Resources Top 5: Olympio Metals surges out of starting blocks with gold observed in first hole

News.com.au

4 days ago

Visible gold was observed in the very first drill hole at the Bousquet gold project in Quebec, Canada
A reinvigoration of GBM Resources, including a recapitalisation and board restructure, has been welcomed
Sunrise Energy Metals has finalised a placement at 30c per share for funds of $6m
Your standout small cap resources stocks for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Olympio Metals (ASX:OLY)
Olympio Metals has sprinted away from the starting blocks in its maiden drilling program at the Bousquet gold project in Canada with visible gold observed in the very first drill hole.
This fast start saw shares double to a daily high of 8.6c, a new 12-month high, before closing 86.05% higher at 8c.
The visible gold was in the first hole of the maiden drill program at Paquin gold prospect and occurred within a 9m zone of quartz veining, sulphides and alteration from 183m which extended mineralisation to the west.
It is hosted within a smoky quartz vein (blackish, micro-fractured with arsenopyrite, fracture controlled). Smoky quartz has historically been identified as the primary gold host across the Bousquet project.
The 9m zone contains 25% discordant smoky quartz veins in a strong carbonate-chlorite alteration, with 5-7% porphyroblastic sulphides and an arsenopyrite halo.
Logging has indicated numerous additional smoky quartz veined zones with associated sulphides and alteration in the hole down to 286m.
The hole, BO-25-27, will be logged and sampled with priority and submitted for assay with assay results expected to be available by mid-July.
Bousquet project is in Quebec, Canada, on the Cadillac Break, a regional structure associated with world-class gold mineralisation which has seen more than 110Moz of gold produced.
Paquin gold prospect has returned numerous high-grade historical intercepts, including 9m at 16.96g/t Au.
Drilling is proceeding on further holes at the western extension target at Paquin.
The company is confident that Bouquet can be another contributor of gold in the Cadillac Break.
'We are delighted to see visible gold in our very first hole at Paquin, which has extended the gold mineralisation to the west. This is a great start and confirms for us that there is great potential in the Bousquet gold project,' Olympio's managing director Sean Delaney said.
'The Bousquet project is perfectly positioned for gold exploration success, having multi-million-ounce gold deposits to the east and west along the Cadillac Break with year-round access for drilling.
GBM Resources (ASX:GBZ)
Investors have welcomed a reinvigoration of GBM Resources, including a recapitalisation and board restructure, that will enable it to focus on unlocking the district-scale gold potential in Queensland's Drummond Basin.
As well as new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors supporting a placement to the tune of $13 million, shares hit a new 12-month high of 1.5c, a lift of 150% on the previous close.
The company closed at 1.4c, a 133.33% increase, with more than 93m changing hands.
Firm commitments have been received by GBZ to raise A$13m in a two-tranche placement at 0.6c per share.
New major shareholder Ian Middlemas has subscribed for shares valued at A$1.2 million under the placement and will become non-executive chairman of GBM.
The placement forms part of a broader recapitalisation of GBM, which includes:
Full repayment of Collins St Asset Management Pty Ltd's Convertible Notes of $6.2 million;
Termination of the proposed farm-in agreement over the Twin Hills gold project with Wise Walkers Ltd (WWL); and
Board restructure.
At completion, GBM will be well-funded and debt free to undertake an accelerated exploration program across its 100%-owned Drummond Basin portfolio, including Twin Hills and Yandan projects, which collectively host JORC mineral resources of 1.84Moz of gold
The recapitalisation has seen GBM reach an agreement with WWL to terminate the proposed Twin Hills farm-in agreement, reconsolidating full ownership of its highly prospective Twin Hills asset
WWL has committed to subscribe for $2 million under the placement and will also convert the $2 million previously spent under the farm-In into equity, resulting in a 19.99% shareholding in GBM.
As well as the appointment of Middlemas, the board restructure sees Robert Behets and Peter Fox appointed as non-executive directors.
Andrew Krelle will remain as executive director, Sunny Loh transitions from chairman to non- executive director and Peter Rohner will step down as managing director but remain as CEO until his contract expires on 31 July 2025, and then transition as a consultant to the company.
Middlemas worked for a large international chartered accounting firm before joining the Normandy Mining Group, which subsequently became Australia's largest gold miner.
He was a senior group executive at Normandy for about 10 years and has had extensive corporate and management experience, including as chairman of ASX, LSE, Nasdaq and European listed resource companies.
'On behalf of GBM, I thank Peter Rohner for his vision and efforts to consolidate and secure some of the most prospective gold ground in Australia and welcome the support from Ian Middlemas, GBM's executive director Andrew Krelle said.
