Matt Birney

MGC Pharmaceuticals has made the first shipment of its medical cannabis-derived formulation for the relief of seizures associated with severe epilepsy into the UK. The company’s UK distribution partners Grow Biotech and IPS have already received initial prescriptions for the drug. This early interest is encouraging if the company’s prediction that the UK medical cannabis market will grow to €8.8bn by 2028.

Adriatic Metals has intersected very encouraging, thick intersections of base and precious metals mineralisation from drilling in its new Concession area at the northern end of the exciting Rupice prospect in Bosnia. The new results include 30m @ 9.7% zinc, 5.2% lead, 265g/t silver, 4.6g/t gold, 0.4% copper and 43% barite from 246m down-hole that will be incorporated into a mineral resource estimate for Rupice later this year.

Artemis Resources has estimated an indicated resource of 152,000t @ 0.63% nickel and 0.47% copper for contained resources of 965t of nickel and 713t of copper at its Ruth Well project in WA’s West Pilbara region. In line with its new gold focus, the company will undertake a heritage survey over the Monarch and Conqueror targets in the current quarter. Both targets are within trucking distance of its Radio Hill processing plant.

PharmAust can now assess dosing strategies for the upcoming Phase II clinical trials for its anti-cancer drug Monepantel in dogs after receiving further positive results from the ongoing Phase I trial. Serum levels of both Monepantel and its major metabolite, monepantel sulfone, exceeded the predicted anti-cancer activity target values in dogs administered just one tablet per day.

MGC Pharmaceuticals has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with UK medical cannabis leaders Grow Biotech and IPS, who have an extensive network of 5500 pharmacies across the country. The distributors will ensure that MGC’s products are registered with the all relevant authorities and manage the process of importing the products, through to delivering them to patients at home or selected pharmacies.

Buru Energy has spudded its highly anticipated Ungani-6 horizontal production well that is aimed at increasing the ASX-listed company’s oil production in the vastly underexplored Canning Basin in WA’s north. It will be completed to intersect the target Ungani Dolomite reservoir before the rig moves on to drill the Ungani-7 production well. A coiled tubing unit will then be mobilised to drill the horizontal sections of both wells.

Hawkstone Mining has generated more wide, high-grade mineralisation in separate ore horizons from diamond drilling at the Northern Mineralised Zone of its Big Sandy lithium clay project in Arizona, US. Better results included 26m @ 2,205 ppm lithium from 15m down-hole and 21m @ 2,203 ppm lithium from 10m down-hole from the Upper Zone, within two separate vertical drill holes.

Vonex’s decision to retain an iron ore royalty is poised to pay off after it received the first notification of royalties from the Koolyanobbing iron ore project. Koolyanobbing project owner Mineral Resources plans to ramp up production from 6Mtpa to 8Mtpa by the first quarter of the 2020 financial year and has started a program to extend its mine life.

MGC Pharmaceuticals is expanding its distribution network through agreements with Australian medicinal cannabis distribution and logistics specialists, Health House International and Cannvalate. The non-exclusive agreements cover MGC’s IMP products and expand the network of clinics and pharmacies from which Special Access Scheme applications for these products may be derived.

King River Resources will recommence field exploration programs at its Mt Remarkable gold project near Kununurra, WA, later this month, to build on the success of last year’s discovery of high-grade mineralisation centred on the Trudi Main Zone. The company has also been granted a new exploration licence that surrounds the main prospect area and contains structural geological targets similar to those defined at Trudi.

Ultracharge is selling its electrolyte salt intellectual property that can increase the lifespan and performance of lithium-ion batteries in both high and low temperatures to Singapore-based company SES Holdings for USD$700,000. This will provide the company with short-term funding whilst reducing its intellectual property maintenance and research and development costs.

Black Rock has appointed two experienced executives to support the development and potential construction of its impressive Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania later this year. Ian Murray has joined as a Non-Executive Director and will assist in establishing financing of the project, while Jeffrey Dawkins will work with the Board to institute business platforms to support project development and future mining operations.

Infinity Lithium is sticking with the mantra of “buy local” with the signing of an MoU with Spanish industrial group Ercros for the future supply of reagents required to produce lithium chemicals at its San Jose project in Spain. Ercros’ existing network of caustic soda tanks makes it ideally suited to help meet Infinity’s goal of controlling its carbon footprint throughout the entire lithium chemical production process.

Nusantara Resources is forging closer ties with strategic partner Indika Energy to hasten the development of its Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia and has appointed Greg Foulis as its Executive Chairman. The company will also build a development team in Indonesia with the technical capabilities to move the project forward whilst continuing to engage with potential banks to provide project financing.

Hawkstone Mining has appointed the former Chief Technical Officer to Lithium Americas Corp, Dr David Deak, as its technical advisor to oversee development of the Big Sandy lithium clay project in Arizona, US. Dr Deak previously led the team that delivered the PFS for the Thacker Pass lithium clay project in Nevada, which will generate 3.135 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over a 46-year mine life.

BlackEarth Minerals has engaged AustMin to provide consultancy services relating to offtake, funding, development and general collaboration in China for its flagship Maniry graphite project in Madagascar. AustMin founder Eileen Hao has provided consultancy services to graphite companies such as Syrah Resources and has also been instrumental in securing offtake agreements for several other Australian companies.

