Venari Minerals (ASX:VMS) CEO Matthew Healy says there has been a shift in investor sentiment as confidence in the small cap sector picks up, following the Noosa Mining Investor Conference, held 12-14 November 2025.
“Investor confidence in the small cap end of the resources sector has certainly picked up in the November Noosa conference compared to the July one,” Healy tells Mining.com.au.
“I first picked up on the sentiment change at the Resources Rising Stars event on the Gold Coast in September, so it is great to see that continue.”
As previously reported, the Noosa Mining Conference featured several companies, investors, brokers, and fund managers focused on the mining, energy, and exploration sectors. Mining.com.au was again official media partner and on the floor at this year’s event.
Held twice a year at Peppers Noosa Resort, this week’s program follows on from the July conference, which hosted more than 2,500 delegates and presentations from 70 listed companies.
Speaking to Mining.com.au before day one got underway, Managing Director of Equity Events Phil Dickinson said events like Noosa play a huge role in building confidence and momentum in Australia’s mining sector.
Dickinson says the line-up for the conference, which runs from today to 14 November, reflects the current market of strong explorers, capable management, and plenty of news flow ahead.
Packed with investors and activities
Healy says that the company’s presentation went well on the third day of the event and its booth was “packed” with investors after the talk.
“The key touch points for Venari are that the company is advancing a high-grade lithium project in the critical minerals hungry US, and has drill tested some high-potential epithermal gold-silver targets for which assays are awaited,” he says.
Venari recently received assays from four holes from a reverse circulation drilling program at the Red Mountain Project in Nevada, US. The results included multiple thick zones of lithium mineralisation, showing wide intersections of lithium mineralisation.
The highlighted results include 29m @ 1,460 parts per million (ppm) lithium from 44.2m; 24.4m @ 1,600ppm lithium from 4.6m; and 6.1m @ 1,330ppm lithium from 74.7m.
Healy notes there is still a number of assays for drilling at Venari’s lithium and gold-silver projects, which is expected to be returned in shortly.
Lithium carbonate product testwork results from Red Mountain are also expected to be returned in due course.
The company is planning to advance the Red Mountain Project with infill drilling and toward a Scoping Study in 2026, following the release of a resource estimate.
“We will also continue to explore the Needles Gold Project,” Healy adds.
The lithium market is experiencing a transformation, driven by technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, and increasing demand for electric vehicles (EVs), clean energy storage, and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), among others.
Lithium hydroxide is gaining prominence due to its suitability for high-nickel cathode chemistries, which are prevalent in advanced EV batteries.
The market for lithium hydroxide is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23.51% from 2024 to 2029, reaching some 564.78 kilotons of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2029.
Further, China dominates global lithium refining, accounting for a large share of processing capacity. However, the US and Europe are making joint efforts to develop domestic refining capabilities to mitigate reliance on Chinese supply chains. For example, North America is expected to process 59% of its lithium as hydroxide by 2034, up from 43% in 2024.
Venari Minerals is a diversified mineral explorer focused primarily on lithium, gold, and silver in the US.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Venari Minerals
