Matt Birney

Perth listed Connected IO’s relationship with Verizon continues to gather steam, with the tech company locking away several new purchase orders via its enterprise agreement with the US telco giant. The company says the new orders augur well for growth in the period ahead as it blazes a trail in the booming global "Internet of Things" market, estimated to be worth more than USD$560bn by 2020.

Early drill results from Lithium Australia’s Ravensthorpe project, immediately west of the Mt Cattlin Lithium mine, have outlined a large, thick, flat-lying, potentially Lithium bearing Pegmatite. Assay results due next month will be highly anticipated after two key Lithium minerals, Spodumene and Lepidolite were visible in the drill chip samples.

ASX listed resume screening and verification company CVCheck has finished the financial year with revenues up 50 per cent on the back of sustained user growth and a swag of new corporate clients. The Perth based online company is aiming to get to break even by the December quarter as the corporate sector puts job seeker’s resumes to the test.

Hammer Metals’ impressive exploration skills will get a workout over the next few weeks with the start of RC drill programs at both the Kalman West and Revenue prospects in the Mt Isa mining district. Hammer will be hoping to add to a string of successes, which have attracted gold heavyweight Newmont and a Canadian cobalt specialist as joint venture partners.

Legend Mining’s tenacious search for the next Nova-Bollinger lookalike in the Fraser Range just got real after the company encountered multiple intercepts of sulphides in the first drill hole. The hits include mineralization that is similar to that found at Nova-Bollinger and investors will no doubt be sitting on the edge of their chairs whilst the results are being assayed.

Azonto Petroleum’s prospectus to raise up to $4.5 million reveals the use of an innovative method of finding liquids rich “sweet spots” in the company's new shale liquids play in the revered Montney oil and gas formation in Canada. Azonto’s ground is directly analogous to Sauaro’s ground where 32 operating wells have already been discovered. 

Stargroup has posted an incredible 14th quarter of record revenues in a row as the company completes a transformational FY17 on its journey from minor to major ATM machine industry player. In another stellar quarterly result, June quarter revenues were up 144 per cent with the company hinting they might also double their FY18 revenue guidance. 

Sky & Space Global have hit a major milestone by becoming the first company to successfully complete communications between multiple nano-satellites situated hundreds of km's apart in space. The company says its telecommunications nano-satellites are currently operating according to plan in orbit and have generated more than 60 hours of telemetry since launch.

Perth based medical research pioneer Epichem, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX listed PharmAust, has posted record revenues for FY17 on the back of growth across all of its business divisions. PharmAust said Epichem generated a best-ever revenue result of $3.05m for the 12 months to June, up by 30 per cent when compared to the previous year.  

An engineering study has shown that Lithium Australia’s breakthrough “Sileach’ Lithium processing technology could be profitable even at the pilot plant stage. The company is staring down a potentially lucrative global opportunity that would see them move around the world processing Lithium waste dumps that were previously thought to be uneconomic.  

Shark Mitigation Systems is partnering with a Californian surf craft manufacturer to accelerate the rollout of its anti-shark technology, “SAMS”, into the US water sports market. The company says the manufacturing license agreement with Californian production firm Boardlams potentially paves the way for distribution of its visual technology into an estimated 2000 US surf shops.

Sky and Space Global’s testing of its first three nano-satellites continues to return excellent results, with the miniature telecommunications satellites successfully passing more than 100 tests in space. The Perth-listed company’s nano-satellites are currently operating perfectly in orbit and have so far transmitted over 1,000 minutes of data back to earth.

Fledgling Gold producer Blackham Resources has released another set of exceptional, high-grade drill hits from the Wiluna Gold Project in W.A as it charges ahead with studies to double production to more than 200,000 ounces per annum. The new results are from the second half of a whopping 49,000 metre RC and diamond drilling program.

ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals has bolstered its European medicinal cannabis growing operations by shifting nearly 500 marijuana plants to the company’s facilities in the Czech Republic. MGC is moving full steam ahead with its botanical division, largely based in the EU, after last month receiving a full European licence to grow cannabis.

Connected IO has delivered its fourth consecutive quarter of record revenues as the Perth-listed tech company continues to reap rewards from its foray into the booming “internet of things" sector. Revenues hit a record $822,562 in the June quarter, up 45 per cent from the previous quarter and nearly 2,000 per cent higher than the same time last year.

