Michael Philipps

Galan Lithium says it has received several partnership approaches for offtake and strategic financing for the second-phase development of its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina. The interest follows a phase-one offtake and financing agreement with mining giant Glencore, with management saying the volume of direct enquiries highlights the strength of the long-term lithium market.

Ora Banda Mining has added significant momentum to its drive towards producing 100,000 ounces of gold annually by 2025 after intersecting the first ore from its Riverina underground’s Main Lode, some four weeks ahead of schedule. The company expects to mine a lode grade of 10g/t gold at Riverina as part of its “Drive to 100” campaign.

Quantum Graphite believes more than doubling its mill throughput up to 1.2 million tonnes a year at its Uley 2 project in South Australia will lead to improved economics, following an independent assessment. The study by Lycopodium Minerals also looks into increasing production at the operation from 55,000 dry metric tonnes of flake graphite up to a maximum of 100,000 dry metric tonnes.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears profiled ASX runner is… Chariot Corporation. Its shares doubled this week to join movers including Pure Resources, Sunshine Metals and Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies.

Gold Mountain is aiming to more than double the size of its Green River copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea after lodging an application for a 552sq-km tenement adjacent to a previous 501sq-km application. Management says high-grade copper-gold and lead-zinc rock-chip samples have been found in the tenements by previous explorers, with target areas for follow-up exploration already identified.

ChemX Materials has received more than $900,000 through a research and development tax incentive rebate payment for developing its high-purity manganese and alumina projects during the past financial year. Administered by AusIndustry and the Australian Tax Office, the rebate is available for companies investing in research and development programs aimed at sustainably producing critical minerals for the future.

ABx Group has pumped its mineral resource estimate up to 52 million tonnes at 817 parts per million TREO after management completed a block model for its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earths deposit in Tasmania. The company says the resource model is based on data from 407 drill holes across the resource area and covers 39 per cent of the identified mineralised outline.

After completing a massive infill and extension campaign at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, Xanadu Mines has shifted its focus to new discoveries outside the site’s current mineral resource. The company is now operating three diamond drill rigs at Kharmagtai, with four deep holes planned to target mineralisation below its biggest deposit identified to date at White Hill.

Infinity Lithium has taken another step forward with its proposed San José lithium project in Spain after the Cáceres Local Government deemed the operation compatible with local urban legislative requirements. The project, near Cáceres in the Extremadura region, boasts one of Europe's leading JORC-compliant hard-rock lithium deposits, with a total indicated and inferred resource base of 111 million tonnes at 0.61 per cent lithium oxide.