Matt Birney

Barton Gold’s geological modelling and targeting is continuing to pay dividends at Tarcoola, with recent drilling outlining a new ore shoot along strike from the Perseverance open pit. The discovery is one of a bevy of exploration targets being tested by the company at its developing South Australian project with intercepts including 7m at 7.5 g/t gold, including a two metre intersection at an eye-catching 22.8 g/t gold from 95m down-hole.

Mako Gold has nailed down additional gold tenure in Cote d’Ivoire with the Ministry of Mines in the west African country granting the company’s new Korhogo Nord permit. The new project area covers the same greenstone belt that hosts the world-class Tongon gold mine which is located 30km to the north of Korhogo Nord. Exploration continues over the company’s Napie project, south of Korhogo.

ASX-listed platinum group metals explorer, Podium Minerals, has commenced resource modelling that envisages a continuous resource block of about 6.1km at its Parks Reef PGMs project in the Mid West region of WA. The Perth-based company may also have topped up its combined platinum, palladium and gold resource with potentially more base metals and rhodium credits following encouraging intersections from a recently completed RC drilling program.

ASX-listed gold explorer Classic Minerals says it expects the remaining key components of a mobile processing plant to be delivered to its Kat Gap gold project near Southern Cross in WA in just over a month, taking the company a significant step closer to first production. The latest stated inferred resource at the Kat Gap discovery is 975,722 tonnes at 2.96 g/t for 92,856 ounces of contained gold.

Votes of confidence in Perth-based clinical-stage oncology group PharmAust’s cancer-fighting drugs are growing by the day as their safety profile and efficacy on cancer cells continue to be demonstrated by leading research. Latest results from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute support previous studies that indicate non-cancer cells are not affected by Monepantel while it causes cancer cells to stop multiplying, and to self-destruct.

ASX-listed Calidus Resources has increased the underground ore reserves component of its planned $120 million Warrawoona mine in WA’s East Pilbara as part of the budding gold producer’s just-released definitive feasibility study on the project. The DFS showed free cash flows after tax of $447 million or $53.85 million a year and an average EBITDA of $110 million per annum over an initial mine life of 8.3 years.

Indiana Resources has put the finishing touches on its acquisitions in SA’s mineral-rich Gawler Craton having completed its due diligence over privateer, Patron Resources tenure in the resurgent metal terrane. The acquisition brings Indiana’s ground holdings in the region to a commanding 5,090 square kilometres with drilling set to kick off in the coming weeks.

Emu NL has come home to roost, charging back onto the WA exploration scene with the acquisition of a transformational pipeline of projects in the south Yilgarn. The company’s latest acquisitions cover a range of targets from the high-grade, shovel-ready Gnows Nest gold deposit through to the Julimar-like Sunfire nickel-copper target representing a veritable smorgasbord of projects set to deliver a torrent of news in the coming months.

Buru Energy will swell its coffers for a second time this financial year with the latest crude oil sale from its Ungani oil field in WA’s Canning Basin. The current oil lifting of 71,038 barrels is expected to net the company between $1.6m and $1.7m for its share of the sale by the Buru-Roc Oil joint venture to BP Singapore Pte Ltd.

The word “helium” conjures up images of kids’ birthday parties, floating balloons, and squeaky voices, however, there is much more to the commercial proposition for helium. ASX-listed Blue Star Helium has backed itself in with a strategy to amass hordes of land in the USA that surrounds a historic helium gas field that once produced helium at awesome grades.

TSX-V listed Novo Resources has excised an additional option to take control of GBM Resources tenure on the Malmsbury goldfield in Victoria. The transaction builds on its initial ground position in the region acquired from Kalamazoo Resources last week with the company moving to control the entire highly prospective goldfield. Malmsbury lies 55km south of Kirkland Lake’s world-class 6.1 million-ounce Fosterville gold mine.

Venus Metals has unveiled a 29 per cent increase in the contained gold component of its historic 90 per cent-owned Bellchambers project 23km south-west of Sandstone in WA less than 100km from its joint-ventured flagship Youanmi gold project in the Yilgarn Craton. The resource estimate for Bellchambers now stands at 536,000 tonnes at 1.27 g/t for 21,800 ounces of contained gold.

Altech Chemicals looks set to stamp its mark on lithium battery technology continuing the development of a revolutionary high purity alumina coating for use in anode production. The coating shows the potential to extend the life of lithium-ion batteries, increase their overall capacity and enhance their chargeability. The company is developing the technology to incorporate into its product stream for manufacture from its HPA plant currently under construction in Malaysia.

Deep Yellow is reaping the benefits of its evolving development program in Namibia, with infill drilling yielding a continuing stream of solid intercepts including the highest ever recorded assay from Tumas 3, which tipped the scales at a screaming 5,820 eppm uranium oxide. The program will form part of the company’s pre-feasibility study over the project which is scheduled to be delivered before the close of 2020.

ASX-listed clinical-stage oncology group, PharmAust, has taken the next significant step towards establishing whether its cancer fighting drug, Monepantel, can also inhibit COVID-19. The Perth-based company has struck an agreement with an internationally renowned biomedical research university in the Netherlands that will examine the suitability of Monepantel and Monepantel Sulfone for the all-important preclinical ex-vivo stage of testing that precedes the critical clinical trials.

Lindian Resources ‘elephant hunt’ in Guinea has delivered in spades after the company announced this week it has made a potentially transformational acquisition after entering into an agreement to procure the colossal, 847 million tonne high-grade Lelouma bauxite project. The Lelouma project boasts an impressive grade of 45.1 per cent alumina and is located close to established mining infrastructure.