Northern Minerals has kicked off a program of drilling at the high-grade, heavy rare earth Dazzler and Iceman prospects, located south of its Browns Range mining and pilot processing operations near Halls Creek, WA. The short campaign will target infill and extensional positions at both prospects, which will potentially upgrade the existing Dazzler resource and facilitate the estimation of a maiden mineral resource for Iceman.

3D printing specialist Aurora Labs is closing in on the commercialisation of its revolutionary MCP 3D printing technology with the completion of its RMP1 Beta Printer. This pre-production machine can print parts with 10 times the volume of the earlier Alpha 2 test machine and will be almost identical to the company’s final production line machines, which are expected to become available later this year.

Base metal results from Legend Mining’s infill aircore drilling program at its Crean and Worsley prospects in the Fraser Range of WA have given the company encouragement that it is zeroing in on larger mineralised systems in the district. At Crean, anomalous nickel-copper assays point to a possible magmatic intrusive ore system like the revered Nova deposit, whilst Worsley shows geology and assays consistent with a VMS system.

Vonex continues to build its core business with the telco now counting more than 28,000 registered PABX telephony customers on its ledger, up from 27,500 users in March. This growth is due to a targeted nationwide marketing program and constructive engagement with its channel partners. The company has also posted a 20% year-on-year increase in new customer orders for the March quarter.

Novo Resources has kicked off its field exploration programs for the Egina and Karratha gold projects in the West Pilbara, WA. The company is planning to complete bulk sampling programs on defined and targeted gold-bearing gravel terraces in the Egina district, whilst regional exploration activities are underway at Karratha to evaluate conglomerate-hosted gold mineralisation between the Comet Well and the Purdy’s Reward projects.

Reedy Lagoon Corporation is reviving its Burracoppin magnetite project near Southern Cross, WA, due to the increased demand for high-grade iron ore concentrate to meet China’s new environmental regulations. Ore from Burracoppin is easily upgraded into a concentrate with between 67% to 70% iron, with low levels of impurities after a relatively coarse grind of 150 microns.

Spectrum Metals has drilled high-grade gold intersections at its Penny North and Magenta prospects near Youanmi in WA and has raised $5m to support ongoing exploration and resource development at the broader Penny West project. The company will shortly commence its Phase II drilling program, which will target regions adjacent to the existing Penny West resource and extensions to the Penny North and Magenta prospects.

PharmAust has received a tidy $672,250 R&D tax refund from the Australian Government for its expenditure on the development of its flagship Monepantel anti-cancer drug. This includes work on its successful clinical trials and reformulating a high dose tablet with improved taste. The refund will be used to advance the company’s clinical trial programs in dogs and humans.

Calidus Resources has boosted its cash position by $2.16m, following a strategic placement with major backer Alkane Resources that will ensure the company completes its PFS for the Warrawoona gold project near Marble Bar, WA, during the next quarter. The company recently upgraded its mineral resources at the project by 75% to 21.2 million tonnes grading 1.83g/t gold for 1.25 million ounces.

Alterra has signed an exclusive technical partner agreement with horticultural expert Tyson Bennett and his Perth-based company Chemicals Direct, placing it in the lead for high-density, high-performance production systems for permanent tree crops. Mr Bennett specialises in the outperformance of high-value tree crops through the management of tree canopies.

Surefire Resources has procured the prospective, yet under-explored Victory Bore vanadium project near Sandstone, WA, from ASX-listed High Grade Metals in a cash and scrip deal worth $1.25m. The company now holds a global combined inferred mineral resource of 237.2 million tonnes grading 0.43% vanadium pentoxide, which incorporates the large Victory Bore deposit and the nearby Unaly Hill deposit.

Hawkstone Mining has generated further wide, high-grade mineralisation in two separate ore horizons from drilling at the Northern Mineralised Zone of its Big Sandy lithium clay project in Arizona, US. Better results included 17m @ 2,152 ppm lithium from 12m down-hole in the Upper Zone and 36m @ 1,892 ppm lithium from 31m down-hole in the Lower Zone, within the same vertical drill hole.

Ongoing metallurgical test work of ore from Caravel Minerals’ flagship copper project in the Wheatbelt region of WA has established that it can be treated using standard process techniques with high recoveries. Testing has found that high recoveries can be achieved using low reagent doses, which could lower processing costs. The company has also revised resources to 1.3Mt of copper, up from the previous estimate of 1.28Mt.

Australian Potash is constructing evaporation ponds to assess the most cost-efficient technique for commercial-scale ponds at its Lake Wells SOP project near Laverton, WA. The company is also drilling up to three large diameter production bores that could support a resource expansion at the project and is carrying out additional long-term pump testing to help finalise the ore reserves estimate.

Black Rock Mining’s Chinese EPC partner Yantai Jinyaun has generated high quality, large flake dominant, graphite concentrates grading 98.7% purity at 95.5% recovery from pilot plant studies on the company’s Tanzanian Mahenge ores. The test work was observed by customers, partners and potential investors and completed to validate the company’s optimised circuit design and processing flowsheets.

Venus Metals has identified three, near surface high-grade gold drilling targets at its historical Currans Find mining lease, only 25km south of its Youanmi gold mine in the Murchison region of WA. Priority areas include the new gold-bearing, quartz lode discovery at Taylor’s Reef and two prospects at the Red White and Blue mine and Currans North mine defined by anomalous gold assays in drilling and surface sampling.