Surprise copper project in QLD’s Mt Isa region, part of the wider Mt Isa North asset.

The 1500m program, focusing on untested targets beneath outcropping copper mineralised zones, is aiming to enlarge the known mineralised envelope at the 2003km2 project.

AM5 has spent significant time and money on acquiring geophysical data, as well as inverting and interpreting the information to identify exciting drill targets beneath the surface.

Earlier this year, the explorer completed the first phase of drilling at the asset, which returned 11m at 1.8% copper and 1.3g/t gold from 68m, including 4m at 3.8% copper from 71m.

The company has continued to find more and more compelling targets via high-definition gravity and magnetic surveys flown over the Conglomerate Creek prospect.

Results of that program identified a potentially large-scale intrusion related mineral system about 2km in diameter, associated with several large structures in the area.

Additional drilling and field activities on other prospects within the Mt Isa project suite will be carried out throughout the 2025 exploration season.

Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG)

(Up on no news)

At the end of April, WMG received the grant of two awards, totalling $440,000, to fund further drilling at the Mulga Tank nickel-copper-PGE asset under the WA state government’s Co-funded Exploration Drilling Program, part of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).

WMG was successful in both its applications to EIS Round 31 and has once more been awarded the maximum $220,000 of co-funding towards 50% of direct drilling costs for a further deep exploration hole within the main body of the Mulga Tank Complex.

A second maximum award of $220,000 was also granted, which will be spent towards diamond holes targeting the ~1.3km long komatiite body within tenement E39/2134.WMG intends to use this funding to drill another deep +1,500m diamond hole into the Mulga Tank Ultramafic Complex, as well as follow-up to the diamond drilling program and hole MTD029 (EIS3) drilled last year.

The hole will look to target the eastern portion of the MobileMT anomaly at the base of the intrusion, close to higher grade geochemical results in hole MTD027.This target area may represent a sulphide-enriched keel and/or the feeder vent for the overall intrusion.

Exploration results from various drilling programs at the Mulga Tank project over the last two years have demonstrated significant nickel sulphide mineralisation and an extensive nickel sulphide mineral system within the Mulga Tank Ultramafic Complex.

Under the terms of the two grants WMG is able to begin drilling of the EIS holes any time after 1 June 2025 and will be included in our exploration plans of the year.