Resources Top 5: Vanadium hits the headlines as Mithril enjoys Mexican silver fiesta

Mithril wins the day as LiDAR surveys encounter hundreds of mine workings at Copalquin gold-silver district
Neometals rises on EU backing for vanadium tech
So does Vanadium Resources and Australian Vanadium, as they innovate the critical mineral

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade, Monday, September 16. Prices accurate at time of writing.

Vanadium Resources (ASX:VR8) and Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL)

In an exclusive deal, VR8 has partnered with China Energy International Group (CEIG) for the engineering, construction and financing of its 76.8Mt at 0.72% vanadium Steelpoortdrift project in South Africa which includes a solar plant and other services.

A partly-binding MoU, VR8 says, will pave the way for additional value-add opportunities in the energy sector as the ASX junior runs towards a financial investment decision for the project in Q3 next year.

The growing demand for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) in large-scale energy storage is expected to play a significant role in the future. So too the market for vanadium nitrogen for the development of high-quality steel, quoth the US Geological Survey.

Meanwhile, AVL has announced the successful deployment of its vanadium electrolyte tech in a vanadium flow battery (VFB sans the redox) for WA electricity retailer Horizon Power.

A 220-kilowatt-hour VFB that can produce up to 78kW of power is being installed at Horizon’s Kununurra site for acceptance testing in energy storage.

The $24.5m VR8 shot up 13.2% today on the bourse, trading at 4.3c, while AVL also went up the ranks >7% to 1.5c a share.

Neometals (ASX:NMT)

Also on the vanadium train, NMT has scored a big win after its 88%-owned European subsidiary Recycling Industries Scandinavia (RISAB) executed an agreement with EU co-funded EIT RawMaterials to support the development of its VRP1 vanadium recovery project in Finland.

EIT RawMaterials will provide $829,000 in grant funding to progress project financing and will become a minority shareholder in RISAB. It’ll also have the option to subscribe for up to a further €10m in RISAB equity at the pre-money valuation of €50m.

VRP1 is already expecting improved economics from an additional €15m conditional investment grant from the EU backed Finnish State NextGeneration fund, which could see it benefit from a potential new 20% investment tax credit in Finland.

The VRP1 feasibility study had confirmed the potential for lowest-quartile operating costs, with a low-to-negative carbon footprint. A binding offtake is in place for 100% of its vanadium pentoxide products to Glencore International, the mining and commodities trading behemoth.

“We hope to capitalise on the significant support from the Finnish State and EU and new incentives to deliver Europe’s first domestic producer of high-purity vanadium, a critical material for the production of high-strength steel, aerospace titanium alloys and stationary energy storage batteries,” NMT boss Chris Reed says.

Shares in the almost $70m-market capped junior are up a tidy 11.6%, swapping for 9.6c.

Mithril Silver and Gold (ASX:MTH)

Corona’s all ‘round for MTH after it used some snazzy LiDAR surveying tech to uncover a multitude of historical mine workings at its 70km2 mining concessions across the Copalquin gold-silver district in Durango State, Mexico.

Old school mine tunnels and prospecting pits across the site have been discovered, where digging took place from 1850 to around 1910 – generating multiple new target areas of mineralisation.

Samples from completed holes as part of an ongoing drilling campaign across the tenure have been sent for assaying, with that batch of results expected soon.

MTH already had several target areas to dig into – and has now found an additional:

Seven historical mine shafts (previously known 0)
93 historical mine tunnels (previously known ~50)
198 historical mine and prospecting pits (previously known ~30)
Two additional ‘corridors’ of historic workings across the district (now four)

MTH is also looking at listing on the TSX-V, giving it more exposure to North American investment.

Shares went through the roof on the news, up 44% at time of writing and almost 90% in a week, trading at 18c. Silver prices haven’t heard, lifting to US$31/oz this morning.

Lepidico (ASX:LPD)

The Trelavour hard rock project in Cornwall, which will employ Lepidico’s proprietary hydrometallurgical lithium processing technologies under licence, has been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (“NSIP”) by the United Kingdom government.

That’s a notable endorsement of its lithium processing tech that will run through LPD’s $17.7m demonstration plant that will process lithium mica mineralisation into battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

Commercial lithium production – manufactured far more sustainably than by conventional chemical conversion methods – is planned for 2026, subject to securing finance.

Shares in the minnow have soared 50% to trade at 0.3c.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Mithril Silver and Gold is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.