Matt Birney

Venus Metals has discovered multiple outcropping lithium rich pegmatites at its Henderson project 50km northwest of Menzies in WA. Rock samples from the outcrops returned lithium results up to an extraordinary 3.5 per cent lithium oxide with enriched tantalum and niobium. Henderson sits 15km south of the spodumene-rich lithium pegmatites discovered by Red Dirt Metals in the emerging Mt Ida/Ularring greenstone belt lithium province.

Aruma Resources has snagged a high-grade gold hit amongst several other wide, shallow, lower grade gold intercepts during first pass greenfields drilling at its Salmon Gums gold project approximately 200km south of Kalgoorlie in WA. High grade hits included a 1 metre section grading 13.35 grams per tonne gold from 108m within a broader 4m interval going 4.26g/t gold from 105m downhole.

White Cliff Minerals has completed a maiden 74 hole 4,440m RC drilling campaign at Reedy South in WA. Drilling targeted large soil gold geochemical anomalies at the contact zone between mafic rocks and banded iron formations at the Cracker Jack and McCaskill Hill prospects. The anomalous zone is thought to be associated with the prospective Burnakura shear zone. Samples have been sent for analysis.

Oil and gas producer Buru Energy is one step closer to another commercial gas field at its Rafael-1 discovery in the Canning Basin after the testing crew crossed WA’s borders in advance of kicking off the highly anticipated well test. The test crew started 14 days quarantine in Perth on Saturday before heading to site for the 10-day testing program.

Meeka Gold has turned out an impressive 20m wide gold drill intercept going a solid 4.66 grams per tonne gold from just 12m downhole from the first RC drillhole completed in early January at its greenfields Circle Valley project in WA. The gold hit formed part of a wider 36m mineralised parcel that gave up 2.69g/t gold from 12m.

DiscovEx Resources and JV partner Carnaby Resources have confirmed a major copper-gold discovery at the Nil Desperandum prospect, which forms part of the larger Greater Duchess project in Mt Isa, Queensland. Carnaby’s shares soared more than 40 per cent higher during intraday trading, with DiscovEx stock following suit, up more than 30 per cent on news of the discovery.

Mineral explorer Aldoro Resources has intersected multiple pegmatite intervals prospective for lithium mineralisation in all 15 holes of a follow-up, phase two RC drill program at its Niobe project in WA. The company says the drilling validates and extends both the phase 1 drilling and the historic drilling results. The campaign forms part of a larger 64-hole investigation of the project’s landholdings.

Nickel and gold explorer Panther Metals has ticked over the halfway mark in its maiden 6,000 metre drill campaign targeting nickel-cobalt mineralisation at the company’s flagship Coglia project just 70 kilometres east of Glencore’s Murrin Murrin processing plant within the Laverton region of WA. The first assays have been submitted, testing the prospectivity of the laterite hosted nickel-cobalt mineralisation.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia is closing in on full ownership of its 90 per cent owned subsidiary, Envirostream Australia, after agreeing to terms for the acquisition of the final 10 per cent of the battery recycling company. The company says with the Battery Stewardship Scheme now in full swing and the stockpile of used batteries ever increasing, the move is a “strategic imperative”.

Gold and base metal explorer Venus Metals has a new four-kilometre mineralised slice of WA goldfields to hunt following the results from a massive 426-hole, 22 km aircore drilling program at its 50 per cent owned Youanmi Regional JV project. Just weeks ago, Venus and partner Rox Resources, tabled a whopping 1.34 million ounce resource upgrade for the project.

WA-based Surefire Resources has unveiled a large iron exploration target of between 870 and 1,240 million tonnes boasting a grade of between 29 per cent and a whopping 41 per cent iron at its Perenjori project. The company’s share price soared off the back of the announcement finishing the trading day up a cracking 36 per cent.

Quantum Graphite’s joint venture partner, Sunlands Co has received its first patent grant for its thermal battery technology by the South African Patent Office. The company utilises Quantum’s flake graphite within its thermal energy storage cells as part of the developing ‘long-duration energy storage’ sector that has been touted to form a key pillar in delivering stability and flexibility to energy grids increasingly dependent on renewable power.

Askari Metals could be onto lithium at its newly acquired Barrow Creek project in the Northern Territory after a hyperspectral remote sensing survey unveiled a string of high priority exploration targets.

Aurum Resources has intersected sulphides and quartz veining in recent drilling at its Penny South project targeting structural anomalies that bear similarities to the nearby high-grade Ramelius Resources owned Penny North deposit and the historical high-grade Penny West mine. Aurum is currently 5 holes into an 18 hole RC drill program for a total of 5,000 metres that is following up previous gold hits and new geophysical anomalies.

Torian Resources has tabled an impressive set of numbers from the latest drilling campaign at its Mt Stirling gold project, approximately 40km north-west of Leonora in WA. The results include a 10-metre intersection at 9.64 grams per tonne gold from 105m, with a brace of internal sections running 6m at 15.14 g/t gold from 105m and 1m grading 25.07 g/t gold from 110m.

Southern Cross-focussed Kula Gold has added lithium to its shopping list after geochemical sampling yielded a lithium cluster at its Rankin Dome project in eastern WA. Kula has been chasing kaolin, gold and base metals across its four project areas and the new lithium results add an unexpected element of blue sky to the project.

