Announcements

Reedy Lagoon Corporation’s innovative lithium brines play in Nevada is about to be put to the test, with the company spudding a big, 1000-metre deep well at its Columbus Salt Marsh project. The well is the first of its kind to be drilled under new regulations in Nevada and will take about 30 days to reach its target depth before testing begins in earnest.

Altech Chemicals has finalised a US$170m debt package guaranteed by the German Government on very favourable terms to cover more than half the cost of their high purity alumina project, based on the Meckering kaolin deposit in W.A. The “extremely attractive” loan is part of a $US190 million debt package subsidised by Germany because the project will use German technology and engineering.

Lithium Australia is set to become a producer of battery grade lithium chemicals and, in the process, establish its breakthrough SiLeach technology as the way of the future for the downstream lithium industry around the globe. The company has committed to build a large-scale pilot plant producing 2,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate per annum, with a view to ramping up to 10 times that production.

Galena Mining is racing towards a prefeasibility study on a high-grade-underground development of the giant Abra lead-silver deposit after completing a maiden drill program with high-grade hits encountered in every hole. Final assays released today completed a perfect run for Galena and have cleared the way for a maiden estimate of a high-grade resource within weeks.

Aerial drone detection and disabling company DroneShield, has released a new drone-combating product known as DroneGun Tactical. The new product has been launched as a complimentary weapon to DroneShield’s DroneGun MKII, both of which are able to force a drone to land or return to base. DroneGun Tactical has a few new features adding versatility to DroneShield’s security arsenal.

ASX-listed Online screening and verification company CVCheck reported an 11 per cent surge in cash receipts to $2.8 million last quarter on the back of burgeoning demand from corporate clients. Corporate customers now account for almost 60 per cent of total revenue as more and more large companies seek to weed out dodgy job seekers from their interview lists.

After a difficult 2017, Blackham Resources has turned around mining activity at its 100%-owned Wiluna gold project. A strong lift in ounces mined in January continued the positive trend begun late last year and the company expects strong operational cash flows through 2018. Blackham also enters the new year with a strong balance sheet thanks to a fully underwritten capital raising of $36 million that will see it convert resources to reserves.

A revised gas off-take agreement to supply packaging firm Orora has been pushed out to 2020, giving junior explorer Strike Energy the manoeuvrability to fully-focus on its streamlined development strategy in the Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project. The company has welcomed the new deadline for the deal as it prepares to spud its ground breaking Jaws-1 appraisal well, which is potential a game-changer for the oil and gas industry generally.

Calidus Resources has continued last year’s remarkable run with the drill bit with a new series of high-grade gold hits from two prospects within 15kms of its flagship Klondyke deposit in the East Pilbara. The latest results follow a 74% jump in the company’s resource base to more than 700,000 ounces last year and show Calidus is mastering the geology of a significant new gold region.

The final piece of the land jigsaw puzzle has been put in place by Calima Energy as the ASX-listed company completed its core acquisition strategy in the lucrative and liquids-rich sweet spots of the Montney Formation in northeast British Columbia, Canada. The Perth-based explorer is now targeting the next phase culminating in a drilling campaign to take advantage of increasing oil price tailwinds.

New geophysical work by St George Mining at its East Laverton project suggests the Windsor X3 conductor could represent a deeper, larger nickel target than previously modelled which prompted an immediate second drill hole. An electromagnetic survey down the first hole at Windsor X3 suggested a conductor about twice the previous size was lurking further down.

Metallurgical testwork on King River’s giant Speewah vanadium deposit in the Kimberley has shown that it could produce super-high purity titanium dioxide, boosting the economics of the project. The latest leach test on Speewah concentrates produced 99.5% purity titanium dioxide. The high purity levels potentially open up new master allow markets such as the aerospace market for King River.

ASX-listed biotech PharmAust has successfully identified a revamped formulation of its promising anti-cancer drug “Monepantel”. Perth-based PharmAust says that the reformulated Monepantel will improve the drug’s taste and enable the delivery of over 10 times the amount of substance per dose than previously, paving the way for clinical trials ahead of full scale commercialisation.

One of the oil industry’s top analysts has given a very positive report on Strike Energy as it embarks on a drill program with the potential to save the east coast gas market from its supply shortage. Peter Strachan’s new report concludes Strike is worth 66% more than its current share price and that’s before the high-impact Jaws drilling program gets underway in the Cooper Basin.

Sky and Space Global is collaborating with pan-African telco player Paratus Group on a field trial that will see a point-of-sale device connected to a bank via the ASX-listed company’s nano-satellite-based IP network. Sky and Space sees the trial as a way to open the door to the multi-billion-dollar global point-of-sale market, especially in the rapidly expanding African market.

Aquabotix has reported a 22% increase in cash receipts for the December quarter, putting the underwater drone player in a sound financial slipstream as it accelerates towards new growth targets. The Sydney and Massachusetts-based company added 10 new distributors to its global network in the last quarter of the year and has revised sales targets for its automated drones in a number of industries.

