• 2024 was a year of (in some cases face-melting) gains for these 100 resources stocks
  • Petratherm had an impressive rise following its titanium discovery at Muckanippie
  • Larvotto Resources wasn’t too far behind, in line with antimony’s ascent 

 

In a tough market that saw most explorers struggle and trail larger mining companies, many small-caps still generated remarkable gains, with a NSW antimony play achieving near 10-bagger status in 2024 following its purchase of the Hillgrove mine.

Described by some as the ‘deal of the year’, the acquisition not only gave Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV) 100% ownership of an advanced asset but it set the scene for a number of catalysts that would see the company’s share price climb over 800% at its peak.

(Note: As of December 31, LRV looks to be finishing 2024 with a still-very-impressive yearly gain of about 614%.)

The 668,000 ounce gold and 67,000 tonne antimony project Hillgrove was previously owned by Red River Resources, which was in the process of bringing the project into production when an underground collapse at the Thalanga mine near Charters Towers in Queensland led the company into administration.

“It was easily the hardest deal I’ve ever done,” LRV managing director Ron Heeks told Stockhead.

“It took us nine months, but we eventually ended up with a project as well as $250 million worth of plant, $150 million worth of underground development and Australia’s largest antimony resource with a lot of high-grade gold thrown in.”

Larvotto purchased the mine in October 2023 when prices for the critical mineral were at a healthy US$9000/t.

 

Antimony prices go berserk

Less than a year later, China banned antimony exports in a move seen to purposefully stifle its use in things like military tech, battery technologies, and semiconductors as well as protect the Middle Kingdom’s national security.

Prices went absolutely gangbusters in August this year, soaring fourfold to US$40,000/t or AUD$62,000/t.

“The ban happened just after we released our PFS and I’ve never seen so many planets align so quickly in my career to be honest,” Heeks said.

“I may have finally cracked it for being in the spot at the right time after 40 years in the industry.”

With $45m in the bank following a successful $30m equity raise and a signed offtake deal with London metals trader Wogen Resources, Larvotto will be heading into the new year cashed up and focused on finalising a definitive feasibility study, increasing drill rigs on site from two to five, and carrying out pre-development activities.

 

Top 100 ASX resources for 2024 (to Dec 1) >>>

These prices were taken on December 1, 2024.

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Petratherm (+814% YTD as of Dec 31) stuns with titanium discovery

Another star performer for the year was titanium explorer Petratherm (ASX:PTR), which emerged from a trading halt in November with impressive metallurgical test results of samples from its Muckanippie heavy mineral sand (HMS) project in South Australia.

Laboratory analysis of samples at the Rosewood prospect identified high titanium mineral content of ~65% titanium oxide along with other high-value minerals like rutile.

Drilling quickly followed, confirming a major heavy mineral sand discovery with results including 22m at 19.1%HM from 8m, 17m at 9.7% from 6m and 11m at 10% from 6m – sending the company’s share price from 2c pre-discovery to above 30c, valuing it at $100m.

Listed on the critical minerals list for Australia, US and the EU, titanium is used in electric vehicles, battery storage, and wind turbines and can be used as an alloy in steel for military aircraft due to its excellent corrosion resistance and ability to sustain high temperatures.

While it has been a particularly tough year for junior explorers, PTR managing director Peter Reid told Stockhead the company has navigated the challenging times with a strong project portfolio.

“The market has recognised this value,” he said.

“The discovery of high grade heavy mineral sands at Rosewood over wide intervals from shallow depths, and over a large area which remains open, garnered a strong market response and we confident we have a real discovery with significant upside potential.

“With each piece of new geological information, a better understanding of its prospectivity was gained,” Reid added.

“We are keen to maintain our momentum at Muckanippie and anticipate a busy start to 2025 with the company beginning further exploration drilling and ore characterisation studies at Rosewood early in the new year.”

 

Other standout performers

Chilwa Minerals (ASX:CHW) +317%, as of Dec 31

Malawi-based mineral sands and rare earth explorer explorer Chilwa Minerals ticked off several key milestones throughout the year including successfully raising $6m via private placement, expanding its mineral sands sonic drilling from 17,000m to 30,000m and acquiring the sample preparation laboratory in southern Malawi to expedite the processing of drill samples ahead of a mineral resource upgrade in Q2 2025.

The resource update will be for the Central Zone prospects, namely Mposa, Mpyupyu, Bimbi and Namasalima within the Lake Chilwa project.

Chilwa intends to use the planned updated mineral resource estimate from the Central Zone prospects to form the basis for a scoping study in 2025.

If the results are positive, the company is considering moving directly to the feasibility study phase for the Central Zone prospects.

 

Labyrinth Resources (ASX:LRL) +407%, as of Dec 31

It’s been a busy year Labyrinth, which has taken the tried and tested approach of looking for new gold mines beneath old ones following its collection of newly acquired projects in WA’s historic Goldfields from a subsidiary of Olympio Metals (ASX:OLY).

Not long after that, the company acquired two mining leases from Genesis subsidiary Admiral Gold in a deal worth $4.75m, consolidating its footprint in the Mulwarrie region with the namesake ‘Mulwarrie’ project – only 55km from Comet Vale – having received no drilling since early 2019 by Bardoc Gold.

That acquisition saw Genesis become a strategic substantial holder in the company.

Labyrinth plans to carry out drilling on Mulwarrie in the year.

 

Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) +290%, as of Dec 31

Another NSW antimony hunter, Trigg will be rounding out 2024 with a significant bump to its resource estimate.

The Wild Cattle Creek deposit at its Achilles project has jumped 92% in resoruces to 1.52Mt at 1.97% sb, containing 29,902t of antimony.

That’s nearly double the 2013 estimate of 0.6Mt at 2.56% Sb, containing 15,600t of antimony.

Trigg Minerals’ (ASX:TMG) Wild Cattle Creek is the second largest antimony deposit in the state. It hosts mineralisation comparable to Larvotto Resources’ (ASX:LRV) nearby 7.23 Mt at 4.5g/t gold and 1.2% antimony Hillgrove antimony-gold deposit, and is shaping up as a significant antimony deposit with high-grade and high tonnage potential.

The project also has some solid growth potential with high-grade shoots that remain open either downdip or along strike, and it’s only been drilled to 100m depth, remaining open down plunge and along strike.

The resource does not include tungsten and gold, which will be evaluated in a future update, suggesting more upside is waiting in the wings.

 

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Petratherm and Trigg Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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