Resources Top 5: Offtake deals, new drilling, and a 90-year-old gold mine

Small explorer Viking Mines to buy historic high grade First Hit gold mine in WA
Pure Minerals to supply nickel to major battery maker Samsung
Latin, Metal Hawk kick off maiden drilling at their respective projects

Here’s your top ASX small cap resources winners in morning trade Thursday, November 26.

Explorer Viking Mines (ASX:VKA) is looking to buy the historic, high grade First Hit gold project in WA.

The project includes the historical First Hit Mine and numerous advanced exploration targets, “each with the potential to be repeats of the First Hit Mine as no mining or exploration has been undertaken on the project for ~ 18 years”, the company says.

The 90-year-old First Hit mine last operated between 2001-2002, producing 30,830oz at grades of about 13g/t.

Nickel-cobalt play Pure Minerals (ASX:PM1) has inked its second preliminary offtake deal with a major global battery maker in six weeks.

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Samsung is for the supply of 6,000 tonnes (t) of nickel per year from Pure’s TECH Project in Queensland.

An MOU is a non-binding agreement that comes before a legal one.

In October, Pure signed an offtake-potential project funding deal with the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker, LG Chem.

Pure Minerals, which is up ~20 per cent in early trade, has surged 130 per cent over the past six months.

Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) is now drilling its Noombenberry halloysite-kaolin project in WA.

2,500m of shallow air-core drilling will confirm the extents of a known kaolinite-halloysite occurrence, with a second phase of infill drilling planned for early in the new year.

“We are fully funded to advance the Noombenberry Project at a time where there is strong and broad global demand for high-quality kaolin products,” Latin resources exec director Chris Gale says.

Halloysite-kaolin – used in concrete paints, plastics, lithium-ion batteries, nanotube tech and cancer therapeutics (just to name a few) — is red hot thanks to Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) success at its ‘Great White’ project in South Australia.

Explorer Tasman Resources (ASX:TAS) owns +33 per cent of concrete stock Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE), which is flying today on a positive trial outcome.

Eden’s carbon-strengthened concrete was given a very positive evaluation from Denver’s Department of Transport and Infrastructure following a three-year trial.

“This evaluation from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure from a 3-year field trial confirms the significant increase in long-term durability of EdenCrete infused concrete, in an extremely harsh environment, that will translate into significant cost savings over the service life of the concrete,” the company says.

“This evaluation is expected to greatly assist in the marketing of EdenCrete across the US and also in other countries, for use on highways, roads, bridges, sidewalks, airport runways and anywhere where concrete is subject to snow and ice and de-icing salts and road chemicals are commonly used.”

New ASX listing Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK) is now drilling its Kanowna East gold project in the WA goldfields.

It will be “the first significant exploration campaign in 15 years” at the underexplored project, managing director Will Belbin says.

“This is our flagship goldfields project and we have been planning towards this drill program for quite some time,” he says.

“We see tremendous opportunity for exploration success and we certainly believe we have favourable geology for new discoveries on this project.”

Nickel miner Western Areas (ASX:WSA) will also be drilling for nickel sulphides on the project, as part of a deal whereby Western Areas can earn up to 75 per cent of non-gold rights from Metal Hawk.