Matt Birney

Nzuri Copper’s ambitions to become a big player in the African Copper-Cobalt Belt have received a massive boost with a $10 million placement to Huayou Cobalt, the world’s biggest producer of cobalt chemicals. Huayou operates a number of cobalt projects in Nzuri’s backyard and will become a vital partner for the ASX-listed junior alongside Ivanhoe Mines who are already in a JV with the company.

Plymouth Minerals has successfully raised $6.5 million in a share placement to accelerate its plans for development of the San Jose lithium project in Spain and to expedite a feasibility study that will increase its stake in the well placed project from 50% to 75%. Plymouth are planning to produce battery grade lithium carbonate on site and are blessed with a gas pipeline running past their doorstep.

Millions of cash transacting Filipinos who do not operate bank accounts are a significant step closer to making commercial money transfers on their mobile phones a reality as a result of Peppermint Innovation's pilot program in partnership with in-country, distribution network organisation SANTE Barley. The parties have launched a new mobile payment APP to be known as League Pay.

Bougainville's untapped potential for gold and copper continues to build if ASX-listed Kalia Ltd's geophysical reports are anything to go by. Kalia recently snapped up the first exploration permits released on Bougainville and have wasted no time reworking old data which has revealed anomalies similar to those associated with some of the world’s biggest copper-gold mines, according to management.

Aquabotix has launched a smarter 'hybrid' drone that can be operated directly from the surface, autonomously or remotely. Deployed for security, research, environmental assessment and defence purposes, the drone can be controlled by one person and will deliver greater flexibility, the company says. The new drone is able to be mounted with additional sensors and has an 8 hour battery life.

A new pure play graphite company, BlackEarth Minerals, is set to join the ASX just days before Christmas after reaching its minimum subscription of $4.5 million. The company is a spin-off from Lithium Australia, who received a strong response from shareholders to a priority entitlement offer. The float has been helped along by high quality projects in Madagascar and a rally in graphite prices.

St George Mining has made a strong start to drilling at their East Laverton nickel project with drill hits of prospective ultramafic rocks from the first two holes in the program. The new holes have confirmed a western extension of the Windsor ultramafic unit that produced high grade nickel intercepts for BHP back in 2012. St George rocketed up the ASX this month on the back of its Mt Alexander results.

Legend Mining’s patient and systematic exploration for a Nova-Bollinger lookalike at its vast Rockford project in the Fraser Range has delivered its best result yet. New assays from aircore drilling at Area D returned 47 metres at 0.29% nickel, 0.12% copper and 0.03% cobalt, which compares very favourably with results at a similar stage in the Nova discovery according to company management.

Drilling by Geopacific Resources at their recently acquired Woodlark Gold deposit in PNG has shown it has spectacularly long high grades like its famous epithermal neighbours. The path has now been cleared for a new resource and reserve estimate early next year. Latest results from the new drilling include 37 metres at 6.21g/t gold, 25 metres at 6.27g/t and 16 metres at 11.00g/t.

Internet of things player Connected IO’s entry into the US market continues to build momentum, with the Perth-listed company confirming $1 million worth of new orders from US-based Rosco Vision Systems. Connected IO has also received an order for an additional 1,000 of its Cat-1 wireless modem like devices from Rosco as part of the deepening ties between the two companies.

Hammer Metals’ newly-formed Mt Frosty Copper-Gold JV with global mining giant Glencore is already looking good with the company announcing this week some highly encouraging drill hits from its maiden drill program in Mt Isa. The ASX-listed junior explorer reported visible copper sulphides from shallow RC drilling, backing up its view there is potential to define a resource with minimal drilling.

Calima Energy has added 2,738 acres of prime Canadian oil and gas real estate to its portfolio in the liquids-rich, sweet spots of the Montney Formation in Northeast British Columbia, following successful bidding in the latest Canadian Government land auction for coveted licences in the North American oil and gas play.

Fresh from news of a big increase in their San Jose lithium deposit, Plymouth Minerals is racing ahead with test work on converting the deposit into high-value Lithium Carbonate by way of an on-site plant. Bulk samples are already on their way to Plymouth’s Chinese processing partner, Shandong Ruifu, who will beneficiate the ore and process it into battery-grade lithium carbonate.

After spectacularly setting the market alight with a share price run from 7.9c to 48c, St George Mining say they are well and truly still in the hunt for a company making nickel-copper discovery near Agnew. Recent drilling expanded the mineralised footprint at the project and provided solid indications that the deposit thickens to the north and west of St George's 17m discovery intersection.

Lithium Australia have snagged their first major Lithium resource thanks to a wholly successful decision to take a close look at the unrecognised lithium potential of an historic tin mine in Saxony, Germany. The company announced a maiden resource at Sadisdorf that is capable of supplying a 25,000 tonne per annum Lithium Carbonate plant for 10 years without even drilling a hole.

Peppermint Innovation is tapping into Australia’s growing immigrant population who are transferring billions of dollars each year ‘back home’ to their countries of origin. Peppermint has established a 100 per cent owned subsidiary that will earn Australian revenue from fees charged for transferring monies around the world and from foreign exchange margins received at the time of transferring those funds.

