Matt Birney

ASX-listed MGC Pharma is a step closer to breaking into the lucrative European skincare market, with the medical cannabis company commencing official EU registration for its cannabis-based cosmetics used to treat conditions such as acne, psoriasis and seborrhoea.

ASX listed Sky and Space Global have provided their best validation yet that their innovative technology based on miniature satellites might actually work when it launches next year after the company was awarded a global technology award this week. The prestigious award was bestowed on them by global consulting and market research firm Frost & Sullivan.  

ASX-listed financial payments player Stargroup is on track to deliver its 12th consecutive quarter of record revenue after posting yet another ground-breaking month in October. Stargroup, who have over 350 ATMs across Australia, said their best-ever monthly revenues were laregely driven by the ATM hardware and software sales division.

In the public company world it's often said that it’s easier to get a promise of a cheque from the Chinese than the actual cheque itself, which sometimes never arrives. No such problem however for the George Bauk led Northern Minerals who now look set to create the first significant heavy rare earths mine outside of China after their Chinese shareholder showed them the colour of their money.

The Browns Range heavy rare earths project got a shot in the arm this week courtesy of a $1.76m federal Government R&D cheque with a $9m cheque from Chinese investors just days away.  Investors are also starting to give the company credit for its trailblazing resources play, with the share price nearly tripling in recent months. 

Rapidly expanding Stargroup continues to set a cracking pace, with the financial payments player gearing up for further acquisitions after completing due dilligence for its recent $6.5m take out of Indue. The Perth-based company announced this week it had also secured a new debt facility of up to $15m to fund the deal and other potential acquisitions.

Shark Mitigation Systems’ Clever Buoy will be put to the ultimate test by the NSW Government in a move that could trigger a global sales boom for the Perth-based company. NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair, announced this week that his department would team up with the University of Technology in Sydney to conduct a field trial of the Clever Buoy.

Pilbara Minerals have snapped up the 300-person Roy Hill Rail Camp in a deal that symbolises the emergence of Lithium as the new iron ore of the Pilbara. The camp is surplus to Roy Hill’s needs and located only 90km south of the Pilgangoora Lithium project which means capital cost savings for Pilbara Minerals and a terrific boost to plans to fast-track development.

Lithium Australia’s goal of a new paradigm in Lithium extraction is a step closer with a successful second stage of trials of their low-cost Sileach technology. The trial, conducted by the Federal Government’s ANSTO Minerals, produced 99% pure lithium carbonate that is just one small step away from being offtake ready for Lithium battery manufacturers.

Blackham Resources’ extraordinary run of exploration success has continued, with the latest round of drilling revealing significant extensions of mineralisation at the Matilda mine near Wiluna. Another resource upgrade seems likely, just four months after a previous upgrade with the company looking to quickly convert any new resources into valuable reserves.

There appears to be no end to the giant Lithium resource at Neometals' Mt Marion project near Coolgardie with a 30% upgrade announced this week on top of a 160% boost just three months ago. The latest upgrade follows a large drilling program between July and September that returned some spectacular intercepts from a high-grade feeder zone.

Lithium Australia have shown an uncanny knack for unearthing hot lithium properties, with initial samples from their new Lake Johnston project assaying almost 4% Lithium. The company swooped on the project just a week ago in a savvy mineral rights swap deal and they have wasted no time proving that Lake Johnston has exceptional potential for a major Lithium discovery.

Legend Mining and the Creasy Group have moved into the next phase of their hunt for a Nova-Bollinger lookalike by kicking off an 80-hole aircore drilling program at the Rockford project in the Fraser Range. The 5,000-metre drill program follows news a fortnight ago of highly encouraging assay results from two diamond drill holes at the project. 

The upcoming ASX float of Lithium Australia’s Canadian partner, MetalsTech, on the ASX, is looking really interesting for Lithium Australia after they signed a strategic partnership agreement this week with the high grade Lithium explorer. MetalsTech recently returned amazing direct shipping grade surface samples in Canada that were grading up to 7% Lithium. 

There is something quite special about turning an idea into reality AND making some money out of it – and its even sweeter when you manage to defy your critics in the process. Blackham Resources have certainly defied their critics by achieving their first gold pour this week at the Matilda project.

Lithium Australia have swooped on hot new Lithium exploration ground in the Lake Johnston area east of Perth and close to the Earl Grey project that is creating so much excitement for investors. The company has dramatically expanded its footprint around Lake Johnston in an exploration rights swap with Lefroy Exploration in one of the hottest emerging Lithium precincts. 

