Resources Top 5: Gold eclipses US$2900/oz as Askari perks up on Burracoppin resource boost

With an upgraded resource and gold at record highs, Askari has investors buying in and corporates sniffing around. And plenty more goldies are up today.

Askari Metals has increased its Burracoppin gold resource by 28%. Pic: Getty Images

• Resources at Askari’s Burracoppin project have been increased by 28% to 82,700oz gold

• E79 is preparing to drill test potential extensions to its neighbour Kalgoorlie Gold Mining’s Lighthorse gold discovery

• Mt Malcolm said yesterday it is using insights from recent bulk sampling to plan drilling at Golden Crown

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Tuesday, February 11, 2025.

Askari Metals (ASX:AS2) and E79 Gold Mines (ASX:E79)

With gold futures rising 2.78% to US$2941.41/oz this morning, it is no surprise that gold plays with news out are dominating the biggest gainers and Askari and E79 have been trading places near the top for most of the day.

Askari announced a 28% increase in the resource estimate for its wholly-owned Burracoppin project to 2.14Mt grading 1.2g/t gold using a 0.55g/t cut-off, or 82,700oz of contained gold.

The upgrade includes the mineralised zones across the Benbur-Christmas Gift, Easter Gift and Lone Tree prospects.

Adding interest, it highlights the potential for further resource expansion through further drilling between Benbur-Christmas Gift and Easter Gift.

What likely resonated with investors is the company flagging that it had received significant interest for Burracoppin and that discussions are advancing with interested parties pertaining to potential transactions that will provide additional value to its shareholders.

Meanwhile, E79 has peeped over its border with Kalgoorlie Gold Mining (ASX:KAL), observing that its neighbour’s recently announced Lighthorse discovery was defined by a number of thick gold intercepts that sit close to the boundary.

It noted that hole KGAC24045 that hit 8m grading 2.29g/t gold from 60m sits just ~40m from the tenement boundary while KGAC24045 (17m at 4.81g/t gold from 48m) is ~550m away.

Importantly, the structural trends, host stratigraphy and drill targets strike towards E79’s tenements, where no drilling has been done to date.

Given this potential, the company is now planning to carry out aircore drilling to test these newly identified targets on its tenure.

“The great work done by KalGold to make the greenfields Lighthorse gold discovery is very exciting for E79 Gold, with shallow intercepts of strong gold grades in drilling so close to our tenement boundary and the two main extensions to the mineralisation interpreted by KalGold both trending onto our tenure,” E79 chief executive officer Ned Summerhayes said.

Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM)

Stepping away from gold into copper, which is still awaiting its breakout, Solis Minerals has made big gains today after identifying extensive copper porphyry mineralisation in rock and channel sampling at its Cinto project in Peru.

Notable channel assays include 23.4m at 0.88% copper and 16.83m at 0.52% copper were recovered from the project, which is just 15km southeast of the major Toquepala copper mine in Peru that has a resource of 2.1 billion tonnes at 0.47% and has production of ~200,000tpa.

Observed mineralisation appears similar to the main mineralisation styles at Toquepala.

The company noted there’s scope for scale as porphyry-style mineralisation could be present over 1.75km2 based on strong correlation of rock geochemistry and a large magnetic low geophysical anomaly, indicating widespread hydrothermal alteration.

It is now conducting an induced polarisation survey and is defining drill targets ahead of potential drilling in the second half of 2025.

South American copper porphyry discoveries tend to see big interest from junior mining investors, with AusQuest (ASX:AQD) smashing the lights out this year after a low altitude find in Peru and the larger Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) up close to 7% following the announcement of a new 'major' copper-gold porphyry at La Verde, part of its Costa Fuego project in Chile.

While they are generally lower in grade, they have the scale to underpin the sort of mines that could make a dent in looming heavy supply deficits.

READ: Hot Chili rocks out as drilling reveals potential scale of “major” La Verde copper-gold discovery

Mt Malcolm Mines (ASX:M2M)

(Up on no news)

While Mt Malcolm had no news out today, it did note yesterday that it is using insights gained from a recently completed bulk sampling excavation program to plan upcoming drilling campaigns at the Golden Crown prospect.

This work also serves to de-risk the transition to potential mining operations, ensuring a robust foundation for the next phases of development.

The latest phase of the program produced 2972g (or 95.54 ounces) of gold doré from the processing of 200 wet metric tonnes of high-grade material using wet gravity recovery at a facility managed by Blockchain Resources.

That sees a cumulative total recovery of 6780g (or 218oz) of gold doré from processing of 812wmt of high-grade material to date, which validates the effectiveness of wet gravity recovery for the coarse nature of Golden Crown mineralisation.

Golden Crown – part of the 200km2 Malcolm project to the east and northeast of Leonora – hosts a stacked, shingle-like arrangement of overlapping veins along with multiple phases of mineralisation, which highlights its potential to host significant mineralisation.

It has also contributed in the past to the region’s already prolific gold production with Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) Gwalia mine, one of Australia’s largest and deepest gold mines, sitting just 12km to the southwest.

This long history of mining also means that Golden Crown benefits from established infrastructure, including access roads and nearby processing facilities, which support development activities.

RINCON RESOURCES (ASX:RCR)

(Up on no news)

David Lenigas-chaired Rincon has previously caught the eye for its ground holding in the West Arunta region, where a major niobium and rare earths discovery by WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) inspired a land rush a couple years ago.

But as gold prices eclipse US$2900/oz and investors train their eyes on opportunities to make the kind of outsized gains only small caps deliver in the precious metals space its activities near the Telfer gold mine are pulling in the punters.

Up 70% YTD, the junior holds two deposits south of the massive Telfer gold mine – Hasties Main and Hasties Southeast – where a maiden JORC 2012 resource estimate is due by the end of February. An exploration target is going to be compiled for the two Hasties deposits, along with the Frenchman’s and Kurilli Hill prospects, as an added bonus.

There’s just about no better place to be. Greatland Gold just took over the Telfer gold mine – vintage around 50 years old – from Newmont in a US$475m deal.

It owns the high grade Havieron underground deposit, the future lynchpin of the operation.

But at under 3Mtpa and 258,000ozpa of gold on current studies, it’s got Buckley’s chance of filling the project’s 20Mtpa milling capacity.

The hungry plant is crying out for third party ore sources to stuff in its gullet, which could be fed through third party supply deals or M&A. Unlike the sprawling Newmont with its labyrinthine corporate structure, Greatland is a simple, single asset operator – it’s got impetus and the focus to invest on developing resources to optimise the tired mine’s long term future.

That’s great for nearby explorers like Rincon, also in close range to Rio Tinto and Sumitomo’s 8Moz Winu discovery elsewhere in the Pilbara’s Paterson Province.

“Now that the summer period and wet season are coming to an end in the Pilbara, Rincon is gearing up to complete some very significant work on our gold deposits just to the south of Telfer at our +200km2 Telfer South project,” Lenigas said.

“The company is aiming to release its maiden gold numbers for its Hasties gold projects. The fact that the Telfer Gold Mine lives on through Greatland Gold’s successful purchase from Newmont, makes Rincon’s Telfer projects very exciting in this rising gold price environment.

“Once this resource and target work is completed and published, we should be in a position to decide next steps for Telfer.”

RCR is also planning to begin work in the future on an MRE and exploration target at the Pokali copper project in the West Arunta.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Mt Malcolm Mines and Hot Chili are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Resources Top 5: Gold eclipses US$2900/oz as Askari perks up on Burracoppin resource boost