Craig Nolan

White Cliff Minerals has extended its land grab in Canada by securing ground adjacent to its Rae copper-silver project that sits in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The project now boasts a prospective strike length of 72km for copper-hosted sedimentary structures. The company jumped on the additional 243 square kilometres of tenure identified from geophysical data that it says may have district-scale potential for mineralisation.

Suvo Strategic Minerals has raised $2 million in a heavily-oversubscribed placement to develop and commercialise its low-carbon green cement product, with the owners of WA’s premier supplier of pre-cast concrete products, PERMAcast, kicking in $300,000 to join the register. Suvo holds a worldwide intellectual-property (IP) license for its “Geopolymer” cement that is manufactured using what would traditionally be waste streams from other industries.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Ovanti Ltd. The buy-now-pay-later hopeful is planning to tackle the U.S market after appointing an ex-Zip Co executive to drive its plans forward. Also, Nanoveu ran hard as it readies for crucial testing on its new semiconductor technology, while other movers and shakers this week were African Gold and James Bay Minerals.

Askari Metals has revisited exploration data from its Horry copper-gold play in Western Australia’s Kimberley region to whip up new drill targets after fielding significant interest in the company’s local assets due to strong commodity pricing for both metals. Based on previous programs at the site, management now believes it has the potential to reveal high-grade mineralisation via a significant exploration push.

Subiaco-based Altech Batteries has supercharged its alumina-coated silicon anodes to boost the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries by 55 per cent after combining graphite with its high-tech anodes. The company says the game-changing results stem from its strategy to coat silicon particles with alumina, overcoming previous drawbacks associated with using silicone as an anode material.

A recent induced-polarisation geophysical survey run by Strickland Metals at its Rogozna gold project in Serbia has highlighted what the company says are two targets exhibiting strong chargeability anomalism. The survey identified the Jezerska Reka and Obradov Potok targets as having bigger anomalous zones, with stronger responses than the anomalies associated with its Shanac and Copper Canyon deposits that comprise a 5.4 million-ounce gold-equivalent resource.

Quantum Graphite has extended its land grab at the Uley project in South Australia, increasing the ground area to 117 square kilometres at the site near the State’s historic fishing town of Port Lincoln. The company is on the hunt for deposits of flake graphite to supply the critical mineral into its Sunlands Power joint venture for conversion into thermal energy storage cells.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … lithium. The silvery-white metal is back in the headlines for all the right reasons, pumping the share prices of several companies, including Arcadium Lithium, which is at the centre of a takeover bid by Rio Tinto. Kali Metals also spiked on the lithium trend, while Rimfire Pacific Mining and Rhythm Biosciences also ran hard.

Aurumin has pocketed a cash boost of $500,000 for the sale to private company Newcam Minerals of an exclusive six-month option on the iron ore rights at its Central Sandstone gold project in WA. Newcam will conduct due diligence across the site that consists of three mining leases and it may lead to a JV agreement between the two parties, resulting in a further $500,000 payment.

De Grey Mining has invested $7 million to achieve its minimum first-stage spend at Novo Resources’ Egina gold project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, with a further $18 million to be tipped in to create a joint venture operation. The earn-in is part of a required $25 million cash plunge within four years to create the 50:50 equal share at the site.

Surefire Resources has confirmed it has secured clearance to launch an 11-hole, 2200m maiden drilling campaign at its recently-discovered Phat Boy copper prospect in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The prospective ground consists of four coincident copper-zinc anomalous zones and is interpreted to sit within a similar geological and structural setting to the world-class Golden Grove massive sulphide deposit.

White Cliff Minerals has bolstered its funding for an upcoming drill program at its Rae copper-silver project in Canada, with a $5 million capital raise at a premium to the market price – cornerstoned by its strategic advisor, John Hancock. Management says the raising attracted widespread support from new and existing shareholders and institutional funds based locally and in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe.

In tough recent times for many junior mining companies on the ASX, luring a financially-powerful “big dog” onto the share register to provide some much-needed muscle has become a common boardroom pursuit. In this second part of an occasional series, Bulls N’ Bears takes a look at some of those companies which have prospered after jumping into the business bed with a major partner.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Hydration Pharmaceuticals. The company sold its non-US assets for a sum equivalent to, quite incredibly five times its market capitalisation. Also, Odessa Minerals ran hard after raising more than $1 million to drill its Lyndon uranium project in WA, while other movers and shakers this week were Nyrada and Australian Rare Earths.

Surefire Resources is planning a maiden drill program at its recently-discovered Phat Boy copper prospect in Western Australia’s Mid West region in a bid to add to its established critical minerals portfolio. The prospect consists of four coincident copper-zinc anomalous zones and is interpreted to sit within a similar geological and structural setting to the world-class Golden Grove massive sulphide deposit.

Octava Minerals has tapped the market for $1 million in a bid to expand the antimony prospect within its Yallalong project in WA, with plans for both extensional and infill drilling. In a further show of support, company directors have also agreed to stump up $150,000 to provide a cash boost that will bolster the funds required for planned exploration programs.

