Matt Birney

ASX-listed Comet Resources expects to have results of testwork to assess the suitability of concentrate produced from its Springdale graphite project in Western Australia to be used in battery anode manufacturing in the current quarter. The company says the testing at a specialised facility in Germany follows initial “excellent” grade and recovery results in preparation of the concentrate sample in Perth.

Terrain Minerals has intercepted “exciting” new gold zones at three prospects at its Smokebush project in Western Australia’s Murchison goldfield, including a 3m hit going 4.86 grams per tonne gold at the Monza prospect where strike length has now more than doubled to 700m. First pass drilling has also hit a new mineralised structural zone at Monza North with returns including 3m at 1.53 g/t gold from 39m.

After locking in a couple of major project acquisitions that consolidate its foothold on the north-eastern flank of the Yandal-Millrose greenstone belt in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields, Strickland Metals has cranked up a systematic initial exploration campaign across its expanded ground position. The company’s current gravity survey and surface geochemical programs will pave the way for 100,000m of aircore drilling and 30,000m of reverse circulation drilling.

ASX-listed explorer Victory Mines has extended the length of the gold-copper mineralised trend at its Coogee project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to 1km, with latest drilling results including 8m at 3.03 grams per tonne gold and 0.37 per cent copper from 124m in the “Eastern Trend” area. Assay results from other holes remain pending as the recently commenced drilling program motors on.

ASX-listed Altech Chemicals has officially opened an advanced battery materials research and development centre in Germany, where it is seeking to construct a battery materials high purity alumina coating plant. The company is ticking along with a pre-feasibility study into the venture as it looks to fast-track its coating technology to full-scale commercialisation.

Barton Gold has launched a “phase two” drilling campaign at its brownfields Tarcoola gold project in SA designed to follow up on a string of earlier high-grade gold hits. The company says last year’s RC drilling at Tarcoola encountered multiple southern and down-dip extensions of the Deliverance target beneath the former Perseverance mine and also led to the discovery of the shallower Perseverance West gold zone.

Strickland Metals has sewn up the acquisition of strategic ground-holdings abutting its flagship Horse Well gold project in WA that increases its footprint in the Yandal greenstone belt in the north-eastern Goldfields. The company completed the deal to purchase a 75 per cent stake in the Yandal East gold project tenements from Renegade Exploration for a consideration of 40 million new Strickland shares and $800,000 cash.

ASX-listed junior precious and base metals explorer Godolphin Resources is set to kick off a follow-up reverse circulation drilling program at its high-priority Lewis Ponds project in the New South Wales Lachlan Fold Belt region’s Lachlan Transverse Zone next week following encouraging gold sniffs from an initial round of resource definition diamond drilling.

ASX-listed Galan Lithium is consolidating its position in South America’s prolific “Lithium Triangle”, executing a binding option agreement with a private Argentinian landholder to earn a 100 percent interest in the Casa Del Inca III lithium brine tenement. The land package strategically abuts Galan’s Hombre Muerto West project. A further 900 hectares is also available under the agreement.

Infinity Lithium is edging closer to producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain with feasibility study metallurgical testwork advancing to the final “crystallisation” stage of the planned process flow sheet. Infinity recently entered a memorandum of understanding with leading lithium-ion battery producer, LG Energy Solutions, on potential long-term supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

Element 25’s maiden shipment of manganese concentrate from its Butcherbird operation in WA has left Port Hedland, marking a stunning development pathway to production time frame of a little over a year from an initial PFS to exporting first commercial ore. The company’s first load of about 27,000 tonnes of manganese concentrate aboard a Handymax-size vessel departed Utah Point bulk handling facility yesterday.

Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources appear to have confirmed significant open-pit mining cost savings for the proposed shallow, high-grade Grace gold deposit near Mount Magnet in Western Australia’s Murchison district. Grace forms a part of the duo’s 1.66-million-ounce Youanmi gold resources that the partners are looking to bring into production.

AVZ Minerals has unveiled a 41.6 per cent increase in the proved and probable ore reserves for the centrepiece Roche Dure deposit at its monster Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the DRC. Reserves now stand at 131.7Mt at average grades of 1.63 per cent lithium oxide and 990 g/t tin, up from 93Mt at 1.58 per cent lithium oxide and 988 g/t tin.

ASX-listed Infinity Lithium says the Spanish government has approved a “historical funding package” of €4.3 billion through to 2023 aiming to transform the nation into a European electric vehicle production hub. Infinity is looking to provide critical raw materials for production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain.

ASX-listed Alaska oil and gas explorer 88 Energy says it is on track to present the market with a full appraisal of results from Merlin-1 well testing at its Peregrine project early next month after being “highly encouraged” by latest preliminary hydrocarbon indications. The company is targeting more than one billion barrels of oil resources in the Peregrine field.

ASX-listed Horizon Minerals has tabled an updated mineral resource for the joint-ventured Penny’s Find gold project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields as it eyes a start to toll ore processing from the high-grade gold asset in the March quarter next year. The satellite underground deposit hosts an indicated and inferred resource of 250,000t at 5.22 g/t for 42,000 ounces of contained gold.

