Resources Top 5: 58m at 3.08pc copper not to be sneezed at for White Cliff

Want copper? White Cliff Minerals has found thick, high grade licks of the stuff at its Rae project in Canada.

An intersection of 58m at 3.08% copper is not to be sneezed at for White Cliff Minerals. Pic: Getty Images

• A thick high-grade copper intersection at the Rae project in Canada has seen WCN shares rise

• Jindalee Lithium jumps more than 50% on quarterly report 

• Koonenberry Gold made it six-for-six at Enmore with visual gold hits

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Wednesday, April 30, 2025.

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN)

A 58-metre intersection grading 3.08% copper is not to be sneezed at for White Cliff Minerals and comes at a time when explorers around the world are seeking new sources of the critical red metal with second-to-none electrification and conductive qualities.

Demand is already strong and this is only going to increase as the push for cleaner and greener energy solutions, including electric vehicles and renewable energy, gathers considerable momentum, putting a strain on existing supply sources and necessitating the need for new mines.

White Cliff’s Rae project in the Nunavut region of northwest Canada represents a potential new source and the first assay results from a reverse circulation drilling campaign provide the company with plenty of optimism.

Following visual confirmation of copper in the first three holes, the 58-metre hit from 52 metres at Danvers prospect also includes 13.3g/t silver with a higher-grade intersection of 18m at 5.21% Cu and 22.33g/t Ag from 69m.

It seems investors have also taken notice of the impressive result with shares as much as 16% higher to 2.2c on volume of more than 43 million. Shares moderated to 2c, a 5.3% gain, at the close. Since April 9, WCN securities of the $30m company have risen from 1.3c.

The result is from the first batch of assays from a 25-hole maiden drilling campaign for 4000m and complement the company’s previous rock chip assays at surface.

This program targeted multiple high-priority areas including the massive Hulk sediment-hosted copper target and the Danvers volcanic-hosted breccia system.

WCN is optimistic that results from the remainder of drilling and field sampling at this prospect to the southeast of the primary Rae target zone will also be encouraging.

Managing director Troy Whittaker said the assays marked an “important inflection point” for the company.

“All the hard work to date, which includes desktop review of historical showings, field sampling and aerial geophysics has ultimately led us to these results, which pleasingly, couldn’t have kicked off more strongly," he said.

“The first holes at Danvers were all about orienteering and exploration to identify the mineralisation, so therefore, having the first assay produce an intersection of just shy of 60 metres at more than 3% is an outstanding way to kick off the results and reporting.

“Complementing our remarkable rock chip assays at surface, this assay now provides down hole proof of high-grade copper mineralisation in the system.

“Whilst incredibly impressive, it is our belief that these results set the scene for what’s to come, because as we saw, based on the field observations – post the early holes, the team on site really dialled into the geology."

Copper futures in the US climbed to $4.90 per pound in late April, marking a 20% rise since April 9 when the US halted a series of reciprocal tariffs.

With the copper market on course for long-term supply shortfalls, there is a premium on any new discoveries.

Jindalee Lithium (ASX:JLL)

Despite lithium’s well-documented woes, Jindalee Lithium has been a star performer in April, bolstered by the initiatives of the US Government to boost domestic production of critical minerals.

Progress is being made at the 100%-owned McDermitt lithium project straddling the Oregon and Nevada border in the US as outlined in a positive quarterly report.

Shares rose up to 51.22% to a daily high of 62c, just shy of the 12-month high of 63c, and since April 14 have risen from 21.5c.

Achievements during the quarter include the release for public comment of the environmental assessment for the McDermitt EPO and the engagement of corporate advisers to accelerate the partnering process for the project.

The company also raised $2.75m from the sale of a non-core asset to help fund activities at McDermitt.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, McDermitt was named as one of 10 mining projects across the US to be granted FAST-41 ‘Transparency Project’ status.

FAST-41 is a legislatively established process for improving federal agency coordination and timeliness of environmental reviews for infrastructure projects, as established by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. 

The permitting progress of the initial 10 can be publicly tracked, part of what the Trump administration calls a push for greater transparency and faster permitting. Many more projects are expected to be added to the list on a rolling basis over the next few weeks.

One of the primary barriers to unlocking America’s mineral wealth is the lengthy and often duplicative permitting process, which can stretch seven to 10 years for a single mine. In contrast, countries like Australia and Canada complete permitting in as little as two to five years. 

This permitting gridlock discourages domestic production, drives up costs for American manufacturers and increases dependence on foreign adversaries. 

“Being named among the first 10 FAST-41 Transparency Projects validates McDermitt’s strategic importance to US mineral security” Jindalee’s CEO Ian Rodger said. 

“Inclusion on the Federal Permitting Dashboard highlights our project’s national significance, offering greater transparency and federal support to advance our Exploration Plan of Operations (EPO), currently in the final stages of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review with an Environmental Assessment recently published for public comment. 

