Announcements

Hammer Metals’ maiden drill program at the Mt Frosty joint venture with Glencore has produced a series of impressive hits of copper and gold, including 6 metres at 2.55% copper. The results are an early reward for Hammer, who bought its way into Mt Frosty earlier this year on the basis that it could potentially define a resource with minimal drilling. This is the second time Hammer have done this.

Northern Minerals is racing towards the commencement of production at its Brown Range pilot plant and is set to become a rare, global producer of dysprosium outside of China. Located near Halls Creek in the north of Western Australia, the Browns Range pilot plant looks set to produce 60,000 tonnes of dysprosium a year for three years following a targeted start-up in the third quarter of 2018.

Six months after listing on the ASX, Calidus Resources has added 300,000 ounces of gold to their Pilbara gold project. The total mineral resource at the Warrawoona project expanded to 10.5 million tonnes at 2.11 g/t gold for 712,000 ounces, up 74% as Calidus closes in on its target of one million ounces.

Geopacific Resources has discovered a significant new gold zone at the Woodlark gold project in PNG, boosting hopes that in time it could grow into something more like its multitude of Tier 1 neighbours. The new Boscalo gold zone is only 300 metres from an existing deposit and could potentially be incorporated into an expanded pit design. The best result at Boscalo was 12m @ 7.45 g/t gold.

Altech Chemicals appear to have pulled off a major financial coup with their announcement that the German Government would provide a debt guarantee for their proposed Malaysian high purity alumina plant that will be fed with Kaolin, mined in Meckering, W.A. The project is now debt guaranteed, fixed price guaranteed , has a 10 year off-take guaranteed and the quality and throughput rate is also guaranteed.

St George Mining has ended 2017 with its share price on an upward trajectory on confirmation that its Mt Alexander project produced one of the most impressive base metals drill hits in the country this year. New assay results have revealed a 17 metre drill intersection grading 3.01% nickel, 1.31% copper, 0.13% cobalt and 1.68 g/t platinum group elements from a depth of just 37.45 metres.

Perth-based biotech company PharmAust has announced a set of tail wagging results from tests conducted on dogs with cancer who were given PharmAust’s promising development drug Monepantel, or MPL, which stabilised the spread of the disease in the animals. 6 of the 7 dogs tested experienced a reduction in tumour size over a two week period when administered with MPL.

Lithium Australia is moving quickly to improve its newly defined maiden lithium resource in Germany with a diamond drilling program aimed at lifting confidence in the deposit and potentially expanding its size. Historical drilling has already shown potential to supply a 25,000 tonne per annum lithium carbonate plant for 10 years and the company is now keen to see what new drilling may reveal.

Perth-listed junior tech company Connected IO posted a whopping 340 per cent lift in revenue in 2017, delivering a top-line of $2.2 million this year. The “internet of things” company, which has rapidly expanded its customer base in 2017, expects further growth in 2018 given the strong pipeline of new purchase orders it secured in recent months. The order book for 2018 is already sitting at $3.3m.

ASX-listed MGC Pharma is set to rollout a marijuana-derived psoriasis treatment after clinical trials in Europe showed the product, CBD Herbal Repair Cream, was effective at relieving dermatological symptoms such as irritated and inflamed skin. The first product offering from MGC’s Derma Plus line, is scheduled for launch in January and will be sold online and through existing channels.

Neometals’ push into high-value lithium hydroxide is moving ahead at a rapid pace, with a FEED study expected to get underway in the first quarter of 2018 followed by a final investment decision as early as the end of the year. The plant is just one of three downstream projects in progress, including a cutting-edge lithium titanate research project that could replace graphite in batteries..

Nzuri Copper’s ambitions to become a big player in the African Copper-Cobalt Belt have received a massive boost with a $10 million placement to Huayou Cobalt, the world’s biggest producer of cobalt chemicals. Huayou operates a number of cobalt projects in Nzuri’s backyard and will become a vital partner for the ASX-listed junior alongside Ivanhoe Mines who are already in a JV with the company.

Plymouth Minerals has successfully raised $6.5 million in a share placement to accelerate its plans for development of the San Jose lithium project in Spain and to expedite a feasibility study that will increase its stake in the well placed project from 50% to 75%. Plymouth are planning to produce battery grade lithium carbonate on site and are blessed with a gas pipeline running past their doorstep.

Millions of cash transacting Filipinos who do not operate bank accounts are a significant step closer to making commercial money transfers on their mobile phones a reality as a result of Peppermint Innovation's pilot program in partnership with in-country, distribution network organisation SANTE Barley. The parties have launched a new mobile payment APP to be known as League Pay.

Bougainville's untapped potential for gold and copper continues to build if ASX-listed Kalia Ltd's geophysical reports are anything to go by. Kalia recently snapped up the first exploration permits released on Bougainville and have wasted no time reworking old data which has revealed anomalies similar to those associated with some of the world’s biggest copper-gold mines, according to management.

Aquabotix has launched a smarter 'hybrid' drone that can be operated directly from the surface, autonomously or remotely. Deployed for security, research, environmental assessment and defence purposes, the drone can be controlled by one person and will deliver greater flexibility, the company says. The new drone is able to be mounted with additional sensors and has an 8 hour battery life.

