Matt Birney

Ever since Sirius Resources poked a hole into a magnetic signature on a map and came up with the colossal Nova-Bollinger nickel resource, the market takes particular note when others do the same – especially when it is in the same area. Legend Mining shares have run by 50% over the last few weeks ahead of their drill program starting on February 22nd to test 5 identified conductors.

Perth based Stargroup’s aggressive acquisition strategy in its ATM machine division appears to be paying off with the company staring at a 319% year on year revenue increase this quarter from its ATM division. The March quarter will be the first full quarter incorporating Stargroup’s latest ATM machine network acquisition via Cash Plus Australia.

At a time when junior miners are screaming for cash, no such problem exists at the David and Chris Reed led Neometals. Last quarter the company reported cash of $31m and today they announced their Chinese partner in the Mt Marion Lithium project near Coolgardie will pay them another $38m to increase their stake in the project.

Determined not to repeat the sins of past owners of the Wiluna Gold plant in W.A, Blackham Resources are pulling out all stops to increase their free milling base load ore before they remove the mothballs from the plant around the middle of the year. The company recently announced they have added another 19 000 ounces, or $30m worth of gold to the Matilda Mine prospect.

Perth based listed cancer drug hopeful Pharmaust, has received a $546 000 Government windfall from the Research and Development Rebate Scheme. Under the scheme, eligible Australian companies that are undertaking approved research and development activities can claim up to 43.5% of their expenditure back from the Federal Government.

ASX listed ATM machine operator Stargroup’s 19.25% investment in their Korean ATM machine supplier and manufacturer NeoICP, is now officially more than just a strategic tie up. NeoICP recently announced they had booked a AUD$1.9m profit (EBITDA) for the first 6 months of the 2016 financial year, blitzing last year’s full year result of just $1.7m.

Newly minted Triton Minerals M.D Garth Higgo has wasted no time in placing his stamp on the company with the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer, a new Chief Financial Officer and a new Non Executive Director. Mr Higgo was himself only appointed as Chief Executive Officer in December and was previously the Global Director of Mining for Aurecon Group and Calibre Global.

With the construction of their Lithium plant underway at Mt Marion in W.A, Neometals appear to have received a major economic boost for the project ahead of it springing to life in mid 2016. In a sign that demand for Lithium is on the increase, leading Chinese lithium producer, Ganfeng Lithium Co have agreed to either take or pay for 80 000 tonnes of sub 6% spodumene concentrate per annum.

In a move that will add to the credibility of its incontinence medical device known as the PeriCoach, ASX listed Analytica have cemented a major distribution agreement in the UK. The PeriCoach system, which is designed to assist women who suffer from urinary incontinence to correctly exercise their pelvic floor muscles will now be distributed in the UK by Savantini Ltd.

The Blackham Resources train continues to gather steam as the company hurtles towards production in Wiluna, possibly as soon as the middle of this year. Blackham recently announced an upgrade to their existing resources at the Galaxy and Golden Age deposits at the Matilda Gold project with the addition of another 40 000 ounces of gold.

Avid market watchers will now start trying to value Blackham Resources in search of that elusive arbitrage as the company hurtles towards production in Wiluna next quarter. The company has firmed up its base load feed for the old Wiluna Gold plant after its latest round of drilling again failed to disappoint.

The Federal Government’s “Research and Development Incentive” grant has re-filled the coffers of ASX listed medical device company Analytica to the tune of $1.9m. The company has developed its much heralded “Pericoach” medical device to assist women to either treat, or in some cases completely cure urinary incontinence.

ASX Listed Blackham Resources are pulling out all stops in their bid to become the next WA gold explorer to make the leap into production. Recent drilling campaigns have confirmed that their Galaxy deposit is still going past the 100m mark and firmed up yet another prospect at the Matilda Gold project and with a 3500m drilling campaign to kick off next week, watch this space.

Perth based owner of the worlds largest flake graphite deposit, Triton Minerals is looking forward to a solid 6 months of news flow as they aim to complete their DFS on the Balama North project by mid year and produce a maiden graphite resource for the Ancuabe project sometime this quarter. Both projects are in Mozambique.

Anti-cancer drug hopeful Pharmaust has moved to overcome a limitation discovered in its promising cancer drug known as Monepantel during recent phase 1 human trials. Juniper Pharmaceuticals have been appointed to reformulate the company’s Monepantel drug with the goal being to improve its taste and palatability.

