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Laurentian Bank predicts major growth for four small-cap mining companies: Colt, American Manganese, Canada Fluorspar, EMC Metals

Equity research firm Laurentian Bank Securities initiated coverage on four mining companies on Friday, dubbing them all as minor metals with “major potential”, including gold and tungsten explorer, Colt Resources (CVE:GTP).

Laurentian gave a buy rating to Canada-based Colt, with a price target of $1.30 – nearly double its current trading price.
Colt is focused on advancing its projects in Portugal, specifically the Montemor gold project in the southern part of the country, which Laurentian believes has a multi-million ounce potential base on work completed to date.

Its other significant asset is the  Tabuaço tungsten project, which is believed to have huge potential for expansion from its current high grade, low tonnage resource estimate. Pricing of tungsten has nearly doubled in the past year, as China, which provides around 80% of the metal’s global output, has recently reduced export quotas.

Drill results are currently pending for the Tabuaço project, while the Montemor property is expected to release an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate by year-end, all potential catalysts to Colt’s stock price.

Other companies in Laurentian’s sight include American Manganese (CVE:AMY), Canada Fluorspar (CVE:CFI), and EMC Metals (TSE:EMC).

Canada’s American Manganese received a huge vote of confidence from the equity research firm, assigning it a price target of $2.90, up from its recent price of $0.59.

The electrolytic manganese developer and explorer owns the Artillery Peak deposit in Arizona, known for years to be one of the only potential sources of manganese metal in the US. Electrolytic manganese is widely used in the production of stainless steel, as well as aluminum.

The company is positioned for low cost production, and recent drill results from the project are expected to increase the resource size. A pre-feasibility study is expected in the fall.

Meanwhile, Canada Fluorspar, given a buy rating and price target of $1.00, is developing its fluorspar project in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, which is expected to produce between 120,000 to 180,000 tonnes per year over a 20-year mine life. Production of fluorspar, which is used as feedstock in the manufacturing of hydrofluoric acid, is expected to begin in the first half of 2013.

Lastly, Laurentian’s targeted price for EMC Metals, a Canada-based explorer of specialized metals, is $0.60, double its current price, as the company’s Nyngan scandium project in Australia is the only known potential stand-alone deposit of its kind globally, at a time when supply of the metal is extremely limited.

Scandium is mainly used as an alloying agent with aluminum, which is used for the manufacturing of sports equipment such as bicycle frames and baseball bats. A feasibility study for the Australia deposit is expected in the first quarter of next year.