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Resources Top 5: Recent IPOs hit copper-gold paydirt, forgotten coal producer shows signs of life
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- Small South African producer Ikwezi poised to benefit from soaring coal prices
- Initial drilling confirms “large gold system” at Ballymore’s Ravenswood project in QLD
- Minerals 260 confirms wide copper-gold zone at ‘Mynt’ prospect
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Friday March 4.
BALLYMORE RESOURCES (ASX:BMR)
BMR hit the bourse with a bang late last year with portfolio of Queensland gold and base metals projects including Dittmer (a historic high-grade goldfield), Ruddygore (a large copper porphyry target) and Ravenswood (a bunch of drill ready targets in a 17moz gold province).
The share price has since drifted badly, but today’s news could be the positive impetus it needs.
Initial drilling at ‘Seventy Mile Mount’ at Ravenswood has confirmed a “large gold system”, BMR says, with grades improving at depth.
Highlight hits include 40m at 1.06 g/t Au from 47m (including 3m @ 9.38 g/t Au).
This may evolve into another gold deposit like the nearby ‘Mount Leyshon (3.8Moz) and Mount Wright (1Moz), the company says.
“The Seventy Mile Mount breccia target has a lot of similarities to major breccia hosted gold deposits in the region and these recent holes are the first completed in the area since 2004,” BMR technical director David A-Izzeddin says.
“These holes targeted a previously unrecognised breccia zone with similarities to the higher-grade breccia zones present at Mount Leyshon and Mount Wright, both major gold producers in the local region in the past 30 years.”
This initial drilling program has proven successful in intersecting shallow, ore grade mineralisation 200m west of best historic drill results, A-Izzeddin says.
“Initial assessment of the breccias and geochemical data suggests that we are at the top of a zoned system similar to Mount Wright,” he says.
“The only previous deep drilling at Seventy Mile Mount was completed on the eastern margin of this breccia zone and these results support the interpretation that grades will improve with depth.”
Follow-up drilling is planned to test the largely untouched breccia target at depth.
The $15m market cap stock is currently trading at its September listing price of 20c per share. It had about $4.9m in the bank at the end of December.
MINERALS 260 (ASX:MI6)
Another IPO which was popular initially before falling back into the pack.
The Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) spinout is focused on the Moora gold-nickel-copper-PGE project near Julimar, which LTR has held since 2018.
That’s well before the monstrous Gonneville nickel-copper-PGE discovery was made, making it ostensibly one of the prime landholdings in the region.
Today it confirmed a wide copper-gold zone at Moora’s ‘Mynt’ prospect with drill results including 24m at 1.9% copper and 0.7g/t gold.
This hit corresponds with a 1.5km copper-soil anomaly, a 1km long Gradient Array Induced Polarisation (GAIP) anomaly, and a magnetic high.
Drilling, surveying, and soil sampling are three tools used by explorers to dial in on big discoveries.
Having all at once, in one spot, means MI6 has a decent shot of finding something significant.
A Moving Loop Electro-Magnetic (MLEM) survey has defined a second potential conductor ~600m to the south-east, with similar characteristics. It is also coincident with a 700m long copper in soils anomaly.
Data from an ongoing project-scale, 400x400m gravity survey indicate that Mynt and the nearby ‘Angepena’ prospect are located on the margins of a major gravity high extending over 10km in length and up to 3.5km wide.
This gravity high is interpreted to be caused by a mafic/ultramafic intrusion.
“While we still have a lot of assay and other data to review and analyse, we are developing a clearer understanding of the priority areas for follow-up drilling,” MI6 managing director David Richards says.
“One is clearly the exciting new copper-gold zone delineated at the Mynt prospect, where geophysics indicates potential for a significant mineralised system.”
“The other is at Angepena, where we have now delineated significant gold mineralisation over an extensive area.”
MI6 is adopting a systematic approach to exploration, utilising the very best tools available to determine how best to unlock the broader potential of these outstanding projects, Richards says.
“Given the area was previously unexplored and is still an immature exploration terrain compared with other areas in the state, we believe the upside to be significant.”
The $123m market cap stock is flat year-to-date. It had $27m in the bank at the end of December.
HORSESHOE METALS (ASX:HOR)
It’s probably lucky HOR didn’t end up selling its flagship, fairly advanced ‘Horseshoe Lights’ copper-gold project in WA a couple of years ago, because punters seem to like it.
The stock is now up 140% on its Feb pre-relisting placement price of 2c per share.
Horseshoe Lights is ~ 60 km west of Sandfire’s (ASX:SFR) company making DeGrussa copper mine.
Past production from Horseshoe Lights includes around 316,000oz gold and 55,000t copper metal in two phases of mining. The deposit contains a current in situ resource 128,000t copper metal at 1% (ore grade) and 36,000 oz Au.
There are also a bunch of stockpiles ready to be processed.
Yesterday, it outlined plans to unlock the potential of the project, including an update of a 2014 Scoping Study considering current significantly higher copper prices.
Drilling to extend and prove up the resource is expected to kick off shortly.
AMERICAN WEST METALS (ASX:AW1)
(up on no news)
With copper prices touching record highs of US$10,000/t, AW1 is focused on increasing its copper inventory at the flagship ‘West Desert’ deposit in Utah, about 150km from Rio Tinto’s legendary Bingham Canyon mine.
Yesterday, the explorer hit 332m of strong visual copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralisation in a single hole.
Visual mineralisation stood out in nine separate intervals; significantly, most of them are located outside the known +59Mt resource.
“The fact that these zones still remain open has huge implications for the growth potential for West Desert, particularly with regard to the quality and inventory of copper and molybdenite rich ores,” managing director Dave O’Neill says.
“The technical team is justifiably excited by these results and the scale and quality of mineralisation here at West Desert.”
The $11m market cap stock is up 15% year-to-date. It had about $6.5m in the bank at the end of December.
IKWEZI MINING (ASX:IKW)
(up on no news)
Coal prices are going mental, and this small South African producer is poised to benefit.
IKW aims to ramp up its ‘Emoyeni’ wash plant throughput to 90,000t a month in the current quarter.
Wash plants improve product value.
Coal production shall also be ramped up to 100,000 tonnes a month through production from both ‘Kliprand’ and ‘Goedehoep’ pits.
The $35m market cap stock is up 28% year-to-date. It had $4.5m in the bank at the end of December.