BlackEarth Minerals is throwing plenty of expertise at its advanced graphite exploration project in Madagascar, making two key appointments ahead of next month’s commencement of a major drilling operations. The newly listed company has secured an exploration services company with deep experience in Madagascan graphite and a geology manager with a solid graphite CV.

Nzuri Copper’s Kalongwe copper-cobalt project could be set for a mine life extension after exploration drilling just 2.5kms away produced a series of very positive results that may lead to a satellite orebody. Drilling at Monwezi 2 has extended an historic copper-cobalt intercept in three directions and confirmed a new geological interpretation of the target.

ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals has been given the green light by Slovenian authorities, who have given the medical marijuana company’s European medicinal cannabis production facility a tick of approval. The company has now cleared an important regulatory hurdle for the production of its products in Europe, whilst it also steps up the approvals process for the import of medicinal and beauty brands into Australia.

Lithium Australia’s lithium mica Sadisdorf project in Germany has received a boost with news that joint venture partner Tin International has been awarded a highly prospective exploration permit nearby in Saxony’s Ore Mountains region. The Perth-based lithium processing and exploration specialist said the new permit would become part of the joint venture and was thought to have a high likelihood of hosting substantial tin-lithium mineralisation.

Hammer Metals aims to continue its spectacular run of success with the drill bit with the start of a 13-hole RC program at the Jubilee copper gold prospect southeast of Mt Isa. Drilling began last week to follow up last month’s maiden drill program, which produced a stunning 5 metres at 7.35% copper and 3.75 g/t gold from just 35m down-hole. Investors are now eagerly awaiting results from the second RD program.

Connected IO has tapped into a pipeline of potential growth by signing a deal with KORE to promote and sell its products in over 160 countries. The United States-headquartered KORE boasts a number of top tier corporate clients on its books, particularly in North America, and has the capacity to catapult Connected IO into the tech big league around the world.

With first production from the Browns Range heavy rare earths project now within sight, Northern Minerals is turning its attention to the discovery of additional deposits in the region. New high-grade rock chip sample assay results from a variety of regional prospects have delivered exciting results and encouraged the company to get exploration rigs back on the ground in the June quarter.

With a sharpened drill bit at the San Jose project, Plymouth Minerals plans to pencil up improved economics for its giant lithium project that already boasts a lovely set of numbers. A small drilling campaign about to kick off is expected to firm up fundamentals for the project’s feasibility study and aims to deliver improved pit designs and lower stripping ratios for an emerging lithium supply line direct into the heart of Europe’s ever-expanding battery industry.

Neometals’ big titanium-vanadium deposit at Barrambie in the northern Yilgarn is coming into its own thanks to surging prices for its two major products, titanium and vanadium. Favourable markets are creating a multitude of development options for Neometals at the project, with the company stepping up work on everything from direct shipping to downstream processing options.

ASX-listed Peppermint Innovation’s full scale commercialisation of its unique mobile bill payments technology is underway. The Perth fintech player is commencing the rollout of its APP payments technology to major Philippines network marketing company, SANTE Barley and its 200,000 members. Peppermint’s technology is aimed at the millions of Filipinos that still don’t operate a bank account.

Geopacif Resources shareholders can look forward to a flood of material news this year with a new resource and reserve estimate due out soon ahead of a DFS at the end of the year. The Woodlark gold project in PNG is also fully permitted to mine after passing all environmental, technical and social hurdles. The company is confident that development work in 2017 gives encouraging impetus for producer status in the not too distant future.

Legend Mining will follow up last month’s exciting anomalous nickel and copper results from the Rockford project with an infill drilling program to pinpoint the extent of the newly discovered mineralised system. The program follows resampling and assaying that identified several narrow intervals with even higher grades than had been previously announced.

Revered UK online beauty store business Cult Beauty will distribute MGC Pharmaceuticals medical marijuana skin care products as part of an exclusive sales and marketing deal signed between the two companies. MGC said global distribution channels for its products had substantially expanded following an agreement that will bring many of its products to the fore on a global, web-based catwalk of quality cosmetic brands.

Australia’s newest graphite pure play BlackEarth Minerals is set to launch an aggressive drill program at its flagship Maniry project in Madagascar after successfully listing on the ASX. The company will begin a 10,800-metre diamond and RC drill program next month with the aim of publishing a maiden JORC resource by mid-year and a scoping study within 12 months of listing.

Strike Energy is preparing to push the envelope of wellbore capacity by drilling possibly the world’s deepest pure coal-seam well and the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere. The Jaws-1 well in the Southern Cooper Basin is set to spud in mid-February and is aiming to unlock a massive gas resource of up to 11Tcf to help Australia’s eastern states fend off a looming energy crisis.

Perth-listed Connected IO has posted a staggering 363 per cent lift in revenue in calendar year 2017 to $2.44m after a better-than-expected December quarter. The “internet of things” upstart company expects further growth in 2018 and says it has already secured a strong pipeline of new purchase orders worth more than $2 million for 2018.