Doug Bright

Aurumin is sharpening its focus on its Sandstone gold project in WA after selling its Mt Dimer ground in a strategic decision that has edged it closer to wiping out an overhanging $6.4 million debt. It will pocket $3 million from Beacon Minerals for the sale of Mt Dimer, leaving just $1.4 million to pay to remove a convertible note relating to its Sandstone acquisition.

Altech Batteries says a decision to remove graphite from a definitive feasibility study into its Silumina Anodes pilot plant in Germany has triggered an “eightfold” output increase to 8000 tonnes per annum of alumina-coated silicon. The modified study, which reveals the increase from 1000 tonnes per annum, is in response to customer preferences and has been achieved with no change to the plant or equipment.

Strickland Metals has intercepted promising shearing and alteration in four diamond holes completed at its Marwari gold play near Wiluna in Western Australia, with a fifth hole in progress at the company’s intriguing new focus ground. It follows revelations 10 days ago that it had suddenly redirected all reverse-circulation and diamond drill rigs to Marwari, sending its share price on a tear.

Battery materials recycler Neometals says purification testwork on its pilot proprietary “ELi” lithium production process removes more than 97 per cent of brine feed-source impurities, creating a solution suitable for electrolysis. The company says the level of purification in the clean brine solution meets the specification required for the electrolytic stage in its majority-owned and trademarked ELi process.

ABx Group has launched the operation of its new pilot batch reactor in a world-first process to produce hydrogen fluoride from bath, a fluoride-rich waste product from aluminium smelting, at its technology centre in NSW. The company and its subsidiary, Alcore, believe the process they have developed could have great potential for Australia, which currently imports all of its aluminium fluoride.

Everest Metals has signed a memorandum of understanding with Edith Cowan University to collaborate on rubidium extraction tests on samples from its Mt Edon lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite project near Paynes Find in Western Australia. The company has been developing a path to unlocking a rubidium-lithium resource since drilling identified high-grade zones of up to 0.51 per cent rubidium oxide and 0.94 per cent lithium oxide.

Buxton Resources’ burgeoning union with mining giant IGO has struck a positive new chord after the latter’s first diamond drillhole at their joint venture project in Western Australia’s West Kimberley region confirmed high-grade massive nickel sulphides from 179.06m depth. Headline results include 13.24m at 4.35 per cent nickel from 177.34m, with 5.6m at 7.47 per cent nickel from 179.08m.

Perth-based Triangle Energy and joint venture partner Athena Exploration have been offered five Cragganmore gas field blocks estimated to contain some 527 billion cubic feet of gas in the North Sea’s West of Shetlands province. The blocks are next to 16 others in two gas fields offered to petroleum giant Shell and have produced gas from two prior wells drilled in 2012.

Askari Metals’ is poised for follow-up work at its Springdale project in New South Wales after a second reconnaissance rock-sampling program turned up gold grades up to 56.7 grams per tonne, with the top 20 samples averaging 12.34g/t. The company says the program turned up granite-hosted and structurally-controlled gold mineralisation related to local intrusives, faulting and shearing.