Resources Top 5: White Cliff turns heads with ‘globally significant’ copper hit in Canada

• White Cliff Minerals has returned 175m at 2.5% copper from 7.6m at its Rae copper project in Canada
• Planning is underway by Albion Resources for maiden drilling expected in June
• Hydrogen concentrations up to 96.1% have been confirmed at the Nemaha project in Kansas

Your standout resources stocks for Tuesday, May 6, 2025

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN)

Assays from RC drilling have turned plenty of heads and flagged a globally significant copper intersection for White Cliff Minerals of 175m at 2.5% copper from 7.6m at its Rae copper project in Canada, with investors driving shares as much as 52.2% higher to 3.5c.

As well as representing a high of almost seven years, more than 462m shares changed hands valued at almost $14m and WCN was one of the best performers among ASX small cap stocks.

The Rae project is home to a number of historical non-JORC and ‘blue sky’ resource estimates, as well as up to 64.02% copper from rock chip assays indicating widespread outcropping copper throughout the 805km2 licensed area.

It represents a district-scale opportunity at the pre-discovery stage, underpinned by the presence of high-grade volcanic-hosted copper-silver lodes and the prospect of a large tonnage sedimentary hosted copper deposit.

New assay results have confirmed and validated the company’s strategy to explore previously untested high-grade zones and vertical depth extension of mineralisation at the Danvers deposit.

Highlights from hole DAN25008 include 175m at 2.5% copper and 8.66g/t silver from 7.6m, including 14m at 7.55% copper and 25.8g/t silver from 138m.

Significantly, the last 60m of the hole averaged 3.9% copper and 14.96g/t silver to final depth of 182.88m and the hole ended in mineralisation with the last 1.5m sample recording 4.46% copper and 11.58g/t silver, open at depth.

Another hole, DAN25001, returned 52m at 1.16% copper and 3.43g/t silver from surface, including 7.6m at 3% copper and 9.5g/t silver from 18.28m.

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) said the drilling demonstrated the potential for significant expansion to the historical non-compliant resource, with the data to feed into a maiden JORC 2012-compliant mineral resource.

“We believe this drill hole [DAN25008] ranks among the most significant copper intersections globally within the last 50 years and comfortably sits within the top 10 globally reported ‘grade-metre’ copper results,” WCN managing director Troy Whittaker said.

“With our work updating the geological understanding at Danvers, we adapted our drill targets and DAN25008 resulted in mineralisation at least 30 metres below historical limits, with the hole terminating in high-grade copper mineralisation – suggesting considerable additional potential at depth.

“The increase in grade toward the bottom of the hole is encouraging and is validation of our methodology.

“To illustrate the magnitude of this result, the DAN25001 intercept of 52m at 1.2% copper – a strong result in its own right – now appears modest when viewed alongside the 175m at 2.5% copper from DAN25008.

“In the context of global copper supply constraints, the company is well positioned to leverage these results with mineralisation from surface, supporting potential open pit mining activities and an open water port less than 80km from the deposit.”

Follow up diamond drilling is being planned to drill out the mineralisation boundaries at Danvers, while the next five assays along strike from DAN25008 are due in the coming weeks.

Albion Resources (ASX:ALB)

Albion Resources has received a shot in the arm ahead of upcoming drilling as it hopes to unearth a major greenfields discovery at the West Yilgarn project in WA’s Yandal gold province with shares as much as 9.2% higher to 6c.

A dipole-dipole induced polarisation survey has identified two high-priority targets at the underexplored project.

Chargeability anomalies at Collavilla East and West begin near surface and extend to at least 300m, suggesting Albion Resources (ASX:ALB) has the potential to find something of significant scale close to surface in the historically significant WA gold district.

Historical rock chip sampling provides evidence of the presence of precious metals with assays ranging up to 23.3g/t and 0.6g/t, while Collavilla East sits beneath a 70m gold-bearing quartz reef mapped in 1983 by Northpac Exploration which graded up to 6g/t in parts.

Also providing strong encouragement is the deep resistivity feature that suggests an intrusive source beneath both prospects. That is the kind of geological feature key to the most recent large gold finds in WA, the 11.2Moz Hemi and 6Moz Gruyere.

There’s more to come before drilling takes place. Soil assays are on their way, with onsite ground truthing and rock chip sampling due in mid-May and heritage surveys and approvals anticipated for Yandal West in late-May. 

Drill targets will then be prioritised ahead of the maiden campaign expected in June.

“We’re very excited by the latest DDIP results, which have delivered high-priority, walk-up drill targets at Collavilla East and West,” Albion CEO Peter Goh said.

“The combination of strong geophysical anomalies, historical high-grade rock chips, and the presence of a mapped gold-bearing reef gives us real confidence in the potential of the system. The team is energised as we move toward our maiden drill campaign at Yandal West.”

