Matt Birney

Multi-commodity explorer, Venus Metals, has received a vote of confidence from Queensland multi-millionaire and veteran coal miner, Christopher Wallin, who has ploughed $4 million into the company at 20 cents a share. The investment gives Mr Wallin, one of Australia’s top 50 richest people, a substantial 17.25% stake in the Perth based ASX-listed company as it attempts to unlock some riches in the Youanmi mineral province in WA.

TNG Ltd has signed a binding agreement with major global commodity trader for the offtake of 40% of the vanadium pentoxide products from its flagship Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the NT. The company already has a binding offtake agreement with South Korea’s Woojin for at least 60% of the project’s vanadium output and a binding term sheet with Gunvor for its iron products.

Neometals has added some serious length and width to its Widgie South nickel trend at the Mt Edwards project near Widgemooltha, in the first serious drill campaign to hit the area since 2008. Best intercepts include 16 metres grading 1.45% nickel and 21 metres grading 1.05% nickel. Narrow high-grade nickel zones in the broader intercepts ran up to 4.79% over two metres and 2.42% over four metres.

Classic Minerals has hit the sweet spot with the drill rig at its Kat Gap project, near Southern Cross in WA, with high-grade intercepts such as 3m @ 20.70g/t gold from 39m downhole that includes a bonanza, 1m intersection, going well over an ounce to the tonne gold. As the drilling density increases across Kat Gap, the mineralisation could reach in-excess of 800m in strike.

Horizon Minerals has firmed up confidence in the Crake prospect within its Binduli gold project near Kalgoorlie after drilling returned a top intersection of 3 metres grading 7.41 grams per tonne gold from 81m down-hole. The results demonstrate both width and grade continuity across a 450m strike length with the company saying that mineralisation remains open in all directions.

Lithium Australia has joined forces with Chinese firm, DLG Group, forming a 50:50 incorporated joint venture to be known as Soluna Australia Pty Ltd. Soluna will sell lithium-ion battery and energy storage products as it seeks to disrupt the rapidly expanding Australian renewables energy market. Soluna will provide a platform to leverage off complementary technology and facilitate the provision of new battery materials and recycling solutions.

Having convinced itself the nearby, giant onshore Waitsia gas field in WA’s Perth Basin is not just an anomaly, Norwest Energy has approved the drilling of its Lockyer Deep gas joint venture, some 15 kilometres to the north east of Waitsia. Norwest is confident that the combined recoverable resources of its Lockyer Deep-1 and North Erregulla targets, which sit in the same project area, could have a recoverable resource of almost 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Solar window glass innovator, ClearVue Technologies, now looks set to break into the burgeoning European renewable energy market after meeting all of the requirements of two key International Electrotechnical Commission safety standards for its unique solar window glass technology. ClearVue’s solar PV IGU was given both IEC 61730 and IEC61215 certification by the international testing company TÜV SÜD, confirming the product’s electrical and safety credentials.

One of Indonesia’s largest integrated resources companies, Indika Energy, is looking to take a 40% stake in Nusantara Resources’ two million ounce Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia, virtually clearing a pathway for the mine to be built. Indika plans to invest up to AUD$58m in Nusantara’s wholly-owned subsidiary, PT Masmindo DWI Area to secure its 40% share in the proposed gold mine.

Kingwest Resources’ Menzies project has gold hits coming in thick and fast, with the latest round of results identifying two previously unrecognised, high-grade lodes in both the hangingwall and the footwall of the Princess May historical deposit at the company's Yunndaga prospect. Above the deposit, one drill hole hit 1.3m @ 19.82g/t Au from 92.0m and below it, 2.28m @ 17.87g/t Au from 99.65m.

Legend Mining has outlasted the field of Fraser range hopefuls that flocked to the area after Sirius Resources discovered the heralded Nova nickel and copper deposit. They mostly came armed with one shot in the locker and most walked away with their tails between their legs. Legend’s staying power and methodical, almost obsessive attention to geological detail, however, has finally heralded results with a cracking new discovery in the area.

Strike Energy has kicked off a 3D seismic campaign at its Walyering conventional gas discovery in the Perth Basin, where it has previously defined prospective resources of up to 263 billion cubic feet of gas and 6.3 million barrels of associated liquids condensate. The discovery was originally made in 1971 at about 3,350m depth, where the Walyering-1 gas well flowed at 13.5 million standard cubic feet per day.

Azumah Resources has released a statement confirming that all independent company directors are now unanimously recommending shareholders accept private equity firm, Ibaera Capital’s, 3.3 cents a share takeover offer. Ibaera now has a relevant interest in 83% of Azumah’s shares with all Azumah directors and major shareholders now accepting Ibaera’s offer, sidestepping the problematic scenario of becoming a minority shareholder in an unlisted company.

King River’s plans to push its giant Speewah vanadium, titanium and iron deposit in the East Kimberley towards a definitive feasibility study have been given a boost with the production of an almost pure, high purity alumina product, or “HPA” through further refinement of its metallurgical flowsheet. The pioneering company will now commence tests using the new HPA process to extract alumina directly from waste fractions.

Adriatic Metals’ confidence that it can grow its spectacular high grade polymetallic Rupice prospect in central Bosnia even further has received a boost after two new assays indicated the area’s mineralisation is larger than previously thought. Results from one of the two holes testing Rupice’s southern extensions returned 16 metres at 1.96 grams/tonne gold, 350g/t silver, 5.3% zinc, 3.4% lead, 0.5% copper and 43% barite from 330m.

