Resources Top 5: Silent achiever silver sparkles while gold steals headlines

Gold has been grabbing the headlines as it ventures above the US$3000/oz mark, but the quiet achievers have been silver stocks.

Silver continues to shimmer despite big brother gold stealing all the limelight. Pic: Getty Images

• Sun Silver will start its 2025 drilling program next month at the Maverick Springs project

• A new 2km-long target with links to outcropping veins has been identified by Andean Silver at the Cerro Bayo project

• Prominent metals trader Traxys has signed a binding offtake agreement with Arafura Rare Earths

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Thursday, March 20, 2025.

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1)

On the precious metals front, gold has been grabbing the headlines, as usual, as it ventures into territory above the US$3000/oz mark but the quiet achiever silver is also shining, having gone past US$34/oz early this week.

After reaching that mark, silver has stagnated, sitting just below US$34, indicating that neither buyers nor sellers are in charge.

Prices have surged more than 14% this year, supported by gold's record run, safe-haven demand and strong industrial usage due to silver's essential role in electronics manufacturing and renewable energy technologies.

IG’s chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said it had outpaced many other commodities and was attracting increased attention from traders and investors.

A pattern of several pushes higher followed by periods of consolidation suggested sustainable momentum rather than speculative excess, he said, potentially indicating further upside if supportive factors remained in place.

Beauchamp said renewable energy represented a particularly significant source of silver demand. Photovoltaic solar panels use substantial amounts of silver and each panel contains about 20g of the metal. As solar installation accelerates, this represents a structural growth driver.

Electronics manufacturing was also a key silver consumer in applications ranging from smartphones and tablets to automotive electronic systems, the analyst said. Ongoing electrification of transportation and expansion of 5G networks had increased silver usage in these sectors.

The medical industry provided another source of growing demand, as silver's antimicrobial properties made it valuable in various healthcare applications. From wound dressings to medical device coatings, silver's characteristics had supported consistent demand from the sector, he said.

One ASX-listed silver explorer making noise in the sector is Sun Silver with its Maverick Springs silver and gold project in the US ‘Silver State’ of Nevada, a long-time silver production powerhouse.

After last year establishing the largest primary silver resource on the Australian exchange of 423Moz grading 67.25g/t silver equivalent, SS1 has been developing exploration plans to identify more silver and gold resources.

The company has contracted Alford Drilling for its 2025 drill program starting next month to follow-up 2024 maiden drilling which returned intercepts of up to 1249g/t silver equivalent.

Infill drilling will seek to upgrade the inferred resource to the higher confidence indicated category extensional drilling to test high-priority step-out targets to expand the resource base to the northwest and extensional drilling will test high-priority step-out targets to expand the resource base to the northwest.

The current resource excludes data from 2024 drilling, which returned results of 110m grading 109g/t AgEq and 102.11m at 111g/t AgEq with a separate resource upgrade expected shortly.

SS1 shares have risen 10.69% to a daily high of 72.5c on the back of the drilling and silver’s strength.

Silver Mines (ASX:SVL)

(Up on no news)

Another silver explorer trading higher on the bourse is Silver Mines, which is up 7.15% to 10.5c.

The company holds the pre-development Bowdens silver project in Central West NSW where a resource of 128Mt at 40g/t silver, which is equivalent to 275Moz, has been established. There is also zinc and lead.

A proven and probable ore reserve of 29.9Mt at 69g/t Ag, 0.44% Zn and 0.32% Pb has also been estimated. 

Bowdens is the largest undeveloped silver deposit in Australia with substantial resources and a considerable body of technical work has been completed.

While the company works through the permitting process at Bowdens, it has started a drilling program at its highly prospective Elsienora gold, silver and barium project southwest of Bowdens. 

A 1700m diamond drilling program is targeting the Picker, Barite and Elsienora prospects at the project next to Silver Mines’ Tuena gold project and 60km south of Regis Resources’ McPhillamys gold deposit, one of Australia’s largest undeveloped open-pit gold resources.

Elsieniora is prospective for a volcanogenic massive sulphide style, which is analogous to McPhillamys.

“We are very excited to be commencing a diamond-drilling program at this highly prospective gold project. Historical results from previous explorers have firmed up the prospectivity and conceptualised correctly the potential for McPhillamys-style gold mineralisation," Silver Mines CEO Jo Battershill said. 

“In our view, however, the historic drilling didn’t fully test the concept and our initial diamond drilling program should fill in some of those knowledge gaps.

"The extensive, and highly prospective, Godolphin-Copperhannia Fault corridor remains vastly underexplored, and Silver Mines holds a commanding exploration package across this structure.

“Progressing Bowdens this year is obviously our key focus but we also look forward to updating the market as the drill program progresses.”

