Resources Top 5: RTG Mining graduates from explorer to gold producer

RTG Mining welcomes strategic partnership between associate company Mt. Labo and Glencore
TG Metals acquires 80% stake in gold project
Augustus Minerals up on rock chip results returning high-grade gold

Your standout small-cap resources stocks on Thursday, March 9, 2025.

RTG Mining (ASX:RTG)

RTG Mining is moving from explorer and developer status to producer at the 40%-owned Mabilo project following a binding finance and offtake deal with Philippines-based associate company, Mt. Labo Exploration and Development, and Glencore International AG.

The secured financing facility will provide up to $30m for the development of Stage 1 works at the Mabilo copper-gold project, which is expected to mine up to 100,000t of supergene chalcocite at a copper reserve grade of 21%.

RTG CEO Justine Magee said demand for the product is strong, which should allow the company to internally fund its equity contribution for Stage 2 as well as commit to drilling to identify the porphyry source.

That would be a gamechanger for the scale and value of the project, she said.

Copper futures climbed more than 5% to above $4.76 per pound on Wednesday, testing their highest in nine months after US President Trump stated that the country would tariff copper imports.

Gold prices hovered around $2,900 per ounce on Wednesday, remaining close to record levels, supported by a weaker US dollar and safe-haven demand amid the implementation of US tariffs.

“As we enter this important phase, RTG remains very well positioned to capitalise on consensus views of strong and improving forecasts for copper and gold prices,” Magee said.

“We believe this is a key milestone that will clearly demonstrate the value of the Mabilo Project, and we are excited to be moving the Project through to operations.”

TG Metals (ASX:TG6)

TG6 has acquired an 80% stake in the Van Uden gold project, adding four granted mining leases to its portfolio on the Forrestania greenstone belt, about 90km northeast of Hyden.

The project is strategically located to the south of the operating Marvel Loch gold processing plant and to the north of TG6’s established Burmeister lithium deposit, where an exploration target of 15.6Mt to 20.1Mt grading 0.97% Li2O and 1.19% Li2O resides.

TG6 CEO David Selfe said the acquisition provides the company with opportunities for near term cash flow, at a time of record prices for gold.

“The Van Uden Gold Project has historically only been subject to shallow drilling, providing enormous exploration upside through testing the known mineralisation down dip along its entire plus 2,000m strike length,” he said.

“There are several near-term high priority opportunities, including defining a JORC mineral resource estimate from the extensive historical database, and assessing the viability of existing ore stockpiles for toll treatment.”

Lithchfield Minerals (ASX:LMS)

(Up on no news)

An induced polarisation survey in the NT has confirmed the presence of two major, sub parallel chargeability anomalies across the Oonagalabi project that haven’t been tested by historical drilling.

The discovery presents a compelling opportunity to define a higher-grade zone within the system, where it previously reported indicators of copper, zinc, lead, silver, gold and associated critical minerals.

It has encouraged Litchfield to undertake a 2000m drilling campaign with Bullion Drilling in March to test the theory that Oonagalabi may be part of a large skarn system.

Augustus Minerals (ASX:AUG)

Rock chip samples at the company’s Music Well project near Leonora, Western Australia, have delivered more high-grade gold assays.

Samples collected from the Clifton East prospect returned results such as 29/8g/t and 9.83g/t gold, supporting rock chips collected in December that had returned results of up to 50.3g/t gold.

Taken together, they define a 700m-long east-northeast trend of gold anomalism comprised of multiple quartz veins coincident with an interpreted shear zone.

Over at the St Patrick’s Well prospect, which is part of a 5km by 2km target zone defined by historical rotary air blast drilling bottom of hole anomalies, rock chips grading up to 21.7g/t gold increased the mineralised outcrop strike to 300m.

Meanwhile rock chips collected in the new Midway, the Western Terrace-Hematite and Teutonic prospects returned assays of 11.2g/t, 7.57g/t and 4.08g/t gold respectively.

“The extension of the mineralisation footprint at Clifton East and St Patrick’s Well to 700m and 300m respectively continues to enhance the potential of this underexplored granitoid terrain located between two major mineralised structures,” general manager exploration Andrew Ford said.

“Other regional targets such as Teutonic East, Midway and Western Terraces/Hematite demonstrate the potential to add multiple new prospects to the project pipeline with further on-ground exploration.”

AUG is continuing geological mapping and sampling over these targets as well as the new SensOre targets. It is also planning to carry out aircore and reverse circulation drilling.

The 1345km2 Music Well project is near several operating gold mines including Darlot (~12km to the north), King of the Hills (~20km to the west), the Leonora Gold Camp (~30km to the southwest) and Thunderbox (~20km to the west).

Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA)

Maronan Metals has received further results from 2024 drilling which have reinforced the strong continuity of wide silver-lead mineralisation zones at the QLD asset, about 65km south of Cloncurry.

Continuous lodes of copper and gold mineralisation are also emerging within the shallow Starter Zone that may be early mining options following standout hits of 11m at 0.51% copper and 2.26g/t gold including 1m at 0.72% copper and 19.8g/t gold.

MMA managing director Richard Carlton said the program will build on the maiden 2.1Mt indicated resource at 5.3% lead and 155g/t silver declared about a year ago.

“We now look forward to receiving the last of the assay results and updating the resource model over the coming months, which should facilitate the publication of preliminary mining studies on the Starter Zone,” he said.

“The momentum towards being ‘mine ready’ continues.”

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