- Exploration is beginning at the Ida Holmes Junction gallium project of WYX
- VHM secures up to A$75m from Export Finance Australia to support its Goschen REE and mineral sands project
- NTU provided LOI from US EXIM and Letter of Support from Export Finance Australia
Your standout small cap resources stocks for Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX)
The overall resources sector has copped it today thanks to the gold sell-off overnight weighing extremely heavily, but there are still several bright spots shining through.
Critical minerals players continue to gain after PM Anthony Albanese’s Washington DC talks with President Trump yesterday resulted in an agreement to pump US$8.5bn (+A$13bn) into funding critical minerals supplies out of Australia.
Its aim is to build a conveyor belt from Australia to the US and has been cited by the White House as a “model for supply chain cooperation globally”.
Each country will invest more than US$1 billion together in critical mineral projects in the next six months.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has since issued a number of Letters of Interest to advance critical minerals projects between Australia and the US.
Gallium is one critical mineral targeted by the agreement with support for a refinery in WA and Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) is one company set to benefit as exploration begins at its Ida Holmes Junction gallium project also in WA.
Shares have climbed 27.7% to a 12-month high of 7c.
President Trump and PM Albanese have agreed to pump at least US$200m into the new refinery as part of the US$8.5bn (+A$13bn) critical minerals deal.
Alcoa and Sojitz will negotiate funding from the US and Aussie governments for a 100tpa gallium plant in WA’s South West.
Where there is bauxite there is typically gallium, informing bauxite explorer Western Yilgarn’s decision to scale up the hunt for the mineral.
Its new exploration will follow up high-grade gallium delineated at Ida Holmes Junction earlier this year from historical aircore drilling of up to 134.3g/t gallium from surface.
VHM (ASX:VHM)
After securing up to A$75m from Export Finance Australia (EFA) to support development of its Goschen rare earths and mineral sands project in Victoria, VHM (ASX:VHM) reached a 12-month high of 62.5c, a 12.62% improvement on Tuesday’s close.
Goschen has an ore reserve of 220Mt at 3.6% total heavy minerals and a large mineral resource of 890Mt, including monazite and xenotime-hosted rare earth elements.
VHM has a clear path to production, with dual commodities in rare earths and heavy minerals concentrates (zircon and titanium), and a unique orebody containing light (neodymium, praseodymium) and heavy (dysprosium, terbium) rare earths mineralised in sands.
The EFA support complements the company’s recent updated Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for up to US$200 million (~A$304m) with an improved term of up to 15 years.
Together, the EFA and EXIM Letters demonstrate how Australia’s and America’s Single Point of Entry (SPE) framework for critical minerals enables streamlined referrals and joint financing support for eligible projects.
EFA’s support remains subject to further due diligence, including environmental, social and financial assessments, along with standard credit and legal approvals.
VHM says the combined indicative support from EFA and EXIM highlights the project’s strategic importance and its potential to contribute to global rare earths supply diversification and downstream value creation.
Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU)
The landmark Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Framework Agreement between Australia and the US provided almost instant benefits for Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU) and its Browns Range heavy rare earths project in WA.
Within hours of the agreement NTU was provided a coordinated Letter of Intent from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and Letter of Support from Export Finance Australia (EFA) for Browns Range heavy rare earths project funding.
EXIM outlined that it would consider financing up to US$230m, in cooperation with EFA under the EXIM-EFA Single Point of Entry.
Any additional funding will be sought directly from EFA as well as from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).
Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9)
Arming itself to continue to explore and evaluate its expanding portfolio of wholly owned projects in Mongolia, Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) has received commitments for a placement of 142.86m Chess Depository Interests (CDIs) at 4.2c each to raise $6m.
The placement was oversubscribed reflecting strong demand from existing and new investors.
AZ9 is now funded to advance its projects including the Yambat (Oval Cu-Ni-PGE, Copper Ridge Cu-Au) and Bayan Sair projects, as well as due diligence towards acquiring the Maikhan Uul Cu-Au project.
The offer price represents a 12.5% discount to the last closing price of 4.8c per security on October 15, 2025, and a 9.6% discount to the 5-day volume weighted average price of 4.64c.
MC Mining (ASX:MCM)
South African coal exploration, development and mining company MC Mining (ASX:MCM) surged to a 2-year high of 25.5c, up 82.2%, prompting a price query from the ASX.
Its key projects include the Uitkomst Colliery (metallurgical and thermal coal), Makhado project (hard coking coal), Vele Colliery (semi-soft coking and thermal coal), and the Greater Soutpansberg projects (coking and thermal coal).
Following an investment by Kinetic Development Group MCM is undertaking a governance restructure to ensure it benefits from an increasing pool of expertise and alignment with a new strategic direction.
This has seen Jianheng Deng appointed as a non-executive director replacing Brian He Zhen who has resigned.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Western Yilgarn and VHM are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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