Geophysical surveying that accurately mapped known sulphide mineralisation at Si6 Metals’ Maibele North project in eastern Botswana has also defined several new nickel-copper sulphide targets along strike from, and below, the project’s 2.38 million tonne resource grading 0.72 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent copper. Si6 is considering a drill campaign to test the new targets.

New ASX listing Askari Metals has secured a drilling contractor to undertake a maiden reverse circulation drilling program at its Burracoppin gold project in Western Australia. Planned drilling is designed to test several high-grade historical results and artisanal workings. The company is cashed up after recently raising close to $6 million as part of its initial public offering.

Kairos Minerals has intercepted shallow gold zones with drilling at its Roe Hills project some 120km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Hits at the Caliburn prospect include 8m at 1.32 grams per tonne gold from just 32m, with a 4m interval going at 2.29 g/t gold. Infill drilling is now on the cards as Kairos looks to work Roe Hills toward a maiden resource estimate.

Indiana Resources has served up numerous “stunning” gold hits at the exciting Minos discovery at its 100 per cent owned Central Gawler Craton project in South Australia. One broad 21m intercept returned 8.43 grams per tonne gold from 176m, including a bumper grade 1m interval going 159 g/t gold. The company is looking to table a maiden resource estimate for Minos.

Todd River Resources plans to get busy on the ground this quarter at its Nerramyne project in WA’s Murchison region after applying for further ground next to its large, granted exploration licence covering a 40km-by-6km copper soil anomaly. The company says a newly defined mafic intrusive will be one target worth investigating further in the expanded Nerramyne project area.

Kula Gold has dished up thick, shallow hits of bright white kaolin from a maiden drilling program at its 100 per cent owned Airfield project near Southern Cross in Western Australia. All three holes hit kaolin clay zones averaging 42m thickness from just 5m below surface, sending the company’s share price soaring by over 50 per cent in morning trading.

Sihayo Gold has clocked up more encouraging gold intersections from a diamond drilling program at its brownfields Sihayo gold project in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The pick of the assays from the latest seven holes at the Sihayo-2 prospect for which the company received results were 5m at 1.17 g/t from 25m, 3m going at 0.79 g/t from 4m and 4m at 0.76 g/t from 16m.

ASX-listed Calidus Resources has an eye firmly on becoming Australia’s next gold producer. With “rapid progress” made on several fronts in recent weeks the company says construction at its Warrawoona gold operation in WA’s Pilbara is now 40 per cent complete ensuring it is well on track for its first gold pour in the first half of next year.

Twenty Seven Co has defined three broad areas of anomalous gold mineralisation at its Yarbu gold project north of Southern Cross in Western Australia, with one zone coming in it at a hefty 1.9km-by-1.4km. The company plans to drill-test the new targets located along the Marda-Diemals Greenstone Belt that also hosts Ramelius Resources’ 280,000-ounce Marda gold project to the south.

Barton Gold has started a new geophysics program at its Tarcoola gold project in SA as it looks to hone the recently interpreted regional structural model for the brownfields project. The company says the ground penetrating radar survey will be aimed at priority targets identified last year as favourable for potential repeats of the mineralisation and auriferous structures at the nearby former high-grade Perseverance gold mine.

Perth-based biotechnology company PharmAust has clinched an agreement with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for research into the effectiveness of its monepantel drug against a cancer-inducing virus in humans. The research raises hopes for an effective treatment for 10-to-20 million people worldwide infected with the HTLV-1 virus, which causes pulmonary disease, inflammatory disorders and, in some cases, leukaemia or lymphoma.

Legend Mining continues to grow the mineralised intrusion at its Mawson nickel-copper-cobalt find in the Fraser Range of Western Australia with further sulphide intercepts including an 11m hit going 1.02 per cent nickel and 0.61 per cent copper, several hundred metres away from the discovery zone. A new intrusion some 2km south of Mawson has also been identified as downhole electromagnetic modelling defines further targets.

ASX-listed Galan Lithium has continued its strong sharemarket rise this year on the back of impressive new results from testing aimed at showing it can produce high-purity battery grade lithium carbonate from its flagship Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project located in Catamarca, Argentina.

Okapi Resources has secured a package of brownfields uranium assets in the US via an all-scrip “transformational” acquisition of Australia-based Tallahassee Resources. The company will pay the vendors of Tallahassee Resources 33.5 million new Okapi shares and 16.75 million options as consideration for the deal and inherit 100 per cent of the mineral rights over the Tallahassee uranium project tenure in Colorado’s Tallahassee Creek uranium district.

Estrella Resources has served up a 26.3m drill intercept grading 0.73 per cent nickel and 0.4 per cent copper from 361m at its exciting T5 discovery near the historical Carr Boyd Rocks mine north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Two other holes also hit a broad zone of nickel-copper sulphides as drilling to test the extent of mineralisation continues.

ASX-listed Troy Resources has reported promising reverse circulation drilling results from its Gem Creek prospect, north of the company’s 100 per cent owned Karouni gold operations in Guyana. Notable shallow drill hits such as 1m grading 7.5 grams per tonne and 5m at 5.36g/t gold have been recorded over an identified 500m of strike with mineralisation said to be open in all directions.