These 3 Under-50¢ Setups Could Be Going to a Dollar

These 3 Under-50¢ Setups Could Be Going to a Dollar
Oct 10, 2025
7 min read
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$NBY.V...
$ESM.TO...
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This market is cooked.

Well, in a good way, for now. 

It’s been the kind of market where you can close your eyes, scroll, buy any small cap mining stock, and there’s a decent chance that a few weeks later you’re up 20% (not financial advice). It’s like wearing a full smile while gold keeps climbing to new highs, trying not to think about the very real, kinda worrisome reasons it’s ripping this much, this fast… that’s for future us to deal with. 

Right now let’s just focus on making some juicy gains while the market is handing them out.

Today I’ve got three stories to share, 2 I’ve been following for a while and 1 that just recently piqued my interest. As always, these are penny stocks, the riskiest corner of equities you can touch. The setups are there and the companies are solid, but with a new name popping off every day this market can be brutal and impatient, so make sure you actually understand what you’re buying.

Surge Battery Metals

Ticker: $NILI.V (CA), $NILIF (US)

Market Cap: $57M CAD

Surge Battery Metals is building a big lithium clay project in Nevada called Nevada North. It is shallow claystone, close to surface, which is exactly what you want if the processing flow sheet holds up. They have already put numbers around it with a PEA that points to real scale and strong paper economics. The company bills Nevada North as the highest-grade lithium clay resource in the U.S., with 11.24 million tonnes LCE at an average of about 3,010 ppm lithium. The pitch is clear enough. Size and grade in a Tier 1 jurisdiction, aiming to turn that into battery-grade carbonate for U.S. buyers.

Now it is about execution. A fall core program of 9 holes is underway to feed the Pre-Feasibility Study, upgrade parts of the resource, and nail the geotech and hydro work engineers need for design. They also signed an LOI with Evolution Mining to form a joint venture that would combine nearby mineral rights and see Evolution fund up to C$10 million toward PFS work to earn a larger stake. Fresh cash just landed from a fully subscribed $5 million LIFE financing, so the runway is there. One more kicker. The same shallow clay zones carry rubidium and cesium alongside the lithium. Both are on critical mineral lists. If recoverable at scale using the same acid leach, they could be meaningful by-products.

We first flagged NILI back in July when lithium sentiment was washed out and the stock seemed bottomed out around twenty five cents. Since then it has shown signs of life, up roughly 32% and recently running up to as high as $0.42 The setup has improved too, with the JV path, funding, and PFS drilling in motion. All of this, plus any positive turn in lithium sentiment, gives the story more legs. From here the job is straightforward. Keep hitting technical milestones, show the flow sheet works, and let the drill data tighten the model.

Niobay Metals Inc.

Ticker: $NBY.V (CA), $NBYCF (US)

Market Cap: $29M CAD

NioBay is a small Canadian critical-minerals company with two main projects: the James Bay niobium project in Ontario and Crevier in Quebec (niobium with a bit of tantalum). 

Add a tiny amount of niobium to steel and you get stronger, lighter metal for pipelines, cars, and infrastructure. It is also starting to show up in battery materials, which is why it sits on “critical” lists. 

The spark here was Ontario granting a new exploration permit for James Bay. Work paused in 2022 over water concerns in a wetland area. The new plan shifts drill pads away from South Bluff Creek, uses helicopters instead of building new roads, and tightens water controls. That clears the path to restart field work this winter. 

Small company, early stage, plenty to prove.

James Bay already has a 2020 study with clear economics: about C$1.0B after-tax NPV at 8%, 27% IRR, and a 3.2-year payback using US$45 per kilo for niobium, against roughly C$510M of upfront build cost. That is strong on paper, but a C$510M capex is huge for a company this small, so they would definitely need help from a partner, offtake prepayments, government support, or other funding that hopefully limits dilution. 

Here’s why it caught my eye: Take that C$1.0B and slash it by 95% for stage, permitting, metallurgy, and funding risk. You are left with roughly C$50M of “risked” value for James Bay alone. 

Set that against a C$30M market cap and assign whatever value you want for Crevier, and you can see the asymmetry.

Near term, do not chase. It’s up about 115% since the permit. Park it on the watchlist and see if updates keep ticking while the valuation stays sleepy. If progress holds and the price stays stubborn, that’s your window. If it doesn’t, move on.

Euro Sun Mining Inc.

Ticker: $ESM.TO (CA), $CPNFF (US)

Market cap: $79M

Euro Sun Mining is a patience play. 

They own the Rovina Valley copper and gold project in Romania, one of the largest undeveloped deposits in the European Union. It is a large open-pit style deposit with roads and power nearby, and the plan avoids cyanide while using dry-stack tailings, meaning the waste is filtered and stacked instead of held behind a big water dam. Europe is pushing to source more metals at home under its critical materials agenda, and Rovina fits that brief. 

This summer Trafigura agreed to provide up to US$200 million in milestone-based funding along with the right to buy up to all future production, putting a deep-pocketed buyer on the same side of the table as the project as the heavy spending phase approaches.

Next comes the boring but important part. They need to file the Environmental Impact Assessment, which is the full plan for how the mine will build, operate, and reclaim the site, with water, waste, noise, and community input all spelled out. Regulators check it, the public weighs in, the company tweaks what needs tweaking, and if it is approved the construction permit follows. Trafigura’s facility is set up to release money as those steps are cleared, so filings and approvals are what unlock the first draws for early site work and, later, construction.

We’ve tracked ESM since June when the US$200M Trafigura term sheet dropped. The stock is up about 40% since, but it has mostly chopped around because this is a long game. This is one where you could buy and forget about for a year or two and come back and be many multiples higher if all goes well with permits and construction.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading.

This time I focused on three names I like that aren’t getting much airtime. With penny stocks, the question is always the story. Where are we in it, and how likely is it that others will buy in once it gets better known? I look for early stories with a real shot at wider attention. These three are underappreciated, still early, and in that boring groundwork phase where the risk can be lower if you’re patient. You might have to wait, but that beats showing up late and trying to make up for it by going in with size.

As always, do your own research. This is not financial advice. I own the stocks mentioned here and may buy or sell at any time. 

Cheers.




Sources

Surge Battery Metals

NioBay Metals

Euro Sun Mining



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