Resources Top 5: Renowned investor Eric Sprott gives thumbs up to silver strategy of RCM

• $14m placement to fund RCM’s acquisition of Webbs Consol silver project 
• SGQ has made a high-grade heavy rare earth and niobium discovery at Araxá project in Brazil
• LRD has observed copper mineralisation in multiple holes across its Ilgarari copper project

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Rapid Critical Metals (ASX:RCM)

Some of the world’s leading resources investors have given a big thumbs up to Rapid Critical Minerals and its strategy lined with silver by supporting a placement to the tune of $14 million.

Investment tycoon Eric Sprott was one of three institutional shareholders to jump on board the raise with others being Jupiter Asset Management and Tribeca Investment Partners.

Canadian billionaire Sprott is famous for tipping the rise of precious metals to new highs during the Global Financial Crisis.

Big-name backing and promise of a silver bounty from the Webbs Consol project in northeast NSW, which is being acquired, drove RCM to 5.8c, a high of almost two years and a lift of more than 70% on the previous close.

The raising will see Rapid Critical Metals (ASX:RCM) issue 400m new fully paid ordinary shares at 3.5c a pop, a 2.9% premium to the closing price of 3.4c on September 11 and an 8% premium to the 5-day Volume Weighted Average Price of 3.2c.

This reinforces the large-scale potential of Webbs Consol which is set to complement its nearby Webbs and Conrad deposits which already host 35Moz.

Webbs Consol is the highest grade silver project in Australia, with a resource running at 1.6Mt at 636g/t silver equivalent for 32Moz AgEq.

Picked up from Lode Resources (ASX:LDR), placement funds will help RCM complete the acquisition, settle US$379,500 of facility notes to 1000433639 Ontario Inc. and fund exploration at the NSW silver projects and Canadian germanium-gallium projects.

“We are pleased to welcome the likes of Eric Sprott, Jupiter Asset Management and Tribeca Investment Partners as shareholders in the company and see this as an endorsement of the company’s NSW silver exploration strategy,” RCM MD Byron Miles said.

“The company is now well capitalised and the board will diligently use these funds to not only complete the acquisition of the Webbs Consol but also to continue to develop and implement a thorough and well planned exploration program on our NSW and Canadian projects.”

The deal for this project will include the exchange of $3.75m in cash, $3m of which is due on completion, and 115m RCM shares, along with a 2% NSR royalty.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ)

A new high-grade heavy rare earth and niobium discovery in the previously unexplored eastern portion of its Araxá project in Brazil resulted in St George Mining climbing 23.08% to 9.6c, a new four-year high, with more than 94m shares exchanged.

The first batch of assays from RC drilling at East Araxá outside the existing resource of 40.6Mt at 4.13% TREO returned impressive results such as:

• 48m grading 5.71% total rare earth oxides from a down-hole depth of 2m including 15m at 12.61% TREO from 4m;
• 32m at 1.04% niobium pentoxide from 11m including 6m at 2.41% TREO from 11m; and
• 40m at 2.62% TREO and 1.05% Nb2O5 from surface including 8m at 4.38% TREO from 35m.

Making the East Araxá discovery even more significant for St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) is that its grades of higher value magnet and heavy rare earths are greater than those in the existing resource.

The first three holes returned up to 3.96% neodymium and praseodymium, while dysprosium, terbium, lutetium and gadolinium make up to 1500ppm of the TREO, and there were samarium grades of up to 2,600ppm.

This discovery offers the potential to add a significant volume of near-surface, high-grade REE and niobium mineralisation to an updated resource estimate.

Executive chairman John Prineas said the company was delighted with results from the follow-up deeper drilling at East Araxá that confirmed the continuity and depth extent of this near-surface, high-grade REE and niobium discovery.

“The volume of mineralisation being defined by the RC drilling in this new area – located 1km east of the MRE envelope – points to the potential for a significant addition to the Araxá MRE, already the highest grade undeveloped JORC-compliant rare earths resource globally.

“Our multi-rig campaign is continuing with diamond drilling focused on expansion and resource definition of the existing MRE and the RC rig progressing with resource definition at East Araxá. This promises strong newsflow for St George shareholders,” he added.

Lord Resources (ASX:LRD)

Observing copper mineralisation in multiple holes across its Ilgarari copper project in Western Australia has seen Lord Resources (ASX:LRD) surge 174% to a 12-month high of 6.3c.

Drilling is ongoing but Lord is encouraged by the initial observations with one hole returning an interval of more than 20m. First assays are expected in October.

The scale and position of the observations, which sit 60m down‑dip and around 100m along strike from historic hits, reinforce the company’s geological model and look set to build on Ilgarari’s history of copper production. 

Deeper WA Exploration Incentive Scheme co-funded drilling has also intersected primary sulphides with some holes intercepting up to 5% chalcopyrite in breccia, suggesting a robust system beneath the supergene zone.

Around 2200m has been completed across 11 holes in the phase 2 programs with eight serving as pre-collars for diamond drilling. 

Four diamond tails are in progress and Lord is evaluating an extension of the current program.

PVW Resources (ASX:PVW)

Investors have welcomed the proposed acquisition by PVW Resources (ASX:PVW) of highly prospective gold and silver assets in Nevada and Idaho with shares hitting a 12-month high of 4.1c, a lift of 51.86% on the previous close.

The company has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Southern Prospecting, which has exclusive options to acquire the Cobb Creek project in Nevada and the Colorado Gulch and Silverstar projects in Idaho.

Cobb Creek has a non-JORC resource of 173,000oz at 1.44g/t gold and is in the Independence Trend, sub parallel to the famous Carlin Trend in Nevada, both renowned for large Carlin-style, epithermal and other structurally-controlled gold deposits and mines.

Colorado Gulch and Silverstar are in the emerging mineral-rich district of central Idaho surrounded by several significant gold and silver deposits and mines.

To support the transaction, PVW has received firm commitments to raise $2.5m through a placement to sophisticated and professional investors.

iTech Minerals (ASX:ITM)

iTech Minerals (ASX:ITM) has started a farm-in and lithium joint venture with SQM Australia, in which SQM can earn up to a 70% interest in the Reynolds Range project in the NT. 

Finalisation of the deal follows formal consent from the Central Land Council.

SQM Australia is a subsidiary of the world’s largest lithium chemicals producer Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM).

Under the deal, ITM receives $2 million for an initial 30% interest in the lithium mineral rights across four tenements – EL33881, EL23655, EL23888 and EL28083. 

The arrangement establishes a lithium JV with SQM managing all exploration and development activities during the earn-in. 

SQM also has staged options to increase its interest in Reynolds Range including:

• 51% by spending $7m over 4.5 years, with a minimum $2m in the first 1.5 years; and
• 70% by paying an additional $3m and defining a JORC-compliant mineral resource of at least 50Mt at 1.0% Li₂O or equivalent, or spending an additional $15m on exploration.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Rapid Critical Metals and St George Mining are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.