Andean Silver (ASX:ASL)

IG’s Chris Beauchamp said several technical analysts had projected that if silver broke through the $35.40 resistance level on sustained volume, the next target could be the $38-40 range by mid-2025. 

Andean Silver has also been buoyed by higher silver prices and indications of future price strength and shares have been as much as 3.4% higher to $1.22 after a new 2km-long target with links to outcropping veins was identified at the Cerro Bayo silver and gold project in Chile.

This is the latest in a growing pipeline of highly prospective areas next to infrastructure and comes as ASL prepares for a resource update this month.

The presence of a large Sinter Cap at Cerro Bayo indicates the potential for an intact epithermal system and corresponding potential for silver and gold mineralisation 

“The geophysics program continues to show the huge exploration upside at the Cerro Bayo project,” Andean chief executive Tim Laneyrie said.” We are rapidly developing a pipeline of strong targets to guide future drill programs and have three rigs currently working on the near mine Laguna Verde resource growth.

“The Sinter Hill feature forms a significant part of the upside potential that Andean saw in the Cerro Bayo Project and we are very excited by the initial results we have seen in the geophysical survey. 

“It has validated the investment to date, and we look forward to seeing the area drilled in the next phase of greenfield exploration drilling. 

“The imminent resource update will include Andean’s drilling results for the first time, including the Cristal and Pegaso 7 discoveries announced in 2024. 

“The scale of the Cerro Bayo Project continues to grow with every mapping, drilling and geophysics campaign we have completed, which underpins our belief that Cerro Bayo has the potential to be a globally significant silver-gold asset.”

ASL, like others in the silver space, will be keeping a close watch on US Federal Reserve policy decisions, which remain a critical factor to monitor.

Beauchamp said any shifts in interest rate expectations or changes to the Fed's balance sheet reduction program could significantly impact silver prices in the coming months.

“Inflation data would continue to influence silver's appeal as an inflation hedge. If inflation proves more persistent than expected, this could enhance silver's attractiveness and potentially drive further price gains as investors seek to protect purchasing power.”

Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU)

Recognising the importance of rare earths, and in particular neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), in the global transition to green energy, prominent metals trader Traxys has signed a binding offtake agreement with Arafura Rare Earths.

The agreement with Traxys Europe SA is for the sale of NdPr oxide from the Nolans Project in the Northern Territory with an annual contract volume 100tpa over five years, with further volume of 200tpa at the option of Arafura.

This enables ARU to effectively manage annual contract supply commitments and the variability in product delivery schedules.

NdPr from Nolans will be marketed by Traxys to build global supply chain diversification and resilience for rare earths.

“This agreement with Traxys moves us closer to achieving our offtake target of 80%. With only 34% of the product from Nolans remaining to be marketed our ongoing negotiations means we are well-positioned to reach this target,” Arafura’s MD Darryl Cuzzubbo said.

“This arrangement complements our global supply chain diversification strategy and highlights the desirability of securing product from a Tier 1 jurisdiction like Australia and a project like Nolans with globally recognised ESG credentials.”

Traxys is a global company headquartered in Luxembourg that specialises in marketing metals and minerals and has a long history of involvement in the rare earths sector.

“We are pleased to enter into this offtake agreement with Arafura as we continue to diversify our supply sources of rare earths,” said Traxys’ vice president Noble Alloys and Rare Earths Gregoire de Beco.

“The Nolans deposit is an attractive Western source of NdPr and we are looking forward to this exciting opportunity.”

D3 Energy (ASX:D3E)

(Up on no news)

D3 Energy is making progress in its quest to provide new sources to feed South Africa’s hunger for energy through its helium and natural gas assets in the Free State province.

The company’’s ER315 project holds significant contingent and prospective helium and natural gas resources, positioning D3E as a key player in the global energy transition.

Last month the company was granted three new Technical Cooperation Permits in an area adjacent to the flagship ER315 permit.

TCP258, TCP259 and TCP260 cover 5797ha and increase the company’s contiguous permitted and applied for exploration footprint in the Free State.

They add further low-cost exploration and appraisal upside in what is one of the world’s most prospective helium exploration and production provinces.

Appraisal work at ER315 has yielded significant results with the successful production testing of multiple boreholes with helium samples confirmed of up to 6.2% at sustained rates from shallow depths.

D3E will undertake extremely low-cost desktop studies to progress the new permits and following this work can apply for Exploration Rights over the relevant areas.

The company has been as much as 42.31% higher to 7.4c.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Sun Silver is a Stockhead advertiser, they did not sponsor this article.

Originally published as Resources Top 5: Silent achiever silver sparkles while gold steals headlines