Matt Birney

AVZ Minerals has extended the massive mineral resource for the cornerstone Roche Dure deposit at its proposed Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The deposit now has an estimated overall resource of 401 million tonnes at average grades of 1.65 per cent lithium oxide, 752ppm tin and 34ppm tantalum for 6.64 million tonnes of contained lithium oxide.

ASX-listed King River Resources has advanced a chain of core pre-feasibility study activities for its Kwinana project in WA as it seeks to carve a niche in the increasingly lucrative global high purity alumina and downstream markets. The company is working to bring to life its immense Speewah Dome vanadium-in-magnetite project in the state’s Kimberley region as a HPA feed source.

Estrella Resources looks to be on target as it continues drilling across its T5 nickel sulphide target in WA. Latest drill results from the discovery include an impressive 12.9m sulphide intercept, which hosts several zones of semi-to-massive nickel-rich mineralisation. The new zone of sulphides forms part of the Upper T5 conductor and is located 40m south of previous drilling, extending the envelope of this exciting nickel discovery.

ASX-listed Okapi Resources has kicked off exploration work at its Holly kaolin project in southern WA as part of technical due diligence relating to the recently announced planned acquisition of the project’s owner. The Perth-based company collected about 15 kaolin samples from Holly this week for assaying at a laboratory in Perth.

Wiluna Mining Corporation is poised to build the production platform that will position it to become one of Australia’s next significant gold mining companies after closing a A$93 million equity and debt funding deal to initially catapult its annual production rate from 60,000 ounces of gold to 120,000 ounces over the next 12 months. The company continues to see strong institutional support for its big-picture Wiluna growth blueprint.

ASX-listed Anglo Australian Resources has delivered further stellar gold hits at the Mandilla gold project in WA, with a maiden resource estimate due for release shortly. The new drill intercepts at Mandilla East have extended the known mineralisation by 130m to the south and include 66m going 1.77 grams per tonne gold. Results from nearly 10,000m of drilling remain pending.

Coda Minerals has shifted exploration at the Elizabeth Creek copper project in South Australia into higher gear. A major drilling campaign is underway to convert an existing exploration target at the Emmie Bluff prospect, estimated at 46-77 million tonnes going at 0.5-2.3 per cent copper-equivalent, into a maiden resource. Priority regional targets are also to be tested.

ASX-listed Kairos Minerals is waiting for assays from a reverse circulation drilling program completed at its Roe Hills gold and nickel project about 120km east of Kalgoorlie in WA, however visual indications of sulphides in rock chips have management eager to move forward. The Perth-based company punched out 20 holes for a total of 2,992 metres at the Caliburn, Talc Lake and Black Cat prospects.

Buru Energy looks to be on schedule to move into drilling of its inaugural 2021 well at Currajong 1 in WA’s Canning Basin. The company says site works for the well east of Broome are nearing completion with the first loads of rig gear expected to leave the Northern Territory next week. Drilling is expected to kick off in mid-June 2021.

Classic Minerals has achieved another significant milestone on the way to production start-up in the form of a native title agreement over the mining area at its developing Kat Gap gold project about 170km south of Southern Cross in WA. The company says it has now executed a Noongar Alternative Heritage Agreement with the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, representing the Ballardong Agreement Group.

Northern Minerals continues to optimise its cutting-edge rare earth processing circuit in WA, with the addition of an ore sorter that management says has the potential to double the feed grade to the milling circuit. The new equipment might also deliver considerable cost savings for future production by increasing throughput and reducing both capital and operational expenditure.

TSX-listed WA gold producer, Novo Resources has moved to speed up the process for receiving its gold assay results. The company has now secured a deal with Intertek Testing Services (Australia) Pty Ltd that will see the latter provide on-site laboratory and sample preparation services and PhotonAssay services. Intertek will manage an on-site laboratory at Novo’s Golden Eagle gold processing plant near Nullagine in the East Pilbara.

Comet Resources has pulled off something of a coup, entering into an agreement to acquire the mineralised extensions to its Santa Teresa gold mine in northern Mexico. The company is looking to secure the La Sorpresa III lease to the north-west of its mine, said to host a number of old shafts and workings, where historical records show production grading at an incredible 280 grams per tonne gold.

ASX-listed Indonesia gold explorer, Sihayo Gold has generated encouraging early gold assays from a diamond drilling program at one of the brownfield prospects at its namesake project in North Sumatra. Notable intersections from nine drill holes completed at the Sihayo-2 prospect were 24.8m at 1.09 g/t gold from 52m including 6m going 2.46 g/t, and 8m at 1.32 g/t from 96m including 1m at 4.4 g/t.

The hits keep coming for Estrella Resources, with drilling at its Carr Boyd nickel project continuing to intersect sulphide mineralisation. Two drill holes above the feeder zone of the T5 discovery have intersected more than 47 metres of disseminated to matrix-textured sulphides, with mineralisation including visible nickel-rich pentlandite and copper-rich chalcopyrite. Assays are not far away.

