WA1 Resources Ltd (ASX: WA1) shares are having another positive session on Thursday.
In fact, the ASX mining stock has risen a whopping 28% to a record high of $12.41.
This means that the niobium explorer's shares are now up over 900% since this time last year.
Why is this ASX mining stock charging higher today?
Today's strong gain appears to have been driven by the release of an announcement yesterday in relation to its 100% owned West Arunta Project in Western Australia.
According to the release, its drilling at the P2 discovery has confirmed the potential for a large mineralised carbonatite system to be present.
The release notes that assays from the central zone demonstrate continuity of the shallow high-grade blanket of niobium mineralisation between the western and eastern zones at the Luni carbonatite.
The ASX mining stock's managing director, Paul Savich, commented:
These assay results close a substantial gap in the south-central zone of Luni. In addition, LURC23-174 is interpreted to be in the southeastern fault offset zone and returned 12m at 3% Nb2O5 from 127m. This hole provides further support for the potential occurrence of a deeper, high-grade zone of mineralisation in the southeast of Luni and represents an exciting new area requiring further exploration.
What is niobium?
Niobium is a critical metal with properties that make it essential as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.
Ferroniobium is the primary saleable form of niobium. It represents approximately 90% of established niobium sales globally. It is primarily used as a micro-alloy in steelmaking, providing significant improvements in strength, corrosion resistance, and heat resistance on the alloyed steel.
This makes it an essential ingredient for significant construction projects, automotive applications, wind turbines, and oil and gas pipelines and storage.
The good news for this ASX mining stock is that it appears to have found a globally significant deposit of the metal.
