There are no certainties in this regard, but the team over at Shaw and Partners have had a look at Sunstone Metals Ltd (ASX: STM) and has taken a shine to them after a positive announcement this week.

What was announced this week?

So the news this week included trenching results from the company's most recent exploration efforts, which delivered some positive findings.

These included 29.5m at 0.91 gram per tonne of gold equivalent (made up of gold, copper, and molybdenum) and 21.6m at 1.19 grams per tonne of gold equivalent.

The company said in its statement to the ASX that the high grade mineralisation at the surface "highlights the huge scope to grow the 3.6Moz AuEq Mineral Resource at its Bramaderos Project in southern Ecuador''.

The company's Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, added:

These results demonstrate yet again the huge potential to grow what is already a big gold-copper resource at Bramaderos. "The latest results come from the first three trenches across part of the large Porotillo soil gold-copper anomaly, which lies south of the recent Copete discovery. They contain extremely strong, consistent gold and copper mineralisation and significantly strengthen our targeting model ahead of imminent drilling at Copete, Porotillo, and Melonal.

Mr Duffy said the company had recently increased the resource base by a third to 3.6 million ounces and said, "Sunstone is well-placed to fast-track further expansion of the resource in 2026''.

He added that a scoping study was also well underway, "which we are very confident will demonstrate outstanding economics of this growing cluster of outcropping gold-copper porphyry systems on the Bramaderos project''.

The Shaw and Partners team examined this week's announcement and said the trenching method of exploration was a cost-effective way to refine targets for the company's upcoming drilling program.

They also put the region into context:

Bramaderos is in elephant country, with a vast exploration target of an additional 5-13 million ouncs. The immediate strategy focuses on drilling to convert targets to formal resources, aiming to reach 5 million ounces by the end of the year. By integrating the high-grade Limon epithermal system into the broader mine plan, Sunstone aims to enhance early-year project economics through higher-grade feed, reinforcing Bramaderos as a globally significant asset with long-life, low-cost potential.

Shaw and Partners added that Sunstone is continuing to engage with strategic partners to potentially accelerate its projects.

The broker has a price target of 7 cents per share, which would represent a 311.8% return from the current level of 1.7 cents if achieved.

Sunstone was valued at $115.6 million at the close of trade on Wednesday.

The post Looking to get in on the ground floor of an early stage gold stock? This one might be worth a look appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Below we look at the latest drilling update from the ASX resource explorer, which appears not to have sufficiently roused investor spirits following earlier positive reports that saw the Sunstone Metals share price rocketing last week.

What drilling results were reported?

The Sunstone Metals share price fell hard today despite the company reporting positive assays from its El Palmar deposit in Ecuador. The company said the assays confirm the deposit is a significant gold-copper porphyry discovery.

The results from the latest drill hole included:

• 1 metres at 0.75grams of gold per tonne and 0.20% copper from 32 metres
• Within 259.6 metres at 0.41g/t gold and 0.14% copper from 10.4 metres

Assays are pending on 3 other completed drill holes with a fourth currently underway. Sunstone said all the drill holes to date are mineralised from shallow depths.

Commenting on the results, Sunstone's managing director Malcolm Norris said:

This is a big system and has huge potential. It is early days, but importantly every hole has been mineralised… We are seeing some evidence that the first seven holes are defining the upper parts of a large porphyry system with multiple mineralising intrusions emplaced into wallrocks. Given this, we are increasingly excited about the deep targets and the potential for the mineralisation to have a vertical extent of more than 1 kilometre.

Norris also said the company will commence drilling its second hole at the high-grade Alba gold target on the Bramaderos project, also in Ecuador, this weekend. He added the company is well-funded to explore both projects, with approximately $19 million in cash and equities.

Speaking of the Bramaderos project, it was drill results from this site that look to have triggered a massive spike in the Sunstone share price last week.

Sunstone Metals share price retreats after surging 100% in days

Last Thursday, 18 November, the Sunstone Metals share price closed the day up by more than 50%.

As the Motley Fool reported on the day, "The company advised that it has obtained 'exceptional' assays from the first drill hole at its Alba target located at the Bramaderos site".

Shares finished flat last Friday and gained another 10% on Monday.

Some profit-taking looks to have taken place on Tuesday, with the Sunstone Metals share price finishing down 13%, only to bounce back yesterday, finishing up 10%.

This leads us to speculate that today's 14% fall could have been driven by another round of profit-taking.

To see why, here's how Sunstone Metals shares have been moving.

Sunstone Metals share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Sunstone Metals share price is up an eye-popping 840%. And that's factoring in today's retrace. For some comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained 12% over the past full year.

The past week has seen some continuing remarkable moves. From last Tuesday, 16 November through to the end of trading on Monday, the Sunstone Minerals share price almost doubled.

While shares are down 21% now since Monday, bear in mind the Sunstone is still trading 57% higher than it was this time last month.

