Doug Bright

Gold explorer Strickland Metals says it will begin 440m of diamond drilling this weekend homing in on its new Marwari gold target defined last month in maiden aircore drilling at the company’s Horse Well prospect in WA’s Yandal belt. Previous drilling at the prospect yielded a discovery hole which included an 8m interval running at an eye-catching 17.7grams per tonne gold which could indicate a new high-grade gold trend at Horse Well.

Lycaon Resources has begun downhole electromagnetic surveys on two 800m deep diamond drillholes at its Bow River project in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. The company is seeking to identify downhole and off-hole conductors potentially related to nickel-copper sulphide intercepts in both holes up to 45m wide which were also confirmed by pXRF. The results will inform the design of future deep drilling of the nickeliferous intrusion.

Titanium Sands has taken another step towards securing a mining licence for its heavy mineral sands project on Sri Lanka’s Mannar Island after lodging a formal submission with the area’s Central Environment Authority. The company says the CEA and environmental impact assessment consultants recently joined its Sri Lankan staff members on the island for a site visit as it continues to push its mining case.

Globe Metals & Mining has achieved metals extraction of more than 99 per cent on concentrates from its Kanyika niobium project in Malawi following a savvy decision to switch to vapour-chlorination technology. The company says the results validate its decision to move from high-cost, toxic, acid-based extraction and also highlight many other cost, processing, infrastructure, environmental, handling and ESG benefits.

Prospective ground secured by Buxton Resources in WA’s West Kimberley in 2015 is now looming as a company game-changer – for more reasons than one as it continues to foster a relationship with mining giant IGO. New nickel-copper sulphides potential revealed today from the joint venture’s Quick Shears project could be just the tip of the iceberg for a burgeoning partnership that also includes international exploration.

Terrain Minerals has set its sights on two priority polymetallic targets – which evoke the style of the giant nearby Golden Grove deposit – that have been defined from MMI geochemistry at its Smokebush project north of Perth in Western Australia. The company’s geochemical sampling yielded a 1100m-long polymetallic anomaly in the north of the grid and a new 900m-long polymetallic anomaly at the grid’s southern extent.

Pancreatic cancer patients have been delivered fresh hope following the United States Food and Drug Administration’s decision to clear the way for Radiopharm Theranostics to run clinical trials to address an area of “unmet need”. The imaging trials are designed to detect lesions in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and the first patient is expected to receive dosage by the end of this month.

A geophysical survey at DiscovEx Resources’ Sylvania project near Newman in Western Australia has identified potential south-east extensions to two lodes within the previously defined 2.8-million-tonne Prairie Downs zinc-lead-silver resource. The survey was designed to test for potential sulphide mineralisation related to the Prairie Downs fault and also defined a target area centred about 10km north-west along strike of the resource at the Husky prospect.

Brightstar Resources says an independent $60.9 million valuation of its gold plant and infrastructure in WA’s far northern Goldfields represents significant development advantages ahead of a mining restart at its Menzies and Laverton gold projects. Management says the estimation outlines expenditure the company will not have to pay and the time it will save during the building process because it already has the existing infrastructure.