Resources Top 5: High fives all round and a gold medal to Falcon Metals

Falcon Metals has more than doubled on hitting bonanza-grade gold at Blue Moon to the north of the 22Moz Bendigo Goldfield in Victoria.

It is five out of five high price results for the Resources Top 5. Pic: Getty Images

• An intersection of 1.2m at 543g/t gold was returned in the first wedge hole at Blue Moon prospect

• Manganese explorer Black Canyon is on the radar for investors

• Investors have warmed to Sunrise Energy Metals in capital raisings and share prices  

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Friday, July 11, 2025

Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL)

It’s high fives all round for the Resources Top 5 with all entries hitting new highs of at least 12 months and a golden performance by Falcon Metals, which more than doubled to 40.5c.

An intersection of 1.2m at 543g/t gold in the first wedge hole at the Blue Moon prospect, directly north of the 22Moz Bendigo Goldfield in central Victoria, is behind the FAL surge.

This hole intersected a laminated quartz vein containing visible gold with the 1.2m result comprising 0.6m at 557 g/t Au from 544.2m and 0.6m at 529 g/t Au from 544.8m.

Due to the amount of visible gold observed, assays from this zone were expedited.

Blue Moon Prospect is the northerly down-plunge extension of the Garden Gully anticline, a conceptual target developed from a 3D reconstruction of the historical Bendigo workings, historical reports and field mapping. 

Observations from Bendigo, Ballarat and Fosterville suggest that there is a strong plunge component to the high-grade mineralisation in Central Victoria which had not been adequately tested at the Blue Moon target area.

Visible gold in BMDD001W1 at 544.6m depth. Photo: FAL

“This outstanding result from the first wedge hole at Blue Moon is highly encouraging and it is exciting to see the abundance of visible gold present,” Falcon Metals’ managing director Tim Markwell said. 

“The early success from the first phase of drilling shows the untapped potential of the Bendigo Goldfield as it continues northwards through Falcon’s ground and we look forward to seeing the results as we get closer to the fold hinge where Bendigo-style saddle reefs could occur.”

The first wedge hole remains in progress with a planned depth of ~670m and further results from remaining samples from the parent hole and first wedge hole are expected in July.

Planning is underway for additional wedge holes targeting zones closer to the fold hinge where wider zones of mineralisation are historically known to occur in the Bendigo area.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA)

Manganese explorer Black Canyon is on the radar for investors due to positive results from its projects in WA’s Pilbara region and particularly the higher grade discovery at Wandana.

Although manganese is a key commodity feeding steel and, to a lesser extent, battery supply chains, and has been subject to large price fluctuations, Black Canyon and other players with potential new supply sources appear well-placed with a number of existing mines nearing the end of their life cycles and impending export bans in Africa.

In a Stockhead article, Lowell Resources Fund chief investment officer John Forwood said  Groote-Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO), which is 60:40 owned by South32 and Anglo American, and Woodie Woodie, the long-standing Pilbara operation now run by Chinese-controlled ConsMin, were “getting on”.

He said in Gabon, which exports a 45.5% lump product representing 23% of the seaborne trade, the government had proposed a plan to phase out exports in a bid to force producers to upscale domestic downstream processing plants.

That means any significant new high-grade manganese discovery could be treated warmly indeed by customers and investors.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) is one such company with its large low-grade orebody at Balfour consisting of 314Mt at 10.4% Mn – WA’s largest by tonnage.

However, it is the higher grade discovery at Wandanya that has fund managers like Forwood interested and has seen the company’s shares increase appreciably this year. BCA hit a two-year high of 24c on July 11, a rise of 33.33% on the previous close.

Forwood said Wandanya had similarities to Woodie Woodie, which is 80km to the north but also some key differences, including the high strip ratio of around 20:1 Woodie Woodie mine operates at.

“Whereas Wandanya in the grade could be similar, the strip ratio is almost definitely going to be very low. It could be less than five to one, so mining costs should be pretty attractive,” he told Stockhead.

Grades from drilling at Wandanya are between 29-31% Mn, well above those in the Balfour field.

While a scoping study estimated Balfour could be upgraded to a Mn concentrate of 35%, similar to South African mines like Tshipi, early testwork on material from Wandanya has upgraded the material to a premium 48-50%.

Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX:SRL)

With critical mineral scandium the primary focus of current activities centred on the Syerston project in central NSW, Sunrise Energy Metals is attracting plenty of attention.

Not only did investors strongly support a recent oversubscribed SPP raising $1.5 million after a $6m placement, the company’s share price has been heading north, reaching a two-year high of $1.38, an increase of 30.81% on the July 10 close. Since March 19, SRL has risen from 25c.

The combined $7.5m raised will primarily be used to accelerate work on the Syerston Scandium Project Feasibility Study, which will review current capital and operating cost estimates for the project through to production of scandium oxide.

“This project has the potential to become the world’s first source of mineable, high-grade scandium at a time of high uncertainty as to the supply of this increasingly valuable critical mineral due to ongoing global trade tensions,” SRL managing director Sam Riggall said.

SRL is one to watch given the presence of Ivanhoe Mines doyen and mining billionaire Robert Friedland as its non-executive co-chair. 

Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI)

After becoming part of a collaboration in June with MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM) to work together on downstream rare earth processing in Brazil, Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) hit a 12-month high of 15c, a lift of 20% on its previous close.

This will involve the use of MTM’s flash joule heating technology on mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) from Meteoric’s Caldeira project. 

“This technology has the potential to unlock an innovative, refining pathway for our Caldeira MREC product by bringing it closer to the end consumers’ needs and creating an alternative supply chain for magnetic rare earth elements, Meteoric’s MD and CEO Stuart Gale said. 

“This collaboration fits squarely within our strategy to pursue scalable downstream solutions that enhance the value and flexibility of our world-class, scalable rare earth supply.”

With the Caldeira Project’s 1.5Bt at 2359ppm total rare earth oxides …. the collaboration could help deliver one of the first Western operations producing separated magnet rare earth elements.

NewPeak Metals (ASX:NPM)

The resumption of trading by Lakes Blue Energy (ASX:LKO) on July 4 and securing conditional approval and funding to drill its Wombat Gas Field in Victoria has provided a fillip for NewPeak Metals (ASX:NPM) which reached 3.4c, a 12-month peak and a 61.91% increase on its previous close.

It has also seen NewPeak strengthen its balance sheet by $1.14m after divesting 1,649,383 Lakes shares on July 4 and 1,426,472 on July 8. This will help fund upcoming exploration.

As Lakes’ largest shareholder, NewPeak continues to be bullish on the prospectivity of the Wombat Gas Field in the Gippsland region, which holds a certified 2C recoverable resource of 329Bcf with a combined 719PJs across the Wombat, Trifon and Gangell fields.

This positions Lakes well to support new domestic gas supply amid growing concerns over East Coast gas shortfalls.

NewPeak has no immediate intention to further reduce its 11.89% holding in LKO. 

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

Originally published as Resources Top 5: High fives all round and a gold medal to Falcon Metals