For the savvy investor, picking exploration stocks with strong projects and experienced leadership offers the opportunity to get in early on some of Australia’s most exciting battery and precious metals stories. And despite the current economic and geopolitical headwinds facing capital markets, WA-focused, ASX-listed juniors are proving there is still plenty of bang for buck in the red-hot resources sector.
BMG Resources successfully raised $2.5 million this week to fund a third drilling campaign at the Abercromby gold project near Wiluna.
Rox Resources, meanwhile, is onto a potential new discovery at the Youanmi gold project near Mt Magnet while Hastings Technology Metals, preparing for a final investment decision on its Yangibana rare earths development in the Gascoyne, is trumpeting some spectacular neodymium and praseodymium hits.
In other news:
- Lykos provides exploration update for Sinjakovo project, Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Northern Minerals hits the road in North America
- First construction blast at Hastings’ Yangibana rare earths project
- Finbar capitalises on investors’ return to WA apartment markets
- Recap: Less than two months until Diggers & Dealers
BMG (ASX: BMG) will issue 66,000,000 new shares to sophisticated and institutional investors at 3.8¢ a share, representing a 15% discount to the five-day 4.7¢ per share VWAP. Argonaut acted as lead manager on the raising and was granted 6,187,500 options exercisable at 7.5¢ each and expiring in two years.
The Perth-based company is now well-funded for exploration activities across its portfolio of WA gold projects, with the immediate focus on a third drilling campaign at Abercromby targeting the Capital prospect.
A 4,000m diamond drilling program of predominantly resource step-outs, extension holes and infill drilling will follow up the thick high-grade gold intercepts at Capital reported in late April. BMG said it had more than doubled the mineralised envelope, which remains open in all directions.
About 7,500m of air core drilling is planned to follow up regional targets to the south of Capital, where drilling will target three large gold anomalies identified by sub-audio magnetics and air core drilling.
BMG managing director Bruce McCracken said the strong support for the raising was testament to excitement building about Capital and the company’s systematic and targeted exploration program.
“Gold exploration continues at pace in Western Australia and we’re pleased to have received this strong backing from both new and existing shareholders,” he said.
“With these funds secured, we look forward to advancing the next phase of exploration across our portfolio of gold assets in WA.”
Rox (ASX: RXL), which is positioning itself to be among the next generation of Australian gold producers, has flagged another potential resource upgrade at Youanmi following a raft of encourage drilling results.
This week, the company reported results from the emerging Midway lode in the hanging-wall area of the Youanmi mine, which confirmed at least 160m of plunge continuity and remains open down dip and along strike.
Rox has delighted investors with two resources upgrades this year already, with Youanmi’s gold endowment already up to 27.9Mt at 3.57g/t for 3.2Moz.
The historic Youanmi gold mine was closed in 1997. Through the application of modern exploration techniques and mining studies Rox is putting together a robust case for a potential restart of operations.
Managing director Alex Passmore said Midway highlighted the potential for new high-grade lodes in a previously untested area and had strong potential to contribute more ounces to the overall project resource.
“We look forward to drilling out the interpreted oxide zone at surface which may contribute to the early part of mine plan,” he said.
Hastings (ASX: HAS) is also working toward an updated mineral resource, for its Yangibana project, and told investors this week that the new figure should be out in the second half of this year.
The upbeat note was based on a successful in-fill and resource definition drilling program that focusd on the Bald Hill – Simon’s Find – Fraser’s trend at Yangibana.
The first lot of assays from the drilling program confirmed strong TREO grades and, more importantly, a continuation of the exceptionally high content of neodymium and praseodymium. Known together as NdPr, these two rare earths elements are the most sought-after by the permanent magnet makers.
Hastings is finalising pre-development activities including project financing for Yangibana, which has the potential to produce up to 8% of the global projected demand for NdPr.
Hastings chief operating officer Andrew Reid said the drilling program has given the company further confidence in the potential for significant growth in the mineral resource.
“The Bald Hill – Simon’s Find – Fraser’s trend is turning into a super trend of rare earth mineralisation, with its proximity to the process plant site as critical start-up feed,” he said.
“The exceptional 50% NdPr content in the Simon’s Find results coupled with a strong rare earths price environment will possibly increase Yangibana’s ore reserves and mine life.”
