- Maronan project has potential to be one of Australia’s largest silver producers
- Mammoth takes up chase for gold in US
- Drilling in full swing at Island gold project of CRS
Your standout small cap resources stocks for Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA)
Supported by a robust preliminary economic assessment, or scoping study, for the silver-rich Starter Zone of its namesake project in Northwest Queensland, Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) reached a record 41c, a 36.67% improvement on the previous close.
The PEA, which considers only a small component of the Maronan project, models $683m in free cashflow over a nine-year mine life, with average annual free cash flow in steady-state production of around $120m.
MMA non-executive chairman Simon Bird said the project had the potential to be one of Australia’s largest silver producers, generating industry leading margins over a long life.
The planned production target includes 7.4Mt of silver-lead ore grading 103g/t silver, 4.1% lead and 0.1g/t gold, plus 900,000t of copper-gold ore at 0.72% copper, 0.86g/t gold and 9.3g/t silver.
Over the life of mine, 70% of the inventory comes from indicated mineral resources, with the remaining 30% from inferred resources.
The project is expected to deliver 20.7Moz of silver, 258,000t of lead, 4,600t of copper and 9,400oz of gold, with silver driving more than half of the revenue.
Pre-production capital is estimated at $266m, with sustaining capital of $32m over the life of the project, and a payback period of just four years from project launch or two years from the start of mining operations.
“With the value of only a small part of this project now demonstrated in the PEA and permit applications advancing, we are now able to focus on accelerating key project development activities,” Bird said.
“These steps will enable Maronan Metals to advance to a definitive feasibility study and capture upside from favourable demand fundamentals for silver, copper and gold.”
The PEA looked at two paths – processing ore onsite through a 1.2Mtpa standalone plant or trucking to a regional facility in the Cloncurry region.
Both include developing an underground decline for bulk sampling and extra drilling to grow the indicated resource, paving the way for a future DFS and investment decision.
The PEA only considers a fraction of the total resource – 25.7Mt of silver-lead and 31.1Mt of copper-gold remain outside the Starter Zone, highlighting upside potential.
Early testwork is encouraging, with recoveries of 92% for silver and 95% for lead, producing a lead concentrate with more than 70% lead and 1,000g/t silver.
Copper and gold also perform well, with recoveries of 90% and 75% respectively, producing a concentrate grading 25% copper and 15g/t gold. Silver is recovered and payable in this concentrate.
Mammoth Minerals (ASX:M79)
By increasing its focus on gold in the US, Mammoth Minerals (ASX:M79), formerly known as Firetail Resources, joins a growing list of ASX-listers seeking to capitalise on a favourable investment climate.
This strategy was enhanced earlier this month when Mammoth sold a 90% interest in the Paterson copper-molybdenum project in WA to Cloudbreak Discovery, a London Stock Exchange-listed company.
Not only does M79 retain a 10% interest in the Paterson Province project and is free-carried until Cloudbreak produces a definitive feasibility study with a positive NPV, its 17% stake in Cloudbreak is valued at approximately $3.1m.
This transaction is consistent with M79’s strategic focus on its high-grade gold and copper-gold projects in the Americas.
The company recently acquired options to earn 80% of the high-grade Excelsior gold project in the world-class Walker Lane trend in Nevada and 100% of the Bella gold project near the Homestake gold mine in South Dakota.
Mammoth is also advancing the district-scale Skyline VMS copper-zinc-silver project in Newfoundland, Canada, and exploring the Picha project in Peru for potential Tier-1 copper-gold discoveries.
Progress at Picha is being fast-tracked through its inclusion in the 2025 BHP Xplor accelerator, which supports early-stage ventures targeting critical minerals for a low-carbon future.
Selected companies receive up to $500,000 in equity-free funding, technical and business mentorship, and access to BHP’s industry network to accelerate their concepts into viable projects.
That support comes at a pivotal time, as rising demand from EVs and AI puts pressure on global supply. That narrative and the M&A interest across the copper space is powering interest in Australian-focused juniors as well.
Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS)
(Up on no news)
Drilling is in full swing at the Island gold project in WA to support the estimation by Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS) of a maiden resource.
The 20,000m campaign is aimed at extending known zones and Vadrians prospect is first cab off the rank with 7000m of RC drilling targeting depth and strike extensions.
Drilling will then shift to a broader 5km by 1km target area, as well as greenfields discovery and historical targets along strike south of Vadrians.
The phase 4 drill program “has been designed to build on the success of our previous drilling campaigns as we progress towards delivering a maiden MRE at the IGP,” Caprice Resources CEO Luke Cox said.
“The RC and diamond drilling combination is designed to provide the drill density required to support a robust resource model while also testing extensions to known mineralisation, providing valuable structural data and samples for preliminary metallurgical testwork.”
Caprice’s regional aircore program will begin later this year once the salt lake dries sufficiently to allow access.
Boab Metals (ASX:BML)
Seasoned mining executive Russell Taylor was recently appointed by Boab Metals (ASX:BML) as project director for the Sorby Hills silver-lead-zinc project, near Kununurra in WA.
Taylor has more than 28 years of experience in the development and operation of large-scale mining projects across Australia and internationally, having held senior executive and project leadership roles with BHP, Peabody, Mineral Resources, Downer Mining and Thiess, as well as board positions with ASX-listed companies.
He brings extensive expertise in mine planning, project delivery, operational turnarounds and governance across a range of commodities including base metals, coal, iron ore, mineral sands and lithium, and has a strong track record in advancing projects from feasibility through to construction, commissioning and operations.
As project director, Taylor will be responsible for the delivery of Sorby Hills through to commercial production and ensuring the project is positioned to deliver long-term value to shareholders, local communities and other stakeholders.
Podium Minerals (ASX:POD)
(Up on no news)
PGM-focused Podium Minerals (ASX:POD) had another strong day, lifting 25.93% to 6.8c following a considerable rise the previous day despite the fact there has been no material news.
The company is focusing on the Parks Reef project in WA at which the copper-gold zone has a recently established resource of 60Mt for 300,000oz of gold, 140,000t of copper, 60,000t of nickel and 11,000t of cobalt.
This is above the platinum group metals zone, which has a resource of 183Mt for 7.6Moz at 1.30g/t 5E PGM, with 103,000t copper, 143,000t nickel and 27,000t cobalt.
Ongoing metallurgical testwork is pursuing improvements in PGM recovery through Podium’s concentrator circuit, aiming to increase the grade of the concentrate product feed to the proposed downstream metallurgical flowsheet.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Maronan Metals, Mammoth Minerals and Caprice Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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