• Vulcan Energy’s Norway projects have been rolled into spinout Kuniko, which listed today at 20c per share
  • Coal play African Energy Resources pivots strongly into copper
  • Nickel discovery “confirmed”, says WA explorer Toro

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in early trade, Tuesday August 24.

 

KUNIKO (ASX:KNI)

Before it became the gargantuan lithium stock people know and love, Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) was a base metals explorer called Koppar Resources.

Its Norway projects have been rolled into spinout Kuniko, which listed today at 20c per share.

Like Vulcan, Kuniko wants to maintain a ‘net zero’ carbon footprint throughout exploration, development and production.

This part of Norway is known for its historically important copper and Nickel production, Kuniko says.

The tenements include the historically mined, Karmøy copper-zinc volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VMS) deposits and the Feøy nickel-copper PGE deposits.

In its day (c.1880), the 45 historic mines around (and including) Karmøy was an important source of base metals production. Mining ceased in 1972, but Kuniko believes there is a lot more to find here.

$4.15m has been budgeted for exploration across the extensive project portfolio over the next 2 years.

 

AMERICAN RARE EARTHS (ASX:ARR)

(Up on no news)

Rare earths markets are looking very, very healthy.

$51m market cap ARR is up 250% over the past year as the critical minerals thematic picks up a head of steam.

Last week, it announced a massive 216% increase in total rare earth elements (TREE) grade and a 90% hike in scandium grade during preliminary testwork at the ‘La Paz’ project in Arizona.

This follows a 117% increase in indicated resources.

Mineralisation remains open, ARR says, so there are opportunities to increase resources further.

 

AFRICAN ENERGY RESOURCES (ASX:AFR)

(Up on no news)

The coal play has pivoted strongly into copper, paying decent coin to earn into Canterbury Resources’ (ASX:CBY) ‘Briggs’ copper project in QLD and applying for more exploration ground in the Northern Territory.

AFR will have the right to earn up to a 70% in Briggs through staged exploration spending of $15.25m over nine years.

AFR will also subscribe for 8,333,333 Canterbury shares at 12c each —- an ~18% premium to the 15-day VWAP —- raising $1 million.

Canterbury has been actively exploring in the area since 2017 since it acquired the tenements from major miner Rio Tinto.

Exploration has to date focussed on the ‘Central Porphyry’ zone at Briggs, where a significant drilling campaign during 2019 outlined a large-scale, low-grade copper resource estimated as 142.8Mt at 0.29%.

Exploration activity proposed during AFR’s initial option phase includes a ~3,000m drilling program, scheduled to kick off in September.

$17m AFR is up 60% over the past month.

 

92 ENERGY (ASX:92E)

(Up on no news)

The freshly listed uranium explorer wants to unlock the potential of its tenements in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, just 11km from Cigar Lake — one of the world’s largest and highest-grade uranium deposits.

A recent survey over its Tower and Gemini projects has identified multiple prospective conductors that are prospective for high-grade, unconformity-type uranium.

Unconformity-type uranium deposits such as Cigar Lake and McArthur River are some of the largest and richest deposits globally.

Drill targeting over Tower and the northern portion of Gemini will commence upon receipt of the final processed geophysical data sets, the company says.

The $10.5m market cap stock is up 30% on its IPO price of 20c per share.

 

TORO ENERGY (ASX:TOE)

Nickel discovery “confirmed”, says WA explorer Toro.

Geochemical assays now ratify the discovery of semi-massive nickel sulphides at ‘Dusty 2’ – about 400m from the massive nickel sulphides discovered at Dusty 1– within the company’s Dusty project.

The highlight result was 3.05m at 1.59% nickel, 0.06% cobalt, 0.07% copper and 0.34g/t platinum and palladium (from 296m.

This included a 0.25m slice grading 5.85% nickel, 0.2% cobalt, 0.06% copper and 0.32g/t palladium/platinum.

“The fact that semi-massive nickel sulphides have been intersected 400m away from the original massive sulphide discovery at Dusty strongly suggests that the fertility of the Dusty Komatiite for nickel sulphide mineralisation may be widespread along its length and at the very least, not localised to the original Dusty location,” TOE says.

“Airborne magnetic data suggests the Dusty Komatiite has a total strike length of at least 7.5km, all within Toro’s 100% owned Dusty nickel project.”

TOE’s ‘Wiluna’ uranium project is also one of WA’s only advanced uranium projects with environmental approval from the state and federal governments.

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