Resources Top 5: More lithium explorers bolt out of the gate

US, EU carmakers staring down barrel of a 725,000tpa lithium deficit by 2030
Small cap lithium explorers Pan Asia, Eastern Iron, and Arcadia lead gainers in early trade
TNT Mines to buy high grade ‘Mt Ida’ copper-gold project from Ora Banda Mining for $11m cash

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Tuesday, September 7.

PAN ASIA METALS (ASX:PAM)

Data from Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast shows a projected annual lithium supply deficit of up to 225,000 tonnes in North America and 500,000 tonnes in Europe by 2030.

Insane numbers.

Meanwhile, the good news keeps flowing for lithium favourite Pan Asia Metals, which is now up 433% — from 15c to 80c per share – since August 30.

Drilling has continued to hit thick pegmatites (rocks that contain lithium) at the flagship ‘Reung Kiet’ prospect in Thailand. Pegmatite swarms remain open in all directions.

“Drilling continues to meet expectations and in hole RKDD031 exceeded expectations as a second unexpected pegmatite of considerable width was intersected at depth,” PAM managing director Paul Lock says.

“We are rapidly progressing to a Mineral Resource, and we are targeting the delivery of a Scoping Study in the first quarter of calendar year 2022.”

The newly acquired ‘Kata Thong’ geothermal lithium and hard rock lithium-tin project – which sparked the initial share price re-rate — has the potential to deliver “equally compelling cost and emissions outcomes”, Lock says.

TNT MINES (ASX:TIN)

The explorer plans to buy the high grade ‘Mt Ida’ copper-gold project in WA from Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) for $11m cash.

The 155sqkm project includes a bunch of historic mines which produced +300,000 ounces of gold at an impressive head grade of 17.2g/t.

The Mt Ida project also comes with non-JORC 2012 resources of 318,000t @13.8g/t of gold for 141,000oz.

While near-surface oxide resources offer a potential short term cashflow option, large underground high grade gold system exploration is the main attraction, TNT chairman Alex Hewlett says.

“This proposed transaction and capital raise will be transformative for TNT,” he says.

“It will bring in a project with a very high-quality high-grade gold resource and a mineral field with multiple advanced gold, copper, nickel, and lithium targets.”

Oh yeah, there’s lithium as well.

There are still a few conditions precedent before the deal goes through – like inking a formal agreement (it’s currently non-binding), completing due diligence on the assets, and raising the required cash.

The $25m market cap stock is up 43% over the past month, but down 20% year-to-date.

EASTERN IRON (ASX:EFE)

(Up on no news)

Another lithium runner.

Eastern Iron is now up ~170% since announcing a pivot from iron ore to lithium exploration yesterday morning.

The iron ore explorer has inked a deal with $7.7 billion market cap Chinese firm Yahua to acquire and develop lithium projects around the world.

First cab off the rank could be the ‘Trigg Hill’ lithium tantalum project, ~70km from Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS) ‘Pilgangoora’ operation.

The old Trigg Hill lithium-tantalum mine operated during the 1960s and early 1980s. Pegmatite swarms cover ~5sqkm with surface spodumene and lepidolite reported, Eastern Iron says.

LODE RESOURCES (ASX:LDR)

(Up on no news)

The newly listed $5m market cap minnow has a bunch of projects in the underexplored New England Fold Belt of NSW, north of better-known Lachlan Fold.

The Uralla gold project sits within a significant goldfield, which Lode believes hosts Intrusive Related Gold System (IRGS)-style mineralisation.

Exploration has now ramped up significantly at Uralla following the discovery of widespread gold mineralisation at the ‘Hudson’s’ prospect lode.

To date, 56 chip sample gold assays grading averaging 3.29g/t (and up to 8.03g/t) have now been received from the Hudson’s prospect area of interest, which is ~1,000m long and ~ 500m wide.

Drilling is set to kick off soon.

ARCADIA MINERALS (ASX:AM7)

While predominantly lithium focused, Arcadia also has an early-stage copper-gold project in Namibia called ‘Karibib’.

It is immediately south of the active 80,000oz per year ‘Navachab’ gold mine and the significant ~2Moz (and growing) ‘Twin Hills’ gold discovery made by TSX-listed Osino Resources in 2019.

The company hopes it is dialling in on a lookalike, with rock sampling returning high copper (highest 28.4%) and gold (highest 26.3g/t) grades along a 2km wide and 20km long structural feature.

Earlier his month, a 22-hole drilling program kicked off at the ‘Swanson’ lithium-tantalum project, also in Namibia.

Resource consultants Snowden Mining Industry Consultants are nearing completion of a report that could contain the first JORC resource at Swanson, the company says.

The ~$8.5m market cap stock is up 25% on its June listing price of 20c per share.