Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora Lithium project has received the ultimate accolade in the form of a $20m investment by the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The Government finance agency emerged recently as one of several institutional investors in Pilbara’s A$130 million bond issue.

PharmAust has engaged Canadian pharmaceutical specialist BRI to reformulate its promising anti-cancer drug Monepantel in readiness for more clinical trials and commercialisation. Monepantel has already shown positive outcomes treating cancer and PharmAust are now looking to improve the taste profile and palatability of the drug.

The big wait is over for wanna-be telco, Sky and Space Global, after they successfully made contact with their 3 “nano-satellites” that were blasted into space earlier in the week. The company has successfully communicated with their miniature telecommunications satellites on 50 occasions since they were sent into orbit on June 23rd. 

Technology company Weebit Nano has embarked on the next stage of development of its new generation memory storage technology, with the company working to miniaturise its unique “ReRAM” solution.  The Perth company’s potentially game-changing ReRAM memory is faster, cheaper and needs less energy than current storage methods.

Perth-listed Neometals are making the transition from Lithium miner to battery materials technologist. The company have lodged a patent in the US to protect their unique technology that extracts Cobalt and other materials from old laptops, mobiles phones and consumer electronics at prices that would make a miner’s eyes water. 

Sky and Space Global is on the cusp of a major milestone with the launch of its first 3, potentially game-changing nano-satellites confirmed for June 23rd.  The launch represents a giant leap forward for the company that will become a base telecommunications network owner if successul, a claim that many other major telco's cant make. 

Neometals’ Mt Marion Lithium project near Coolgardie is roaring along at above nameplate capacity just months after the maiden shipment. The Perth-based lithium producer also reported in a project update that Chinese offtake partner Ganfeng Lithium was delighted with the quality of battery grade chemicals produced from the mine.

Fresh from last week’s A$132 million bond issue, Pilbara Minerals have raised another A$80 million to finalise funding for the giant Pilgangoora Lithium development near Port Hedland. One of the world’s largest proposed lithium developments right here in W.A now looks unstoppable.

MGC Pharmaceuticals has signed a distribution deal to supply its medicainal marijuana products across Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. The exclusive agreement with leading Slovenian laboratory supplier, Mikro+Polo, builds on positive momentum at MGC after it was given a full European licence to grow and cultivate cannabis this month.

Hammer Metals has received positive early results from a three-hole drilling program at Dronfield near Mt Isa, hitting plenty of markers associated with IOCG mineralisation and up to 5% total sulphides. Hammer are one third of the way through a three hole deep drilling program with results expected soon. 

Legend Mining shareholders have some exciting weeks ahead, with the explorer announcing plans for imminent drill tests of up to five conductors, including the monster N1 target at the Rockford project. Legend is rated by many as the best hope for a follow-up discovery to the massive Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper find in the Fraser Range.

A mix of local and international financial institutions have lined up for a piece of a $132 million bond issue by Pilbara Minerals, which has paved the way for the start of major site works at the giant Pilgangoora Lithium project near Port Hedland. Pilgangoora will be one of the largest Lithium mines in the world when built. 

Hammer Metals’ proposed new Canadian partner, Global Energy Metals Corporation has heaped praise on the Millennium copper-cobalt project in Queensland, stating that it could become “a very significant regional opportunity.” The glowing assessment has encouraged Global Energy to finalise the proposed joint venture at Millennium with Hammer Metals. 

Successful clinical trials have led PharmAust to lock down patents for its promising anti-cancer drug in key markets around the world in rapid succession. Research work has indicated the drug might also be effective in combating non-cancer ailments such as brain disease and diabetes, leading to another non-cancer related patent being secured in Europe this week. 

PharmAust has secured a patent for its promising anti-cancer drug in another major market, this week adding Japan to a list that already includes Australia, China and the US. The new protection is the latest in a series of recent patent awards that are clearly impressing the market, with PharmAust stock up almost 50% in the past month.

New positive assays from Legend Mining’s Rockford project have encouraged the company to drill a deep diamond drill hole within weeks to test its most promising conductor. The company has now identified a +300 metre wide zone of anomalous copper and nickel up-dip from where a strong conductor has been modeled from a depth of about 500 metres.

MGC Pharmaceuticals will breed and register new medicinal cannabis strains in Europe under a research partnership with Solvenia’s leading university. The new agreement with the University of Ljubljana adds to an impressive bank of medicinal Cannabis research activity by MGC and gives the ASX-listed company a potential inside track to the European market.

