Resources Top 5: Small cap explorer rides big copper, zinc hits to 150pc gain

Greentech says big drill hits hint at bigger resource for ‘Whundo’ copper-zinc project
Byrah Resources, Pantera Minerals prep manganese drilling at respective projects
Reedy Lagoon pegs more US lithium ground

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Thursday June 16.

GREENTECH METALS (ASX:GRE)

Greentech’s got a bunch of new drill hits to ponder – like 32m @ 2.43% copper – which increases the potential for a far bigger resource at the 3.6Mt ‘Whundo’ copper-zinc project in the Pilbara region of WA.

Other notable assay results from GRE’s 25 hole, 3,800m program include:

19m @ 1.6% Cu, 2.27% Zn and 0.51g/t Au from 21m
12m @ 9.17% Zn, 2.34% Cu and 0.62g/t Au from 52m; and
8m @ 2.65% Cu, 0.64% Zn and 0.11g/t Au from 141m

This drilling confirms that the high-grade copper and zinc at Whundo persists at depth and beyond the current resource envelope, GRE says.

Then there’s the bonus gold grades of up to 3.34g/t, which accompany the higher-grade copper zones and “further enhances the potential economics of the project”.

Whundo is at the core of a much broader copper and zinc mineralised system, GRE exec director Thomas Reddicliffe says.

“Drilling has demonstrated that the mineralisation at Whundo remains open at depth and with grades persisting,” he says.

“This and the identification of two additional mineralised horizons provides further impetus for the company to build upon the known resource.”

Assay results for three additional holes drilled at Whundo, and seven holes drilled at the nearby ‘Ayshia’ deposit are expected in the coming weeks.

Once all assays are received, GRE will look to update the existing resource at Whundo/Ayshia of 3.6 Mt @ 1.2% copper and 1.4% zinc.

The $9m market cap Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) spinout is up 40% on its December IPO price of 20c per share.

It had $4m in the bank at the end of March.

REEDY LAGOON (ASX:RLC)

This lithium creature from the Reedy Lagoon has pegged 1,557sqkm of additional ground to increase the size of its new ‘Alvord’ project in Oregon, US.

The project, where RLC is targeting lithium brines associated with geothermal hot springs and playa lakes (mostly dry lake beds), was initially staked late last month.

It is 25km from the McDermitt ‘Caldera’ (ancient volcano), home to Lithium Americas Corp’s (NYSE:LAC) ‘Thacker Pass’ and Jindalee Resources’ (ASX:JRL) ‘McDermitt’ lithium clay projects.

At both deposits the primary source of lithium is the volcanic ash that has been deposited within a crater lake formed after a very large volcanic eruption and subsequent collapse of the caldera, RLC says.

The ground staked by RLC is in the outer margin of the Northern McDermitt caldera – “a favourable environment for the formation of lithium enriched brines and lithium clay deposits”.

RLC is planning geochemical sampling of geothermal water and playa lake sediments and electrical geophysical surveys.

The $9m market cap stock is down 55% year-to-date. It has about $700,000 in the bank following a recent cap raise.

BRYAH RESOURCES (ASX:BYH)

1,000m of drilling has kicked off at BYH’s ‘Bryah Basin’ manganese JV with a leading producer and refiner OM Holdings (ASX:OMH).

~$600m market cap OMH is paying ~$7m to earn 51% of the manganese rights on the project “with a view to recommencing manganese production”.

Current resources stand at 1.84 million tonnes at 21% manganese.

“Further targets generated over the Horseshoe South and Black Hill areas will be tested this week with a 1000m drill program where we have existing heritage surveys undertaken and cleared areas,” BYH CEO Ashley Jones says.

“The geological interpretation combined with the GAIP survey identified areas that could be prospective channel manganese targets.

“The strategy to target potential manganese under cover and assess new areas to reach a critical mass is aimed at restarting mining operations in the area.”

Results from a March drill program are still expected in the next month.

Globally, prices for high grade manganese are on the rise, zagging against the downward trend across metals in recent weeks.

Manganese is a key ingredient used to strengthen steel but is also finding favour as a component in lithium-ion batteries.

$9m market cap BYH is down 20% year-to-date. It had $1.6m in the bank at the end of March.

ATHENA RESOURCES (ASX:AHN)

(Up on no news)

AHN is focused on the ‘Byro’ project in WA, which includes iron ore, copper, PGE and graphite targets.

In late May, resource drilling kicked off to upgrade the old ‘FE1’ magnetite iron ore resource to JORC 2012 standards – a must have for ASX listed explorers.

Two drill rigs are onsite to complete reverse circulation (RC) pre-collars followed by diamond core through the ore body.

“This work is an important step to complete the indicated MRE and move forward to development of the Company’s FE1 Project Feasibility Study, (PFS) within 2022,” AHN says.

The $27m market cap stock – which relisted on the ASX November last year following a period in bourse purgatory — is up 190% in 2022.

It had $1.3m in the bank at the end of March.

PANTERA MINERALS (ASX:PFE)

A 1,800m drilling program is due to kick off at the ‘Hellcat’– a WA project prospective for ‘Abra’-like lead-silver deposits.

The program will test high priority gravity targets and modelled Electromagnetic (EM) conductors, PFE says.

Speaking to Stockhead, PFE CEO Matt Hansen said Hellcat is probably the best undrilled target around at the moment, and has the potential to be a company maker.

The explorer is also preparing to kick off drilling at its ‘Weelarrana’ manganese project in early or mid-July.

$7m market cap PFE is down 20% year-to-date. It had $5.8m in the bank at the end of March.