Matt Birney

Aruma Resources has kicked off a second phase drilling campaign of up to 1800m over 12 holes at the company’s Mt Deans lithium and rubidium project 120km south of Kalgoorlie in WA. The drill holes will pierce down to depths as low as 120m in a follow-up program to first phase drilling and recent rock chip sampling that returned high-grade lithium and rubidium results. Aruma anticipates its work to be completed in mid-October with results to be released in due course.

Rio Tinto Exploration, a subsidiary of the mining giant, has exercised its option to farm-in to ASX-listed Twenty Seven Co’s North Rover project with plans to begin a 500-1000m drill program to test for lithium at the site. The two companies entered into an earn-in option agreement in March stating the Rio subsidiary can earn an 80 per cent interest in non-gold minerals at the tenement by spending $5 million on non-gold exploration at the site.

Classic Minerals has delivered more high-grade gold intercepts from infill RC drilling at the company’s flagship Kat Gap gold project 170km south of Southern Cross in WA. Significant results include a 1m hit going 47.5 g/t gold from 20m and a broader 6m strike going 4.08 g/t from 48m. The results come from another 32 holes of Classic’s 109-hole infill program designed to provide more accurate data for the company’s resource model as it looks to start producing.

St George Mining has unearthed a raft of nickel sulphide targets at its Mt Alexander project near Leonora including a large electromagnetic conductor that has been identified as a priority drilling prospect. The company is currently conducting fixed loop electromagnetic surveys combined with seismic data to pinpoint a series of anomalies identified earlier last month.

After recent channel sampling efforts, mineral explorer PolarX has uncovered a new extensive gold and silver intercept at surface within a large outcropping vein system at the company’s Humboldt Range gold and silver project in Nevada. Two of the channels combine to form one 69m long mineralised surface interval going 1.1 g/t gold and 7.65 g/t silver.

ASX-listed Radiopharm Theranostics says a new report published by prestigious science journal Nature on the role of cancer catalyst LRRC15 in the growth of tumours could demonstrate the effectiveness of the company’s DUNP19 antibody. LRRC15 is a substance produced by aggressive cancer cells and cells in the surrounding micro-environment, but not healthy normal tissue.

Coda Minerals has wrapped up its maiden 27-hole, 2800m RC drilling campaign at its Cameron River copper-gold project located in the world-class Mt Isa mineral province in North Queensland. Early visual identification of copper-bearing sulphides in samples, backed up by anomalous pXRF analysis, suggests the company has tapped into a copper-mineralised system. Assay results from the program are expected later this year.

Final assay results from Horizon Minerals’ recent foray with the drill bit at its Cannon project near Kalgoorlie in WA have notched up several encouraging nickel hits including 2m at 2.21 per cent nickel from 161m. Further afield at the company’s Golden Ridge and Yarmany projects, prospective fertile ultramafic horizons have been etched out from a reconnaissance drilling probe and downhole geophysical surveys.

Drilling results have confirmed the presence of rhodium and iridium along the entire 15km strike length of Podium Minerals’ 5E PGM Parks Reef project near Meekatharra in the Mid West region of WA. The company recently received results from 30 of the 53 holes drilled as part of its stage 10 campaign designed to firm up the presence of rhodium and iridium. The company recently officially added the two metals to its mineral resource estimate at Parks Reef creating what it says is Australia’s first defined 5E PGM resource.

Brightstar Resources’ recent 12-hole RC drilling program has identified a new mineralised lode at the company’s Cork Tree Well gold project 30km north of Laverton in WA. The drilling was performed at the project’s Delta 2 prospect and returned a series of high-grade hits including 2m going 6.05 grams per tonne gold from 29m, 1m running 5.31 g/t from 102m and 2m grading 2.42 g/t from 94m.

Triangle Energy’s Cliff Head JV with Pilot Energy could soon pocket about $6.8 million after unloading and subsequently selling off close to 51,000 barrels of oil via a new shipping route through Thailand. The Perth-based oil and gas player could earn about $5.4 million from its share in the project with the company’s joint venture partner taking home an estimated $1.4 million for its part of the deal. Another shipment is scheduled for later in the year.

Askari Metals has acquired another lithium project in WA’s highly prospective Pilbara region from private outfit Mining Equities for a total of $125,000 in cash and shares, bolstering its already brimming battery metals portfolio. In a busy period of activity, the explorer is also reviewing its Red Peak lithium project for rare earth elements potential and has wrapped up its maiden drilling campaign at the company’s Horry copper and gold project.

Newly listed explorer Octava Minerals has shot out of the blocks and commenced a battery metals hunt at its Talga lithium project in the Pilbara region of WA - just weeks after listing on the local bourse. The company will use the campaign to seek out lithium-bearing pegmatites with a ground-based exploration program, including mapping and sampling within earshot of Global Lithium’s 10.5 million tonne Archer deposit.

Infinity Lithium’s plans to develop its 75 per cent owned San José lithium project in Spain appear to be rolling forward after the company submitted an ‘Initial Document’ to effectively expedite the project’s next stages. Shortly after submitting the document, the Regional Government ratified a recent lithium-focused law that declared lithium extraction and processing are of regional and general interest.

Meeka Metals’ pending declaration of a maiden resource at its St Anne’s discovery in the Murchison region of WA has received a serious shot in the arm after RC drilling churned out visible gold in chips acquired beneath a parcel of high-grade mineralisation. The company aims to deliver the estimate at the site in December ahead of a project wide pre-feasibility study next year.

