Michael Philipps

Brightstar Resources has mined the first ore at its Selkirk deposit that forms part of the company’s Menzies gold project, with 1500 tonnes of ore at 3.01 grams per tonne gold stockpiled and ready for processing. Mining is being undertaken by Goldfields-based BML Ventures, which is part of a 50:50 joint venture with Brightstar to mine the Selkirk deposit.

Infinity Lithium has splashed out a stunning EBITDA of US$16.7 billion (AU$26 billion) for its San José project in Spain in an updated scoping study that outlines a 26-year mine life and annual production of 33,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The company’s new study shows a post-tax net present value of US$2.87 billion (AU$4.47 billion) and an internal rate of return of 21.3 per cent.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has stretched the boundaries of its Pinjin project, 140km east of Kalgoorlie, after securing a new license from the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. The company has also lodged applications for two further tenements at the operation where it nailed gold hits last month including multiple intersections running between 10m and 15m wide and grading more than 5g/t.

White Cliff Minerals has orchestrated a stunning pivot away from its WA lithium and rare earths focus by steering into a high-grade copper hunt at one of the world’s fastest-growing mineral hotspots, Canada. The company has secured a swathe of ground in the Canadian province of Nunavut after an agreement with a private party for 61 mineral claims covering 80,500 hectares at Coppermine River.

ABx Group has revealed plans to launch back into its hunt for rare earths in the Tasmanian bushland with a follow-up drill campaign at its Wind Break prospect before turning back to Deep Leads-Rubble Mound. The Wind Break drilling will be co-funded dollar-for-dollar by Mineral Resources Tasmania up to a maximum of $70,000 in the eighth round of the State’s Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative.

American West Metals continues to record impressive hits at its Storm project in the Canadian province of Nunavut, with a peak result showing a 1.5m intercept at a whopping 8.3 per cent copper from 54.9m. The hit was found within a 24.4m section grading 1.1 per cent copper from 48.8m and also contained 6.1m going 2.8 per cent copper from 54.9m.

GreenTech Metals has launched a 1500m diamond drill campaign at its Osborne joint venture project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, just as a trio of mining heavyweights have sunk their teeth into a notable neighbour. With nearby Azure Minerals attracting significant recent investment from Hancock, MinRes and SQM, GreenTech’s share price jump today may not be such a big surprise.

Altech Batteries says a definitive feasibility study shows it will be able to pump out 20 per cent more power than expected at its proposed Cerenergy sodium chloride solid-state grid battery plant in Germany. Through technical design optimisation, alongside lead engineering company Leadec and joint venture partner Fraunhofer, Altech believes it will now be able to produce 120 of its 1MWh “GridPacks” per year.

Ora Banda Mining is confident it has identified the potential site for its next underground gold mine after unveiling significant results from two holes sunk at the company’s Sand King prospect near Kalgoorlie. Management says the holes were designed to follow up historical drilling from the 1980s that showed potential for mineralisation at depth, with the known strike of Sand King at more than 800m.

Auric Mining has topped its record price for gold sales from its Jeffreys Find mine near Norseman after selling 1264 ounces at $3131 per ounce to the Perth Mint for a gross revenue of nearly $3.9 million. The joint venture operation between Auric and Kalgoorlie-based BML Ventures has now sold 8293 ounces from the gold mine for a gross revenue of close to $25 million.

Business goliath Wesfarmers will pump $26m into Ora Banda Mining to buy 65 per cent of the lithium rights at the company’s Davyhurst gold project north of Kalgoorlie. The move follows the discovery of lithium at Davyhurst back in April and will also see Ora Banda pick up a 2 per cent royalty. Ora Banda plans to monetise its royalty up front, courtesy of a partial sale to a third party.

Lindian Resources has officially wrapped up its 4000m mine development drilling at its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi as it aims to define its resource at the operation into the indicated category. Assay results are expected to arrive in early December with a 400m geotechnical drill campaign to assess rock mechanics and ground stability set to start and finish next month.

Auric Mining refuses to rest on its laurels, launching a grade control drill program at its Munda gold project near Widgiemooltha only days after recording one of the highest-ever gold price sales in Australia. Earlier this week the company sold 1361 ounces from its Jeffreys Find mine at $3130 per ounce to the Perth Mint for a gross revenue of $4.26 million.

Perth-based Chariot Corporation will hit the boards at the ASX today with its foot on pretty much every potentially lithium-bearing pegmatite in the US state of Wyoming and a clay-based lithium play in Nevada. With some pulse-quickening lithium rock chip grades already in the bag, the lithium-bearing pegmatites in Wyoming look like they are begging to see a drill bit.

Xanadu Mines has uncovered a new gold zone below its Golden Eagle deposit at the company’s Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia with a follow-up drill campaign already underway to test the area. Promisingly, a diamond drill hole at the deposit returned results with a significantly higher grade than what was used to define the mineral resource at the operation in 2021.

Auric Mining has recorded one of the highest-ever gold price sales in Australia after selling 1361 ounces from its Jeffreys Find mine at $3130 per ounce to the Perth Mint for a gross revenue of $4.26 million. The joint venture operation between the company and BML Ventures has distributed the money with Auric receiving $2.2 million in its maiden disbursement of surplus cash from the stage one of the project.

