Resources Top 5: It's a baker's delight for one nickel stock, and thick lithium hits for another

Nickel hits of 7m at 9.22% at Lunnon’s Baker project
Thick lithium intersection returned at ADV and GT1 joint venture
And two large LCT pegmatite target zones have been highlighted at Charger’s Bynoe project

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade Monday, January 17.

LUNNON METALS (ASX:LM8)

It’s a Baker delight for nickel stock Lunnon this morning with a hit of 7m at 9.22% nickel at its Baker Shoot, only 120m below surface within the emerging discovery at the Kambalda Nickel Project.

A positive start to 2022 for LM8 – the 2021 reverse circulation infill program completed at the end of December and has yielded “substantially faster assay turnaround times than previously experienced”.

Other key highlights include 8m at 2.25% nickel from 97m, including 3m at 4.74% nickel from 102m and 6m at 3.67% nickel from 132m including 4m at 4.86% nickel from 133m.

Managing director Ed Ainscough said: “As we had hoped, based on the visual and XRF work carried out during the program, the assay results are now confirming Baker as an exciting, high grade, near surface discovery.

“We will get both RC and diamond rigs back to target these thick, high-grade zones as they have the potential to have a significant impact on the maiden mineral resource.”

In a nod to Kambalda’s rich nickel history, Lunnon has turned back time to rename the East Cooee-HW discovery the Baker project.

LM8 is looking to replicate, continue and expand on the success WMC had at its Foster and Jan mines from the 1970s through to the mid-90s.

The ~$57m market cap company is up 26.17% at the time writing to 0.675c.

ARDIDEN (ASX:ADV) and GREEN TECHNOLOGY METALS (ASX:GT1)

The first hole of phase-1 diamond drilling at the North Aubry deposit within the Seymour Project in Ontario, Canada has returned a thick 40m intersection at 1.54% lithium.

This is where GT1 holds a 51% interest under a joint venture with ADV.

The two companies believe significant upside potential has now been confirmed along with the identification of pegmatite continuity and thickening down-dip of at least 50m beyond the margins of the existing mineral resource estimate.

Better yet, this is only the first hole of an 11-hole 3,500m drilling program which is seeking to expand the current mineral resource sitting at 4.8Mt at 1.25% lithium.

Drilling is underway with the second hole in progress and a second diamond drill rig setting up on site ahead of program completion sometime in March.

ADV has a market cap of ~$40m while GT1 has a market cap of around $111m.

CHARGER METALS NL (ASX:CHR)

Charging out of the ASX blocks this morning is CHR on the back of results from a recent geochemistry and aeromagnetic program at its Bynoe Lithium Project, 50km south of Darwin.

The company says results show multiple swarms of lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites extend from Core Lithium’s (ASX:CXO) adjacent Finniss project.

Two large LCT pegmatite target zones have been highlighted, with significant strike lengths of 8km at Megabucks and 3.5km at 7-Up.

Within each pegmatite zone, drill-ready lithium targets have been identified and CHR says planning, along with permitting for the maiden drill program, is advancing.

Managing director David Crook said: “The interpretation of all geochemistry results suggest a large lithium-mineralised system and provides Charger with an exploration roadmap, enabling prioritisation of the most significant drill-ready targets while identifying areas that need further infill soil sampling and mapping.”

MAMBA EXPLORATION (ASX:M24)

High-grade shallow gold with hits of up to 15m at 2.2g/t gold from 1m, including 3m at 3.53g/t, have been returned at M24’s Calyerup Creek project in the Western Australia’s Great Southern.

Of the first eight holes completed, seven intersected significant (+0.5g/t gold) mineralisation.

Mamba says RC drilling is set to recommence on January 21 with the remaining 42 holes from the initial program targeted for completion.

Managing director Mike Dunbar said: “To intersect consistent and significant widths of high-grade gold mineralisation from such shallow depths along a strike length of around 140m at the Southern Prospect is a great result.”

Good news is that this marks the start of the program, with two soil anomalies extending more than 1,400m each drilling represents less than 4% of the strike potential.

The ~8m market cap company saw its shares rise 10.53% in early trade this morning.

RED MOUNTAIN (ASX:RMX)

A Diamantina Laboratories petrology study has confirmed the presence of heavy rare earth minerals xenotime and florencite across the Mt Mansbridge Project in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region.

This means Red Mountain has the opportunity to determine whether there is an economically viable concentration of rare earths in the Kimberley – an area that has long been overlooked.

With already a significant number of REE deposits located in the East Kimberley region of northwestern Australia such as Browns Range, John Galt, Brockman, and Cummins Range, Red Mountain (ASX:RMX) believes Australia’s northwest is an emerging rare earths province.

The minerals were found within quartz veining and the associated wall rock alteration, where three samples were taken from the recently announced mineralised zone from drill hole MMRC002 at the Solo prospect.

RMX non-executive chairman Troy Flannery said the petrological confirmation of heavy rare earth mineral xenotime is a “significant step”.

Access tracks have now been established at the project with heritage clearance achieved.

Plans are in place to resume the drill program at the end of the Kimberley wet season in early 2022.