• Viking Mines makes gold discovery 1.5km from known mineralisation at the ‘First Hit’ project in WA
  • Lodestar Minerals looks to confirm ‘one of the more compelling lithium soil anomalies I have seen’: MD Bill Clayton
  • Global Lithium inks a 10-year lithium offtake deal

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Thursday March 3.

 

VIKING MINES (ASX:VKA)

The explorer has made a new gold discovery 1.5km from known mineralisation at the ‘First Hit’ project in WA.

Initial assays from a maiden 11-hole RC program at the ‘Jana’s Reward’ target include 1m at 36.49g/t gold from 17m and 1m at 17.83g/t gold from 16m.

As a rule of thumb, anything 5g/t and above is generally considered high grade.

These thin, but shallow and high-grade, gold intersections are hosted in a newly identified structural position parallel to the First Hit structure, which hosts the historic high-grade First Hit gold mine.

Prior to closure in 2002 due to depressed gold prices below $US320/oz, First Hit produced ~30koz ounces of gold at an average grade of ~7.7g/t gold.

VKA will add the greatest value to shareholders through the discovery of new ounces, CEO Julian Woodcock says.

“I am extremely excited to have intersected high-grade mineralisation on the First Hit tenure in a new area, parallel to the First Hit structure,” Woodcock says.

“To encounter >1oz gold grades in the drilling is extremely encouraging and reflects the potential for multiple narrow-vein, high-grade gold occurrences across the First Hit tenure.”

“The intersection of two new distinct structures at Jana’s Reward, which are open in all directions, provides additional opportunities to add to the two shoots identified at First Hit North 1.”

“These additional mineralised positions reaffirm the company strategy to identify new high-grade gold resources across the First Hit Project.”

More assays are pending, VKA says.

The $17m market cap stock is a up 40% year-to-date. It had $5.6m in the bank at the end of December.

 

LODESTAR MINERALS (ASX:LSR)

The industrious junior explorer is hoping to confirm the presence of a 2km-long lithium soil anomaly at ‘Coolgardie West’ project in WA.

LSR managing director Bill Clayton calls it “one of the more compelling lithium soil anomalies I have seen”.

In December, a reconnaissance visit observed historic mining activity in poorly outcropping pegmatite (lithium host rock) at the northern end of the anomaly.

This pegmatite is not mapped, nor is there any record of pegmatites previously identified within the tenement, says LSR, which is the first operator to specifically target lithium at Coolgardie West.

The new exploration program will entail field mapping and soil sampling within the anomaly to confirm the LCT potential, it says.

“The next phase of exploration at Coolgardie West represents an exciting progression designed to provide robust, walk-up drill targets for both lithium and gold that can be rapidly tested on grant of the tenement,” Clayton says.

The $18m market cap stock is up 20% year-to-date. It has about $2.8m in the bank following a recent placement.

 

GREENX METALS (ASX:GRX)

(Up on no news)

The explorer formerly known as Prairie Mining did a full 180-degree swivel by dumping fossil fuels in favour of sexier, ‘new age’ metals like copper, nickel and PGMs.

The main game is some newly acquired ground in Greenland called ‘Arctic Rift’, where historical exploration results show its potential to “host world-class copper deposits”.

GRX can earn 80% of the project by spending $10 million by October 2026.

Greenland is increasingly recognised as one of exploration’s final frontiers, as melting ice caps reveal more ground. All the big boys want a slice, GRX says.

As a potentially rather large bonus, GRX say a $1.5 billion (yes, billion) claim for damages against Poland is well advanced.

Claim costs are funded by Litigation Capital Management (LCM), which won’t get paid unless they win.

Since 1998 LCM have funded 237 disputes, with 226 of those being successful. That’s a success rate of over 95%, says GRX.

The $55m market cap stock is down 6% year-to-date. It had about $7.6m in the bank at the end of December.

 

QX RESOURCES (ASX:QXR)

(Up on no news)

Earlier this week a Chinese business with “considerable investments in the lithium sector” made plans to pour $2.85m into the coffers of early-stage lithium-gold explorer QXR.

An MOU (non-binding deal which comes before a binding one) to work together on exploration, development, and potential offtake agreements for all QXR’s lithium projects in WA was also signed.

The Chinese company in question – Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co – is the largest investor (75%) in lithium hydroxide producer Yibin Tianyi, together with China’s largest EV battery manufacturer CATL.

(This is the same company that today inked a 10-year offtake deal with popular explorer Global Lithium Resources (ASX:GL1). See below)

“This is an excellent development for our company, a strong vote of confidence in our lithium exploration projects, and it brings an experienced and large lithium sector investor onto our register,” QX chairman Maurice Feilich says.

“As well, their desire to collaborate with us on project exploration, development and secure future offtake for any lithium we discover on our projects delivers huge value at multiple levels to QXR.”

“We now have the added financial flexibility to fast-track and scale up exploration activities in Western Australia as well as continuing to invest in ongoing trenching and drilling of our Drummond Basin gold assets where we are achieving excellent results.”

QXR has almost come full circle. It used to be a Hipo Resources, a stock touting an experimental Ukrainian battery tech which failed to deliver the goods.

It then moved into gold, before progressively picking up 215sqkm of early-stage lithium ground in the Pilbara over the past six months.

The $36m market cap stock is up 83% year-to-date.

 

GLOBAL LITHIUM (ASX:GL1)

Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co’s deal-spree continues.

GL1 – which has a 18.4 million tonne-and-growing lithium resource across its WA projects – has inked a 10-year offtake deal with Suzhou, which is also GL1’s largest shareholder at 9.4%.

“Having joined our register in December 2021 as a cornerstone investor, Suzhou TA&A has provided tremendous support in not only maintaining their 9.4% stake but also providing invaluable introductions and assistance, which has led us to signing this Strategic Offtake Agreement,” GL1 chair Warrick Hazeldine says.

“We look forward to continuing to work alongside Suzhou TA&A and its associated entities to further develop our lithium assets towards production and beyond.”

Earlier his month GL1 announced a maiden 9.9Mt resource grading 1.14% lithium and 49ppm tantalum for the ‘Manna’ lithium project in the goldfields of WA.

It almost doubles the company’s attributable resource base (Marble Bar project 100%, Manna project 80%) to 18.4Mt lithium.

A big achievement for a company which only listed on the ASX in May last year.

Importantly, GL1 says there is scope for significant growth at Manna, where the resource was defined by just 3,636m drilling at relatively shallow depths “with mineralisation open in all directions”.

A drilling program of at least 20,000m is being planned to further grow the resource and to upgrade the classification.

A 380 hole, 60,000m RC drilling program kicked off at the Marble Bar project in the Pilbara earlier this month, targeting the area south of the Archer resource. It is expected to take 4-5 months to complete.

The $236m market cap stock is up 52% year-to-date, and 760% on its 2021 IPO price of 20c per share. It had $11m in the bank at the end of December.