Resources Top 5: Perpetual asserts its dominance in Brazil’s Lithium Valley

Perpetual soars after expanding footprint in Brazil
West Cobar reaches 75% recovery of antimony content at Bulla Park
Terra Metals extends Reef 1 North by 1.2km

Your stand-out small-cap resources stocks for Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC)

Perpetual has increased its lithium footprint in Brazil’s Lithium Valley by about three-fold after acquiring three advanced exploration licences covering 2559 hectares that feature outcropping spodumene and artisanal mines with historical rock chips up to 7.6% Li2O.

The new licences are adjacent to the company’s Isabella project as well as Sigma Lithium’s operations, which are South America’s largest hard rock lithium complex.

Perpetual executive chairman Julian Babarczy said the acquisition represents a transformational opportunity for Perpetual, achieving critical mass for its advanced exploration activities in one of the planet’s most exciting spodumene exploration districts.

“This acquisition also exhibits several critical factors which rank it exceptionally high in terms of prospectivity,” Babarczy said.

He added that these factors include unrivalled location, proximity to known spodumene projects, confirmed lithium mineralisation of over 7.5% Li2O, outcropping spodumene occurrences, walk-up drill targets and operational support from the vendor K2, which has been active in the region for decades.

The new acquisition is also expected to deliver significant operational synergies with its existing Isabella project.

Drilling of the target is expected to start later in H1 2025. The company is also working with the vendor as it assesses new areas.

West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1)

Initial sighter leach testing of a bulk float concentrate produced from West Cobar’s Bulla Park project in NSW has successfully achieved 75% recovery of its antimony content.

This follows initial float tests that reduced the concentrate mass to less than 3% with recoveries of 94% copper, 90% antimony and 88% silver into a concentrate grading 19.4% copper, 7.5% antimony and 271g/t silver.

Both results are highly encouraging and provide scope to optimise results.

Antimony, a critical mineral in the EU, the US, Japan and Australia, is used in ammunition, semiconductors and next-generation battery technologies.

Last year antimony prices went gangbusters, soaring fourfold to US$40,000/t or AUD$62,000/t following China’s ban on antimony exports, and experts reckon prices could hit record levels again as consumers seek alternative supplies.

“The very first leach test has shown that our antimony can be very successfully separated from the copper concentrate – which is a key milestone in understanding the unique metallurgical response of our deposit,” managing director Matt Szwedzicki said.

“The lab is now completing follow on tests designed to optimise the leach results and improve the antimony extraction.”

Terra Metals (ASX:TM1)

Copper explorer TM1 has been homing on at least two Platreef-style reefs at the Dante discovery in WA’s West Musgrave region with recent assays from Reef 1 South confirming extensions to mineralised zones.

News today confirms drilling has extended the discovery strike by 1.2km at Reef 1 North to a total strike length of ~4.2km.

The company believes there is potential for a large, high-grade polymetallic deposit at Dante with mineralisation remaining open.

As well as high concentrations of copper, PGE metals and vanadium, high-grade titanium has also been defined over the full strike.

“These results reinforce the scale and high-grade potential of Reef 1 North,” TM1 managing director and CEO Thomas Line said.

“We are confident that the projects potential will continue to grow.”

Cosmos Exploration (ASX:C1X)

(Up on no news)

Cosmos caught a wave today but hasn’t announced any significant news since receiving commitments from professional and sophisticated investors for a placement to raise $1.25m earlier this month.

The funds provide a platform for the company to continue its alignment with EAU Lithium and their existing partnerships with YLB in Bolivia as well as Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL).

The placement followed an option agreement entered into in December 20204 to acquire EAU Lithium, an Australian private lithium development company strategically positioned in the heart of the world-class Lithium Triangle in South America.

CM1 is focused on developing the vast lithium resources of Bolivia via adsorption type direct lithium extraction otherwise known as ‘A-DLE’ – one of the few DLE technologies that has progressed beyond the ‘technology readiness’ level.

Great Southern Mining (ASX:GSN)

(Up on no news)

GSN holds exploration licences totalling 389km2 in WA’s Duketon greenstone belt to the north of Laverton, neighbouring gold producer Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) and its 10Moz of gold resources at the ‘Duketon’ project.

It also owns the Edinburgh Park project in northern Queensland, where recent exploration work identified a second large-scale, shallow induced polarisation chargebability anomaly at the Mt Dillon target.

What makes these targets even more compelling is the coincident geochemical anomalism, favourable structural settings, proximal gold bearing breccia pipes and surface alteration that is consistent with an underlying acidic, fluid saturated intrusive system.

GSN is eager to begin drilling in the second quarter of CY2025 once the wet season has subsided.

In the meantime, ongoing geophysical surveys and on-ground mapping have the potential to generate further targets within previously identified and newly identified target areas.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Perpetual Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.