Matt Birney

ASX listed Lithium Australia have multiple balls in the air right now. The company recently announced potentially resource grade sampling at their Mexican Lithium play, the awarding of an engineering design contract for their game changing Sileach Lithium process and a priority share entitlement in the exciting upcoming Lithium float of Canadian partner Metals Tech.

It’s hard to believe but there are still millions of people in the world that are technically termed “unbanked”, which means they still do not operate a bank account. They earn their wages in cash and pay their bills in cash but all that could change with Perth ASX listed company Peppermint Innovation's new App set to revolutionize the bill paying experience for the great unbanked.  

Another round of great assay results has Blackham Resources thinking about digging a 1.9km-long super pit at Wiluna to carve out the riches left by previous explorers. Latest drilling by the new gold producer has found extensive mineralisation beyond the existing mine plan that could be accessed by a northern superpit and deeper digging at the existing East and West pits.

Terrain Minerals are a chance to make the leap from junior explorer to junior producer after an injection of new funds from shareholders and management which will fund an immediate drill program at the Great Western Gold project near Leonora. The 21-hole program is one of the last steps before a prefeasibility study on development of the almost 63,000 ounce resource.

In a remarkable display of value adding, Hammer Metals this week released a maiden resource estimate for their copper-cobalt-gold Millennium deposit in Qld, just six months after buying it for $83,000. The ASX junior said Millennium was similar in size and style to other deposits in the area that had been successfully mined, which implied Millennium might already be economic.

Blackham Resources have turned the gold price slump to their advantage by snapping up ounces at low spot prices and turning a quick $6.3m profit on their hedge book. The cash boost follows a string of good news at the recent AGM, where shareholders were told the Matilda mine would produce 25,000 ounces in the March 17 quarter and expansion studies were moving ahead.

Sipa Resources' exploration program in the Paterson district in W.A has been recognised by a grant of up to $300,000 from the State and Federal Governments and the CSIRO. The new funds will provide a boost to the company’s search for a major copper-gold deposit, and follows up some very encouraging results from the company’s maiden reconnaissance drill program in the area.

In what appears to be an endorsement of their latest strategy to secure five highly prospective Lithium leases in Namibia, Auroch Minerals have attracted the attention of Rare Earth Minerals, a London and New York listed fund that takes strategic interests in undervalued Lithium projects around the globe. Rare Earths have taken a $650k strategic placement in Auroch.

Approvals to build Australia’s first heavy rare earths plant are falling like dominoes for Northern Minerals with the Department of Mines and Petroleum giving the green light for the company to develop their Browns Range rare earths project near Halls Creek. Whilst it will be a research and development play initially, there is every chance it will still make money for the company. 

ATM machine operator Stargroup, has bolted $1.7m to its bottom line after executing a hotly-anticipated asset purchase agreement with high margin Australian ATM machine service provider Indue. The $6.5m debt funded deal appears to have been well negotiated by Stargroup at just 3.8 times EBITDA. Indue's ATM business shows a very high EBITDA to sales ratio of over 40%.

Whilst most medical Marijuana companies are still trying to work out how to monetize their businesses, MGC Pharmaceuticals are busy locking down international distribution deals with real revenue flows for their unique, Cannabis based skin care line, MGC Derma. The company announced last week it had secured its first major sales order worth around AUD$65,000.

Geological tell tale signs from the latest round of drilling at Sipa Resources’nickel copper play in Uganda indicate that the company might be getting close to the pay zone with their exploration program. The latest assay results from the Akelikongo project have extended the mineralized zone by 100m and suggest that the mineral system strengthens and thickens down plunge

Sky and Space Global’s breakthrough ‘nano-satellites’ are moving from idea to reality with the company indicating that the first three units will be built by December 2016. They are now expected to be tested and ready for deployment by February 2017, well ahead of the second quarter launch date and telco wholesalers are already signing up to get a slice of the action. 

All the pieces are falling into place for Northern Minerals’ heavy rare earth project at Browns Range, with infill drilling underway before a final investment decision due in Q1 2017. It follows a sensational few months for the company that have included funding and construction deals to take Browns Range from an ambitious idea to potentially Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine.

In a strong endorsement of its nano-satellite telecommunications technology, Sky and Space Global has raised $7 million in an oversubscribed capital raising at 8.5c a share. The price represents a jump that is more than 4 times the previous capital raise price of 2c a share just 6 months ago when Perth corporate types, Brett Mitchell and Peter Wall backdoor listed the company. 

Pilbara Minerals’ rapid rise reached a key milestone this week with the start of earthworks at Pilgangoora, one of the world’s largest Lithium development projects. The news coincided with the company’s AGM where shareholders were told how their company had achieved remarkable growth from a market cap of just $11 million two years ago to $700 million today.