Soil and laterite sampling at Venus Metals’ Marvel Loch East project have returned “exceptional” results including one sample showing a remarkable 6092 parts-per-million total rare earth oxides. The Marvel Loch East rare earths project is located near Southern Cross in the Goldfields region of WA and comprises one granted exploration licence and an additional four applications for a total tenement area of 828 square kilometres.

ASX-listed mining software provider K2fly has strengthened its ties with Imerys Group after inking a three year contract for use of its Land Access solution. The three year deal has a total contract value of $860,000 and an annual recurring revenue of $123,000 in exchange for a system that manages land access, studies, approvals, stakeholder engagement, operations and land use.

Triangle Energy has completed the acquisition of two highly prospective oil and gas permits in WA’s Perth Basin from ASX-listed explorer Key Petroleum. The company previously held a major stake in both assets and mopped up the balance in exchange for $600,000 in cash and $500,000 in shares to be issued on or before June 30, 2023.

Initial assays from extensional RC drilling at CZR Resources’ Robe Mesa iron ore project in WA’s Pilbara region have confirmed significant direct shipping ore mineralisation beneath the asset’s pre-feasibility study pit. The company says the material’s average grades of about 55.6 per cent iron align with its targeted production figures and reinforce its strategic plan to lift production and mine life once in operation.

After a pilot test run to assess the suitability of its plant to process ore from the company’s premier Kat Gap deposit, Classic Minerals’ Gekko processing plant has outperformed its expectations. The low-cost modular plant delivered more than 95 per cent of the liberated gold through a simple gravity process. After receiving approval for a tailings storage facility the company will now move to assemble its plant before commencing the processing of ore and finally the production of long awaited gold.

Gold producer Calidus Resources has unveiled its maiden reserve for its Blue Spec deposit in the East Pilbara and slated a final investment decision for its sulphide plant to process the gold for mid-2023. Blue Spec’s maiden reserve has been determined at 83,000 ounces at 11.2 grams per tonne gold, taking the company’s total resources to 600,000 ounces of gold.

Si6 Metals has intersected wide zones of gold mineralisation at the company’s Monument gold project in WA after a second phase air core drilling program. The broadly spaced 130-hole program encountered numerous intercepts that show significant potential remains across the broader project area. The drilling campaign was rolled out across five of the project’s prospect areas.

Panther Metals appears to have the tiger by the tail at its Burtville East project about 40km south-east of Laverton in WA, delivering another set of eye-catching gold results, including a 1m intercept running a bonanza 62.8 grams per tonne from 91m. The feature result sits inside a larger 10m strike grading 7.15 g/t gold from 84m and follows a phase one campaign that returned several compelling hits.

Surefire Resources has uncovered two new potential gold targets to the west of its Yidby gold deposit in the Mid West region of WA after receiving results from the company’s latest RC drilling campaign. The new Marshall prospect is a gold mineralised zone about 150m to the west of the Yidby deposit whilst the Fender target features wide gold mineralisation about 400m north-west of Yidby.

After a trio of mineral resource updates across its Goldfields projects, mineral explorer Horizon Minerals has boosted its gold inventory by 91,000 ounces to a new total of 1.24 million ounces. New resources were calculated within the company’s Baden Powell, Windanya and Binduli gold projects amounting to 69,000 ounces and a further 21,500 ounces was added to the company’s tally after acquiring the remaining 50 per cent of its Penny’s Find gold project.

American West Metals has confirmed the presence of a potentially lucrative new copper system at its Storm project in Canada after sifting through preliminary assay results from a recently plunged diamond hole. The discovery sits beneath the operation’s known near-surface mineralisation and has drawn comparisons to some of the world’s premier sedimentary-style copper deposits.

After a hyperspectral survey, Askari Metals has lit up multiple lithium targets at the company’s newly acquired Myrnas Hill lithium project in WA’s Pilbara region. The targets — including one high-priority structure with a strike length of 1.2km — will be the focus of an upcoming field expedition as the company looks to get its boots on the ground as soon as possible.

Fortescue Metals Group has extended its deal with software developer K2fly with an additional six-month contract worth $1.2m for the provision of mining software development services. The mining giant has been a long-term customer of K2fly, utilising its software to navigate regulatory requirements of the increasingly important environmental, social and governance landscape.

On the spot x-ray fluorescence analysis on a third drill core pulled from Buru Energy and Sipa Resources' jointly held Barbwire Terrace project south-east of Broome in WA has unveiled broad intervals of disseminated base metal sulphides. The high-grade mineralisation ran up to 23.9 per cent zinc- lead and was joined by a suite of anomalous hits running north of one per cent.

Gold explorer Zuleika Gold has uncovered further promising results from drilling and soil geochemistry work across the company’s large and highly prospective tenement package that sits less than 25km north-west of Kalgoorlie. Some of the best results include a 3m hit going 2.63 g/t gold from 13m and a 223ppb gold anomaly. Once heritage clearance has been received the company plans to kick off its next phase of air core drilling in October.

Lindian Resources will move forward with its plans to develop the Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi after securing the green light from shareholders to acquire the site’s owner Rift Valley Resource Developments. Shareholders unanimously voted in favour of the purchase this week after Lindian made its first tranche payment in its bid to acquire Rift Valley earlier this year.

ASX-listed Radiopharm Theranostics will be showcasing the potential of one of its tumour-blasting products that targets the deadly pancreatic cancer at a key meeting of nuclear medicine experts in Spain next month. A lecture will be given at a session on new radiopharmaceutical trials and is a watershed moment in the partnership forged by Radiopharm and Germany-based nuclear medicine specialist TRIMT.