A research and development tax offset of $15.6 million – and a healthy bank balance now at $29.3 million – will underpin Empire Energy Group’s bid to take its Carpentaria pilot project to a final investment decision. The company says its Beetaloo Basin project has the potential to service the Top End and east coast of Australia with more than 500 terajoules of power per day.

Askari Metals has launched a targeted trenching campaign at its flagship Uis lithium project in Namibia, where it will test four high-priority pegmatites within its recently-identified “corridor of interest”. The company will initially focus on its OP target, which has an estimated surface strike of more than 2km, before moving onto the PS, DP and K9 prospects for a total of 111 trenches through 3750m.

Globe Metals & Mining has signed a non-binding term sheet with TCM Research, giving it exclusive use of the latter’s principal technology for processing niobium from the Kanyika project in Malawi. TCM has been selected to design the refinery process for the Kanyika concentrate and to determine the design parameters of a proposed refinery after carrying out metallurgical testwork on a sample.

Horizon Minerals will retain financial exposure to 62 tenements within its Kalgoorlie project area despite entering into a binding asset sale agreement for the ground with Northern Star Resources. According to the deal, Northern Star will pay Horizon $3.1 million in cash, in addition to receiving discovery payments of $20 per ounce for any JORC-compliant mineral resource at the sites – capped at 2 million ounces.

Strickland Metals has increased its prospective strike target to 700m at the Marwari prospect that forms part of its Horse Well project in WA’s Pilbara region, following results from an air-core campaign. The results include 16m grading 2.2g/t gold from 68m, in addition to 8m at 2.2g/t from 84m, while a hole on the edge of the prospect showed 60m going 0.5g/t gold from 40m.

Terrain Minerals has hit rare earths during a reconnaissance-scale air-core (AC) drill campaign at its Lort River project near Esperance, with high percentages of magnetic rare earth oxides up to 43 per cent. Assay highlights show a 3m intercept grading 919 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 23m, including a peak 1m hit going 1878ppm TREO.

Auric Mining has entered into the free-cash phase of gold production from its Jeffreys Find mine near Norseman in Western Australia following a remarkable project journey to date of just three years. The company’s first stage of mining has produced more than 7700 ounces of gold from the operation, with 5667 ounces sold for a gross revenue of $16.6 million.

St George Mining has kicked off a fresh lithium exploration campaign at its Mt Alexander project in Western Australia, with soil sampling, pegmatite mapping and outcrop sampling now underway at the operation. The program aims to test new lithium targets, in addition to an 8km-long zone around its Manta prospect where previous drilling by the company intersected a 121m-thick fractionated pegmatite.

ASX-listed Aurumin looks set to pocket $3 million and a 2 per cent net smelter royalty from the Mt Dimer gold mining tenements after entering into a binding sale agreement for the site with Beacon Minerals. Beacon has also agreed to take $500,000 worth of Aurumin’s fully-paid ordinary shares within five days, in exchange for an exclusivity period.

Ora Banda Mining has made a solid start to the financial year with gold production rising 39 per cent to 16,952 ounces and sold gold increasing by 35 per cent to 16,319 ounces compared to the previous quarter. It finished the September quarter with $22.7 million, despite spending $11.2 million on the development of its Riverina underground gold mine and $2.8 million on exploration.

Buoyed by encouraging early results from a maiden drill campaign at its Nunyerry North gold project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, Novo Resources has expanded the program by another four holes. The company has received results from the first six reverse-circulation drill holes with highlights showing a 13m hit at 1.18 grams per tonne gold from surface and 7m going 1.12g/t gold from 38m.

Interim feasibility work by Estrella Resources has confirmed the viability of a simple decline and two-level underground mine for its 5A nickel deposit at the company’s Spargoville project near Kambalda in WA. Management has estimated the mine’s capital and operating costs at $11 million, which can be represented as $US3.20 ($AU5.60) per pound of nickel produced. The current price is hovering at about $US8.30 (AU$13.30).

Gold Mountain has completed a mapping and sampling program across its major lithium projects in Brazil in a precursor to kickstarting a comprehensive drilling program in the South American nation. The company has been completing due diligence fieldwork across its tenements ahead of a shareholder vote next month regarding its plans to take a 75 per cent share in its joint venture partner, Mars Mines.

Surefire Resources is one step closer to a vanadium processing plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu pinpointed the Ras Al-Khair industrial region for the site. In August, the company sealed a pivotal MOU with the KSA, where it plans to process ore from its Victory Bore vanadium and high-purity alumina project in WA’s Mid West.

A mining services company engaged in a deal with Novo Resources for 80 per cent of battery mineral rights at the Quartz Hill project has expanded the operation and increased the earn-in amount to $1.7 million. In line with the original arrangement, private company Liatam Mining has spent an extra $200,000 after choosing to increase its exploration ground from 615sq km to 818sq km.

American West Metals has delivered more shallow and high-grade copper results from its Storm project in the Canadian province of Nunavut, with peak assays including a 1.5m hit at 7.6 per cent copper from 77.7m. The impressive hit came from a drillhole sunk at the company’s Lightning Ridge prospect, which also recorded a 15.2m segment grading 2.3 per cent copper from 30.5m.