Michael Philipps

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Iceni Gold. Its “WA Budget week” share price leapt more than 307 per cent after the discovery of more gold-bearing veins at its Christmas Gift target. The company joins fellow movers and shakers Alliance Nickel, OZZ Resources and Caprice Resources on this week’s coveted list.

A bonanza-grade gold hit of 5.3m at a sparkling 220 grams per tonne from 245m has sent Larvotto Resources’ share price surging on the company’s biggest-ever trading day since its 2021 listing with the ASX. The stunning intersection was revealed today within a suite of results following a diamond drilling campaign that has extended the mineralisation at the company’s Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW.

Terrain Minerals has launched a helicopter-borne electromagnetic survey at its Lort River project near Esperance in Western Australia to test a distinctive “eye” magnetic feature. Management says the feature bears stark similarities to IGO’s renowned Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper deposit in WA’s prospective Albany-Fraser belt. Importantly, the 640-square-kilometre Lort River operation sits along the interpreted strike of the Nova nickel-copper mine.

Xanadu Mines managing director Colin Moorhead has joined the growing chorus of industry experts predicting a commodity “supercycle”, with the spot price for copper rising almost 15 per cent in the past year. Moorhead told the “On the Couch” podcast series aimed at giving insights into the investing world, that while some commodities come and go, copper is here to stay.

Surefire Resources will commit a tidy $454,000 tax rebate towards extending its research and development activities at its Victory Bore vanadium project in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The tax rebate relates to the company’s processing technology results and high-purity alumina testwork at the operation that includes a “breakthrough” metallurgical process which yielded extraction rates of 91 per cent vanadium and 88 per cent titanium.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Krakatoa Resources. Its share price jumped 130 per cent on a Meekatharra niobium find to join fellow movers and shakers Adisyn, Canterbury Resources and Pivotal Metals.

A recent trip to several Chinese lithium producers has reinforced Lithium Universe’s commitment to building its proposed 16,000 tonnes per annum battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery in Canada. The trip, undertaken by the company’s key management figures, took in the Jiangsu lithium carbonate refinery that was built by Lithium Universe executives Iggy Tan, Dr Jingyuan Liu and John Loxton during their time with Galaxy Resources.

A surging uranium price has led Toro Energy to re-evaluate the mineral resource of its Dawson Hinkler deposit in Western Australia, leading to a 115 per cent increase in the site’s contained uranium oxide. Management says the market supports a lower cutoff grade for the deposit’s economics, allowing it to lift its resource from 9.44 million pounds of uranium oxide up to 20.29 million pounds.

A successful Lindian Resources infill drill campaign has underpinned an indicated resource boost of 61 million tonnes at 2.43 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO) at the company’s giant Kangankunde project in Malawi. Management confirmed this morning that the updated indicated resource also includes a higher-grade component of 25 million tonnes at an impressive 3.26 per cent TREO.

After getting a long-awaited green light last week to start exploring its Stansmore niobium-rare earths project in Western Australia’s West Arunta region, Lycaon Resources is now building a war chest to fuel its mission. The company today revealed it had completed a $2.5 million capital raise and also secured a $180,000 State Government grant to drill two holes to test its Stansmore and Volt prospects.

Aurum Resources has reassembled part of the management team that helped establish Tietto Minerals’ Abujar gold mine in West Africa to drive the development of its new Boundiali operation in Côte d’Ivoire. The company has named Yao N’Kanza as country manager, reuniting him with former Tietto workmates Caigen Wang and Yaya Ouattara in a bid to expedite Aurum’s project and business development initiatives.

Mining software provider K2fly has recorded a remarkable 15 straight quarters of annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth, which it says has been driven by contract renewals from two major clients. According to its March quarterly report, the company delivered an ARR of $8.3 million in the first three months of the calendar year, representing a 19 per cent increase compared to the previous corresponding period.

A giant Japanese consortium has committed to backing the development of Ardea Resources’ Goongarrie Hub project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region – a major milestone for the nickel-cobalt operation billed by the Federal Government as “globally significant”. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to join Ardea to form an incorporated joint venture to be known as Kalgoorlie Nickel.

Galan Lithium says it already has a contained inventory of 1000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at its Hombre Muerto West project in Argentina as the initial evaporation process at the site builds steam. The company says about a third of the overall project has been completed, with total pond construction at 45 per cent and the first two evaporation ponds operating.

Xanadu Mines continues to deliver positive metallurgical testwork for its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, with its latest figures showing recoveries of up to 94 per cent copper and 92 per cent gold. Management says tests using the “Eriez HydroFloat” system showed the company could recover valuable minerals within the 150-to-200 micron range that conventional flotation methods are unable to achieve.

Aurum Resources has scored high-grade gold hits charging as high as 45 grams per tonne from scout drilling at just the second target to be tested at its Boundiali project in West Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire. Diamond drilling designed to test a 1.7km-by-1km gold prospect revealed solid initial results, with a 6m section going 9.95g/t gold from 165m including 2m at 28.9g/t from 169m.

