This year, one of the best performers on the ASX market has been the Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) share price.
The company's shares have risen more than 290% year-to-date and an astonishing 2,800% in the past 12 months. This means for every $1,000 invested this time last year, it would now be worth $28,000.
That puts the comparative share price gains of market darling Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), for example (up 785% over 12 months), into a whole different light.
So, with no news coming out of Pursuit Minerals today, we take a closer look at what could be driving its gains.
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What's pushing the Pursuit Minerals share price higher?
There are a couple of possible catalysts that could be elevating the Pursuit Minerals share price. The most likely is its half-year report for FY21, which was released to the market mid-last week.
In its update to investors, Pursuit Minerals advised it has been actively engaged in assessing acquisition and joint venture opportunities.
In December, the company entered into a binding acquisition agreement to acquire a 593sq km tenant package known as the Warrior Project. This comprises an approved exploration licence and three licence applications over Calingiri East, Calingiri West, Bindi Bindi, and Wubin.
An airborne electromagnetic survey completed in early March identified high PGE-Ni-Cu targets over the area. Going off the initial preliminary results, contractors have now started six follow-up prospective targets around Calingiri East.
Furthermore, the company acquired the Gladiator Project in September last year, located 10km northwest of Laverton, Western Australia. The procurement involved 4 exploration licences. Pursuit Minerals conducted a small soil sampling program in December and received one significant result. Future drilling operations are being planned using historical downhole assays (chemical tests) and drilling reports.
Another possible catalyst could be investor hype on the much-anticipated full results from the airborne electromagnetic survey at the Warrior Project. While the data isn't due until mid-April, it seems that investors are getting in early ahead of an expected bonanza result.
What does Pursuit Minerals do?
Established in 2007, Pursuit Minerals is a mineral exploration company that focuses on developing PGE-Ni-Cu, Gold, vanadium and nickel projects in Australia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.
PGE-Ni-Cu stands for several different minerals. The first platinum group elements (PGE) consist of palladium (Pd), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), rhodium (Rh) and ruthenium (Ru). Next on the list is nickel (Ni) and then copper (Cu).
The Pursuit Minerals share price is up 22% alone today, currently trading at 8.3 cents.
