Announcements

Lithium Australia has announced a new discovery of lithium mineralisation, in spodumene bearing pegmatites at the Medcalf prospect, within its prospective looking Lake Johnston project, 460km east of Perth in W.A. Rock chip samples up to 7.15% lithium oxide were returned from a series of outcrops, covering an area of 250m wide over 500m of strike. The company is now planning follow-up mapping, sampling and soils programs.

ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals’ proposed medical marijuana facility in Malta looks set to go ahead after landmark laws legalising medicinal cannabis were passed by the Southern European nation’s Parliament. MGC is now on the verge of official approval for its 4,000 square metre facility that it aims to use to launch into the rapidly expanding EU medical marijuana market.

DroneShield’s suite of drone-combatting products have been given the green light by an independent US laboratory to protect US airports from potentially lethal aerial threats posed by incoming aerial drones. The company says its drone detection systems were deemed compatible with US aviation and airport communication and navigation systems by leading North American radiofrequency testing facility, 360RF.

St George has announced a new intersection of massive nickel sulphides at its Mt Alexander project, near Leonora in W.A. The 6.25 metre drilling intercept from 67.2m down-hole contained an impressive higher grade zone of 3.34m @ 5.5% nickel and 1.7% copper using XRF analyses. The result, which extends the known mineralisation, successfully targeted an off-hole electromagnetic anomaly that was not detected at surface.

Auroch Minerals has announced that it has generated 17 interesting looking base metal and gold exploration targets by reinterpreting old geophysics data at its Bonaventura project on Kangaroo Island, southwest of Adelaide. Three priority, high grade zinc targets will undergo surface geophysics ahead of the drilling programs with the new targets broadly coinciding with recent high-grade surface sampling.

ASX-listed Connected IO is set to roll out its wireless, modem-like devices in Australia and New Zealand as part of a deal with Internet of things distributor M2M Connectivity. The inaugural shipment paves the way for local product trials ahead of a potential roll out in the two countries leveraging M2M’s existing relationships in the telecommunications and electronics industries.

New geophysical work by Auroch Minerals has identified potential base metal horizons striking over tens of kms at its new Arden project in South Australia. The encouraging results have prompted Auroch to fly a high resolution aeromagnetic survey to sharpen target definition ahead of a maiden drill program in the September quarter. Samples taken from old workings went 7% zinc and 10% copper.

BlackEarth has reported very encouraging graphite assays from its maiden drill program at the Maniry project in Madagascar. Results up to 36.7m @ 8.8% total graphitic carbon from the Razafy prospect attest to the high grade nature of the ore deposit. The program outlined continuous graphitic lenses 900 metres long and up to 50m thick from surface. Testing is underway to determine the quality of the product.

Southern Gold’s decision to swoop on a number of abandoned gold mines in South Korea in 2016 is paying off handsomely, with grab samples from historically blasted rock at the old Kochang mine returning up to 17.4 g/t gold. Southern’s partner in the project estimates that the broken rock could be processed for as little as $US60/tonne and yield a profit of around $US750/ounce.

Middle Island Resources is about to lock in an option agreement over the sale of its Reo gold project in West Africa on significantly improved terms that will give it an immediate 8% stake in a Canadian gold explorer worth A$675k and A$200k in cash. If the option is exercised, Middle Island will bank a further A$200k in cash that no doubt will come in handy for the company's exploration activities in W.A

Emu NL has announced the discovery of a new gold target at its Jotahues project, within the strongly mineralised Maricunga precious metal belt in Chile. A recent soil geochemical sampling program at the Peon 4 prospect showed a 600m wide and 1.2km long anomalous zone of coincident gold, silver, copper, mercury and lead assays, which can be typical fingerprints for an epithermal gold system.

Kalia Limited has announced it will commence a highly anticipated exploration program on its porphyry copper-gold tenements on the PNG Island of Bougainville, after funds from a $3m secured loan facility were released this week. The company will invest the capital in completing a detailed aerial geophysical survey program over its tenement holdings in Bougainville and improve site facilities to support ongoing exploration activities.

Anglo Australian’s Kalgoorlie gold play is hurtling headlong towards a maiden resource after multiple successful passes with the drill rig produced gold intersections going up to 6 ounces to the tonne just 14km from the super pit. The project is located on the Norseman-Wiluna Belt which plays host to a number of major deposits including the 3moz New Celebration and 15m ounce St Ives gold mines.

TNG has been granted environmental approval for its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project near Alice Springs in the N.T. The company is finalising its mining agreement with the Central Land Council with the project mining lease expected to be granted shortly. TNG has indicated that a final investment decision for the $853m Mount Peake project is anticipated in the middle of 2018.

Classic Minerals has announced a new gold discovery at the Van Uden West prospect at its Forrestania gold project, south of Southern Cross. The best result of 12m @ 5.75g/t gold from 59m down-hole is open along strike and down-dip. High grade results were also reported from both the Kat Gap and Lady Lila prospects in exploration that confirmed the orientation of the gold mineralisation.

DroneShield has set up a demonstration hub for its cutting-edge range of anti-drone products in the Netherlands where the NATO Joint Force is headquartered. Next month the company will present its suite of drone-combatting products at the new hub to NATO Governments including military, law enforcement and secret service agencies. It will then hold a series of demonstrations across Europe.