'With a strong debt-free balance sheet, GBM now has a great opportunity to deliver value to shareholders through an accelerated exploration program across Twin Hills and Yandan.
'GBM's exploration plan for the next 12 months is designed to expand the significant gold resource base at Twin Hills and Yandan by systematically exploring for epithermal gold mineralisation across GBM's Drummond Basin projects.'
Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX:SRL)
After finalising a placement to institutional and sophisticated investors at $0.30c per share for funds of $6m and launching a share purchase plan (SPP) to raise up to $1.5m before costs, Sunrise Energy Metals was up as much as 49.24% to 97c, a new 12-month high, and closed at 91c.
There has been a strong uptake for the SPP offered to shareholders on the same terms as the placement
The placement and SPP includes one option for every SPP share subscribed issued at nil consideration and exercisable at a price of 40 cents before May 31, 2027.
The SPP is expected to close on June 24, 2025, with results to be announced on June 30, 2025.
Funds from both initiatives will support:
A drilling campaign aimed at further expanding high-grade scandium zones at Syerston scandium project;
Completion of the updated Syerston scandium feasibility study, targeted for Q3 2025; and
Continued engagement with potential scandium customers and end-users.
The Syerston project near Fifield in Central West NSW, hosts one of the world's largest and highest-grade scandium deposits.
'I would like to thank our major shareholders for their continued support in this placement which allows us to fast-track the Syerston scandium project at a time when the impact of China's export restrictions on scandium is being felt across technology markets,' Sunrise Energy Metals CEO Sam Riggall said.
'We are also pleased to note that to date the support for the SPP has been extremely strong. 'We continue to work with scandium end users to build a more resilient and flexible supply chain that can scale through the introduction of new and expandable primary mine supply.'
Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML)
Resolution Minerals climbed to a new 12-month high of 5.4c, 35% higher than Monday's close and ended the day up 25% at 5c.
This comes as the company continues to progress its US critical minerals strategy encompassing antimony and tungsten supported by gold and silver.
RML recently appointed Washington DC external affairs adviser Todd Clewett to support engagement with US federal agencies as it seeks to expedite approvals for the Horse Heaven antimony-gold-silver-tungsten project under the FAST-41 framework.
The company also intends to explore funding opportunities through the US Department of Defense's strategic materials programs.
The FAST-41 program, established by Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), is a program designed to improve the timeliness, predictability and transparency of the federal environmental review and permitting process.
It facilitates a more efficient permitting process for major infrastructure and mining projects of national importance.
FAST-41 can also offer benefits to project developers, including increased predictability and faster decision-making.
The US government has prioritised domestic and allied sources of key minerals such as antimony, tungsten and gallium recognising their importance to defence applications and renewable technologies.
The company is also nearing completion of an OTCQB Markets listing, which is expected to boost RML's profile and trading accessibility for North American investors.
Victory Metals (ASX:VTM)
On scoring a US10 million loan facility from Saudi Arabia to advance the North Stanmore rare earths project in WA, Victory Metals reached $1.02, 22.89% up on the previous close before closing 2.41% higher at 85c.
The facility is from Sanabil Investments – a sovereign investment firm owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – and incorporates a two-year moratorium on interest payments and a 3.9% interest rate over the remaining term.
In a Letter of Commitment, Sanabil also requested the first right to provide future funding for A$330m for the development and construction of the project's processing plant.
The Sanabil initiative is a major step forward in fast-tracking the development of North Stanmore as a strategic source of rare earths for global supply chains.
It follows a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the US in April for up to US$190m in project financing.
This new funding strengthens Victory's financial position and the company is now on the fast-track to accelerate a pre-feasibility study and develop Australia's largest clay-hosted heavy rare earth deposit.
It also aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and its push into downstream critical minerals.
Vision 2030 is a national transformation initiative aimed at diversifying the Kingdom's economy beyond oil and gas by investing in high-impact sectors such as mining, advanced manufacturing and renewable technologies.
A key pillar of this strategy is the development of downstream processing capabilities for critical minerals and rare earth elements, which are essential for defence, semiconductors, clean energy, and electric mobility.
Sanabil Investments LLC, as a major arm of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), plays a central role in deploying capital into projects that align with this national vision.