Meagan Evans

Everest Metals has intercepted multiple lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites in all 12 holes of the stage-two reverse-circulation (RC) drilling program at its Mt Edon LCT project. The project sits along the Paynes Find greenstone belt in Western Australia’s South Murchison region, which hosts an extensive pegmatite field. Assays from the drilling program are expected next month.

Lindian Resources has delivered the highly-anticipated maiden mineral resource estimate for its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, coming in at 261 million tonnes at a cracking grade of 2.19 per cent TREO. Including 5.7 million tonnes of contained rare earths of excellent grade, it positions the project among the world’s biggest deposits and paves the way for offtake agreements and mine development.

Emerging sustainable battery materials producer Neometals says it has completed an engineering cost study for the hydrometallurgical refinery section of its Primobius lithium-ion battery recycling facility. The company says the study delivers greater transparency on the project’s commercial economics. Primobius is a joint venture between Neometals and SMS group, which has installed plants in nearly every country in the world.

Quantum Graphite has acquired the complete set of flake graphite purification technology from The Sunlands Energy Company, providing what it says is a commercialisation path for products from its Uley flake graphite mineral deposits in South Australia, to advanced industrial manufacturers in North Asia and Europe. The company plans to deliver superior natural flake products across all applications.

Surefire Resources is a step closer to developing its Victory Bore vanadium play in Western Australia into a significant critical minerals project, with the positive completion of a hydrogeological assessment. The company is planning an open-pit mine development with a proposed 4 million tonnes per annum mine rate, in addition to onsite beneficiation and processing.

Having recently pivoted into an emerging lithium hotspot in Brazil, Gold Mountain is promptly exploring its significant package of tenements as it eyes its first drilling program by the year’s end. The company’s exploration to date has identified 250 pegmatites, with multiple soil and rock-chip sample results pending. Gold Mountain is just starting its lithium climb.

K2fly has inked a five-year deal, projected to have a total contract value of $2 million, with the world-class Roy Hill iron ore operation in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The agreement marks the second of two contracts signed with major Pilbara operators for its “ground disturbance” solution in less than a month, having secured a three-year contract extension with BHP in June.

Everest Metals’ Rover project is set to be hit with the drillbit this week when Rio Tinto Exploration kicks off a seven-hole, 1400m reverse-circulation (RC) program. The new campaign will target potential pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation beneath weathered outcrop at the project’s northernmost tenement in the Central Yilgarn region of Western Australia – an area undergoing a resurgence in exploration.

Terrain Minerals has kicked off a second round of reverse-circulation (RC) drilling for gold and lithium at its 100 per cent-owned Smokebush project in Western Australia. Management says its project features many promising exploration targets that it is testing in a rapid, methodical and systemic manner in its mission to make a company-defining discovery.

Shallow exploration drilling at Xanadu Mines’ Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia has uncovered the potential for new discoveries outside its existing mineral resource area. Management says its new work has validated its belief that Kharmagtai hosts undiscovered porphyry deposits as the company progresses its prefeasibility study and updates its resource, with a view towards production.

Galan Lithium’s DFS shows its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine play in Argentina churning out an average annual EBITDA of AU$124 million a year for 40 years … and that’s just “phase one”. The company says initial annual production targeting a high-quality lithium chloride product will deliver a US$460 million (AU$692 million) net present value and pave the way to fund further significant expansions.

A scoping study on Auric Mining’s Munda gold deposit in Western Australia’s Goldfields region supports the potential for open-pit mining and the processing of ore at an existing toll treatment plant, highlighting the potential for “significant accumulated cashflow”, even at low gold prices. The company’s study also outlined a cashflow surplus of $76.9 million under the base-case scenario.

Image Resources has tabled a prefeasibility study on its proposed new Bidaminna mineral sands project in WA that estimates a total EBITDA for its contemplated 10.5-year mine life of $379 million. Management says it will cost $194 million to build the mine which should yield a net present value of about the same figure.