The State Government will deploy home grown technology with global potential in a $500k deal to protect Perth beachgoers from shark attacks this summer. Perth based ASX listed Shark Mitigation Systems said today they had convinced the W.A State Government to deploy their “Clever Buoy” technology on a trial basis between the two groynes at City Beach over the summer period.

Chinese engineering firm Sinosteel MECC have agreed to defer $12m of the $60m needed to build Northern Minerals rare earths pilot plant until after the mine starts producing. Taking the money from future cashflow rather than borrowing it, dramatically changes the deal metrics and sets the company up to be Australia's first heavy rare earths producer in 2017. 

David Perlmutter, the heavy weight former Executive Vice President at Intel Corporation, is headed to Australia next week in his role as Chairman of ASX listed tech company Weebit Nano and will meet investors in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. His involvement with a junior technology company is curious and has local tech heads speculating about where the company is headed. 

Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora Lithium deposit is growing like topsy, with the ASX-listed Lithium developer flagging another reserve upgrade after releasing exceptional results from the latest drilling program. The looming upgrade, would strengthen Pilbara Minerals’ case for doubling mine throughout and dramatically improving the economics of an already lucrative project.

ASX listed PharmAust has revealed a timetable for the development of its promising anti-cancer drug as the Perth-based company moves ahead with human and canine trials. After pleasing results in Phase I human tests of its “Monepantel” drug, the company is pushing ahead with Phase II canine trials.

Legend Mining’s systematic search for the next Nova-Bollinger deposit in the Fraser Range in W.A is looking increasingly positive with a big reconnaissance drill program yielding excellent first pass results. The company reported this week that their regional aircore drilling program had intersected favourable nickel-copper host rocks in 10 of the 64 drill holes.

Sipa Resources’ search for a nickel-copper sulphide deposit in Uganda that can rival the famed Nova-Bollinger deposit in W.A, is looking more encouraging with each new set of assay and drill results. The latest set of numbers from the company's drill program at the Akelikongo nickel-copper project have returned strong hits of up to 2.4% nickel and 2% copper.

ASX listed Shark Mitigation Systems have achieved scientific validation of their unique, patented, shark deterrent wetsuits after the University of W.A completed a ground breaking trial of the company’s “SAMS” wetsuit technology with live white sharks in South Africa. The results, which are quite stunning, show that it took a shark 400% longer to engage with a SAMS wetsuit.

Lithium Australia have expanded their tenement holdings near one of the world’s largest Lithium deposits at Greenbushes in in WA and will apply their unique new exploration technology to search for additional deposits along strike. The Lithium technology and exploration company will also exercise their option to move to 49% of the exciting Electra project in Mexico. 

Lithium Australia have chalked up yet another breakthrough technology with the development a world-first portable assay tool that measures lithium grades in soil sample in the field. The new system, developed with US-based SciAps over the past two years, promises to slash exploration costs and boost discovery rates just as the global boom in lithium demand takes off.

Sipa Resources have hit extensive sulphides from their latest drilling at the Akelikongo prospect in Uganda, confirming the presence of a large nickel-copper system and extending the footprint of their earlier discovery. The latest drilling has also verified the Subiaco explorer’s ideas about where to drill for the core of the deposit, boosting the odds of a major discovery.

In a sure fire sign that the Chinese are becoming insatiable for our Lithium and will take it any way they can get it, Pilbara Minerals have signed a deal with a Chinese Lithium Carbonate manufacturer to supply direct shipping ore straight out of their Pilgangoora mine near Port Hedland without it even being processed - and the Chinese will pre-pay $10m for the privilege. 

Blackham Resources’ plans to double their Matilda Gold production have been boosted by solid new drill results that pave the way for another resource upgrade. The latest round of drilling found the mineralisation at Wiluna is more extensive than previously thought and amenable to open cut mining in some areas, providing a major boost for the economics of a proposed expansion.

Hammer Metals, recently voted Queensland Explorer of the Year for its breakthrough discovery of the Overlander deposit, has set its sights on a number of big new exploration goals around its Mt Isa tenements. A deep diamond drill hole is about to target extensions of a number of extraordinary copper-gold drill intersections that remain open at depth at the Kalman South prospect. 

Lithium Australia’s ground-breaking, low-cost technology for Lithium processing has begun testing at WA’s Murdoch University with the support of a State Government grant worth nearly $200,000. The new test program aims to further improve recoveries of Lithium and potentially valuable by-products and follows a recent successful pilot plant trial in NSW.

Perth based Weebit-Nano is on the way to commercialization after their French partner, Leti,reproduced the ASX listed company’s lab scale “Siox ReRam” computer memory technology in their massive pre-industrialization facility in France. Weebit say their computer memory technology is 1000 times faster and 1000 times more energy efficient than existing flash memory.