ASX-listed mining technology company K2fly has signed a A$1.455 million contract extension with Australian iron ore major Fortescue Metals Group, which will widen the use of the supplier’s innovative land management software into Europe and South America.

Northern Minerals is set to leap back into rare earth exploration at Browns Range in WA’s Kimberley region, tabling a plan to drill up to 10,000m. The upcoming reverse circulation drilling will follow up on the last field season that generated numerous stellar rare earth oxide hits including 12m going 0.43 per cent TREO from just 34m.

AVZ Minerals says a maiden placer tin exploration target of up to 75 million cubic metres of contained cassiterite grading between 75 and 180 grams per cubic metre at its Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo underlines the potential for a standalone tin mine at one of the world’s largest emerging hard-rock lithium projects.

Horizon Minerals has added more gold tenements and licence applications around Kalgoorlie with the latest acquisitions being a short trucking distance from the flagship Boorara project, just south-east of Australia’s major gold hub. The additions include both surface and deeper resources as well as targets at the neighbouring Cannon underground mine.

Six years ago Hot Chili won the prestigious Emerging Company Award at Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie and it has since shown its grit by accumulating a huge copper-gold-silver-molybdenum inventory at its Cortadera project in Chile, where a massive new deep target has now been outlined.

Aircore drilling has produced more spectacular gold assays for Zuleika Gold at its namesake project near Kalgoorlie, including a 2.13 ounces per tonne intercept over 1m at Paradigm East where the company is part way through an aggressive 2021 drilling campaign. Two parallel gold systems have been identified in a 2.5km-long structural corridor off the regionally significant Zuleika Shear Zone.

Barton Gold has pushed the button on its ASX listing, opening up its initial public offering to raise a minimum of $10 million for exploration in South Australia’s Gawler Craton region. An enviable package of gold projects includes the burgeoning Tunkillia deposits, which now boast close to one million ounces in resources positioning the discovery as SA largest undeveloped gold project.

ASX-listed Latitude Consolidated has taken its Murchison gold project resource past one million ounces after more than doubling its Turnberry open pit gold inventory to 610,000 ounces ahead of receiving first assays from a new 10,000-metre drilling program. The updated 1.115-million-ounce project resource includes 505,000 ounces grading an impressive 8.6 g/t in the high-grade Andy Well mine that Latitude bought from Silver Lake Resources earlier this year.

ASX-listed central Africa lithium hopeful, AVZ Minerals has lodged the all-important mining licence application for its proposed Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Perth-based company says the DRC Government now has all the required documentation to support its application.

Venture Minerals has begun commissioning the key wet screening plant at its former Riley iron ore mine in Tasmania as it edges closer to a full operational restart. The company says with plant construction completed and the commissioning phase underway, it remains on course to ship out the first iron ore product from the rejuvenated project in the current quarter.

ASX-listed Troy Resources has increased its exposure to the geologically prospective Makaba Kuribrong Shear Zone around its Karouni gold mine in Guyana, snaring the “must have” Potaro target in a progressive land acquisition program that has expanded its Karouni holdings to 3,000 hectares. Potaro, about 20km south of the Karouni gold plant, was identified by Troy as a key pick-up two years ago.

WA junior iron ore development aspirant CZR Resources could get a material economic boost for its proposed Robe Mesa iron ore project from new port facilities at Onslow, west of the project, according to a new report. Work on the company’s definitive feasibility study is now occurring in parallel with a deeper assessment of logistics options.

TSX-listed Novo Resources has exercised its option to acquire 50 per cent of the Malmsbury gold project in central Victoria, where the company has drawn comparisons with no less a geological analogue than Kirkland Lake’s 6.1 million-ounce Fosterville deposit 55 kilometres to the north. The deal with GBM Resources builds Novo’s Australian portfolio outside of its operations in WA’s Pilbara region.

Buru Energy remains on track to begin its 2021 drilling campaign in WA’s Canning Basin, with the drill pad for the Kurrajong 1 well nearing completion. Buru and joint venture partner Origin Energy are spudding both the Kurrajong 1 and Rafael 1 wells this season, with drilling expected to kick off in June 2021.

Wiluna Mining Corporation is now cashed up to complete the first phase of its sulphide expansion program, with the WA gold producer finalising US$42 million of credit from multi-national commodity trader, Mercuria. The loan will be used to finalise construction of the Phase 1 sulphide plant that will lift Wiluna’s production profile to more than 120,000 ounces of gold per annum.

Surefire Resources has upped the ante at the Perenjori magnetite iron ore project in WA’s southwest Murchison mineral field, with a production study to be conducted by consultant MinRizon Projects looking at options for the project’s existing 191.7 million tonne resource going 36.6 per cent iron. Resource drilling may also be on the cards ahead of a feasibility study.

Alto Metals has delivered another stellar step-out drill hit at its Vanguard gold prospect in WA’s Sandstone district with shallow visible gold less than 40m from surface assaying 60.6 grams per tonne over 4m. The high-grade intercept increases the extent of known mineralisation along the Vanguard and Vanguard North Trends to 2km.