Aurumin set the drillbit spinning this morning on the first of its four planned diamond drill holes at its Mt Palmer project in Western Australia. It is targeting lithium-bearing pegmatites where it believes the geology is analogous to Wesfarmers’ and SQM’s Mt Holland lithium deposit, 65km to the south. The design of the diamond drill holes was awarded government funding for half of the costs.

Estrella Resources’ share price doubled this morning on the back of the company revealing an impending world-first helicopter-borne electromagnetic survey (TargetEM) at its Carr Boyd nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia. Given the significant technology and sensitivity upgrades of its new system, Estrella is intensifying its hunt for drill targets that previously evaded detection while using the older technology.

DiscovEx Resources can tick heritage surveys off its to-do list ahead of planned drilling at the Contact prospect within its Sylvania project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Drilling at the 2.5km-long target area is due to begin in August, in addition to geophysics targeting copper-gold and lead-zinc mineralisation at the project’s Prairie Downs fault zone.

BMG Resources has expanded its portfolio of Western Australian gold and lithium projects, acquiring the Bullabulling project in the Eastern Goldfields' emerging Coolgardie lithium and gold region. The company exercised its option on the project after initial reverse-circulation drilling confirmed strong prospectivity for lithium and gold. Plans for follow-up drilling is underway and more assays are due in the coming weeks.

Kairos Minerals continues to generate highly-promising lithium targets at its 100 per cent-owned Roe Hills project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region. The company’s optimism has been boosted ahead of a planned initial 5000m of reverse-circulation drilling across its growing pipeline of targets in the rapidly-emerging lithium province that hosts Global Lithium Resources’ renowned 32.7-million-tonne Manna lithium project.

Reverse-circulation (RC) drilling at Everest Metals’ Mt Edon lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) project in Western Australia’s Mid-West region has intersected multiple pegmatites from surface to 111 metres deep within a 1.2km corridor. While the RC assays are imminent, surface rock-chip sampling has confirmed high-grade rubidium of up to 3.1 per cent and lithium up to 4.6 per cent.

Novo Resources continues to intercept significant gold mineralisation as it seeks to unearth the Pilbara’s next major gold deposit. Having identified multiple new targets at its Becher project, including a big priority area of mineralisation, Novo is extending its immediate drilling program. It says the project’s geological characteristics stack up against the mineralisation at De Grey Mining’s adjacent 10.6-million-ounce Mallina gold project.

An impending and material cut to the Northern Territory gas supply is exacerbating the looming East Coast gas crisis. Production at Eni’s Blacktip gas field, offshore in northern Australia, has fallen faster than expected and has raised fears about energy security both within the NT and further afield. But the Beetaloo Basin could emerge as a major source of new supply.

Infinity Lithium remains on track to submit the required applications for development of its San José lithium project in Spain – a proposed integrated lithium mining and lithium chemicals processing plant for electric vehicle batteries and the European Union’s second-biggest JORC lithium resource. Regional election results have increased the company’s prospects for getting the project off the ground.

Askari Metals has hit several 100m-wide pegmatites with multiple zones of lithium-bearing minerals in phase-two reverse-circulation (RC) drilling at its Uis lithium project in Namibia. While assay results are pending, the company isn’t slowing its exploration efforts, with its next round of drilling – including the project’s first diamond drill holes – slated to begin in just weeks.

Galan Lithium is adding the final touches to an optimised two-phase definitive feasibility study at its one of its two lithium brines projects in Argentina. The company is also considering its third and fourth phases that will ramp up production to as much as 60 kilotonnes per annum of lithium chloride concentrate equivalent in the South American region known as the “Lithium Triangle”.

Infinity Mining will ramp up drilling at the most prospective targets across five of its projects in Western Australia’s Central Goldfields after results from a recent 37-hole reverse-circulation (RC) program returned grades of up to 21.86 grams per tonne of gold. The company is now planning its follow-up drilling campaign for late this year or early next year.