Northern Minerals’ contract mining team have hit the ground running at the remote Browns Range project with MACA contracting now set to begin digging ore at Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine. The commencement of mining will coincide with a reassessment of the commercial potential of heavy rare earths, driven in part by the take up of electric vehicles around the globe.

A guaranteed $2.25 million equity injection has secured Azonto Petroleum’s rebirth as Calima Energy with a stake in one of the hottest new shale plays in North America. The capital raising was a key part of a series of deals announced last month that will launch the company as a player in Canada’s Montney Formation, a liquids-rich oil and gas basin of staggering proportions.

Neometals have rolled out another breakthrough technology that could make giant lithium brine evaporation ponds a thing of the past. The Mt Marion Lithium mine founder has developed a new titanium-based material that extracts lithium from brines in just 30 minutes, compared to a 12-month wait with evaporation ponds. 

Stargroup’s quest for total market domination in Australia received a shot in the arm this week after the company announced yet another acquisition of a rival ATM machine operator taking their total number of ATM machines around Australia to over 500 units. The acquisition of Fast Cash for $4.2m will take Stargroup’s projected FY 18 EBITDA from $4.7m to $5.7m.

Neometals’ dream of capturing value all along the lithium battery supply chain is one step closer following great test results for an exciting new type of battery material that can potentially replace graphite. Batteries using the new anode material known as Lithium Titanate outperformed commercially available rivals in recent tests conducted by the company. 

Peppermint Innovation have launched a game changing trial of their technology in the Philippines that promises to revolutionize the way millions of Filipinos pay their household bills and transfer money to friends and family. The trial, which received the green light from the country’s central bank, is an innovative solution for the 70% of Filipinos who don’t operate a bank account.

Peppermint Innovation are gaining traction for their bill payment and money transfer APP with millions of Filipino’s who don’t operate a bank account. The Perth company has signed a second major distribution partner who will resell their platform via a 14,000 strong agent network. Peppermint also recently won a Fintech Award for “Excellence in Financial Inclusion.”

Lithium Australia’s innovative "Sileach" Lithium processing technology has played a crucial role in securing a joint venture in Germany that plans to extract lithium from mica for the huge European market. The German partner in the new joint venture locked in the deal after exhaustive due diligence showed Sileach was ideal for extracting lithium from their tin deposits in Europe.

When it comes to saving the lives of beach goers, there are few bigger names around the world than Bondi Rescue’s Bruce “Hoppo” Hopkins. The chief lifeguard at Bondi Beach has teamed up with WA-based Shark Mitigation Systems to promote their innovative shark detecting "Clever Buoy" technology. Hopkins first trialed the technology at Bondi in 2016.

Lithium Australia’s processing expertise has produced exceptional results from metallurgical testing of the Agua Fria Lithium clay prospect in Mexico, extracting up to 99% Lithium without roasting in just four hours. The result is a major boost for the economics of Agua Fria which is adjacent to the world’s largest known Lithium clay deposit.

Blina Minerals have moved quickly at their new Dingo Gold project in the Eastern Goldfields, with detailed geological mapping and a geochemical survey underway just a fortnight after taking control. Dingo has shallow and deeper gold targets that have not been properly drill tested and offers up significant upside on Blina’s bargain acquisition price of just $20,000.

Analytica have appointed a global heavyweight in the pharmaceutical industry to its board of directors as they gear up for the international launch of an innovative medical device that combats urinary incontinence. Dr Peter B. Corr, the former head of R&D at Pfizer, has joined the Analytica board, strengthening ties he already has as a significant shareholder.

An independent clinical trial of MGC Pharma’s cannabis-based dermatological creams has produced spectacular results with the trials showing an 80% improvement in acne prone skin, 73% improvement in psoriatic plaques, 86% improvement of irritated skin and over 70% improvement in the visual appearance of redness, dryness, flaky and oily skin conditions.

Blackham’s latest round of drilling at Wiluna has produced a best-ever result of 15.4 metres at more than 21 g/t gold, located in a new high-grade shoot that is outside the existing open-pit mine plan. The new drill results revealed much more mineralisation around the old West Pit and make a ‘super pit’ stretching up to 2km a real possibility.

PharmAust’s trials of its promising anti-cancer drug in dogs have produced encouraging early results, reducing the size of tumours in three out of four dogs with no other treatment. The early-stage trials have also shown it will be safe to give dogs significantly higher doses, which could lead to some spectacular results in the next stage of trials.