The Zenith Minerals Ltd (ASX: ZNC) share price is charging higher today on the back of promising initial reconnaissance sampling results at one of its Australian gold projects.

Zenith Minerals is a micro-cap ASX miner focused on advancing its portfolio of lithium, gold and base metals projects across Australia, the US, and Turkey.

What did Zenith Minerals announce?

This morning, Zenith announced that initial reconnaissance sampling has confirmed high-grade gold, silver and copper at surface at two prospects within its wholly-owned Flanagans gold project in Queensland.

Rock sample results included:

• Gold to 5.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, silver to 100 g/t silver and copper to 8.0% copper at the Flanagans prospect; and
• Gold to 3.4 g/t gold, silver to 273 g/t silver and copper to 13.9% copper at the nearby Great Blackall copper prospect.

According to today’s release, surface sampling confirms the historically reported local high tenor of gold, silver and copper mineralisation at both the Flanagans and Great Blackall prospects. Zenith believes these results endorse the requirement for further exploration activity.

The Flanagans project is located within approximately 100 kilometres of operating gold mines at Cracow and Mount Rawdon, and approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Zenith’s wholly-owned Red Mountain gold project.

Just last week, Zenith reported results from the maiden reverse circulation drilling program at Red Mountain. According to the miner, the program returned “highly encouraging near surface high-grade gold results”, which sent the Zenith Minerals share price rocketing 40% on the day.

Commenting on today’s update, chief executive Mick Clifford said:

“These are very early stage soil and rock-based results at the Flanagans Project. We are however encouraged by them particularly given that we were following up on some historical positive third-party results.”

The company noted that further work, including additional sampling, geological mapping and possible geophysical surveys, is required to determine the significance of surface geochemical samples at both prospects. Follow up field work is set to commence next week.

At the time of writing, the Zenith Minerals share price has jumped 9.52% to 11.5 cents. With this rise, the company’s market capitalisation currently stands at around $28 million.

More reading

• Zenith Minerals share price rockets 40% after intersecting high-grade gold

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price has edged slightly higher in today’s trade. This comes following the company’s announcement it plans to acquire Cassini Resources Ltd (ASX: CZI). Under the transaction, which will take place via a scheme of arrangement, Oz Minerals will acquire all the share capital of Cassini Resources. This will consolidate the company’s ownership of the West Musgrave Project and surrounding tenements to 100%.

What does Oz Minerals do?

Oz Minerals is an Australian-based mining company with a focus on copper. It owns and operates the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine and the Carrapateena advanced exploration copper-gold project. Both projects are located in South Australia. The Oz Minerals share price has recovered strongly from its March low of $5.99, rising 74% to its current price of $10.43.

In the first quarter of 2020, Oz Minerals produced 20,231 tonnes of copper and 55,606 ounces of gold. The company has provided full-year production guidance of 83,000-100,000 tonnes of copper and 207,000-234,000 ounces of gold. It ended the first quarter with net debt of $89 million. However, the Aussie miner is expected to move to a net cash-positive position in Q2 and remain there for the rest of the year. Net debt was $2 million as at 14 April which is good news for the Oz Minerals share price.

More about the acquisition

The acquisition will give Oz Minerals 100% ownership of the West Musgrave project. This will optimise the development approach, timing, and funding for the project. The West Musgrave Project, located in Western Australia, is Australia’s largest undeveloped copper nickel deposit. A pre-feasibility study released earlier this year estimated the project had a Net Present Value of $800 million and an operational life span of ~26 years.

Regarding the acquisition, Oz Minerals’ CEO Andrew Coles said, “This is a promising project with strong sustainability credentials both in terms of the copper and nickel to be mined, being critical inputs for the renewable economy, and also in relation to its low carbon footprint with some 80% of power generated through renewable sources including solar and wind”.

What’s the outlook for the Oz Minerals share price?

Oz Minerals responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying $150 million in cost savings and deferring all but essential metal production activities. The miner is heavily exposed to copper and gold prices which have moved in opposing directions of late. The copper price came under pressure as a result of reduced global activity due to COVID-19, falling over 12.5% in March. It has since substantially recovered, however, and should be a much needed commodity as the world rebounds from the crisis. The gold price has climbed over the course of 2020, reaching levels not seen since 2013. Only time will tell whether these trends bode well for the Oz Minerals share price moving forward.

More reading

• Cassini Resources share price sets new 52-week high following promising exploration update
• 4 ASX 200 shares for the silver bull market

Motley Fool contributor Kate O’Brien owns shares of OZ Minerals Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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