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Resources Top 5: This high-grade copper hunter has gained 410pc over the past month
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- Carnaby Resources pulls up 41m at 4.1% copper, including 9m at an eyewatering 10.3%
- Octanex (gold), Morella (lithium), Superior (copper, gold), Rubix (copper, zinc) up on no news
Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Wednesday December 29.
CARNABY RESOURCES (ASX:CNB)
We’ve had a lot of big drilling hits this year and — due to a huge backlog of assays — these results will continue to flow into the New Year, traditionally a quiet time for exploration news.
Gold-copper-lithium focused CNB was already moving into 2022 at a canter.
In December, it announced visible copper in drilling at ‘Nil Desperandum’, part of the ‘Greater Duchess’ copper-gold project in Mt Isa where it could be tickling the edges of a Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) system.
Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) — like BHP’s Olympic Dam mine or more recent Oak Dam discovery — can be tremendously large, and simple-to-process concentrations of copper, gold and other economic minerals.
Today it confirmed a “MAJOR COPPER DISCOVERY” — emphasis theirs — with a headline result of 41m at 4.1% copper, including 9m at an eyewatering 10.3% copper.
A bunch more drilling assays are pending but follow up exploration “is being rapidly escalated” with extensive IP surveys and multiple drill rigs locked in to launch January 2022.
“Nil Desperandum is shaping up as a major Iron Oxide Copper Gold discovery which is rapidly getting bigger and better at depth,” CNB managing director Rob Watkins says.
“The scale of the mineralised system we are seeing is exceptional.
“We look forward to 2022 as being an incredible ride for Carnaby shareholders as we escalate the exploration at the Greater Duchess copper gold project to a whole new level.”
Earlier this month CNB also stumbled upon a significant lithium soil anomaly at the ‘Big Hill’ project, about ~70km from the world class ‘Pilgangoora’ (ASX:PLS) and ‘Wodgina’ (ASX:MIN) mines in WA’s Pilbara region.
First pass drill testing is being planned for “as soon as practicable”.
The $141m market cap stock is up 408% over the past month. It had $5.6m in the bank at the end of September.
OCTANEX (ASX:OXX)
(Up on no news)
This sleepy explorer has a recent history of pumping hard on very little news.
It hasn’t released news of substance since mid-September, when early-stage soil sampling kicked off at the ‘Sefton ‘gold project in WA.
The aim of the program was to define gold and copper-gold anomalies for follow-up drilling, OXX says. Results are expected soon.
“Due to widespread transported cover and the deep weathering profile of the region, low values of gold and other ‘pathfinder’ elements in surface material are considered significant and may provide indications of gold in the bedrock,” the company said.
“The company considers this area highly prospective for the discovery of a major gold resource.”
The $7.1m market cap stock is down 3% over the past month. It had $384,000 in the bank at the end of September.
SUPERIOR RESOURCES (ASX:SPQ)
(Up on no news)
Like Carnaby, SPQ is tickling the edges of something significant.
The explorer is currently awaiting assay results from the ‘Bottletree’ porphyry copper-gold prospect, where December drilling hit visual copper and disseminated copper over much of a 659m-long hole.
Very promising stuff.
Together with deep drilling at Bottletree, SPQ aims to deliver up to two JORC compliant copper mineral resource estimates early in the new year; one at Wyandotte and the other at the larger ‘Cockie Creek’ copper prospect.
It is also aiming to get the small – but potentially lucrative — ‘Steam Engine’ gold project in Queensland into production.
Base-case economic modelling indicated that the project could deliver post-tax, life of mine cash flow of $24.4 million over 21 months of mining, based on an assumed gold price of $2,200 per oz.
At current prices of ~$2,500 per oz, post-tax cash flow will jump to ~$41m.
The $41m market cap stock is up 25% over the past month. It had $1.6m in the bank at the end of September.
MORELLA CORP (ASX:1MC)
(Up on no news)
The former lithium miner was tragically close to coming through the recent downturn unscathed, but it was not to be.
1MC’s current management is a slimmed down version of the Altura team which built and operated its namesake lithium project, now owned by neighbour Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS).
Coming out of 16 months in suspension 1MC now has a couple of new lithium exploration projects on the go, including ‘Mallina’ in WA’s Pilbara and the ‘Fish Lake Valley’ brines project in Nevada, USA.
The company raised about ~$8.5m prior to its relisting at 0.5c per share.
The share price is current up 160% on those levels, but down substantially on its last trading price prior to the company going into administration in October last year.
RUBIX RESOURCES (ASX:RB6)
(Up on no news)
Rubix recently joined the ASX with its flagship copper-zinc exploration asset ‘Paperbark’, 25km from the Century mine held by New Century Resources (ASX:NCZ) in North Queensland.
A long history of exploration (over 40 years) at Paperbark has generated numerous base-metal targets, but no one has been able to hit the motherlode. Yet.
Supporting Paperbark are three greenfields (unexplored) projects: ‘Etheridge’ (gold in Queensland), ‘Lake Johnston’ (nickel, copper, PGEs in WA) and ‘Collurabbie North’ (nickel, copper, PGEs in WA).
The company, which raised $4.5m in an IPO, is up marginally on its listing price of 20c per share.
