Matt Birney

The drill bit is now turning for mineral explorer PolarX in its 3000m RC drilling program into the highly-prospective gold-silver Star Canyon target within its Humboldt Range project in Nevada. Ten holes are to be drilled at Star Canyon inside PolarX’s Black Canyon northern group of lode claims, followed by another flurry of 10 holes at the Fourth of July claims to the south.

Perth-based explorer Torian Resources has rattled off another clutch of solid gold hits from drilling at its flagship Mt Stirling project 40km north-west of Leonora in Western Australia. According to the company, its latest set of results include a 6-metre section at 2.17 grams per tonne gold from 213 metres with an internal 1m section going 5.95 g/t gold from 215m.

After completing a second phase of soil sampling, Aurumin Limited is gearing up for a reverse circulation drilling program in search of lithium at its Mt Palmer project in Western Australia. The campaign is set to start next week and will feature up to 1500m of drilling into targets where pegmatites of up to 50m in width have been intercepted in historical exploration.

Mineral exploration company Aruma Resources has identified a high-grade lithium-rubidium pegmatite at Mount Deans near Norseman WA. Drill assays were up to 1.14 per cent lithium oxide and 1.05 per cent rubidium oxide and included 10m at 0.62 per cent lithium oxide with 0.57 per cent rubidium oxide. The high value of rubidium gives the project a multiple metal focus going forward.

WA-based explorer Askari Metals has kicked off a project-wide lithium exploration campaign at its Yarrie project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara region. The program is designed to field test high-priority zones including a major target area measuring 32km by 13km. The company will start by mapping in addition to collecting stream sediment and rock chip samples.

ASX-listed mineral developer Technology Metals Australia has produced remarkable vanadium recoveries of up to 96 per cent from batch kiln roast-leach test work of its Yarrabubba composite ore. According to the company, the work completed by star kiln supplier FLSmidth has validated the suitability of the ore to be treated via its Gabanintha processing facility 40km south of Meekatharra in Western Australia.

Lithium Australia NL is now the sole owner of battery recycling venture Envirostream after sweeping up the final 10 per cent of the enterprise. According to the company, its subsidiary is the country's only Environmental Protection Agency permitted and licensed recycler of mixed and lithium-ion batteries and its acquisition adds an invaluable strategic asset to its portfolio.

Explorer Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has almost doubled the strike length of its La Mascotte prospect at the Bulong Taurus project to more than 500 metres after its recent diamond drilling program 35km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The company’s standout results include a two-metre gold hit going 16 grams per tonne, with more assays in the pipeline from the campaign.

Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources have unveiled a significant boost of the mineral resource estimate for their Youanmi gold project near Mt Magnet in WA. According to the company, it has lifted the operation’s near surface resources by 204,000 ounces to more than 1 million ounces and lifted the project’s total gold resource to 3.2 million ounces through extensive exploration.

Godolphin Resources is lining up an 80-hole 4000m drill program at its Narraburra rare earths project within NSW’s highly-prospective Lachlan Fold Belt with the drill bit expected to start spinning this month. The program is designed to support the reclassification of the existing resource estimate of 73.2Mt at 1250 g/t zirconium oxide and 327 g/t rare earths oxides for 91,500t of contained zirconium oxide and 23,950t of rare earths oxides.

Adriatic Metals has agreed ‘heads of terms’ with four international commodities trading and smelting companies for the purchase of zinc and silver-lead concentrate from its Vares silver project in Bosnia. The company says its aim is to maximise revenues whilst reducing the ongoing risk associated with turbulent freight markets and the impact of the evolving European energy crisis amidst the conflict in Ukraine.

Altech Chemicals has tabled an eye-catching set of numbers in its preliminary feasibility study for a 10,000 tonne per annum high-purity alumina coating battery material plant which it plans to build in the bustling Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park in Germany. The study estimates the plant will churn out US$63 million per annum once in operation on a capital investment of just US$95 million.

Deep diamond drilling by Podium Minerals has doubled the known depth of its Parks Reef orebody to more than 500m. According to the company, the three-hole program returned some of the highest platinum group metals assay grades achieved on-site, with two of the three intercept grades coming in well above the current mineral resource estimate. The highlight from the assays is a 1.4m hit running a huge 11.58 g/t 5E PGM.

A subsidiary of Buru Energy has been awarded $7 million in Federal Government grants for a feasibility study into potential greenhouse gas sequestration into geological reservoirs at the onshore Carnarvon Basin. The $7m needs to be matched by Buru’s wholly-owned Geovault subsidiary and is part of the Government’s plan to develop hydrogen and GHG storage hubs in Western Australia.

Well-known for its vanadium and gold, King River Resources is heading into the high purity alumina space, hoping to cash in on Federal Government’s addition of HPA to its critical minerals list. The company says it has made economic and environmental improvements in its process to produce 4N HPA to meet projected strong demand driven by its critical role in the manufacture of LEDs and lithium-ion batteries.

Surefire Resources has narrowed its focus on the vanadium market with the company set to dive into a diamond drilling program at its Victory Bore and Unaly Hill projects, about 560km north-east of Perth in WA. According to the company, it is also revising its economic parameters ahead of a planned prefeasibility study at the operation and has already kicked off discussions with potential partners.

