Plutonic deal sees De Crespigny-led gold miner emerge with 7Moz and 3Mtpa plant in WA gold belt; Plus, sell-off in lithium stocks doesn’t make sense.

And another big position said to be held through derivatives. Plus, SQM betting on Azure’s lithium potential.

Plus, big share trade fuels talk of a Hancock vs Forrest shout out for Chalice while the dogs are barking louder about MinRes’ appetite for emerging lithium star Patriot.

Sunstone aiming to fire up investors with high-grade epithermal find next to recent porphyry discovery. Plus, Battery Age Minerals joins the Canadian lithium rush ahead of relisting.

Forecasts of big supply deficits by the likes of Glencore suggest the red metal is about to get red hot, making smaller stocks such as New World Resources an investor’s playground.

Develop, Beament’s miner-cum-contractor, has been quietly amassing a big team to capitalise on the shortage of underground specialists. Plus, Patriot’s stunning lithium hit one for the ages.

Plus, the disconnect between Sunstone’s $100m market cap and its case for why it could be on its way to 10Moz

The billies are diving in via the bigger players. But the less well-heeled can get a slice of the action through numerous leveraged juniors such as RareX and AR3. And Greenvale shares burn rubber on plan to be Australia’s only bitumen producer.

The former Pilbara Minerals MD sees America’s ‘huge lithium supply problems’ as a big opportunity for his new company Patriot Battery Metals.

Europe-based Sashi Davies says the market is “like back in the early 2000s” when the uranium price began to take off. This augurs well for Boss Energy, as shown by this week’s wave of broker buy recommendations following a site visit. Plus, lithium presenters to give a real-life version of the price outlook at next week’s Resources Rising Stars conferences.

Plus, the latest list of up-and-coming projects gives investors plenty to mull while MinRes and Pilbara respond to lithium market rumours with simple facts.

The drill bit is again setting share prices alight - and with good reason, according to new research by a veteran minerals economist. Centaurus’ rise from $24m junior to $450m nickel developer is a case in point. And this week, shares in Swedish silver and base metals explorer Alicanto soared as it combined drilling success with a touch of M&A.

The forgotten product’s vital role in lithium batteries is set to underpin its renaissance. The bright outlook is a boon for juniors like BlackEarth, which has just released a highly favourable DFS on its Maniry graphite project. And Hammer Metals awaits assays on 25m zone of copper-bearing sulphides in Queensland.

Red metal looking like lithium of two years ago as recession fears offset low inventories and surging demand forecasts; It points to leveraged upside for juniors like Orion and Peel.

There’s growing talk that power utilities are about to sign a rash of non-Russian supply contracts, with the likes of Boss poised to benefit; Plus, battery-types are queuing at Chalice’s door and Bellavista hits visible copper grading 5.7% in WA.

Plus, Strandline set for first cashflow at WA mineral sands project, marked-down AuTECO labelled ‘one of the most exciting junior gold explorers on the ASX’ and Cameco sell-off a bonus for Boss and Paladin.

Plus, investors applaud Minerals 260’s deal to branch out with purchase of Ti Tree project in WA, Southam’s appointment as MD drives further share price gains for Canadian lithium explorer Cygnus and juniors Encounter and Alderan benefiting from farm-ins with BHP and Rio.

Analysts tip Sandfire to be a big winner, especially if BHP takes over OZ, leaving Sandfire as the biggest ASX copper producer. Plus, there’s leverage galore in $22m Labyrinth with maiden JORC Resource imminent at its Canadian gold project.

The ATMs of the mining sector look set to continue spitting out cash for at least another three years. This bumper outlook is flowing through to juniors like Kairos, as shown by the big jump in its share price his week. Plus, Rex earns a big tick from Goldmans in its copper report and the word is FMG may have a copper find in South Australia.

Smashed gold stocks beckon contrarian investors. And there’s plenty of M&A fever in the mix … think Gold Road-De Grey, Red 5-Genesis-St Barbara-Bellevue-Northern Star etc.