Great Southern has backed up its maiden drilling results released last month, with ounce-plus hits rolling off the drill bit at its Cox’s Find project. New results include 5 meters grading a magical ounce to the tonne gold from 134 meters down-hole that includes a super-high one-metre zone grading 143 grams per tonne gold. These drill holes are stacking up well against old production files that recorded an amazing historical cut-off grade of 12g/t gold.

Hot Chili has the West Perth mining glitterati and their followers on St Georges Terrace all abuzz with news of its nearly 1km long mineralised drill hole at its Cortadera project in Chile. The latest drill result may well rank up there with some of the all-time remarkable drill intercepts and is most likely the best hit anywhere in Australia and possibly even around the globe for 2019.

Aurora Labs has partnered with engineering firm Gränges AB to embark on a potentially lucrative research project that will investigate the possibility of commercialising Aurora’s 3D printing technology for the high value, high turnover automotive spare parts industry. The innovative pair will look to combine their expertise, potentially paving the way for significant sales of Aurora’s “RMP1” 3D metal printer into the car parts manufacturing industry.

With a recent new drill hole at its Penny North prospect going 2.87m at 14.7g/t from 363m downhole, Spectrum Metals appears to be showing that its shiny new ore body, recently discovered just to the north of the historic Penny West open pit in W.A, is not going to give up anytime soon. Penny North is located 25km south of Youanmi.

Further surface mapping conducted just before the launch of its maiden drilling program at the Gaoual bauxite project in northwest Guinea has given Lindian Resources the confidence it is sitting on an ore body that is significantly larger than previously anticipated. The company says it is convinced that Gaoual’s high grade, outcropping Bouba “conglomerate” bauxite target is almost double the length than originally thought.

Agricultural asset developer, Alterra, has signed a property rights agreement for its Dambadgee Springs investment property in Western Australia that could see $2.5 million flow into the company’s coffers over the next 25 years. The PRA will allow the construction and operation of wind turbines at the evolving $400 million Yandin wind farm in the WA wheatbelt shire of Dandaragan.

Altech Chemicals has effectively been given the go-ahead by a German corporate regulator to further rattle the tin in a USD$100 million fund raising that will provide a runway for the Perth company to breathe life into its proposed high purity alumina plant in Malaysia. High purity alumina is in demand from the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery industry and from the LED lighting markets.

Blackstone Minerals has caught the eye of South Korea’s largest electric vehicle battery cathode manufacturer, Ecopro BM Co, which has offered to help the Australian outfit expand the downstream processing capabilities of its re-emerging Ta Khoa nickel project in north Vietnam. The two companies have signed a non-binding MoU which could become a full-blown joint venture involving the production of nickel and cobalt for lithium-ion batteries.

Middle Island Resources has attracted WA-based engineer, Brad Marwood to its board as a Non-Executive Director as it approaches its moment of truth at the Sandstone gold project. The ASX-listed company is looking to make the transition from explorer to developer and Marwood looks well placed to give the company a shove in the right direction.

The tills have been ringing at mining software company, K2fly, with annual recurring revenues from just one of its software offerings, “RCubed”, almost doubling the annual target of $500,000 in just six months, with $900,000 a year now contracted annually for RCubed. The latest numbers come only weeks after the Perth based ASX-listed company signed a five-year software provision contract with mining goliath, Rio Tinto.

Terrain Minerals is looking to acquire the Smokebush gold project in the Murchison, west of Paynes Find in WA. Subject to positive due diligence, it will fund exploration for two years to farm into the project and earn an 80% interest for a total spend of $250,000. Terrain will acquire five tenements in an area prospective mainly for gold deposits but that also have some base metal and tungsten potential.

Venus Metals is adding another chapter to its growing Youanmi story in WA with the first drilling results from its Vidure project encountering base metals and platinum group elements. Four RC holes partially testing previously identified electromagnetic targets near the historical Vidure prospect have discovered a significant extension of the Vidure West mineralisation towards the north, including 10 metres at 0.46% copper and 0.25% nickel.

Fast-moving teleco disrupter, Vonex, will take on the client and technology base from veteran 2SG Wholesale, a telecommunications and data provider, for a turn-key deal with the potential to lift its annualised recurring revenues to over $14 million. The deal is laden with opportunities for Vonex to apply synergies across the business units and comes gift wrapped with clients, some of which are teir-1s.

Lithium Australia is radically transforming the lithium market by creating a new “circular economy” courtesy of its lithium-ion battery recycling technology that essentially “harvests” battery metals from spent lithium-ion coin cell batteries. The ASX-listed company produced its first paid shipment of a valuable recycled mixed metal dust this for South Korean offtake firm, SungEel.

Adriatic Metals has found a silver lining at its brownfields, zinc-heavy polymetallic Vares project in central Bosnia and Herzegovina - particularly at the Rupice target, where recent drilling returned an intercept of 6 metres at an impressive 1,019 grams per tonne silver, 11.3g/t gold, 13.1% zinc, 12.5% lead and 1.3% copper from a depth of 238m. Rupice’s mineralised strike length is now over 500m long.

Solar window glass innovator, ClearVue Technologies, is on the brink of breaking into the lucrative US renewables energy market after receiving UL 61730 Certification for its ClearVue solar glass technology following a year of rigorous scrutiny. The certification is a key requirement for ClearVue to sell its unique “PV IGU” solar window glass to the international market given that it confirms the electrical and mechanical credentials of the product.

Venus Metals and Rox Resources have hit more gold in RC drilling at their Venus JV project in WA. The drilling is located north of the old Penny West gold mine and followed up on an exciting aircore discovery with the best recent numbers coming in at 3m grading 6.61g/t gold from 78m downhole. New aircore holes, 50m south from the now defined mineralisation, showed an 8m wide zone grading 1.92g/t gold.