Recent drilling has increased the size of Plymouth Minerals’ massive San Jose Lithium mica deposit in Spain to more than 1.6 million tonnes of Lithium Carbonate equivalent, paving the way for an impressive feasibility study in 2018. The giant deposit is still open along strike and at depth and is perfectly situated to produce and deliver battery-grade chemicals for Europe’s booming market.

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global has ramped up cyber-security safeguards on its nano-satellites by incorporating market-leading encryption hardware into the miniature orbital devices. Sky and Space says the integration of the encryption technology, carried out in collaboration with global cyber security provider Check Point, validates its ability to offer a premium service to high value tier-one customers.

King River Copper's excellent progress on metallurgical test work should unlock a new pathway for the development of its massive 4.7 billion tonne Vanadium/Titanium/Iron project near Kununurra. The Company is aiming to produce 99.5%+ purity vanadium pentoxide, titanium dioxide and iron whilst at the same time dramatically reducing the capex requirements via a new processing flow sheet.

Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine is taking shape at a rapid pace. Northern Minerals have completed mining and stockpiling of all the ore required for the initial three-year life of the Browns Range heavy rare earths pilot project, while the second of three shipments of the modular processing plant has arrived in Darwin. The project is on track for first production in Q3 2018.

Calidus Resources’ patient efforts to consolidate ground over the Warrawoona greenstone belt in the East Pilbara are paying huge dividends, with new assay results delivering high-grade gold hits at every one of its prospects. The cashed-up explorer will immediately accelerate its aggressive drill campaign and will soon announce a resource upgrade based on its spectacular run of results.

A bold new idea by Terrain Minerals about the location of Cobalt and Nickel on the Yilgarn Craton has been rewarded with positive assay results from the very first reconnaissance visit. The junior explorer, best known for its work to develop the Great Western gold deposit north of Leonora, recently applied for three tenements about 170 km north-northeast of Geraldton.

Underwater drone innovator Aquabotix has taken its business ambition up a few pegs with the appointment of a US-based CEO whilst founding CEO Durval Tavares will move into the role of Chief Technology Officer to focus on product innovation. New CEO David Batista has a 20 year background in small caps and was most recently the Managing Director of financial services firm Viriathus Holdings.

Plymouth Minerals are busting the myth that Europe is barren when it comes to Lithium deposits with their emerging behemoth at the San Jose project in western Spain. The project is moving ahead rapidly after a scoping study in September delivered impressive results for an operation that will go all the way through to battery-grade Lithium Carbonate on site.

Auroch Minerals have ended their maiden drill program at the Tisova project in the Czech Republic with yet another intercept of multiple sulphide zones and are waiting eagerly for the first assay results to arrive in early December. The historic Tisova mine was in service for centuries as a Copper producer, but could have a new lease of life as a Cobalt producer in the heart of Europe.

Northern Minerals are looking at the potential for a bigger, longer life project at Browns Range after new exploration insights suggested the company had barely scratched the surface of their heavy rare earth resource near Halls Creek. Management has more confidence about mineralisation at depth and a host of new targets that have returned samples with grades well above the existing average.

ASX-listed Kalia Ltd have sourced and dusted off a number of historical geological reports related to Bougainville where the company has secured the first exploration licenses in decades.The company said that the combination of all reports secured represented the equivalent of a first pass exploration program that has effectively identified targets for Kalia to pursue.

Blackham Resources are cashed up and well positioned to complete planning work on their stage 2 expansion of the Wiluna gold project after securing a $60 million funding package and a new quality cornerstone shareholder in Pacific Road Capital. The package includes a $7.3 million placement to Pacific Road, a $12.3 million entitlement issue and a refinancing of the company’s debt facility.

Hammer Metals have commenced drill activity on another front on their vast Mt Isa tenement holdings, this time at their highly prospective Mt Frosty Copper-Gold joint venture with Glencore. Hammer is hoping to repeat recent successes that built on drill results of previous explorers and aims to establish a resource at the Jubilee prospect with minimal drilling.

MGC Pharmaceuticals have executed another major new medical marijuana deal, this time with a European medicinal cannabis product manufacturer and distributor that has signed on for annual sales worth at least $1m. New customer Mabsut Life says the deal is just the first in a series of agreements it expects with MGC Pharmaceuticals under a strategic partnership.

PharmAust’s acquisition last month of a library of compounds from a major Japanese pharmaceutical company is looking like a shrewd move. Initial tests show some of the newly acquired compounds can kill cancer cells grown in-vitro up to six times more effectively than the parent compound, Monepantel, which is Pharmaust's flagship anti-cancer drug.

CVCheck, has bolted down its second partnership in a week for the company’s unique software platform that alerts HR managers to the credibility or otherwise of a job seekers resume. In an announcement this morning, the junior tech company said that major New Zealand human resources software provider SnapHire, had agreed to integrate CVCheck’s resume verification system into their platform.