The post Why did the Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM) share price slump 15% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The mineral explorer's shares are lifting as the market responds positively to an announcement on its drilling program at the Bramaderos project in southern Ecuador.

Prospecting at the site has revealed a potential new discovery in addition to other gold-copper discoveries announced recently in Ecuador.

Here are the details.

What did Sunstone Metals announce?

The company advised it has obtained "exceptional" assays from the first drill hole at its Alba target located at the Bramaderos site.

The hole targeted an anomaly identified in earlier studies, and intersected mineralisation at a "relatively shallow depth of around 65 metres from surface".

Follow-up drilling is set to commence next week after the completion of further drill holes at the company's additional prospects.

Sunstone Metals says, at this stage, it is thought the gold system extends northeast to southwest. In addition, the high gold zone is interpreted as "a 'later' gold-rich event over a broad and deeper gold-copper porphyry mineralised system".

No other significant drilling has occurred at the Alba site historically. Other samples obtained from other companies have yet to be tested, therefore additional results are interpreted as "highly encouraging" by the company.

The release builds on prior results announced back in September for the company's Brama prospect, also located at the Bramaderos site.

These assays indicated further potential for Brama to host a substantial gold-copper porphyry system at its location in southern Ecuador.

Drilling at the site is set to continue through to December 2021, and an initial mineral resource estimate will be undertaken in early 2022, per the company.

Aside from this, Sunstone updated the market on drilling at its El Palmar site, where it intersected 480 metres of gold and copper in its first drill hole of the site.

Speaking on today's announcement, Sunstone's managing director Malcolm Norris said:

This has long been an area where we were keen to advance our exploration program and these results justify our systematic approach to testing multiple targets. The intersection at Alba is clearly an exceptional result which we will follow-up immediately. The broader Alba target opens up a number of areas for drill testing.

Sunstone Metals share price history

The Sunstone Metals share price has soared more than 526% in the last 12 months of trading. It has also rallied 571% this year to date.

However, Sunstone Metals is a share that was trading below 2.5% almost the entire year until its announcement on 5 October. That sent its share price north in an almost vertical fashion.

It has climbed off a low of 2.2 cents to jump to its all-time high in today's session. At the time of writing, Sunstone Metals has a market capitalisation of $154 million.

The post Here's why the Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM) share price is rocketing 36% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

That caps off an impressive last week's worth of trading for the minerals exploration company. Its share price has soared 122% higher in that time.

Let's check what's been driving the relatively unknown ASX resource share's price action lately.

But first – a quick rundown on Sunstone Metals

Sunstone is in the business of minerals exploration and development, boasting gold and copper assets on its books, strategically located in Ecuador.

Specifically, these are the Bramaderos Gold-Copper Project and the El Palmar Copper-Gold Project. Sunstone owns a partial interest in the latter.

It has completed a number of milestones at these projects and looks to repeat previous successes from almost a decade ago when its share price was trading at a peak of $1.15 per share.

Since then, the Sunstone Metals share price has barely managed to crack 5 cents a share on average which leads us to today.

At the time of writing, Sunstone Metals has a market capitalisation of $106 million.

Why is the Sunstone Metals share price charging higher this past week?

Sunstone shares have been on the move since the company announced it had completed first assays at its El Palmar site last week.

Its announcement noted Sunstone intersected 480m of gold and copper in its first drill hole at the site. The drill included "high-grade gold sections that are characteristic of gold-rich porphyry systems".

Of the drill holes completed, assays from the remaining two holes are expected in around five to six weeks.

Sunstone is acquiring the remainder of El Palmar under stipulations made in the governing contract for the site. Under that agreement, the company has met all of its obligations to move to 51% ownership and commenced share transferral.

The company also noted it is fully funded for ongoing exploration at El Palmar with total liquidity of approximately $21 million.

Last week's announcement builds on a previous update the company made back in September.

In that update, the company gave details on drill results from its Bramaderos project.

The assay results indicated "the potential for Bramaderos to host a substantial gold-copper porphyry system". There are another six holes planned as part of the maiden resource program at this site.

Why are these advancements good news for Sunstone Metals shares?

The price of gold and copper has been volatile these past few months although each metal has been gaining since last month.

For instance, in that time, copper now trades 5% higher at US$4.29/lbs whereas gold has come up US$32/t.oz.

Given these near-term strengths, investors appear hungry for ASX metals shares with the S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining index (XMM) climbing almost 4% in the past week. That's well ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s loss of 0.07%.

Similarly, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (XGD) has jumped 5.5% higher in the last week, further indicating the strengths in the broad sector.

Given the company's recent advancements, in addition to the rising price of gold and copper, it's clear what's likely been fuelling the Sunstone share price lately.

Sunstone Metals share price snapshot

The Sunstone Metals share price has delivered a 242% return this year to date, extending its gain in the last 12 months to 152%.

It's rallied 100% in the past week although, prior to its recent gains, was trading relatively flat.

Nonetheless, it is still ahead of the broad index's return of around 20% in the last year.

The post The Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM) share price is up 122% in a week. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.