Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Heavy rare earths developer Northern Minerals has begun commissioning its Browns Range project in the East Kimberley just 12 months after the board approved the pioneering development. The on-site power station has fired up and allowed the successful commissioning of the crushing circuit, in a major step towards first production of heavy rare earth carbonate in July.

Emerging graphite developer Volt Resources has exchanged binding off-take agreements with its Chinese counterparties in a bid to get the finer details of the agreements signed off and set in stone ahead of initial production at the company’s Bunyu project in Tanzania. Volt also said its Stage 1 feasibility study, development funding, statutory approvals and construction contracts are on schedule

Metalicity has commenced RC drilling at the Yerrida Basin near Wiluna and will look to follow up on previous positive indicators at the project that show cobalt may be present. The latest campaign will investigate the project’s geological setting, which is considered analogous to the Central African Copper belt that hosts structural/stratigraphic-controlled copper-cobalt and nickel-cobalt sulphide mineralisation.

Emerging mineral sands producer Image Resources has set a good example for the WA mining industry by embracing solar power for its high-grade, zircon-rich Boonanarring development just north of Perth. The company has struck a deal with Perth-based Sunrise Energy Group that will see a 3-4MW solar farm built next door to its mineral sands project and supply about 25% of its power.

Algae.Tec has received the tick of approval from one of the largest aquariums in the world to supply it with its algae-based product as the Perth health sciences company continues to aggressively push into the lucrative US aquarist market. Algae.Tec’s FeedMe product has been approved for use at the Georgia Aquarium, which receives over 2.4 million visitors annually and houses 100,000 marine animals.

Internet of things company Connected IO is partnering with leading US IT firm and cyber security company Netsurion on a line of customised wireless routers in a deal worth $1.8 million over three years. The partnership will see Connected IO design and manufacture a purpose-built family of modem-like devices for the Florida-based producer of security products, managed networks and compliance solutions.

ASX-listed DroneShield has revealed that its anti-drone security technology was deployed by the Australian Defence Force at the recent ASEAN summit in Sydney to protect world leaders from hostile drone attack. DroneShield says the use of its proprietary DroneGun product by the Military at ASEAN on behalf of NSW police shows the quality and capability of its product suite.

Hot Chili has announced exceptional assay results from historical underground face sampling data compiled for its San Antonio prospect in Chile. Results include 7.5m @ 10.4% copper and 24.6m @ 2.2% copper and demonstrate ore thickness up to 30m true width. The ore system is still open at depth below 120m. Regional mapping and sampling has identified further porphyry copper targets.

Hammer Metals is on the move at its multitude of projects near Mt Isa with a plethora of exploration plays underway. The company will recommence drilling at the Jubilee project to extend high grade copper-gold results with significant surface mineralisation also located 4.5km to the southeast at Jubilee South. At Millenium, further anomalous copper-cobalt-gold assays were returned from RC drilling.

St George Mining has announced that additional high grade nickel sulphides were intersected at the Stricklands prospect within its Mt Alexander project, near Leonora. The 16.1 metre combined intercept is true width, starting from 33.1m downhole and contains a 1.0m section with an average grade of 4.4% nickel using XRF analyses. The result confirms consistency of mineralisation for a further 50m.

Lithium Australia has once again returned from the hunt for new lithium frontier projects, this time in tiger country in the Pilbara. The Perth based, vertically integrated lithium tyro has bagged up what looks to be a pegmatite rich greenfields lithium project 18km’s east of Marble bar in the Moolyella tin fields. The project cost just $25,000 in cash and a further $25,000 in Lithium Australia stock.

Even though Neometals' massive Barrambie titanium-vanadium-iron resource in W.A is of a globally significant scale, it has flown under the radar given that Neometals is better known for its development of the equally significant Mt Marion lithium mine near Coolgardie. The company surprised the market last week by announcing a 280m tonne Resource at Barrambie grading 9.18% TiO2 and 0.44% V2O5.

Classic Minerals has reported highly anomalous cobalt results from an historical data review of its Rubys Reward prospect at the Fraser Range project near Kambalda. The assays of up to 0.14% cobalt define a continuous 300m trend that will be evaluated for its economic potential in coming months. The company will also re-evaluate the broader project area for additional cobalt mineralisation.

Northern Minerals has announced promising rare earth sample results from exploration conducted at its Browns Range project which is currently under construction. Sampling returned results of up to 6.4% total rare earth oxides and the discovery of a new prospect. The company is expecting first production of heavy rare earth carbonate at the mine in July, with ongoing exploration to extend mine life.

ASX-listed resume verification provider CVCheck has posted best-ever revenues for the third fiscal quarter as it advances towards cash flow breakeven. The integrated screening and verification company said quarterly revenues lifted to a record $3.3m, up 21 per cent on the same quarter last year, largely due to an uplift in demand from corporate clients.

ASX-listed security surveillance company Spectur has nailed its first military order for the cutting-edge HD4 camera system after securing authorised supplier status with the Australian Department of Defence. The Department placed a $50,000 purchase order for the Perth-based company flagship security camera system and Spectur is confident of further orders for its innovative thermal camera system.

