Resources Top 5: Latest Trump bump sees Locksley jump on rare earths pump

News.com.au

08-05-2025

Locksley surges as it plans drilling near America's only rare earths mine
Gallium juniors surge after Rio produces first batch of semiconductor metal in New York R&D
Catalyst picks up gold offcuts from Sandfire's DeGrussa operations
Your standout resources stocks for Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY)
Listed four years ago with the aim of giving a dedicated home to nickel miner Mincor Resources' unloved Tottenham copper project in NSW's Lachlan Fold Belt, Locksley's performance since its 2021 float has echoed the regression of its namesake Premier League football team.
Until today that is, as a bullish announcement on its Mojave project in California sent the junior's shares flying in what has to be a good omen for Ange Postecoglou's Spurs and their Europa League.
Unlike the overlooked Tottenham, Mojave is about as well located as a critical minerals project could be in 2025, sitting just 1.4km from Mountain Pass, the only operating rare earths mine in the United States.
Since Donald Trump's March 20 executive order calling for the US to boost domestic minerals production and Chinese export controls on the heavy rare earths in which it dominates supply, there's been fresh steam for explorers previously weighed down by weak NdPr prices.
Locksley has already found rock chips grading up to 46% antimony and 1022g/t silver from the Desert antimony mine, part of the Mojave land package and has now formally submitted a drilling permit to the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
It's bullish that the permitting process could be fast-tracked following the EO, with the BLM confirming it will undertake any initial enviro assessment requirements that may have otherwise held up approvals for a 12 month period.
It comes after the BLM confirmed ASX-listed Dateline Resources' (ASX:DTR) right to mine the Colosseum gold mine in Cali, around 10km from Mountain Pass, where it is planning to also begin rare earths exploration – gaining a shoutout from the President on his patented social media service Truth Social.
Rock chip assays at Locksley's El Campo prospect have already come in at 12.1% total rare earth oxides and 3.19% neodymium-praseodymium.
Locksley shares were up 74% at 2.30pm AEST, up 2c to a level not seen since late 2023.
(Up on no news)
Gallium, a crucial ingredient in semiconductors, is drawing plenty of eyeballs on the ASX these days, with the niche critical mineral closing in on two years under export controls from major refiner China.
Those controls were tightened in December when the Chinese government banned their export to the United States, something exporters were already avoiding.
That's shone a light on any proponent outside the Middle Kingdom, who could, down the line, fill a gaping hole as a western supplier of the commodity, which has a global market of around 600t and is largely extracted from alumina refining.
DY6 has caught the eye with its Tundulu project in Malawi, an emerging southern African jurisdiction where it's hit intercepts like 74m at 93.26g/t gallium oxide and 1.56% total rare earth oxides, 53m at 72.79g/t Ga2O3, 1.02% TREO, and 30m at 94.63g/t Ga2O3, 4.03% TREO.
Tundulu has gallium from surface, co-located with rare earths (another critical mineral closely linked to the US-China trade war) and phosphate.
The big move for DY6 was mirrored across other gallium exposed ASX explorers.
Also in that list was MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM), which wants to produce gallium in the United States from high-grade scrap using its 'revolutionary' flash joule heating processing technology.
And there's RareX (ASX:REE), which found Australia's highest grade gallium results in re-assayed drill core from its Cummins Range rare earths and phosphate deposit in WA's Kimberley, which bears striking resemblance in style to DY6's Tundulu. It's also working with Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) to secure a site in Kenya similar to Cummins Range which could become a major non-Chinese rare earths producer and supplier to ILU's Eneabba refinery in WA.
Why are all these gallium stocks in focus today?
The secret sauce could be Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), which last night announced it produced its first gallium in an R&D lab owned by New York-based Indium Corporation.
Indium, intriguingly, is the same partner MTM has in its bid to pilot its flash joule heating technology to produce gallium from recycled material for the US market.
If a pilot is successful, Rio plans to move to a 3.5tpa demo plant at its Vaudreuil alumina refinery in Quebec and then eventually to a 40tpa commercial operation. With a global market of around 600tpa, Rio predicts it could boast a market share of 5-10% – making it a key non-Chinese supplier.
It's the second niche metal where Rio has raised its flag after scandium. That investment led to a M&A deal with junior Platina Resources for a small deposit in New South Wales. More open than competitor BHP (ASX:BHP) to playing in the weird world of critical and specialty metals, could Rio's plunge into gallium put some small explorers on its radar?
Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL)
A sojourn to the larger cap end of the market, where Catalyst Metals is leading a big move up for gold stocks after paying Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) $32.5m to acquire its Old Highway gold project.
It continues a garage sale for Sandfire, now a Spanish and Botswana focused copper mid-tier, of the assets around its brightly burning but short-lived DeGrussa mine and the broader Doolgunna province.
Boab Metals (ASX:BML) last week announced the acquisition of plant infrastructure from Doolgunna, which it plans to retool to process lead, silver and zinc at its Sorby Hills project in WA's north.
Old Highway is a more obvious bolt-on acquisition for the ~$1.4bn capped owner of the Plutonic gold mine, Catalyst.
Boasting a resource of 206,000oz at 3g/t, including a higher grade portion of 140,000oz at 4.6g/t, Old Highway sits just 40km southwest of the Plutonic plant, and could deliver four years of feed at an average rate of 35,000ozpa and all-in sustaining costs of $1558/oz at $5000/oz gold prices.
There are additional benefits. CYL is also chasing access to Sandfire's sealed aerodrome at DeGrussa, which lies 35km from Plutonic and could save CYL the $15m it would cost to seal its own airstrip.
"Catalyst consolidated the Plutonic Belt bringing together many new ore sources," CYL MD James Champion de Crespigny added.
"The purchase of Old Highway brings another new ore source into the portfolio. Collectively, these ore sources, all of which are on mining leases, give Catalyst the opportunity to fill the processing plant in the near term."
Plutonic produced 18,265oz at AISC of $2587/oz in the March quarter, with a lot of work to do to expand the project, fill its mill and fulfil CYL's eventual dream of becoming a 200,000ozpa WA gold producer.