Southern Gold has reported encouraging developments at its South Korea gold projects. At Gubong, the company’s JV partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has announced gold recoveries exceeding 90% from met test work. At the Kochang mine, Bluebird has completed an extensive mapping and sampling program of underground workings. Bluebird is evaluating the economic feasibility of re-opening the historic gold mines.

Lithium Australia’s Sadisdorf project in the “Ore Mountains” of Germany’s Saxony region has returned solid drill hits of lithium and tin from the first hole of a maiden drill program. Intercepts included 32.19m at 0.52% lithium oxide, well above the average grade of the maiden inferred resource announced last December, confirming the pervasive nature of the lithium mineralisation.

Algae.Tec has locked down a research deal with Canada's Radient Technologies that will see the health sciences company accelerate the production of high-value algae-based products into the lucrative global nutraceuticals market. Algae.Tec will use Radient’s unique extraction technology to boost yield and consistency of its algae-based products that are in development for the nutraceuticals market.

Altech Chemicals dogged bid to avoid almost any further equity dilution when locking away the final chunk of funding needed to build its exciting high purity alumina plant just got a giant shot in the arm with an offer of further debt now firmly on the table. The company said that a global investment bank had offered up the entire remaining amount of $US120m in debt.

Many ASX juniors are artfully skilled at turning out feasibility studies but often not so good at traversing the debt and equity markets to make that quantum leap into production. Image Resources however, has done just that with $50m in debt and $25m in equity now locked away to take its zircon rich, multi-element, mineral sands play near Gingin in W.A into production within just months.

Auroch Minerals’ new base metals project on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island has produced spectacular zinc and gold grades from surface sampling, raising expectations for a maiden drill program to get underway next quarter. Rock chip samples produced assays of up to 28% zinc, 0.91% copper and 33.3 g/t gold and created excitement around the company’s entry into a rich base metals belt in South Australia.

Calima Energy’s uncanny ability to sniff out interesting looking projects in the oil and gas space has once again been demonstrated, with the company picking up a big exploration block in an emerging off shore oil basin in Namibia. The securing of the new block follows a surge in investment by the likes of Exxon and Total in the region, which will see a number of wells drilled on adjacent permits.

MGC Pharma has stepped up its offering in the multi-million-dollar cannabis-based skincare market, launching its second marijuana-infused dermatological product “CBD Herbal Replenish Cream” aimed at treating inflammatory skin conditions. The release of the company’s skin repair product comes after successful clinical tests in Europe. It is the second of three products in MGC’s cannabis skincare range.

BlackEarth Minerals is nearing completion of its maiden drill program at the Maniry project in Madagascar and will report a JORC-compliant resource by the end of June. The program has outlined two continuous graphitic lenses 900 metres long and up to 50m thick from surface. The company is undertaking comprehensive mineralogical and metallurgical test work programs to determine the quality of its defined graphite product.

Myanmar Metals has hit a 23m drill intersection in Myanmar that is brimming with lead, zinc, copper and silver with excellent grades. The company is now compiling its highly anticipated maiden JORC- resource for the project. Last week the company received Government advice allowing it to proceed with the exercise of the Bawdwin option, where it will acquire 85% of the project.

There’s more to Ironbark Zinc than just the giant Citronen zinc project in Greenland, with the company and heavyweight joint venture partner Glencore lifting the pace of exploration at their high-grade base metals project in NSW. The companies are about to fly a high-tech EM survey at the Captains Flat project near Canberra, where drilling has already produced exciting base metal hits.

Draig Resources has grown its holdings in the northern Goldfields by over 2,000 square kilometres in a mining district well endowed with gold and base metals. Historical exploration was largely ineffective due to poor outcropping and masking cover that downgraded the potential. The company believes there is great opportunity for the discovery of new mineral resources on the new tenements.

King River Copper has secured two new tenements in the underexplored Tennant Creek copper-gold belt in the Northern Territory. Its extensive 6,634km2 tenement holding is highly prospective for iron oxide copper gold deposits similar to Westgold’s Rover 1 project nearby. The company is awaiting grant of its remaining applications and it is collating drill programs to target priority positions later this year.

Metallurgical testwork shows Galena Mining’s Abra deposit is not only one of the world’s most significant undeveloped lead-silver deposits in terms of tonnes and grade, but it also has the mineralogy to produce clean, high-grade concentrates. New testwork for the PFS shows lead recoveries of 90% plus and concentrate grades of more than 72%, well above the typical quality of other operating mines says Galena.

The historic Wiluna gold project never fails to surprise the market with the latest drilling by Blackham Resources uncovering multiple extensions of high-grade shallow mineralisation right on the doorstep of the rejuvenated mill. The company said it was working on another upgrade of resources and reserves after a string of gold hits, including 16m at 4.41 g/t from just 2m below the surface.

The election of a new pro-mining Government in Greenland might just be the enabler required for Greenland Minerals to fast track its massive rare earths and uranium project into production. The incoming Government has specifically expressed its support for developing Greenland’s rare earths and uranium riches, the largest and most advanced owner of which is Perth based Greenland Minerals.