Galan Lithium has taken a major step towards selling product from its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina both locally and internationally after signing a crucial new deal with the Catamarca Government. Managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega and Catamarca Governor Raúl Jalil signed a commercial agreement that supports the grant of permits for the commercialisation of Galan’s lithium chloride concentrate.

Everest Metals is aiming to sure up the resource at its Revere gold project in WA’s Mid West with a 36,000 tonne bulk sampling campaign however the sample will be put through a mobile plant to produce gold. The program has been designed to convert the current exploration target of between 2.5 and 4.1 million tonnes grading between 1 and 2.5 grams per tonne gold into a JORC resource.

Lindian Resources has rolled out another round of dazzling wide, high-grade rare earth hits at its giant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi with a resource upgrade due by the end of the month. The African operation already hosts a massive 261 million tonnes at an impressive grade of 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxides, including 5.7 million tonnes of contained TREO in the inferred category.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week is dominated by biotechs, with two showing big gains for punters. Line honours go to… Regeneus Ltd. Its share price surged 220 per cent after completing a merger deal with Cambium Medical Technologies. Regeneus joins fellow biotech Acrux Ltd and Perpetual Resources, both of which also kicked the ball out of the park this week.

Ora Banda Mining continues to deliver impressive results at its Riverina underground mine near Kalgoorlie with diamond drilling returning high-grade hits including 1.6m at a whopping 105.4 grams per tonne gold. The company is making steady progress with the underground operation and its share price has been riding a wave since August last year from about 8c to 30c as it looks implement its detailed mine plan.

Lindian Resources is fully permitted to begin the construction, mining and mineral processing steps at its massive Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi after receiving a permit to extract ground water at the site. The giant African operation currently holds 261 million tonnes at an impressive grade of 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxides, including 5.7 million tonnes of contained TREO in the inferred category.

ASX-listed Gold Mountain is looking to significantly increase its rare earths holdings in the Brazilian State of Bahia after securing 41 new tenement applications covering more than 800 square kilometres. Dubbed the “Ronaldinho” project, the new applications cover ground adjacent to tenements held by the Gina Rinehart-backed Brazilian Rare Earths.

Oil and gas explorer 88 Energy has recorded the first successful oil flow to surface from its Alaskan projects with testing at the Upper Slope Fan System of its Hickory-1 well confirming the discovery of light oil. Testing produced a peak gauge flow rate of more than 70 barrels per day of light oil at the well which forms part of the company’s greater Phoenix project within the onshore oil section of Alaska’s north slope.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Osteopore. Its share price surged more than 1060 per cent after announcing a deal to sell its regenerative bone implant technology into Singaporean and Vietnamese markets. Osteopore joins fellow market movers and shakers this week Allup Silica and Many Peaks Minerals.

Estrella Resources has officially been granted exploration tenure of more than 500 square kilometres in Timor-Leste making history as one of the first companies to receive exploration rights in the country. The nation is looking to build its industry in this resource-rich part of the world and ASX-listed Estrella is the first through the gate.

Xanadu Mines has kicked off a hydrological drill program at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia as it prepares to deliver its upcoming preliminary feasibility study into the operation. Management says data from the program will be compiled into a hydrology database for use in site water balance for the final Kharmagtai PFS design, which is assessing ultimate growth of up to 40 million tonnes per annum processing throughput at the operation.

Lithium Universe has settled on Bécancour Port within the city of Bécancour in Quebec, Canada is its preferred import facility for delivering spodumene to its proposed battery grade lithium carbonate refinery just 2.5kms away. Just last month the company secured a prime location for its proposed refinery after executing an option agreement to purchase a commercial property in the area.

American West Metals is looking to expand its already solid mineral resource at its Storm copper project in Canada with a high-powered electromagnetic survey set to deliver priority drill targets at the site. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a maiden resource for its operation on Somerset Island in the Canadian province of Nunavut of 17.5 million tonnes at 1.2 per cent copper and 3.4g/t silver after just one season of resource drilling.

Xanadu Mines has kicked off a 5000m diamond drill campaign at its Red Mountain project in Mongolia with a focus on the discovery of shallow high-grade gold, porphyry copper-gold and copper sulphide lodes. The operation’s Target 33 prospect has been highlighted as a priority after previous drilling returned impressive results with a 40m section grading 1.06 grams per tonne gold from 26m including a 10m section at 3.7g/t from 50m.

Javelin Minerals has identified a large uranium target at its Stakeyard Well prospect that forms part of its larger Mt Ida operation in WA following a comprehensive data review of all its existing projects. Management says the review highlighted a strong anomaly that extends across a package of ground 28km in length by an average 3.3km width where historical air-core drilling revealed positive uranium results.

St George Mining has increased the strike at its Destiny clay-based rare earths project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region by 3km after air-core drilling at the site delivered solid results of up to 3160ppm TREO. The company returned thick and near-surface assays from 13 AC holes with highlights showing an 18m section grading 1919ppm TREO from just 18m including 3m reaching the peak 3160ppm TREO result from 30m.