Located in the Yandal Greenstone Belt, ALB holds 61km2 of ground 55km north of Northern Star’s Bronzewing gold mine and 60km south of its Jundee gold mine, a multi-million ounce province producing around 300,000ozpa. 

The region is, however, remote and remains underexplored as underlined by the success of neighbour Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL), which drew serious investor interest last year with the Siona gold discovery 20km southeast of Yandal West – 107m at 1g/t Au from 96m to end of hole.

The upcoming drill program could not be better timed, with gold prices sitting at better than US$3300/oz and more than $5000/oz in Aussie dollar terms.

HyTerra Limited (ASX:HYT)

Strong progress is being made by HyTerra at the Nemaha hydrogen and helium project in Kansas and this is being rewarded with an increase in shares of 14.71% to a daily high of 3.9c. 

Laboratory analysis has confirmed hydrogen concentrations up to 96.1% within mud samples recovered from the Sue Duroche-3 well.

The results validate historical occurrences of up to 92% hydrogen measured in the Sue Duroche-2 well that was drilled in 2009 while the mud log readings at various depths indicate the presence of a hydrogen play in this area.

Adding further interest for Fortescue-backed HyTerra (ASX:HYT), elevated helium readings were also visible on the mud gas logs while drilling into the Pre-Cambrian basement.

Corresponding samples are included in the remaining mud gas samples being sent to independent laboratories for verification and quantification.

Sue Duroche-3 was drilled to a total depth of 3453ft (1052m) on time and on budget with the company planning a re-entry of the wellbore for downhole sampling and gas monitoring.

“To achieve some of the highest hydrogen concentrations ever seen in our first well is a great start,” executive director Benjamin Mee said. 

“The company is looking forward to receiving the rest of the gas sample results from the labs. 

“We are also pleased to see strong collaboration between HyTerra and local contractors to ensure efficient, safe delivery but also have the conviction to trial new techniques that will keep HyTerra at the forefront for unlocking natural hydrogen potential adjacent to markets.”

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1)

Phase 1 metallurgical testwork is set to begin at the Maverick Springs silver-gold asset in Nevada, US, as Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) aims to enhance recoveries and fine-tune processing strategies. 

Armed with a metallurgical review by SGS’s Independent Metallurgical Operations, which confirmed the project’s silver and gold recovery potential and identified opportunities to enhance processing efficiency, the company hopes tests will support the ongoing advancement of Maverick Springs. 

Previous testing by Newmont (2002), Vista Gold and Silver Standard Resources (2004, 2006) reinforced the recovery potential at Maverick Springs with outcomes including: 

• Fine particle cyanide leach tests achieved silver recoveries up to 97.5% (2004) and 90.5% (2006), with gold recoveries up to 91.1% (2004) and 95.8%; 
• Identified that higher cyanide dosages significantly improved silver extraction efficiency; and 
• While flotation testing varied considerably, silver recoveries up to 83.7% were delivered with potential for further improvement through enhanced reagent selection and retention time adjustments.

SS1 recently upgraded the resource at its flagship Maverick Springs project by 57Moz silver equivalent to 480Moz at 68.29g/t AgEq. 

This increase was driven by the 2024 drill campaign, which comprised ~7,500 metres of drilling for a total cost of $3.3 million – equating to a discovery cost of $0.058 per silver equivalent ounce.

New resource modelling has also highlighted the potential for extensive mineralisation at- or near-surface in the southern part of the deposit, opening up new development opportunities and enhancing future production potential. 

Shares have reached 70c, an 8.6% increase on the company’s previous close.

Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR)

Enjoying a bullish run is Dateline Resources which has risen from 0.9c on May 2 to 3.8c on May 6 topped off with a 73% lift from Monday’s close and with more than 369m shares changing hands.

The latest push comes after the company on Monday said that preparations were underway ahead of a rare earth elements focused drilling campaign at the Colosseum Mine in California.

A detailed drilling plan will be finalised within one month and drilling contractor quotations will be sought immediately after.

Colosseum Mine is in San Bernardino County just a few miles north of the world-class Mountain Pass rare earth mine, positioning it in a highly prospective REE region. 

Renowned REE geologists Dr Anthony Mariano and Tony Mariano have confirmed their availability to lead, design and guide the company’s REE exploration program.

The REE program will be carried out contemporaneously with DTR’s planned gold feasibility study at Colosseum.

“The commencement of drilling preparations at Colosseum marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Dateline,” managing director Stephen Baghdadi said.

“We have built a strong foundation over the past three years, mapping rare-earth-rich fenites over considerable distances and pinpointing compelling targets with our gravity survey. 

“Now, with drill planning being finalised, we are eager to test the potential of what could be a very significant rare earth system. 

“It’s especially gratifying to launch this program with the wind at our backs: we have the world’s foremost rare earth experts guiding our exploration, and we’ve received clear confirmation from the US Government that we can pursue these development and funding opportunities fully.”

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While White Cliff Minerals, Albion Resources, HyTerra and Sun Silver are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.