88 Energy has tuned up its Peregrine oil project on Alaska’s lucrative North Slope by using detailed seismic analysis to demonstrate a favourable comparison with its neighbour, the giant Willow oil field operated by major US oil company, ConocoPhillips. According to the company, the work has identified many similarities between its key prospects and neighbouring oil fields and could potentially tweak the interest of potential farm-in partners.

TSX-V listed Novo Resources is set to join the lucrative hunt for gold in Victoria after putting an option in place with Kalamazoo Resources to earn an initial interest in the Queens gold project. The Queens project overlies the world-class Bendigo Tectonic Zone and is only 55km south of Kirkland Lake’s well known 6.1 million-ounce Fosterville gold mine.

Aspiring Indonesia gold producer, Sihayo Gold, is set to kick off a first-pass 22-hole diamond drilling program totalling about 5,500m at the exciting Hutabargot Julu prospect at its Sihayo gold project in North Sumatra. The ASX-listed, Brisbane-based company is looking to start drilling next month once drill rigs have been flown in by helicopter and assembled in the mountainous jungle terrain.

Oakdale Resources looks to have hit the mark in Nevada with diamond drilling intersecting a broad breccia target at its Lambarson Canyon gold project. The drill bit has chewed through a structural quartz breccia that is recognised as hosting high-grade gold with previous surface sampling yielding assays of more than 61 g/t gold.

Kairos Minerals is on the trail of two new gold anomalies with an extensive footprint it has sniffed out at the Skywell project about 70km south-west of the burgeoning Hemi gold discovery. The project forms part of the company’s overarching Pilbara gold projects hub as it continues to generate a pipeline of targets in the Pilbara it says has the potential to host intrusion-related gold mineralisation similar to De Grey Mining’s Hemi discovery.

Eclipse Metals has launched the second stage of drilling at its high-grade Amamoor manganese project in Queensland with a diamond drill rig returning to the area near Gympie to chase geophysical anomalies linked to the known historical mine workings. Eclipse will test the width, depth and grade quality of mineralisation intersected in its stage one drill program, adjacent to historical workings.

ASX-listed emerging gold producer, Wiluna Mining, is on the verge of delivering a global mineral resource upgrade for its historic Wiluna project in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields, as further high-grade gold hits continue to underpin its low-CAPEX pathway towards gold production expansion later next year.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has maintained exposure to gold and base metals through joint ventures it has recently struck over various projects in WA while at the same time retaining the rights to 100 per cent of the landholdings’ lithium mineralisation. The company has farmed out the mineral rights to JV partner Okapi Resources in an agreement that will see exploration resume at the Lake Johnston and Medcalf projects about 120km west of Norseman.

Calidus Resources continues to gain momentum in its run up to gold production in the Pilbara, securing ownership of a further 219,000-ounces of high-grade gold resources from the Blue Spec mine north of Nullagine in WA just 70km south east of the company’s developing Warrawoona gold project. Blue Spec’s in-ground resource comes at a stunning grade of 16.3 g/t gold.

ASX-listed lithium developer, AVZ Minerals, has agreed to buy out its junior partner’s 10 per cent stake in the massive Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for $15.5 million. AVZ will now move to 75 per cent ownership of the project and it is currently advancing discussions with potential debt providers and offtake partners for the proposed US$545 million project development.

ASX-listed PharmAust plans to start a phase one clinical trial of its cancer fighting drug, Monepantel, next year to see if it can help patients suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. The clinical-stage oncology company was recently awarded a grant of $881,085 from FightMND that will be used to conduct the trials. Melbourne-based FightMND was co-founded by former AFL player and coach, Neale Daniher, and is the largest independent funder of MND research in Australia.

South American focused gold miner, Troy Resources, has crunched the numbers to upgrade the mineral resource estimate at its Karouni gold project in Guyana to a healthy 1,007, 000 ounces from 16 million tonnes grading 2.0 g/t gold. Troy is also on track to produce up to 40,000 ounces this financial year at an all-in-sustaining-cost of between US$1,450 and US$1,550 an ounce.

Great Southern Mining has extended the strike length at its Cox’s Find gold project near Laverton in WA by 1km to the north. The best result from the recent RC drilling at two key target areas returned 8m at 1.1 g/t gold from 91m, including 2m at 3.2 g/t gold. Other notable hits were 6m at 1.0 g/t gold from 114m and 13m at 0.7 g/t gold from a relatively shallow 34m.

Lithium Australia’s joint venture partner at the Wundowie project, Australian Vanadium, has launched into a detailed study of the historical exploration dataset, highlighting the potential of the tenure to host significant nickel, copper and platinum group mineralisation. The companies are now planning an extensive program of geophysical and geochemical surveying across the collaborative tenement positions.

ASX-listed gold explorer, Venus Metals, has teased out some encouraging deeper gold hits from drilling at the Sovereign discovery at its joint-ventured historic Youanmi gold project in WA’s Murchison region. The most notable intersection was 8m going 5.03 grams per tonne gold from 160m including 2m at 15.83 g/t from 160m and 3m at 2.86 g/t from 165m.

Cobre Ltd has nailed its preliminary metallurgical test work for the Perrinvale VHMS project in Western Australia. One 90kg bulk sample from the Schwabe prospect has undergone initial testing and produced impressive head grades of 3.6 per cent copper, 1.6 per cent zinc, 1.1 g/t gold and 13.1 g/t silver from a standard suite of copper and zinc sulphides. Test work will now proceed to the development of a potential processing route for the project.