A new pure play graphite company, BlackEarth Minerals, is set to join the ASX just days before Christmas after reaching its minimum subscription of $4.5 million. The company is a spin-off from Lithium Australia, who received a strong response from shareholders to a priority entitlement offer. The float has been helped along by high quality projects in Madagascar and a rally in graphite prices.

St George Mining has made a strong start to drilling at their East Laverton nickel project with drill hits of prospective ultramafic rocks from the first two holes in the program. The new holes have confirmed a western extension of the Windsor ultramafic unit that produced high grade nickel intercepts for BHP back in 2012. St George rocketed up the ASX this month on the back of its Mt Alexander results.

Legend Mining’s patient and systematic exploration for a Nova-Bollinger lookalike at its vast Rockford project in the Fraser Range has delivered its best result yet. New assays from aircore drilling at Area D returned 47 metres at 0.29% nickel, 0.12% copper and 0.03% cobalt, which compares very favourably with results at a similar stage in the Nova discovery according to company management.

Drilling by Geopacific Resources at their recently acquired Woodlark Gold deposit in PNG has shown it has spectacularly long high grades like its famous epithermal neighbours. The path has now been cleared for a new resource and reserve estimate early next year. Latest results from the new drilling include 37 metres at 6.21g/t gold, 25 metres at 6.27g/t and 16 metres at 11.00g/t.

Internet of things player Connected IO’s entry into the US market continues to build momentum, with the Perth-listed company confirming $1 million worth of new orders from US-based Rosco Vision Systems. Connected IO has also received an order for an additional 1,000 of its Cat-1 wireless modem like devices from Rosco as part of the deepening ties between the two companies.

Hammer Metals’ newly-formed Mt Frosty Copper-Gold JV with global mining giant Glencore is already looking good with the company announcing this week some highly encouraging drill hits from its maiden drill program in Mt Isa. The ASX-listed junior explorer reported visible copper sulphides from shallow RC drilling, backing up its view there is potential to define a resource with minimal drilling.

Calima Energy has added 2,738 acres of prime Canadian oil and gas real estate to its portfolio in the liquids-rich, sweet spots of the Montney Formation in Northeast British Columbia, following successful bidding in the latest Canadian Government land auction for coveted licences in the North American oil and gas play.

Fresh from news of a big increase in their San Jose lithium deposit, Plymouth Minerals is racing ahead with test work on converting the deposit into high-value Lithium Carbonate by way of an on-site plant. Bulk samples are already on their way to Plymouth’s Chinese processing partner, Shandong Ruifu, who will beneficiate the ore and process it into battery-grade lithium carbonate.

After spectacularly setting the market alight with a share price run from 7.9c to 48c, St George Mining say they are well and truly still in the hunt for a company making nickel-copper discovery near Agnew. Recent drilling expanded the mineralised footprint at the project and provided solid indications that the deposit thickens to the north and west of St George's 17m discovery intersection.

Lithium Australia have snagged their first major Lithium resource thanks to a wholly successful decision to take a close look at the unrecognised lithium potential of an historic tin mine in Saxony, Germany. The company announced a maiden resource at Sadisdorf that is capable of supplying a 25,000 tonne per annum Lithium Carbonate plant for 10 years without even drilling a hole.

Peppermint Innovation is tapping into Australia’s growing immigrant population who are transferring billions of dollars each year ‘back home’ to their countries of origin. Peppermint has established a 100 per cent owned subsidiary that will earn Australian revenue from fees charged for transferring monies around the world and from foreign exchange margins received at the time of transferring those funds.

Recent drilling has increased the size of Plymouth Minerals’ massive San Jose Lithium mica deposit in Spain to more than 1.6 million tonnes of Lithium Carbonate equivalent, paving the way for an impressive feasibility study in 2018. The giant deposit is still open along strike and at depth and is perfectly situated to produce and deliver battery-grade chemicals for Europe’s booming market.

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global has ramped up cyber-security safeguards on its nano-satellites by incorporating market-leading encryption hardware into the miniature orbital devices. Sky and Space says the integration of the encryption technology, carried out in collaboration with global cyber security provider Check Point, validates its ability to offer a premium service to high value tier-one customers.

King River Copper's excellent progress on metallurgical test work should unlock a new pathway for the development of its massive 4.7 billion tonne Vanadium/Titanium/Iron project near Kununurra. The Company is aiming to produce 99.5%+ purity vanadium pentoxide, titanium dioxide and iron whilst at the same time dramatically reducing the capex requirements via a new processing flow sheet.

Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine is taking shape at a rapid pace. Northern Minerals have completed mining and stockpiling of all the ore required for the initial three-year life of the Browns Range heavy rare earths pilot project, while the second of three shipments of the modular processing plant has arrived in Darwin. The project is on track for first production in Q3 2018.

Calidus Resources’ patient efforts to consolidate ground over the Warrawoona greenstone belt in the East Pilbara are paying huge dividends, with new assay results delivering high-grade gold hits at every one of its prospects. The cashed-up explorer will immediately accelerate its aggressive drill campaign and will soon announce a resource upgrade based on its spectacular run of results.