Resources Top 5: Lithium footprint expansions and a near term gold producer on this hump day

Mandrake expands acreage at Utah lithium project
Manuka Resources to recommence gold production at Mt Boppy
Akora Resources hits high-grade DSO iron mineralisation at Bekisopa

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Wednesday March 22.

MANDRAKE RESOURCES (ASX:MAN)

Mandrake has increased its acreage at the large-scale Utah lithium project after securing an extra 254km of prime ground in the prolific ‘lithium four corners’ Paradox Basin.

The company says it is going to “extraordinary lengths” to encourage and support domestic production of strategic and critical materials such as lithium in the heart of the United States.

A JORC exploration target is expected in Q2, 2023 and in parallel, preparations are continuing for field activities to begin in the short term.

MANUKA RESOURCES (ASX:MKR)

This $27.15m market cap gold and silver producer operates in NSW’s highly prospective Cobar Basin.

In line with its strategic review, the company said it is recommencing gold production at Mt Boppy in the June quarter after operations ceased at the tail end of 2021.

The miner’s re-entry into the Mt Boppy open cut is subject to the finalisation of economic mine planning to produce up to 45,000oz gold beneath the base of the pit.

Meanwhile, the Wonawinta plant stands ready to begin gold production after positive preliminary evaluation showed economic viability of treating a screened product.

Manuka says the program underpins a three-year gold production scenario targeting 15–25,000oz per year beginning in April 2023.

EXPLORERS PODCAST: Manuka’s strategic exploration review uncovers substantial silver and gold resource upside

FIN RESOURCES (ASX:FIN)

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It has been a quiet year for FIN, which wants to build a ‘zero carbon’ multi-commodity operation at the 905sqkm Sol Mar project in northern WA.

FIN is aiming to use renewable energy (wind and solar) to create a zero-carbon salt project with complementary product streams, like green hydrogen and sulphate of potash (SOP).

A scoping study – the first proper look at the economics of building a project — is underway.

The $6.76m market cap company is down 20% year-to-date.

AKORA RESOURCES (ASX:AKO)

An 86-hole drill program at the Bekisopa iron ore project in Madagascar has intersected iron mineralisation with 72 holes hitting high-grade direct shipping ore (DSO) iron mineralisation.

The results, which show a broad area across the Southern Zone of better than benchmark grade iron mineralisation, have been described by Akora’s managing director and CEO, Paul Bibby, as “outstanding”.

“Substantial at surface intercepts grading above 63% iron appear to be suitable for lump and fines direct ship ore,” he said.

“These results will be provided to Wardell Armstrong to determine the updated DSO mineral resource estimate, which I feel will be significant.”

GREEN CRITICAL MINERALS (ASX:GCM)

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GCM recently identified pre-concentration technology as a potential key tool in reducing the overall carbon footprint of any future mining operation at the high purity Mcintosh graphite project in Western Australia.

The technology can separate high-grade ore from waste before it enters the processing plant with ore-sorting pre-concentration work initiated with key provider, Tomra.

By processing only high-grade ore, energy consumption can be reduced, leading to lower operating costs and reduction of the carbon footprint and tailings facilities can further be significantly reduced in size leading to further ESG benefits.