Pic: Via Getty
Mining
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Friday February 3.
(Up on no news)
About a year ago PSC sold its 72.7Mt Arcadia lithium development in Zimbabwe to a subsidiary of lithium-ion battery material producer, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co, for ~$466m net.
It returned most of that to shareholders.
Now PSC Version 2 is going back to its exploration roots with the Omaruru lithium project in Namibia.
The company will progressively acquire up to 51% in Omaruru, with an option to go up to 85%.
The project contains over 60 visible, outcropping pegmatites of variable size, some of which (notably Karlsbrunn) have been subject to limited, near surface, historical lithium and beryl mining.
Only three pegmatites have been the subject of drilling to date, which returned results of up to 23m grading 0.99% Li2O from a downhole depth of 130m and 10m at 1.06% Li2O from only 2m.
An initial 2,000m of drilling commenced at Omaruru in December, focussed on the Karlsbrunn and Brockmans pegmatites.
Return of assay results is expected during the current quarter.
It also has a project called Step Aside in Zimbabwe, where recent drilling hit “encouraging grades and widths” like 7.4m @ 1.28% Li2O from 43.6m.
Follow up drilling will kick off in February, PSC says.
$60m capped PSC has $30.3m cash at the end of December “to support future growth activities anchored on its battery and electrification minerals strategy”.
(Up on no news)
What’s going on at $PLG??? 38% with above average vol
— SPEC Capital (@SPECCAPITAL) February 2, 2023
A mystery. Beleaguered WA iron ore explorer PLG – which listed September 2021 at 20c per share — recently raised $2m at 2c per share to keep the lights on.
Those investors who took part are now well and truly in the money, with the share price now at 4.3c in early trade Friday.
There is a maiden resource due out soon on the flagship Cockatoo Island ‘Switch Pit’, where the company has been drilling into thick, high grade iron ore like ~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.
SUH is picking up rock chips grading up to 17.5% copper and 1,495g/t silver at the 680,000t copper equivalent Llahuin porphyry project in Chile.
This sampling program has dialled in on several exposed mineralised veins in areas outside known resources in the project area, the company says.
One of these has been mapped over 90m (where exposed, it could be bigger), ~1km away from the Cerro de Oro deposit.
The sampling program has continued into 2023 to better define veins suitable for drill testing, SUH says.
Poprhyry mines are multigenerational monsters responsible for ~60% of the world’s copper, most of it’s molybdenum, and significant amounts of gold and silver.
Their easy-mining large volumes make up for the low grades, typically between 0.3 per cent to 1 per cent copper equivalent.
~$10m capped SUH had $1.5m in the back at the end of December.
The company owns the mothballed Gold Links gold mine in Colorado, and the 813,000oz Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California.
Labour issues, tussles with contractors, and delays to plant commissioning forced DTR to suspend operations at Gold Links late 2022, following a short-lived production run.
It is now looking for partnerships or joint ventures “to secure the future operations of Gold Links, without Dateline Resources having to make any further capital contribution”.
Today it announced a funding term sheet for US$5million, from Madison One Cuso, to be used at Gold Links.
Interest for the funds is 10.25% and the term of the loan is 10 years.
The security sought for the loan funds is a mortgage over the property assets in Colorado.
“This is a positive development for the company and is the result of having a good working relationship with our bankers and confidence in the potential of the Gold Links project,” says managing director Stephen Baghdadi, who recently bought just under 690,000 DTR shares worth ~$18,000 on market.
“We look forward to working closely with the bank to secure the additional funds and providing the information required to complete the transaction.
“Discussions are advanced with a potential Joint Venture partner, and we are working on finalising an agreement as soon as possible.”
The $26m capped stock had ~$1.6m in the bank at the end of December.
(Up on no news)
LYN is buying a project nearish WA1 Resources’ (ASX:WA1) big niobium-REE discovery in the West Arunta region of WA.
In October, WA1 10-bagged after hitting thick, high-grade niobium in its first hole in the West Arunta; a remote, lightly explored, but highly mineralised region on the WA/NT border.
Niobium is mainly used to make steel better, but also has growing uses in lithium-ion batteries, intelligent glass, solar panels, 5G tech, and nuclear energy.
Ferroniobium metal (65% Nb) currently sells for ~US$45,000/t.
LYN’s Stansmore carbonite project includes a “prominent” 700m long magnetic feature analogous to WA1’s discovery and Encounter’s (ASX:ENR) nearby Worsley prospect.
Carbonatites are important sources of niobium and REEs and host all three of the world’s operating niobium mines as well as Lynas Rare Earths’ (ASX:LYC) world class Mt Weld deposit.
Historical drilling at Stansmore by BHP in 1982 intersected intrusives and strong carbonate alteration that may be related to REE-carbonatite mineralisation, LYN says.
But the mining giant was looking for diamonds and so walked away from the project. No exploration has been conducted since.
Importantly, the six shallow RAB holes drilled at Stansmore by BHP to a max depth of 12m showed prospective geology is under very shallow cover of 5-10m, “which further enhances discovery potential”.
Exploration work programs are being planned for 2023 to include ground gravity, airborne geophysical surveys and drilling.
The $12m capped stock had $2.8m in the bank at the end of December.
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