Markets may have ended the week on the downtrend, but there was a mix of junior explorers that rounded out the week on a high note.
The S&P/ASX200 closed down 3.10 points Friday (23 August) to 8,023.90 points, with the materials sector down 0.66%.
However, gold and base metals hunter FirstAU (ASX:FAU) ended the day at the top of the junior explorer pack after a doubling of its share price to $0.002.
In early May, FirstAU was granted a five-year lease over the historical King Cassilis Mine, which produced over 3,000 ounces of gold @ an average grade of 14.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
This followed close on the heels of the company terminating a deal to acquire the Kaseparaada Lithium Project in Ghana.
Meanwhile, battery and precious metals explorer SI6 Metals (ASX:SI6) advanced 50% to $0.0015.
Gold explorers Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) and Mantle Minerals (ASX:MTL) both rose 33% to $0.004 and $0.002, respectively, while critical minerals-focused Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT) added 32.4% to finish the week at $0.225.
Iltani’s Chairman Anthony Reilly and Managing Director Donald Garner have been doing some more on market buying this week following recent high-grade silver hits.
Last week, Iltani revealed it had hit 420g/t silver-equivalent in a deep drill hole at its Orient Silver-Indium Project in northern Queensland.
Tankers
Heading the other way, gold and base metals explorer Cullen Resources (ASX:CUL) retreated 37.5% to $0.005 after announcing the results of a non-renounceable rights issue. The company raised $739,372 of the $1.1 million it had been targeting.
Copper hopeful NT Minerals (ASX:NTM) and gold and base metals player PNX Metals (ASX:PNX) both slid 33% to $0.004 and $0.003 respectively by Friday close.
Mineral sands explorer MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) slipped 25% to $0.003 and copper-gold junior Inca Minerals (ASX:ICG) ended the week down 20% at $0.004.
Inca released an exploration update saying the company had identified multiple new targets across a number of project areas following detailed assessment of the various aerial and ground geophysical datasets assembled over the past three years.
Mine management plans have been prepared and submitted to pave the way for drilling of identified phosphate targets on both the Frewena East and Frewena Frontier tenements.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: FirstAU
