Shares in minerals explorer Shaw River Resources soared to their highest level in almost 17 months this week on news of a new discovery at one of its three manganese sites in the Pilbara. The miner with a market cap of about $23 million has a lot of momentum, having risen by 220 per cent over the past 2½ months. Although coming off a low base, the recent 30 per cent recovery in steel prices since March would be giving some heart to the company, given manganese is a key ingredient in steel. Hartleys, the only broker covering the stock, has a "speculative buy" rating on the stock, but it does not have a target price. Hartleys was also lead manager on the manganese explorer's recent $1.9 million placement. Iron ore mid cap Atlas Iron, which also has interests in the Pilbara region, owns 42.7 per cent of Shaw.