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Resources Top 5: Sun shines on Mithril in Mexico and the US wants WA graphite
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- A holiday invite to Mexico has won over a new cornerstone investor for Mithril’s gold mining dreams
- Stalled construction isn’t stopping a certain budding Potash producer from gains
- Rox rises as a crucial pre-feasibility study for Youanmi looms
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade, Wednesday June 26.
Mithril Resources (ASX:MTH)
It seems like there’s nothing like a site visit in Mexico to get the funds flowing as Mithril has just found out, after announcing a successful $3.7m cap raise at 20c/share – a whopping 29% premium to the last trade no less – for exploration at its Copalquin gold project in Mexico.
$2m-worth of that is being poured in by new cornerstone investor Jupiter Gold and Silver Fund – a London-based asset manager, which has held shares in De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) since 2020 and visited Copalquin last year.
A 4,000m drill program is currently underway and the extra funding, Mithril says, will allow drilling to continue to the end of 2024 for an additional 5,000m at the project’s El Refugio-La Soledad target.
“In October 2023, we hosted Jupiter on a site visit at Copalquin and they obviously liked what they saw, given this $2m, or ~10% investment in Mithril,” CEO John Skeet says.
“The additional funding allows Mithril to continue drilling at Copalquin throughout the remainder of 2024, placing us on track to update the high-grade resource at the Target 1 area in Q1 2025, aiming for 2x current Target 1 resource, and to test adjacent targets.”
Shares were up over 25% early doors today, trading at 19.5c.
Rox Resources (ASX:RXL)
(Up on no news)
Gold hunter Rox rattled the tin back in April and raised $3.9m to fund the next stage of exploration at its flagship 2.3Moz at 4.4g/t gold Youanmi project in WA, at a 26.7% discount to the then 5-day VWAP at 16.5c per share.
It’s almost completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) and has been using the funds for metallurgical studies and growth of the project, which has considerable exploration upside.
Those studies showed gold was recoverable up to 96% via flotation testwork that was focused on the fresh sulphide portion of the resource.
“Engineering works are well advanced with detailed estimates for opex and capex due by the end of June, which will allow for PFS completion by the end of July,” Rox MD Rob Ryan says.
“The PFS will provide investors with a clear line of sight towards the development of one of Australia’s highest grade new gold projects.”
Shares in the $55m market-capped Rox were up 12.5% in early trade.
Kore Potash (ASX:KP2)
(Up on recent news)
What seems like bad news released to the market a couple of days ago has not deterred investors from pouring in to Kore Potash, as the African explorer looks to construct its Kola and DX Potash projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Kore reckons its DX sylvinite potash project is a candidate for one of the world’s highest grade projects of its kind, with between 57-60% potassium chloride (KCI).
Yet it’s the much larger 508Mt at 35.4% KCI Kola project that the explorer wants to get developing.
It’s just had a tiff regarding an EPC contract with contractor PowerChina for the construction of Kola and says the two parties are going to meet in either Beijing or Dubai to eke out an agreement early next month.
And Kore says it will also be looking to raise funds for the capital requirements necessary to get construction underway.
Potash is in high demand, especially in growing agricultural regions such as Central Africa, where it’s used for fertiliser.
Don’t just take this Stockhead’s word for it though, have a gander at this nifty graphic that BHP dollied up in back May this year instead:
Makes sense, right? Could be a potential fertiliser wave on the horizon.
Something’s stewing anyway, because the penny stock has tripled in value since mid-April, inclusive of a further 20% today to be trading at 3c per share.
International Graphite (ASX:IG6)
Those who say mining companies are wasting investor money by taking paid holidays under the guise of hitting the conference circuit should turn their attention to International Graphite’s latest move.
Presenting at the SelectUSA conference in Washington DC, IG6 went spruiking its WA graphite projects and it seems like people like what they hear, as the $13m stock minnow has shot up over 18% in early trade today.
The company is developing its Springdale graphite project, which includes downstream processing facilities that the WA Government has lobbed support to with a $6.5m grant.
The $76m Springdale mine and concentrator is pegged to produce an average of 45,000tpa of graphite concentrate from a feed grade of 9.5% total graphite content (TGC) for the first 15 years.
It’s got drill rigs on site to help progress feasibility studies at the moment and is working towards a final investment decision.
Mayur Resources (ASX:MRL)
After receiving a $US50m non-binding commitment from investor ACAM to develop its Central Lime project in Papua New Guinea, Mayur Resources’ shares are going up like a rocket, shooting up over 8% in early trade and up 5c since June 11.
It’s also raising $5m through a share placement, which will help fund Stage 2 and part of Stage 3 wharf facilities as it eyes early cashflow from limestone production this year.
“The $5m share placement with existing sophisticated investors will be integral to our Central Lime project, ensuring that the early construction works can continue for the benefit of the ongoing development of the project with the aim of producing early cash flow revenues in late 2024,” MRL chair Richard Pegum says.
Mayur aims to penetrate the domestic and nearby export markets in the region and expects to create more than $1bn in revenue over the project’s 30-year lifespan.
The company says that when constructed, the co-located quarry, plant site and deep draft wharf will enable scalable production of high-grade limestone, aggregates and lime products at low operating costs within the first quartile of the global cost curve.
Shares in the $88m market-capped junior are trading at 23c per share.
At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Mithril is a Stockhead advertiser at the time of writing, it did not sponsor this article.