Many explorers are searching for Cobalt opportunities right now, but few look more interesting than the one just snapped up by Auroch Minerals in the Czech Republic. The Perth junior has secured an option over an ancient Copper mine that was previously unrecognised for its Cobalt potential. It has vast waste dumps that could be bristling with the lucrative tech metal.

Pilbara Minerals are studying the potential for an even larger future expansion at Pilgangoora after new success with the drill bit produced a 15% increase in Lithium reserves. The company now have enough ore to mine for 40 years at stage 1 production levels of 2Mtpa and are looking to boost the stage 2 expansion to 5Mtpa.

Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora Lithium project has received the ultimate accolade in the form of a $20m investment by the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The Government finance agency emerged recently as one of several institutional investors in Pilbara’s A$130 million bond issue.

PharmAust has engaged Canadian pharmaceutical specialist BRI to reformulate its promising anti-cancer drug Monepantel in readiness for more clinical trials and commercialisation. Monepantel has already shown positive outcomes treating cancer and PharmAust are now looking to improve the taste profile and palatability of the drug.

The big wait is over for wanna-be telco, Sky and Space Global, after they successfully made contact with their 3 “nano-satellites” that were blasted into space earlier in the week. The company has successfully communicated with their miniature telecommunications satellites on 50 occasions since they were sent into orbit on June 23rd. 

Technology company Weebit Nano has embarked on the next stage of development of its new generation memory storage technology, with the company working to miniaturise its unique “ReRAM” solution.  The Perth company’s potentially game-changing ReRAM memory is faster, cheaper and needs less energy than current storage methods.

Perth-listed Neometals are making the transition from Lithium miner to battery materials technologist. The company have lodged a patent in the US to protect their unique technology that extracts Cobalt and other materials from old laptops, mobiles phones and consumer electronics at prices that would make a miner’s eyes water. 

Sky and Space Global is on the cusp of a major milestone with the launch of its first 3, potentially game-changing nano-satellites confirmed for June 23rd.  The launch represents a giant leap forward for the company that will become a base telecommunications network owner if successul, a claim that many other major telco's cant make. 

Neometals’ Mt Marion Lithium project near Coolgardie is roaring along at above nameplate capacity just months after the maiden shipment. The Perth-based lithium producer also reported in a project update that Chinese offtake partner Ganfeng Lithium was delighted with the quality of battery grade chemicals produced from the mine.

Fresh from last week’s A$132 million bond issue, Pilbara Minerals have raised another A$80 million to finalise funding for the giant Pilgangoora Lithium development near Port Hedland. One of the world’s largest proposed lithium developments right here in W.A now looks unstoppable.

MGC Pharmaceuticals has signed a distribution deal to supply its medicainal marijuana products across Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. The exclusive agreement with leading Slovenian laboratory supplier, Mikro+Polo, builds on positive momentum at MGC after it was given a full European licence to grow and cultivate cannabis this month.

Hammer Metals has received positive early results from a three-hole drilling program at Dronfield near Mt Isa, hitting plenty of markers associated with IOCG mineralisation and up to 5% total sulphides. Hammer are one third of the way through a three hole deep drilling program with results expected soon. 

Legend Mining shareholders have some exciting weeks ahead, with the explorer announcing plans for imminent drill tests of up to five conductors, including the monster N1 target at the Rockford project. Legend is rated by many as the best hope for a follow-up discovery to the massive Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper find in the Fraser Range.

A mix of local and international financial institutions have lined up for a piece of a $132 million bond issue by Pilbara Minerals, which has paved the way for the start of major site works at the giant Pilgangoora Lithium project near Port Hedland. Pilgangoora will be one of the largest Lithium mines in the world when built. 

Hammer Metals’ proposed new Canadian partner, Global Energy Metals Corporation has heaped praise on the Millennium copper-cobalt project in Queensland, stating that it could become “a very significant regional opportunity.” The glowing assessment has encouraged Global Energy to finalise the proposed joint venture at Millennium with Hammer Metals. 

Successful clinical trials have led PharmAust to lock down patents for its promising anti-cancer drug in key markets around the world in rapid succession. Research work has indicated the drug might also be effective in combating non-cancer ailments such as brain disease and diabetes, leading to another non-cancer related patent being secured in Europe this week. 

PharmAust has secured a patent for its promising anti-cancer drug in another major market, this week adding Japan to a list that already includes Australia, China and the US. The new protection is the latest in a series of recent patent awards that are clearly impressing the market, with PharmAust stock up almost 50% in the past month.