Xanadu Mines has confirmed it is in the final stages of completing a prefeasibility study on its Kharmagtai copper-gold project that sits in Mongolia’s South Gobi region. The company recently handpassed operational duties for the massive project to joint venture partner and Chinese behemoth, Zijin Mining, and says it has taken additional time to finalise the mine design to ensure a higher standard.

Strickland Metals is targeting the near-surface mineralisation at its Gradina prospect in Serbia in a bid to expand the company’s existing 5.4 million-ounce gold equivalent Rogozna project and drive its gold and base metal resource to next-level status. A new diamond-drilling program for 10,000m has been launched at the site that sits in the landlocked Balkan nation.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Element 25 after the potential high-purity manganese producer hit paydirt with a US Government energy grant for US$166 million (AU$241.5 million). West Cobar Metals’ share price also leapt higher after it nailed impressive antimony-copper drill hits at its NSW project, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Emperor Energy and Neometals.

Terrain Minerals has leapt into a new drill campaign at its Wildflower gold project in Western Australia’s Murchison province, with an air-core program of 41 holes for 2100m set to test its two high-priority targets – Wildflower and Cota. The AC drilling will target a significant 1000m-by-500m gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly consisting of a peak value of 246 parts per billion gold.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … BPM Minerals. The exploration company hit high-grade gold at its Claw project in Western Australia and its share price surged on massive volume. Octava Minerals’ stock also leapt on an antimony discovery from historical drill results at its Yallalong project, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Mithril Silver and Gold and Metal Hawk.

Metallurgical testwork at Xanadu Mines’ Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia has highlighted impressive recovery levels of 80 per cent from sulphide feed and a high-grade concentrate with low impurities. The potentially-saleable concentrate shows grades of up to 25 per cent copper and 25 grams per tonne gold from the porphyry deposits at the company’s South Gobi site in the landlocked East Asian country.

King River Resources has intersected significant geochemical anomalies from recent drilling at its Langrenus and Providence prospects that sit within the company’s Tennant Creek East project in Australia’s Top End. The drill campaign is part of a $2 million spend to follow up geophysical targets generated from last year’s program and encountered anomalous gold, copper, silver, antimony, bismuth and cobalt.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Aruma Resources. The exploration company hit high-grade copper-antimony samples at its Fiery Creek project in Queensland, with its share price jumping on massive volume. Also, Petratherm’s stock soared after it discovered titanium-rich heavy mineral sands in South Australia, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Locksley Resources and Enova Mining.

Horizon Minerals has signed a significant new joint venture deal aimed at developing and mining two open pits at its Phillips Find gold project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region in a bid to cash in on record high prices for the precious yellow metal. The deal with BML Ventures is underpinned by a plan to produce 15,000 ounces of gold from the site.

Red Metal says its latest step-out drill program has confirmed two huge, parallel magnet rare earths zones at its Sybella project near Mount Isa in Queensland, highlighting the impressive resource potential at the site. The company’s latest assays featured strong shows for all four magnet rare earths –neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – and infill drilling is now a key priority.

ChemX Materials has received a $250,000 boost to help drive the commissioning of its high-purity alumina pilot plant in WA and plans to use the first part of its expected Federal Government research and development (R&D) rebate as security for the funding. A further $191,000 is also due in the coming weeks as the company ramps up the commissioning of its high-tech development.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Golden Deeps. The exploration company struck high-grade copper-zinc at its Havilah project in NSW. Osmond Resources’ shares also bounded higher after the Melbourne-based company acquired a rare earths and heavy minerals project in Spain, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Energy Metals and Killi Resources.

The race is still on for companies trying to crack the exploration code within Western Australia’s rugged Albany-Fraser Orogen in the ongoing mission to reproduce the area’s renowned – and only – Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper find. Despite some firms claiming to have defined the geological silver bullet they believed would shoot them to fame, the search for the elusive prize continues.

Lycaon Resources has engaged a renowned geophysical expert to help make its Stansmore project that sits in Western Australia’s West Arunta region the next cab off the niobium rank to follow other nearby recent success stories. Both WA1 Resources and Encounter Resources captured the market’s attention after identifying niobium and rare earths mineralisation associated with a carbonatite intrusive in the same region.

Local rare earths explorer ABx Group and TSX-listed Canadian firm Ucore Rare Metals have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to forge a binding offtake agreement for the supply of a mixed rare earths carbonate –enriched in the valuable dysprosium and terbium metals – sourced from the former’s Deep Leads project that sits 45km west of Launceston in northern Tasmania.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … MC Mining. The South African-focused coal producer inked a US$90 million cash injection into its coal operations. Also, Actinogen Medical received renewed support upon revealing analysis showing its Xanamem therapeutic to effectively treat depression, while other movers and shakers this week were Kalina Power and Felix Gold.