• James Bay Minerals doubles down with a second beaut morning on the bourse
  • Widgie Nickel makes a big nickel sulphide hit in WA 
  • Iron ore hunter Juno Minerals turns heads with a lithium find in the Yilgarn

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Wednesday September 13.

 

 

James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY)

The latest lithium new kid on the block is, at the time of writing, busting further up the charts (+26%) after listing successfully on the ASX yesterday, which followed an oversubscribed $6m IPO.

As we noted in this column and in a more detailed special report yesterday, James Bay Minerals joins the lithium party with a huge rep and, with a massive 224km2 of tenure, it holds one of the largest exploration portfolios in Quebec, Canada’s lithium hotspot James Bay.

That reputation is bolstered by the fact the company’s board is stacked with Pilbara Minerals, Nemaska and Primero alumni with years of experience building lithium projects in both Australia and Canada.

Included among those is exec director Andrew Dornan, who has 18 years of senior commercial management experience working across Pilbara Minerals, Tianqi Lithium, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto.

Ontario-based non exec chair Gerard O’Donovan – also managing director of Battery Age Minerals – was project manager at Pilbara Minerals, overseeing development of the Stage 1 Pilgangoora mine and concentrator.

And then there’s former Nemaska director Judy Baker and Dean Ercegovic, founding director and CEO of lithium plant builder Primero Group.

The explorer’s Joule, Aero and Aqua properties are located in the ‘La Grande’ sub-province, along trend from the Corvette deposit, where Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) has an inferred MRE of 109.2Mt @ 1.42% Li2O and 160ppm Ta2O5.

The Troilus project, mwabwhile, is further to the south, only 5km north of Sayona Mining’s (ASX:SYA) Moblan lithium project and near Winsome Resources’ (ASX:WR1) Sirmac-Clappier project.

JBY share price

 

Widgie Nickel (ASX:WIN)

This Western Australian, self-described “aspiring mid-tier nickel developer” is having a very good day on the ASX thus far on the back of confirmation of a big nickel sulphide hit.

The company reports “exceptionally high-grade nickel mineralisation at its 132N project, which is about 6km north west from the Goldfields ghost town of Widgiemooltha and roughly 100km south of Kalgoorlie.

132N forms part of the company’s expansive Mt Edwards project.

The infill drilling program there has revealed (based on assays received from hole 23MERCD112) the following nickel mineralisation results:

9.14m @ 10.44% Ni, 0.75% Cu, 0.13% Co, 1.93g/t 3PGE from 330.00m, including 2.61m @ 18.88% Ni, 0.48% Cu, 0.23% Co, 0.65g/t 3PGE from 335.44m.

Widgie Nickel’s, Mt Edwards Tenure and Mineral Resources. Source: ASX announcement

 

Apart from being one of the main components used in the production of stainless steel, nickel sulphide is used to make nickel sulphate, a key ingredient in EV batteries. 

The company’s MD, Steve Norregaard is pleased:  “Widgie attracted great interest with the core sample displayed at our Diggers [& Dealers] booth this year for good reason.

“We are delighted to share the assay results for 23MERCD112 validating portable XRF readings announced on the 11 August 2023. This hole drilled through the lower zone of the current 132N resource shape confirms the presence of exceptionally high-grade mineralisation.”

WIN share price

 

Juno Minerals (ASX:JNO)

Could Iron ore hunter Juno be sitting on an exciting lithium haul near its Mount Ida magnetite project? This is the question we’ve asked in a special report published a little earlier today.

The price-pumping fact is, the company has uncovered, via an infill soil-sampling program, what it’s describing via an ASX announcement today as two significant, well-defined lithium-caesium-rubidium-beryllium soil anomalies.

And yep, these are at the Mount Ida project in the Central Yilgarn situated between Perth and Kalgoorlie in WA, which is an iron ore/magnetite-focused operation.

The new lithium results are potentially another string to the company’s portfolio bow. And a promising one, by the sounds.

 

The program showed the pathfinder metals associated with spodumene-bearing pegmatites lithium, caesium, rubidium, and beryllium, are all enriched within the well-defined anomalies indicating it is a “fertile” system.

Each anomaly stretches over a kilometre in length and up to 500m wide, with the southern anomaly remaining open to further exploration to the south.

Regionally, the Mt Ida fault in the prolific Yilgarn region of Western Australia is attracting greater interest for its rare metal pegmatites – from the explorers including  Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) and its now apparent parent Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

Delta Lithium’s (ASX:DLI) Mt Ida lithium project is located 19km north of Juno’s Mount Ida lithium prospect and is being developed to initially produce a direct shipping ore (DSO) product with the intention to produce spodumene concentrate.

Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) has set its sights on Delta’s Mt Ida ground, amassing a 17.44% stake in the company and installing its rich lister boss Chris Ellison as non-exec chair.

Meanwhile, Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person and chair of private miner Hancock Prospecting, has increased her exposure to lithium in the region as well.

JNO share price

  

Chilwa Minerals (ASX:CHW)

(Up on no news)

CHW is up double digits for no major reason we’re seeing at the time of writing today.

The heavy minerals sands exploration company listed on the ASX in early July following an $8m IPO at 20c/sh.

Its main game is the namesake Chilwa heavy minerals sands project in southern Malawi, where a 17,000m drilling program is underway with an aim to boost the firm’s 2.4Mt resource.

At this stage the company is targeting a drilling program at its Mposa project, of approximately 6,000 metres with the scope to increase depending on results achieved during the program.

Chilwa’s newly acquired southern tenement extension also directly abuts the ground of rare earths explorer Mkango Resources (TSXV:MKA).

The $8.26m capped stock is currently trading just below its IPO price, and, in fact, has been chopping about below it ever since listing.

CHW share price

 

Burgundy Diamond Mines (ASX:BDM)

Following the completion of the acquisition of the Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada in July, this $248m market-cappped diamond exploration company said it has secured diamond sales of ~US$90m for Q3 CY23 to date, as compared to ~US$81m in the pcp.

Currently, the company has sold 784,000 carats in Q3 CY22 to date, as compared to 901,000 total carats sold in Q3 CY22.

The share price is up about 16% on this news at the time of writing.

“Ekati Canadian natural diamonds provide customers with sustainably produced high-value diamonds with low fluorescence, optimal assortment, and unique fancy colours,” said CEO Kim Truter.

“The sales results announced today demonstrate the differentiated value of Burgundy diamonds and our transparent and credible sales channels, despite a softer than usual market.” 

BDM share price

 

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While James Bay Minerals and Juno Minerals are Stockhead advertisers at the time of writing, they did not sponsor this article. 

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