Michael Philipps

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.