Horizon Minerals could have unearthed a significant mineralised system after drilling at its Crake and Coote gold deposits intercepted a slew of high-grade gold intercepts. The company says it is now planning subsequent drilling ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate for Crake and a maiden estimate for Coote. The deposits form part of the larger Binduli project area near Kalgoorlie in WA.

ASX-listed explorer Javelin Minerals has delivered more high-grade copper and wide gold intersections at its exciting Coogee gold-copper project including 8m with 1.98 per cent copper and 48m with 0.81 g/t gold including 8m at 2.18 g/t gold and 0.21 per cent copper. Drilling is about to commence on the 3km gold trend at the Coogee West project, whilst copper-gold feeder structures will also be investigated by further drilling.

ASX-listed battery metal and gold explorer Askari Metals is now a dual-listed company after its shares commenced trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Askari has a portfolio of lithium, copper and gold-focused projects across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales and says the new listing was driven by strong interest from European investors.

Junior gold explorer Terrain Minerals has thrown up a slew of high-grade gold rock chip samples that have identified multiple priority targets at its Wild Viper project located in WA’s rich goldfields region. Geological mapping and a concerted rock chip sampling program covered a series of under-explored outcropping quartz veins with assays peaking at 13.6 g/t gold.

Altech Chemicals has put the finishing touches to its German-based pilot plant where it will look to produce a premium battery grade anode material coated with HPA using its proprietary technology. The plant is designed to produce up to 37,000 kilograms of coated anode material per year and Altech’s testing to-date shows considerable efficiencies not currently available to battery makers.

Indonesia-based gold explorer Sihayo Gold has increased its initial expected gold recovery rate from 35 per cent to a solid 80 per cent in fresh rock samples after trialling high pH leaching metallurgical test work on ore from its advanced Sihayo gold project in North Sumatra. Transitional ore samples also received a healthy boost to the recovery rate, rising from 52.3 to 74.5 per cent.

Clinical-stage cell therapy company, Chimeric Therapeutics has signed a three-year sponsored research agreement with the University of Pennsylvania in the US to support its ongoing development of gastric and colorectal cancer fighting therapies. According to Chimeric, the research will focus on further developing its cutting-edge treatments through pre-clinical studies, correlative research and cell therapy on candidates.

Cyclone Metals has unearthed some stunning quartz and gold nugget specimens up to 712 grams at its wholly owned Nickol River project in WA’s Pilbara region, which begs the question – where are they coming from? Notably, they were found in the very first test pit and the company is hopeful that drilling targets for primary mineralisation will quickly be generated from them.

Cancer fighting biotech, Radiopharm Theranostics has gained access to a rare medical isotope from a Bill Gates start-up to accelerate the development of its pipeline of cancer treatment therapies. The company says “actinium-225” is a radioactive isotype that can be attached to a targeting antibody that will then selectively target and destroy cancerous tissue.

ASX-listed Oar Resources has appointed senior mining executive, Justin Richard as its new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, effective immediately. Richard previously served as Managing Director of ASX-listed Alara Resources, where he led that company through several capital raisings, a bankable feasibility study, a maiden ore reserve estimation and an offtake agreement.

Torian Resources has landed a grab bag of significant rare earths hits at its new Yttria prospect at the company’s Mt Stirling project in the eastern goldfields of WA. The rare earth elements uncovered include hard to find “heavy” rare earths such as dysprosium and also include terbium, europium, neodymium and yttrium with anomalous cobalt, scandium, nickel, chromium, palladium and platinum added to mix.

Strickland Metals has two RC drill rigs and one diamond core rig fired up at its Yandal project in WA. Both are expected to be on site for the duration of 2022 in a big push to add to the 603,000 ounce resource. The company believes there is significant potential to rapidly add to the existing gold resources at the project as it looks to emulate its neighbour, Northern Star’s Jundee operations.

Image Resources has produced an extraordinary set of quarterly numbers from its Boonanarring mineral sands mine 80kms north of Perth. Realised prices and production are up, costs are down, debt has been paid back early and the company’s coffers have swelled by nearly $30 million. Margins have more than doubled to $500 per tonne and $19 million in dividends was paid to shareholders during 2021.

Valor Resources has kicked off a 2,500 metre diamond drilling program at its Hook Lake uranium project in the world class, uranium endowed Athabasca basin in Canada. Drilling is aimed at testing the extent of mineralisation after identifying surface anomalism that included rock chips grading up to 59.2 per cent uranium. It will also target a geochemical and structural target called the V-Grid.

Estrella Resources continues to unveil the prospectivity of the intrusive igneous complex at its Carr Boyd project near Kalgoorlie in WA. The company says it has discovered more nickel-copper rich sulphides on previously untested ground at the Mossgiel and Gossan Hill prospects with mineralisation showing stark similarities to the geology of its original T5 discovery.

Meeka Gold has tabled a 24 metre drill intersection grading 4.81 grams per tonne gold from 68m downhole, with a 4m internal section going a cracking 20.3 g/t gold at its St Anne’s gold prospect within the company’s Murchison gold project in WA. Importantly, no resource estimate has ever been defined at St Anne’s, leaving huge potential with another phase of drilling to follow-up soon.