Michael Philipps

ChemX Materials has received more than $900,000 through a research and development tax incentive rebate payment for developing its high-purity manganese and alumina projects during the past financial year. Administered by AusIndustry and the Australian Tax Office, the rebate is available for companies investing in research and development programs aimed at sustainably producing critical minerals for the future.

ABx Group has pumped its mineral resource estimate up to 52 million tonnes at 817 parts per million TREO after management completed a block model for its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earths deposit in Tasmania. The company says the resource model is based on data from 407 drill holes across the resource area and covers 39 per cent of the identified mineralised outline.

After completing a massive infill and extension campaign at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, Xanadu Mines has shifted its focus to new discoveries outside the site’s current mineral resource. The company is now operating three diamond drill rigs at Kharmagtai, with four deep holes planned to target mineralisation below its biggest deposit identified to date at White Hill.

Infinity Lithium has taken another step forward with its proposed San José lithium project in Spain after the Cáceres Local Government deemed the operation compatible with local urban legislative requirements. The project, near Cáceres in the Extremadura region, boasts one of Europe's leading JORC-compliant hard-rock lithium deposits, with a total indicated and inferred resource base of 111 million tonnes at 0.61 per cent lithium oxide.

Estrella Resources has confirmed the presence of a slew of multiple stacked, fractionating pegmatites during field work at its Carr Boyd project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. The company says the outcropping pegmatites can be traced for a few hundred metres before going beneath the cover again and a follow-up works program of mapping and sampling is already underway.

Infinity Lithium has splashed out a stunning EBITDA of US$16.7 billion (AU$26 billion) for its San José project in Spain in an updated scoping study that outlines a 26-year mine life and annual production of 33,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The company’s new study shows a post-tax net present value of US$2.87 billion (AU$4.47 billion) and an internal rate of return of 21.3 per cent.

White Cliff Minerals has orchestrated a stunning pivot away from its WA lithium and rare earths focus by steering into a high-grade copper hunt at one of the world’s fastest-growing mineral hotspots, Canada. The company has secured a swathe of ground in the Canadian province of Nunavut after an agreement with a private party for 61 mineral claims covering 80,500 hectares at Coppermine River.

American West Metals continues to record impressive hits at its Storm project in the Canadian province of Nunavut, with a peak result showing a 1.5m intercept at a whopping 8.3 per cent copper from 54.9m. The hit was found within a 24.4m section grading 1.1 per cent copper from 48.8m and also contained 6.1m going 2.8 per cent copper from 54.9m.

Altech Batteries says a definitive feasibility study shows it will be able to pump out 20 per cent more power than expected at its proposed Cerenergy sodium chloride solid-state grid battery plant in Germany. Through technical design optimisation, alongside lead engineering company Leadec and joint venture partner Fraunhofer, Altech believes it will now be able to produce 120 of its 1MWh “GridPacks” per year.