“Once approved, the EPO will allow further on-site activity, including drilling to provide additional geological and environmental data, as well as fresh samples for geotechnical studies and further metallurgical test work.

“Jindalee remains committed to developing McDermitt transparently and responsibly, collaborating closely with federal and state agencies to realise this critical US lithium asset’s full potential.”

Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB)

It has been a stellar few weeks for Koonenberry Gold, with shares roughly doubling from the close of 3.9c on April 9 due to a string of impressive results from the Enmore project in northeast NSW.

News that more visible gold has been returned from the sixth diamond hole at Sunnyside prospect, making it six-for-six, has seen securities increase up to 18% to a daily high of 7.9c with more than 27 million changing hands. They closed up 13.4% at 7.6c.

The highest grade assay to date is 5 metres at 11.09g/t gold within 172.9m at 2.07g/tin the second hole with assays from the fourth and fifth holes expected in May and June respectively.

Hole six has demonstrated that mineralisation extends from surface to 300 metres vertically, 80 metres laterally and 40 metres along strike of the zone reported in assays of up to 102m at 1.10g/t from the third hole.

Despite the project’s location in the New England Fold Belt, which has an endowment of more than 35Moz of gold, Enmore remains relatively unexplored. 

The belt is home to several large gold deposits including the 8Moz Ravenswood mine and the 2.5Moz Cracow mine while Enmore is only about 20km from the 1.7Moz Hillgrove gold and antimony mine. 

“Our inaugural program has now, quite remarkably, intersected visible gold in SIX out of SIX holes,” KNB managing director Dan Power said. 

“In addition, we have commenced hole 007, which is a 40m step out to the southwest of hole 006 as we continue to systematically test the size and continuity of the system at Sunnyside.”

Latitude 66 (ASX:LAT)

With a primary focus on the flagship KSB gold-cobalt project in Finland, Latitude 66 has delivered a positive report for the March quarter resulting in a 17% increase in its share price to 6.2c.

A linchpin of the report was a robust scoping study which puts the company in a prime position to take advantage of growing gold and cobalt demand.

The study highlights an economic, standalone operation with expansion potential.

Gold production is expected to underpin the economic stability of the cobalt supply with the metal defined as a strategic mineral under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and a critical mineral by NATO, essential for batteries, defence and aerospace components.

The study was based on the existing mineral resource base of 7.2Mt at 2.7g/t gold and 0.08% cobalt for 650,000oz gold and 5840t cobalt using conventional, low-risk open pit mining and free-milling gravity and Carbon in Leach (CIL) processing.

It outlines a 7.2-year mine life with average LOM production of about 65,000oz of gold annually and 465t of cobalt. 

Base case past-tax NPV was approximately US$310m and post-tax IRR was 74% using US$2500/oz gold. Using $3000/oz the NPV increased to about US$433m and IRR to 98%.

The study was followed by a trial RC drill run on two prospects at KSB that intersected sulphides related to high-grade gold and copper surface samples during a trial RC drill run on two prospects at its KSB North flagship in northern Finland.

At KSB North the drilling tested geophysical and geochemical targets, and struck disseminated sulphides from 4m at K64 prospect over a 16m downhole interval.

The intensity and width of the sulphides was enough to generate an IP anomaly and are potentially related to high-grade surface boulder results of up to 8.8g/t gold and 0.6% copper, both of which have potential to add to cobalt resources.

AusQuest (ASX:AQD)

During the March quarter, assay results from the maiden drilling program at the Cangallo Project in Peru were centre stage for AusQuest, defining a significant new greenfields copper-gold discovery. 

Planning for further exploration at the Peruvian and Australian projects was a focus during the quarter, following a placement that raised $7.5 million to facilitate an active drilling program in 2025.

In Peru, interpretation of drill results from Cangallo was completed following the success of the maiden drilling program.

Significant results include:

• 348m at 0.26% copper and 0.06ppm gold from 6m;
• 188m at 0.28% Cu, 0.07ppm Au from 214m;
• 154m at 0.37% Cu, 0.06 ppm Au from 36m;
• 136m at 0.24% Cu, 0.06ppm Au from 230m;
• 226m at 0.22% Cu, 0.07ppm Au from 4m; and
• 304m at 0.30% Cu, 0.06ppm Au from 34m.

Modifications to drill permits were also made given the company’s enhanced understanding of the geology and the need to optimise drill sites ahead of stage 2 drilling. 

Drill permitting for the Lantana and Playa Kali prospects also continued so that drilling at these prospects can take place this year.

In Australia, planning for the upcoming drill programs at Balladonia and Morrisey, plus geophysical surveys at Coober Pedy and the presentation of the Mt Davis results to South32, were the main focus for the company during the quarter.

Shares reached 6.7c, a 19.7% increase on the previous close.

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

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While White Cliff Minerals, Koonenberry Gold and Latitude 66 are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

Originally published as Resources Top 5: 58m at 3.08pc copper not to be sneezed at for White Cliff