Zuleika Gold says promising results from campaigns at its namesake Zuleika project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and its nearby Credo project with joint venture partner Torian Resources have delivered a solid platform to launch its next round of drilling. In the past year the company has sunk approximately 23,000m of air core and RC drilling at the ventures and is now looking to plunge a further 20,000m.

Strickland Metals has unearthed significant initial gold results from its Millrose project in the Yandal greenstone belt within WA’s Yilgarn Craton. A standout strike of 55m going 2.4 g/t gold from 86m was encountered in addition to visible gold in a diamond hole about 700m to the south. The explorer hails the results as outstanding and is growing confident Millrose is a substantial gold system.

Junior explorer Javelin Minerals has kicked off a 4000m air core drilling program at its Coogee project near Kalgoorlie in WA. Using a ‘lake drill rig’ the explorer will test gold and copper targets at its Coogee West area, including a 3km gold trend containing bottom-of-hole anomalous results of up to 0.47 grams per tonne gold. The project covers an area of about 17 square kilometres.

Blackstone Minerals has inked a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Son La province to promote a cooperative framework for the development of the Ta Khoa nickel project in that region. The understanding reflects the Australian and Vietnamese governmental commitment to deepening two-way trade and facilitating investment projects in Vietnam, ultimately supporting the energy security of both countries.

Australia’s first five-element platinum group metals mine is one step closer to reality after historic samples were resampled, showing high-grade rhodium and iridium at Podium Minerals’ Parks Reef PGM project in Western Australia, lifting the value of an ounce from the project by 30 per cent with the addition of the two valuable metals.

Ora Banda Mining is planning to strip back its Goldfields Davyhurst gold mining operation to become a single deposit mine in the short term to maximise cashflows. Mining of the Riverina Stage 1 open pit will cease this quarter and the Sand King stage 1 pre-strip will be deferred until November as the company looks to turn the operation into a leaner, meaner cash cow in the short term.

Blackstone Minerals has secured Vietnamese approval to take its drills to the highly-prospective Chim Van target. The company says geophysical modelling suggests Chim Van is a concealed ultramafic target similar to the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide deposit, however significantly it registers a magnetic signature that is an order of magnitude larger. Blackstone is currently wheeling the rig to the site, about 7km northwest of Ban Phuc.

A geochemical survey at Venus Metals Corporation’s Youanmi lithium project has backed up previous drilling, with the company hoping recently delineated lithium anomalies are an extension of the Manindi lithium discovery to the south that excited the market last month. Interestingly, the extensions appear to coincide with existing and known pegmatite outcrops.

Godolphin Resources has struck multiple mineralised copper veins with its first hole in search of a large porphyry copper-gold system in NSW. The explorer kicked off a two-hole diamond-drill program at its Yeoval porphyry copper-gold project on April 4 and now is shooting for possible extensions to the south of its current resource hoping its second hole will make it two from two.

AVZ Minerals’ ongoing development of its flagship Manono lithium and tin project, about 500km north of Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has received a major shot in the arm after acquiring a positive technical opinion from the Department of Mines, clearing the path for an imminent decision on its mining licence at the operation.

The first holes drilled into the Amy Clarke target in more than 25 years have yielded high-grade gold hits for Great Southern Mining from an air core drilling program at its Duketon Gold project, near Laverton in WA’s Goldfields. Results included an intersection of 5 metres at 8.2 grams per tonne gold, including one metre at 33.5 g/t gold from 33m.

Wiluna Mining Corporation has boosted its global ore reserves by 10 per cent, even after mining depletion, to 36.8 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams per tonne gold for 1.42 million ounces of gold at its namesake WA operation. The company posted an impressive 31 per cent increase in underground ore reserves to 861,900 ounces grading 4.11 g/t gold as it looks to focus on optimising Stage 1 development.

Chimeric Therapeutics has entered into a strategic manufacturing partnership with US-based biopharmaceuticals outfit WuXi Advanced Therapies to accelerate production of its cancer-fighting CAR T therapies. According to Chimeric, WuXi delivers extensive experience in Good Manufacturing Practices and analytical testing and it says the deal will allow it to scale up manufacturing support ahead of several clinical trial programs.

88 Energy’s move to Texas is putting some colour into the ASX-listed company’s bank account after it banked the first A$600,000 cheque in March from its Project Longhorn. The company has lifted production from the Permian Basin project by over 30 per cent to more than 400 barrels of oil equivalent per day after the first of its planned capital-efficient workovers.

White Cliff Minerals has bolstered its battery metals ambitions after completing the acquisition of explorer Abraxis Mining and its trinity of WA-based tenement applications in the Pilbara that are prospective for lithium. According to the company, a subsequent review of remote satellite data has uncovered a network of pegmatite-rich target areas that will be further assessed through a maiden mapping and sampling program.

Triangle Energy’s imminent acquisition of a highly prospective Perth Basin block has been boosted by news it has delivered a 370 per cent increase in its best gas resource estimate – from 165 billion cubic feet of gas to 617bcf. Triangle is buying the 50 per cent it doesn’t already own in the acreage from departing partner Key Petroleum.