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global is running ahead of schedule with the assembly of its three demonstration "nano-satellites" as it progresses the launch of its potentially game-changing satellite based communications network. The company says construction of the first three units is due for completion in December ahead of the planned Q2 2017 launch.

The FIRB has cleared a $30m Chinese investment in Northern Minerals, clearing the way for the rapid development of the company’s heavy rare earths project at Browns Range in WA. Northern Minerals have already banked $3m and will bank another $9m from Huatai Mining next week with two more $9m payments to follow.

Lithium Australia is in the final approval stage for a maiden drill program in Mexico, adjacent to a world-class project that has already secured celebrated electric car maker Tesla as an off-take partner. It follows an announcement earlier in the week of an additional Lithium discovery at Electra from surface sampling that returned ore grade assays. 

Upstart biotech company Pharmaust is getting close to proving up their breakthrough anti-cancer drug in dogs with a second canine patient suffering from late stage cancer recruited last week. The company recently announced that a second dog had started treatment at Sydney’s Animal Referral Hospital using PharmAust’s reformulated drug known as Monepantel.

You know you're onto something when you cant even find a spot to build your mine because you keep discovering more Lithium under areas designated for mining infrastructure. Such is the predicament of Pilbara Minerals who are strugging to find a non-mineralized spot to build their mine.

A recent drilling campaign at Perth based hammer Metals’ “Millennium” project in Mt Isa has unearthed a cocktail of mineralization on a tenement package that cost the mining junior just $83k in cash and shares – and they bought it from Chinese interests. Minerals present include Copper, Gold, Cobalt, Silver and lead with most results easily convertable to plus 1% Copper equivalents. 

Lithium Australia have begun the final stage of pilot plant trials to prove up their unique “Sileach” Lithium processing technology. The goal of the current trial is to prove to the market that the company’s Sileach process can cheaply and efficiently turn raw mine product into highly sought after battery-grade Lithium Carbonate at around half the cost of traditional processes.

Blackham Resources this week joined the select ranks of Australian gold miners with the commencement of production at their Matilda gold project in Wiluna. With 860 sq km's of tenements to explore and a stellar record of working out where the gold is hiding, it is safe to assume that Blackham’s Matilda Gold resource wont sit at 5.1m ounces for long.

Terrain Minerals, with a market cap of less than $4m and a share price of around .009c are looking to differentiate themselves from the sea of mining junior's by creating an early cashflow from their Great Western gold project near Leonora. The company has appointed a consulting metallurgist to investigate building an onsite gravity milling operation. 

If Lithium is the new iron ore for W.A, then Pilbara Minerals are potentially the new Rio Tinto. The company is already sitting on arguably the largest Lithium resource in the world and they have just dramatically expanded their footprint in the Pilgangoora lithium district by paying $8m for Dakota Minerals' neighboring Lynas Find project covering 268 sq km's. 

An 80-hole aircore drill program is set to begin at the Rockford project, widely regarded as one of our best hopes for another Nova-Bollinger discovery in the Fraser Range. Legend Mining and the Creasy Group have been prompted to undertake the big regional drilling program following encouraging assay results from their first two diamond drill holes. 

In what could be a major publicity boost for Perth head-quartered Sky and Space Global, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space craft carrier, Cosmic Girl, is considering utilizing the company’s breakthrough nano-satellites for its aerospace communications under an agreement signed this week. The company's share price recently doubled.

If an ASX listed company that manages to produce 3 or 4 record quarters of revenue in a row is worth taking a closer look at, then one that manages 11 straight record revenue quarters should have investors wide eyed and sitting bolt upright. Perth based ATM machine player Stargroup just announced their 11th straight record revenue quarter.

Sipa Resources’ maiden drilling program in the lucrative Paterson mining district north of the giant Telfer mine has identified a very large gold-copper system with a strike length of more than 4km. The extensive hits have provided strong encouragement for the discovery of a deposit similar to the recent 1+ million oz finds on neighbouring tenements. 

Neometals have kicked off a big month of news by announcing plans to fast-track planning for a downstream lithium processing plant near their soon-to-be commissioned Mt Marion mine. This month is also expected to see the shipping of the first lithium concentrates, and news of yet another resource upgrade following spectacular drill results in August.

Terrain Minerals’ revival of the Great Western mine near Leonora is racing ahead, with a 30-hole drill program set to begin as soon as possible. The new drill data will fill one of the last remaining gaps in in the resource for the high-grade deposit, which Terrain expects to be the foundation of even more exploration success and growth.