Doug Bright

Everest Metals has planted its foot on an extensive multi-commodity area of ground with its recent grant of six new exploration licences covering 3421 square kilometres. They are part of 15 applications in two new project areas, which have distinct but complementary polymetallic characteristics in the Georgina and Amadeus Basins, centred on Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Recent surveys by PolarX at its Humboldt Range claims area in Nevada have identified several geophysical anomalies coinciding with surface gold anomalies and faults within both its Black Canyon and Fourth of July projects. At Black Canyon, the survey has extended the priority drill target out to 2.7km of strike, coincident with the Rochester Rhyolite Formation – a known gold-silver host.

Askari Metals has completed a follow-up probe to test the copper-nickel potential indicated by rock sampling results at its promising Callawa project in Western Australia, about 90km north-east of Marble Bar. After running an 18-square-kilometre drone magnetics survey last year, it has now finished an 864-sample auger program to test rock-sample geochemistry that included anomalous copper, silver, nickel and chromium.

Everest Metals believes it is hot on the trail of another DeGrussa-style deposit as it launches a new campaign of three deep diamond holes for 1000m of drilling at its Revere project in Western Australia’s Murchison region. The program will follow up highly-encouraging geological indications and geophysical targets from its recent phase-one deep diamond drilling work at the volcanic-hosted massive sulphide play.

Octava Minerals’ recent geochemical soil-sampling program has identified extensive nickel, copper and cobalt anomalism at the company’s Yallalong project, about 220km north-east of the Western Australian regional city of Geraldton. Management believes the early signs show it may be a precursor to unearthing another significant nickel-copper-PGE discovery in the virgin and mostly unexplored West Yilgarn mineral province.

Hard on the heels of a recently-completed prefeasibility study, Image Resources has reported positive results from beneficiation testwork involving the conversion of ilmenite from its Bidaminna mineral sands project to synthetic rutile. The company believes it could offer an opportunity to enhance the processing, economic, marketing and ore utilisation considerations of its project in Western Australia’s North Perth Basin.

American West Metals’ Storm project in Canada is raging on with two new copper zones unveiled in its third diamond drillhole this year, just 1.7km south of the major discovery that took its share price to a record high earlier this month. Management says new results feature some of the best intercepts seen at the project, with more than 76m of near-surface breccia copper sulphides.

Venture Minerals has received a handy boost to its coffers with $450,000 in research-and-development support from the ATO for the 2022 financial year. The cash bonus will help the company recoup the significant expenditure it has committed to metallurgical testwork and studies at its flagship Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project in Tasmania and will enable ongoing exploration on other important projects.

Octava Minerals has launched a new soil-sampling program to follow up three priority targets defined by a recent hyperspectral survey within its Talga project near Marble Bar in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The campaign has a particular focus on lithium, although the gold and base metals potential in the wider tenement area is also of interest to the company.

Terrain Minerals believes its latest drilling campaign has revealed hallmarks of the typical gold-bearing systems in Western Australia’s Mid West region that is home to its Smokebush gold and pegmatite project. Six holes from a second round of reverse-circulation (RC) drilling confirmed sulphides relating to IP anomalies, while another five intercepted pegmatites and samples will be analysed for lithium.

Brightstar Resources has inked an earn-in agreement with DevEx Resources on two of the former’s Goongarrie project exploration licences. The deal will see Brightstar retain all gold rights, while DevEx can earn up 75 per cent of the non-gold rights by exploring for nickel along the northward extensions of existing and historic deposits within the Highway ultramafic.

GreenTech Metals has confirmed its discovery of a new southern high-grade lithium pegmatite trend, with solid hits of up to 3.6 per cent lithium oxide in the latest assays reported from its Osborne joint venture. The find could extend the overall scale of pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation eastwards from the company’s adjoining Ruth Well project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Inaugural drilling in three locations at Brightstar Resources’ new Menzies gold project has returned multiple high-grade hits of up to 39g/t gold in initial assays from the first 10 holes of a recently completed 37-hole program, for a total of 4486m. Management says its work confirms high grades typical of the historic underground mines of the Menzies goldfields.

Aurumin has acquired two new exploration licence applications next to the company’s 881,000-ounce Sandstone gold project. The new ground encloses similar prospective geology and mineralisation controls to those within Aurumin’s main project area. With only limited exploration to date at the company’s new ground, it offers considerable additional potential to discover previously unknown areas of gold mineralisation.

Everest Metals’ early exploration mapping, rock-chip sampling and a small, but remarkably successful first phase of RC drilling has identified potentially world-class lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation in pegmatite swarms at its Mt Edon project near Paynes Find in Western Australia’s Mid West region. All but one drillhole intersected pegmatites, which are known in the area to be highly-prospective for critical metals.