Bougainville-focused explorer Kalia has received a boost from its initial field exploration on the island, backing the company’s view about the potential for lookalikes of the giant Panguna deposit that shutdown prematurely in 1989. The first batch of field trips in the north of the island have produced multiple anomalous assays of copper and gold, with best results above the grades of the Panguna mine.

PharmAust has hit a major milestone, signing a landmark deal with US pharmaceutical giant Elanco to develop the company’s promising anti-cancer drug “Monepantel”. The deal will see Elanco supply PharmAust with high-grade Monepantel for use in clinical trials in dogs with cancer and in return Pharmaust will grant Elenco an option to negotiate a deal to take Pharmaust's IP to the global market.

Lithium Australia will take less than six months to recommission the manufacturing facility at its new acquired Very Small Particle Company. It expects to be producing world-leading cathode materials by July. The rapid re-start is part of an ambitious strategy to become a vertically integrated lithium business, which will also see battery grade lithium carbonate produced from 2021.

Geopacific Resources has made its second high-grade gold and silver discovery in three months at its 85%-owned Kou Sa project in northern Cambodia and found more evidence that a large epithermal mineral system could be nearby. The latest discovery was made by an exploration program that returned gold assays up to 32.35 g/t and silver assays up to 2,300 g/t.

Hot Chili has discovered a 12m intersection going 3.1% copper without sinking a drill hole. The company has unearthed historic drill data records that show it is on the right track with its impending maiden drill program at the El Fuego project in Chile. The company has identified in-situ ore parcels adjacent to mine workings and discovered a new hanging wall lode.

Perth-based Volt Resources is nearing the finish line for approvals on a number of fronts at its high-purity Bunyu graphite project in Tanzania. Environmental, mining and other approvals are now at an advanced stage and ready to drop according to the company. Stage two of Volt’s project could catapult it into the ranks of the world’s top tier graphite producers when operating at full tilt.

The already impressive economics of Nzuri Copper’s Kalongwe copper-cobalt project in the DRC have soared in an updated feasibility study that boosted the internal rate of return to 99% and cut the capital payback period to just 17 months. The emerging developer also released impressive project economics for a proposed stage 2 development that would take Nzuri up the cobalt value chain.

Greenland Minerals has announced a significant upgrade in its rare earth concentration grade to nearly 25% REO for the massive Kvanefjeld rare earths project in Greenland. Metallurgical test work results open up the option of direct shipping of high value concentrate, whilst lowering the operating and capital costs. The value of the concentrate per kilogram of REO exceeds commercial base metal concentrates.

Reedy Lagoon has announced an update on its drilling program for the Nevada lithium brine project in the western US. The company confirms the presence of highly conductive brines in aquifers at the target zone, with assay results pending. Drilling has intersected large volumes of volcanic rock, the source of lithium for the brines in the area and demonstrates significant wider project potential.

ASX-listed Aspire Mining has received fresh support from its giant Chinese engineering partner for a 550km railway to bring its Ovoot coking coal deposit to market in China and Russia. Under a new MOU promoted by both the Chinese and Mongolian governments, Aspire’s Chinese partner aims to finalise its feasibility study on the planned railway as early as next month.

Classic Minerals has reported that exploration and resource drilling has commenced at its Forrestania gold project, south of Southern Cross. The program aims to upgrade mineral resources for the Lady Lila and Kat Gap prospects and target a new area at Van Uden West. The company also announced it had secured further strategic tenements in the area and is finalising drill approvals for Lady Magdalene

US police have deployed DroneShield’s anti-drone technology to protect the popular NASCAR Cup motor racing series in Texas. DroneShield’s partnership with US police at NASCAR is another signal of the growing desire to use the company’s DroneSentinel, DroneSentry and DroneGun products to keep people safe at complex, top tier global events that could be targeted by aerial drones.

MGC Pharmaceuticals has raised $5 million in an oversubscribed share placement to construct a 4,000 square metre state-of-the-art medical cannabis production and cultivation facility in Malta. MGC will build the fully-licensed medical cannabis facility after the company was awarded the landmark contract paving the way for it to operate a fully vertically-integrated medical marijuana operation in Europe.

King River Copper is forging ahead with its concept study for the Speewah vanadium project in the Kimberley. The company is investigating an innovative hydrometallurgical process to produce premium high grade vanadium pentoxide for direct sale. The study will incorporate relevant mining, beneficiation and processing costs to optimise a future open pit mining scenario for high grade mineralisation at the project

EON NRG has announced an expansion of its exploratory land holdings in the Nevada Basin and Range Province in western America. The district was mined historically for silver, lead and gold a century ago, however high grade cobalt also looks to be present in an area where with the now highly sought after battery mineral was possibly never sought out in the past.

Southern Gold is now riding shotgun with Northern Star Resources after the multi-billion dollar miner took over Westgold’s South Kalgoorlie assets, including the Cannon underground mine. Southern said this week that its 5 year “right to mine” agreement with Westgold had been transferred to Northern Star and was unaffected by the transaction. The company will receive a revenue stream from Cannon this year.