Larvotto Resources, Petratherm, Global Lithium and Kali Metals among 2024’s biggest winners and losers

The world of looking for pay dirt can quickly build up fortunes and just as easily wipe them out. With the year drawing to a close we take a look at eight junior miners that exemplified this rollercoaster ride. WINNERS Larvotto Resources Niobium got tails wagging through 2023 and the dawn of 2024, before eyes turned to a different obscure silvery metal. Antimony, like niobium, are both elements used to improve the strength of building materials. Antimony is also used for ammunition, nuclear weapons and night-vision goggles. China mines about half of the world’s antimony and in August banned exports of the metal. Antimony’s price skyrocketed following the ban and flung Larvotto Resources’ shares from 14¢ to beyond 40¢ within a few days. The Nedlands-based Larvotto has antimony, and is looking for more, at its Hillgrove project in New South Wales. Hillgrove is a historical mine that first came into operation in 1857 and Larvotto wants to switch it back on by early 2026. Antimony at Hillgrove will be the byproduct of churning out gold, another metal which had a red hot 2024, helping fuel a stock price gain of more than 570 per cent over the past year for Larvotto. Petratherm Petratherm sounds more like a pharmaceutical company than a miner, but we doubt shareholders will care given the returns generated this year. In November the junior hit big at its Rosewood prospect in South Australia, after a metallurgical test of historical drilling samples uncovered “outstanding” results. The drill samples showed heavy mineral concentrations of 12 per cent and 12.5 per cent from shallow depths. Of that heavy mineral portion 65 per cent was titanium dioxide with a raft of mineral sands. Within three weeks Petratherm’s share price rose more than six fold — from 5¢ to 38¢. This underpinned a 650 per cent value gain for 2024. Osmond Resources Putting all your eggs in one basket is not Osmond Resources’ strategy. The explorer domiciled in Melbourne has projects in South Australia and Spain spanning uranium, gold, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, potash, alumina, graphite and various types of mineral sands. Whether the team behind Osmond has been throwing a big bunch of darts at a periodic table, or their forays are actually a well-thought-out strategy, it’s working wonders for the share price. The Tolga Kumova-backed play has seen its stock rise about 320 per cent over the past 12 months, including 500 per cent since early September. This meteoric rise since September has seemingly been sparked by the acquisition of a rutile, zircon and rare earths project in southern Spain and some subsequent “exceptional” drilling results arriving from site. Labyrinth Resources After years of trudging along and slowly bleeding value navigating the maze of mineral exploration, Labyrinth Resources struck gold — literally. High grade gold and copper hits from its Comet Vale project 100km north-west of Kalgoorlie started rolling in from the latter half of this year and pulled the junior out of a prolonged funk. Bonanza grades surpassing 60g of gold a tonne of rocks and dirt has seen Labyrinth’s share price increase 380 per cent compared to the same time 12 months ago. After Labyrinth bought the remaining 49 per cent stake in Comet Vale it tapped the market for $19.5 million and used that firepower in November to acquire Genesis Minerals’ Mulwarrie project and Olympio Metals’ adjacent Mulline and Mulwarrie (yes, a different one) projects. The combined tenure is 55km west of Comet Vale and 10km north-west of Ora Banda’s Davyhurst gold mining operation. Ora Banda itself has been on a golden share price run — up roughly 185 per cent over the past year. LOSERS Global Lithium Global Lithium was engulfed by a big battle that kicked off in August, adding to the fire and brimstone of the lithium market during the year. A messy tussle erupted when property developer Leon Zhu, GL1’s second-largest shareholder, launched a campaign to oust two directors and plant himself at the board table. The court stoush to sort out the saga will drag on into 2025 and a shareholder vote to determine whether or not Mr Zhu joins the board is set for Valentine’s Day. Nothing says romance like voting on a 249D notice. GL1 owns two lithium projects in WA, the Manna project about 100km east of Kalgoorlie and the Marble Bar project 150km south-west of Port Hedland in the Pilbara. In December it sought to branch out into gold by acquiring exploration ground in the East Pilbara. GL1’s shareholders will be hoping the diversification helps arrest a brutal share price slide — down 85 per cent over the past year. The Chris Ellison-led Mineral Resources and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting are among the investors licking their wounds. NiCo Resources NiCo Resources’ dizzying descent from above $1.70 in April 2022 to 9¢ by mid-December typified the collapse of WA’s nickel industry. NiCo had been ticking off the project development milestones in 2024 at its Wingellina nickel-cobalt project near the desolate triple junction of the NT, SA and WA borders. Wingellina even secured major project status from the Federal Government in November, which will give the junior a fast-tracked approvals process to bring the project to life. But all of this progress has still not been enough to stave off waning investor sentiment from cheap Chinese-backed Indonesian nickel flooding the market. With a share price down nearly 75 per cent this year, there will be little Christmas cheer for NiCo’s shareholders. Kali Metals Late in 2023 Kali Metals’ initial public offering was the hottest ticket it town. The $15m offer sold out in a matter of minutes and its golden run at the onset of 2024 seemed to defy a lithium market on the way down. Friends and family of Chris Ellison, and the man himself, loaded up on the junior’s stock before it debuted on the stock exchange. MinRes then bought in once Kali began trading on the ASX and its shares went into the stratosphere, rising from a listing price of 25¢ to touch 89¢ within days. But as the lithium market’s deterioration accelerated, and it came to light most of Mr Ellison’s associates dumped large chunks of their holdings, Kali came crashing back down to earth. Its shares are now changing hands at 10¢ apiece. Walkabout Resources The ‘appointment of voluntary administrators’ announcement is something every investor dreads to see lodged on the ASX platform. Each year a hefty handful of junior miners suffer this fate, with the West Perth-based Walkabout Resources being the highest profile victim in 2024. Walkabout, which collapsed with a market capitalisation of $63.7m, counted the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine in the East African country of Tanzania as its flagship asset. Logistics costs were more than 50 per cent higher than estimated in the definitive feasibility study, as plans to ship the product through the nearby small city of Mtwara were scuppered by a booming cashew industry hogging all the port space. The company was forced to ship through Tanazania’s capital of Dar es Salaam instead. The Tanzanian government also caused some headaches, Walkabout said in October. “Port congestion at Dar es Salaam, along with logistical delays and government inspections and verification sampling, meant that only a part of June and July production was exported before the end of the quarter”.