QEM Limited: Vanadium and Energy Resource Development in Queensland’s North West Minerals Province

Market and commodity price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 index opened at 8,757.1 on Monday (July 21) and closed at 8,666.9 on Friday (July 25).

As for precious metals, the gold price rose 0.22 percent in US dollars, going from US$3,350 per ounce on Monday to US$3,357.29 by the close of Australian trading on Friday. On the other hand, the yellow metal decreased 0.9 percent in Australian dollars, moving from AU$5,148.63 to AU$5,102.43 over the same period.

Silver saw a rising slope in US dollars through Friday, starting the week at US$38.18 per ounce and closing at US$39.07, showing a 2.33 percent increase. In Australian dollars, silver traded at all time highs during the week. The metal jumped 1.19 percent, from AU$58.67 to AU$59.37.

Top ASX mining stocks this week

How did ASX mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Australian mining stocks below as we break down their operations and why these mining stocks are up this week.

Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. AEST on July 24 using TradingView's stock screener and reflects price movements between Monday and Thursday (July 24). Only companies trading on the ASX with market capitalizations greater than AU$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Vanadium Resources (ASX:VR8)

Weekly gain: 105 percent
Market cap: AU$23.14 million
Share price: AU$0.041

Vanadium Resources is currently transitioning to production at its flagship Steelpoortdrift vanadium project, located within the Bushveld Geological Complex and Steelpoort Valley in South Africa.

The company is focused on advancing near-term, early stage cashflow opportunities at Steelpoortdrift that will allow it to fund its long-term plans at the site. The asset has a JORC-compliant resource estimate of 680 million tonnes at an average in-situ grade of 0.7 percent vanadium pentoxide. Vanadium Resources laid out its plan in a 2022 definitive feasibility study to process ore from the mine into vanadium concentrate, which would be further processed into high-purity vanadium pentoxide flake and powder at an on-site salt roast leach processing plant.

On June 18, Vanadium Resources updated investors that it has made traction on discussions related to all three of its near-term initiatives: direct shipping ore (DSO) sales, concentrator development and concentrate offtake, and access to third-party processing infrastructure located adjacent to the market. “(We are) preserving the option to pursue full-scale development once vanadium market conditions materially improve,” the company stated.

On Tuesday (July 22), the company announced news related to the first initiative: a binding two year agreement with China Precious Asia to supply 100,000 tonnes per month of vanadium-rich magnetite DSO from Steelpoortdrift. The offtake agreement positions Vanadium Resources to advance its status from developer to producer.

A trading halt was requested by Vanadium Resources on Wednesday (July 23), pending the release of an announcement. Trading will recommence on Friday.

2. Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE)

Weekly gain: 83.33 percent
Market cap: AU$11.36 million
Share price: AU$0.022

Great Western Exploration is focused on exploring for copper, gold and base metals in Western Australia.

At present, it is exploring its flagship Yerrida North project, located approximately 800 kilometres northeast of Perth.

The company said on July 7 that it had begun a close-spaced ground gravity survey at the Oval and Oval South targets at Yerrida North following drill results in May indicating a potential volcanic hosted massive sulphide target.

Great Western shared in the same announcement that it is well funded for future exploration projects, having a cash position of AU$3.7 million.

While the company hasn’t issued any updates since, its shares witnessed a significant rise this week.

3. Peregrine Gold (ASX:PGD)

Weekly gain: 72.97 percent
Market cap: AU$22.06 million
Share price: AU$0.32

Peregrine Gold is a gold and lithium exploration company concentrating on its Newman gold project tenement.

The company revealed in a Monday release that it discovered a large-scale channel iron deposit (CID) at Newman during ongoing stream sediment sampling. Samples returned average grades of 57 percent iron.

Pilbara-focused Peregrine has mapped the deposit, which it named the Coopers CID prospect, over 6.4 kilometres in strike and up to 200 metres in width. Peregrine plans to quickly advance Coopers towards drill testing.

This spiked more interest in the company, with shares reaching AU$0.32 on Thursday.

4. DeSoto Resources (ASX:DES)

DeSoto’s team is familiar with the region, as its chairman and non-executive director previously made the Bankan discovery in Guineau as part of Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI). Since the acquisition, the company has been performing mapping and sampling at many of the Guineau projects. In an exploration update on Thursday, DeSoto said results from auger drilling at the Dadjan project showed grades of up to 5.73 g/t gold.

As for its projects in Australia, earlier in the week, the company announced assay results from shallow auger drilling at its Tole gold project in the Northern Territory. It highlighted a result of 8 metres at an average grade of 18.03 g/t gold, including 2 metres at 72.2 g/t. Company shares rose through the week following the exploration updates.

5. FirstAU (ASX:FAU)

Its flagship Australian asset is the Victorian Goldfields gold project in Victoria’s Eastern Goldfields. It acquired the final 20 percent interest in the project this past April and is now the sole owner.

The Victorian gold project holds the Haunted Stream prospect, for which maiden drilling results from June 2023 returned 13 metres at 3.57 g/t gold and 8 metres at 3.45 g/t gold.

In West Africa, the company is currently focused on developing the Nimba gold project located in Nimba County, Northern Liberia, within the Archean-age West African Craton. FirstAU entered an earn-in agreement with Hamak Gold (LSE:HAMA) to acquire the project in May of this year.

Under the earn-in agreement, FirstAU will issue 100 million shares and pay AU$250,000 in cash to Hamak Gold to progressively earn up to 70 percent interest. FirstAU also has the option to acquire 100 percent ownership.

On Tuesday, FirstAU announced the commencement of 3,000 metres of diamond drilling at the Nimba project. Following the announcement, shares of First AU jumped from Tuesday’s close of AU$0.004 to AU$0.006 Wednesday.