Announcements

Buxton Resources says a new geophysics method has helped to define and prioritise shallow potential open-pit graphite targets at its flagship Graphite Bull project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The company says its recent adoption of the Loupe electromagnetics geophysical survey method has led to multiple near-surface new targets being prioritised near its existing inferred resource.

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.

Prospective ground secured by Buxton Resources in WA’s West Kimberley in 2015 is now looming as a company game-changer – for more reasons than one as it continues to foster a relationship with mining giant IGO. New nickel-copper sulphides potential revealed today from the joint venture’s Quick Shears project could be just the tip of the iceberg for a burgeoning partnership that also includes international exploration.

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.

An "unsolicited" lithium review at Estrella Resources’ Carr Boyd nickel project near Kalgoorlie has spun out new and historical pegmatite potential – but the extent and lithium content is not yet known. The company says the approaches from a “leading global mining group” to evaluate the possibilities for LCT-type pegmatites at Carr Boyd has only reconfirmed its belief in what it believes the project may hold.

Terrain Minerals has set its sights on two priority polymetallic targets – which evoke the style of the giant nearby Golden Grove deposit – that have been defined from MMI geochemistry at its Smokebush project north of Perth in Western Australia. The company’s geochemical sampling yielded a 1100m-long polymetallic anomaly in the north of the grid and a new 900m-long polymetallic anomaly at the grid’s southern extent.

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.

Aruma Resources’ deep dive into its Saltwater project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region is tossing up a myriad of intriguing high-grade polymetallic targets from first-pass rock-chip sampling. The company’s latest results have returned high-grade manganese peaking at 40 per cent, in addition to anomalous vanadium, uranium, iron, lead and zinc tipping into the melting pot of previously-reported anomalous copper, cobalt and rare earths.

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.

After some unforeseen hiccups, Conico is now charging towards completion of a scoping study, which it says will now include new project optimisations aimed at enhancing economics at its Mt Thirsty project. While high workflow levels for key consultants slowed the study process, it expects it to be finished next month, with an updated mineral resource also on the way.

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.

Massive lithium battery maker Amperex Technology has picked up 10 per cent of St George Mining’s seven hard rock lithium projects in WA with a $3m punt into a St George subsidiary. Amperex is the world’s leading producer of lithium-ion batteries and is potentially a significant ally for St George as it looks to develop its suite of battery metals projects.

Pancreatic cancer patients have been delivered fresh hope following the United States Food and Drug Administration’s decision to clear the way for Radiopharm Theranostics to run clinical trials to address an area of “unmet need”. The imaging trials are designed to detect lesions in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and the first patient is expected to receive dosage by the end of this month.

Infinity Mining has enlarged its lithium footprint at three Tambourah South prospects in Western Australia’s East Pilbara region after discovering more pegmatites through field mapping and confirming lithium prolificacy through rock-chip and drill-sampling assays. Rock chips recorded a best value of 3.7 per cent lithium oxide and eight RC holes cut 23 pegmatites with a maximum thickness of 25m.

Twigger’s Tales (aka Argonaut’s Liam Twigger) regales readers with fond memories of the tsunami of foreign banks – and some not so foreign that fell victim to the Bell/Bond debacle of the 80s and 90s. The legal fights that followed spawned the term “just bill it to Bell” among St Georges Terrace lawyers who pulled up short of their weekly billing targets.

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).

Askari Metals is preparing its backhoe for trenching across four LCT pegmatites in a bid to reveal more battery minerals potential at its flagship Uis lithium project within Namibia’s Uis-Cape Cross pegmatite belt. The company will dig 111 trenches to try and deepen its knowledge of the surface expression and mineralisation of the highly-fractionated pegmatites within the anomalous corridor that hosts Andrada Mining’s tin mine.

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.

A geochemical sampling program by Venus Metals at the westernmost licences within its Mangaroon North project in Western Australia’s emerging Gascoyne region has turned up two base metal anomalies that have been earmarked for further assessment. The company says it took about 1100 soil samples and 39 rock‐chip samples from across two of its tenements during the survey.

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 geophysical survey at DiscovEx Resources’ Sylvania project near Newman in Western Australia has identified potential south-east extensions to two lodes within the previously defined 2.8-million-tonne Prairie Downs zinc-lead-silver resource. The survey was designed to test for potential sulphide mineralisation related to the Prairie Downs fault and also defined a target area centred about 10km north-west along strike of the resource at the Husky prospect.

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.

Prominent investor and prospector Mark Creasy’s Yandal Investments has entered into a subscription agreement with Zuleika Gold worth $3 million. While still subject to shareholder approval, the deal could see Yandal increase its voting power in Zuleika from 19.12 per cent up to 42.53 per cent after Mr Creasy’s company purchased 100 million shares in the explorer back in March last year.

Askari Metals has captured a battery metals-prospective permit via a corporate takeover to add to its growing flagship Uis lithium project that sits within Namibia’s Uis-Cape Cross pegmatite belt. The permit, which Askari gained through its full acquisition of Green Lithium, is along strike and juxtaposed next to Andrada Mining’s operating tin mine and Spodumene Hill discovery.

Strickland Metals has officially kicked off a heritage survey that is focused on large-scale prospects at its Yandal and Earaheedy projects in WA, where the company has identified two priority drill targets. Management believes successful clearance of the survey will allow it to expand on an ongoing air-core drilling program at its Horse Well prospect, with both new targets offering tier-one discovery potential.

Estrella Resources has earned pre-qualification in the Timor-Leste Government’s inaugural minerals tender process, opening up a potential pathway for the company to acquire tenure in a region known to host more than 200 mineral occurrences including gold, copper, manganese, silver and chromite. The process appears set to end the region’s dearth of exploration due to a succession of long-standing geopolitical factors.

Brightstar Resources says an independent $60.9 million valuation of its gold plant and infrastructure in WA’s far northern Goldfields represents significant development advantages ahead of a mining restart at its Menzies and Laverton gold projects. Management says the estimation outlines expenditure the company will not have to pay and the time it will save during the building process because it already has the existing infrastructure.

Auric Mining has produced an additional 4300 gold ounces from its second campaign at its Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman and expects to rake in $28 million in gross revenue from stage-one production. A maiden parcel of 36,180 tonnes has been milled at the Greenfields mill in Coolgardie at 93.04 per cent recovery, yielding 1721 gold ounces from a head grade of 1.58g/t.

The Human Research Ethics Committee has given Radiopharm Theranostics its stamp of approval to begin first-in-human phase-one dose escalation trials in Australia on patients living with non-small cell lung cancer. The company says the vital approval will allow it to pursue greater hope for patients dealing with a devastating condition that currently has a “poor prognosis” in terms of life expectancy.