Aggressive ASX listed ATM machine operator Stargroup has booked its 8th record quarter on the back of a 50% jump in ATM machine revenues. The company also expects to finish this quarter with its 9th record quarter in a row, as the full impact of their recent acquisition of rival ATM machine operator Cash Plus Australia kicks in.

PharmAust Limited has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Epichem Pty Ltd has been awarded a two-year extension to its current contract with Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi)

In the famed Middle Cauca gold belt in Colombia, finding only a million ounces of gold wouldn’t be enough to even contemplate getting out of bed for each day. Perth based mining minnow Blina Minerals with a share price of just .1c has just secured a 63 HA exploration block exquisitely wedged between scores of multi-million ounce deposits in the region.

ASX listed Analytica have convinced the West Australian Government to provide tax payer funding for women suffering from incontinence to access their PeriCoach medical device. The Disability Services Commission, via Independence Australia, operate a subsidy scheme known as the West Australian Continence Management and Support Scheme in WA.

After receiving an intriguing set of numbers from its maiden drill campaign, Terrain Minerals have given effect to a very favourable deal that allows them to take control of the Rembrandt Gold Project near Menzies in WA for just $1. Recent drill results include 1m @ 80.4 g/t, 1m @ 20 g/t and 1m @ 18.85 g/t.

Hammer Metals with a market cap of just $5m have done a deal with one of the world’s largest miners, Newmont Mining in a $15m farm in deal for their Mt Isa prospects in Queensland. The joint venture is targeting an Ernest Henry style copper-gold deposit which boasts 220 million tonnes at 1.1% Cu and 0.5g/t Au.

Legend Mining’s strategy to identify another Nova-Bollinger style nickel deposit in the Fraser Range has passed its first hurdle with the discovery of multiple bedrock conductors at the company’s Rockford project. The Nova-Bollinger discovery, which also lies within the Fraser Range is situated on a similar tenor gravity ridge and the two projects are only about 120km apart.

Soon to be Lithium producer Neometals has added another string to its bow by signing a binding term sheet to secure the exclusive global rights to a proprietary hydrometallurgical technology.

Blackham Resources dream of restarting the old Wiluna Gold Mine looks to be real as the company yesterday drew down on a $7m debt facility from Orion Mine Finance to prepare for production. Importantly, the old mothballed Wiluna Gold plant already has a 1.3Mtpa plant, a gas power station, borefields and a 350 person accommodation village all of which will no doubt put the project on the fast track to production.

Terrain Minerals look to be on a winner with the Monet gold prospect within the Menzies based Rembrant project in WA just weeks after taking an option over it.

ASX listed ATM machine operator Stargroup, has officially doubled in size after completing a quality acquisition of a competitor’s 104 machine ATM network. The company says its annual revenues will more than double as a result of the acquisition from $2.4m to $5m and its annual transactions will move from around 1 million per year to 2 million per year. Importantly, Stargroup says it will now be cash flow positive as a result of the marriage with Cash Plus Australia Pty Ltd.

Anti cancer drug hopeful Pharmaust has appointed expert medical research company GenScript to take the trialling of their exciting anticancer drug PPL-1 to the next level. GenScript will trial the company's PPL-1 drug in animals in conjunction with standard care drugs that are usually prescribed for each particular type of cancer. The company is looking to ensure there is no adverse reaction when mixing their drug with others,

Perth based ATM machine growth story Stargroup hasn’t let the grass grow under its feet since inking a deal to merge with listed ATM company iCash earlier this year.

Perth based Troy Resources has achieved a major milestone with the pouring of its first gold bar at the company’s new Karouni Gold plant in Guyana, South America. The gold bar, which weighed in at around 4.7kg is worth about $220 000 at today’s Australian dollar gold price.

Perth based Triton Minerals have discovered another source of jumbo flake graphite at a new prospect known as “T12” within the Ancuabe graphite project in the east of Mozambique.

ASX listed medical device company Analytica say that their incontinence device known as the Peri-Coach system may well appeal to females that are suffering from sexual dis-function following a surv

Perth based Blackham Resources have beefed up their board as they rapidly approach production at the Matilda Gold project in Wiluna, Western Australia.