Trek Metals (ASX:TKM) Hits 60% Manganese Grades at Kuro: Buy the Discovery or Wait for Drilling?

Trek Metals Eyes High-Grade Manganese at Kuro, With Drilling the Next Test

Trek Metals (ASX: TKM) just delivered some eye-catching manganese results from its Kuro Prospect in Western Australia. Rock chip samples returned grades of up to 60.1% manganese, with an average of 50.7% across 36 samples. To put that in perspective, pure manganese oxide contains 63% manganese. So these grades are about as good as it gets.

Shares jumped 10% on the news. The company now has a market cap of around A$55 million, making it a true micro-cap with room to grow if this discovery proves up at depth.

What really stands out is the size. The strike length has more than doubled from 320 metres to 750 metres. CEO Derek Marshall called it a “step-change in the scale and quality of this discovery.” That kind of language from management suggests they believe they are onto something meaningful.

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Why These Grades Matter

Finding 60% manganese grades is rare. It points to a strong mineral system underground. Trek Metals believes the geology looks similar to Woodie Woodie, one of Australia’s most important manganese mines in the Pilbara region.

Manganese is classed as a critical mineral. Most of it goes into making steel. But the bigger growth story is batteries. Manganese is used in certain lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage. With governments trying to secure the supply of critical minerals, high-grade projects like Kuro could attract attention.

There is also room for the discovery to get bigger. The mineralisation sits within a larger gravity anomaly that extends beyond what has been sampled so far.

Gold Adds Another Layer

Trek Metals is not just a manganese story. The company also has gold exposure at its nearby Martin Prospect. During drilling in late 2024, the team hit some strong results, including 10 metres at 12.66 grams per tonne gold and 10 metres at 7.34 grams per tonne gold. This potential was reinforced in late 2025 with the discovery of visible gold in diamond core samples.

Those are solid grades for any gold explorer. The Christmas Creek Project, which hosts both Kuro and Martin, was previously owned by Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM), one of the world’s biggest gold miners. Trek Metals picked up the project in late 2023 and has been building on that foundation ever since.

The Investor’s Takeaway for Trek Metals

The bull case is simple. Trek Metals has found surface grades that are close to pure manganese, extended the strike to 750 metres, and has gold upside as a bonus. At a market cap of around A$55 million, this is a small company with big discovery potential.

But investors need to know the risks. These are rock chip samples from the surface only. No drilling has tested whether the manganese continues at depth. Heritage approvals and a dry-season window are still required before the rigs can turn.

In our view, the discovery looks promising but remains speculative. The key catalyst to watch is the maiden drilling program at Kuro. That will tell us whether these exceptional surface grades extend underground. For investors comfortable with early-stage exploration risk, Trek Metals offers an interesting entry point into the critical minerals space.