Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global has signed a deal with the US Defence Department that will ensure the Perth company’s nano-satellites are kept safe as they orbit the earth in space. The agreement comes as the company counts down to the launch of its first 3 trial voice, text and data nano-satellites in the second quarter of this year.

Online CV screening and verification company CV Check has bolstered its board with the appointment of experienced public company director George Cameron-Dow as Non-Executive Director. He is also a non-executive director of ASX listed EVE Investments and previously sat on the boards of Bioxyne Ltd, Windward Resources and Xceed Capital.

In a bold move, ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals has announced it will undertake a new clinical trial to detremine how medicinal cannabis could potentially treat young epilepsy sufferers. The Perth-based company believes the study could present a significant commercial opportunity in the medical marijuana space and it may add a third revenue stream for the company. 

Auroch Minerals have played hardball with AIM listed Xtract Resources over an unpaid debt owing to Auroch for the sale of the Manica Gold Project in Mozambique in March last year. Under the terms of the original AUD$12m sale, Xtract were able to defer USD$2.5m until three months after the sale but only managed to pay down about USD$850,000 of the final USD$2.5m 

Blackham Resources have all the funding they need to charge ahead with a doubling of production from 100,000 ounces to 200,000 ounces of gold per annum following a heavily oversubscribed placement that raised $35 million. The money will be used for a massive drill program, the progressing of a feasibility study to double production and to order long lead time items.

ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals has completed the acquisition of Czech-based medical cannabis company Panax Pharma. The deal will boost MGC’s research capabilities by giving the company access to leading growing and research facilities in the Czech Republic.  MGC said it had settled on a binding heads of agreement to acquire up to 100 per cent equity in Panax. 

ASX listed PharmAust’s wholly owned subsidiary Epichem has posted a record monthly revenue result for January. Pharmaust is developing a promising anti-cancer drug known as “Monepantel” at the Perth based Epichem facility that also undertakes contract work for some of the worlds leading pharmaceutical companies 

Australia has a new Lithium producer and WA’s Lithium boom is well and truly underway. Neometal’s giant Mt Marion mine near Coolgardie, this week joined the ranks of Lithium producers as the first shipment of concentrates sailed for delivery to Chinese partner Ganfeng Lithium. Ganfeng will take 100% of the project concentrates for the next three years.

Lithium Australia say they would have one of the world’s largest Lithium development and exploration portfolio’s under one roof if shareholders of fellow ASX listed Lithium player Lepidico accept their audacious takeover bid launched today. It would also bring together two Lithium processing technologies under one roof and end the costly IP legal battle between the parties. 

Mobile banking and payments company Peppermint Innovation will lever off their burgeoning Philippines mobile payments business to create a new international money remittance business in Australia this year. It will make good use of Peppermint's entrenched position within the Philippines banking market to provide money transfers between the two countries. 

Australia could soon have its first heavy rare earths mine after Northern Minerals said they were rapidly approaching a final investment decision at the Browns Range project in northern WA. The Perth-based company took some big strides with the project in the past quarter, including the appointment of Sinosteel MECC as EPC contractor.

If the extraordinary revenue growth of Perth based, ASX listed CV Check is any guide, employers are clearly becoming more and more suspicious of dodgy CV’s being submitted by job seekers. Employers appear to be embracing the concept of stress testing a job candidate's CV after CV Check posted a 50% jump in quarterly revenues for the December quarter.

Blackham Resources looks set to add another revenue stream at Wiluna by striking a deal with ASX-listed GWR Group to mine their neighboring West Wiluna gold deposits on a profit share arrangement. The West Wiluna gold project, just 40kms from Blackham’s newly recommissioned Wiluna gold plant, contains an estimated gold resource of more than 250,000 ounces.

Troy Resources have developed some exciting new exploration targets near their Karouni gold mine in Guyana, South America, including a new prospect measuring 1200m by 150m. The new targets stem from a major review of historical geophysical data that may have generated some breakthrough ideas for targeting gold in the Karouni mine area.

ASX listed PharmAust has received a $400,000 rebate from the Federal Government in recognition of their cutting edge research and development program being undertaken at two of the Perth-based company’s wholly owned subsidiaries.  Pharmaust’s new anti-cancer drug, Monepantel, has been powering though human and K9 trials with considerable success. 

Lithium Australia’s exciting Lake Johnston project is looking good after a geophysical survey identified multiple new targets that could represent Lithium-bearing pegmatites lurking just below surface. Lake Johnston, 420km east of Perth, shot to prominence with the nearby discovery of the sizeable Earl Grey Lithium deposit.

Sipa Resources have kicked off their 2017 exploration programs in both Uganda and the Paterson region in the north of W.A. The company is a little different to many other exploration hopefuls in so much as both of their projects appear to boast huge mineralized systems and if they can find the source of the mineralization they may well have at least one and maybe two tier 1 projects. 

ASX-listed MGC Pharmaceuticals march towards full commercialisation of its cannabis-based dermatological skin care line is a step closer with the company announcing the start of human clinical trials of its products. The company says it plans to commence sales of its unique derma skin care range that will target acne amongst other things from September.

Pilbara Minerals’ Lithium deposit at Pilgangoora has increased in size yet again after more drilling success and the acquisition of the neighbouring Lynas Find deposit. The Pilgangoora project near Port Hedland is now firmly established as one of the world’s largest hard rock Lithium deposits and is on track to become a globally significant producer this year.

ASX listed Sky and Space Global has successfully completed the assembly of its “3 Diamonds” trial nano-satellites, with the Perth-based company now moving to the final phase of preparations ahead of the launch of its miniature satellite prototypes for its narrow band telco network that will service remote and regional areas and industries such as shipping and aviation. 

Blackham Resources dogged determination to more than double their predicted gold production to 200,000 ounces p/a via a sustained exploration program is attracting the attention of the gold bulls with the company’s stock soaring 75% since the start of 2017. This week Blackham announced another resource upgrade from 6m ounces to 6.4mounces in Wiluna. 

Troy Resources has reported some impressively long mineralised drill intersections from recent, near mine drilling at its Karouni Gold mine in South America . The Perth-based company says it has identified favourable geological domains for gold deposits at its Goldstar, Hicks 4, and Smarts NW prospects with intersections up to 29m long. 

Pilbara Minerals have blazed a trail from exploration to Jorc Resource to feasibility study to the letting of an engineering contract this week in a remarkable text book example of how to make money from mining quickly. This week the company announced they have awarded RCR Tomlinson the $138m contract to build their giant Pilgangoora Lithium mine near Port Hedland. 

Lithium Australia’s share price jumped 28% following the release of test results showing that their unique, low cost Lithium processing technology might actually work. The company was able to produce almost pure battery grade Lithium Carbonate in pilot plant tests in NSW and will now turn its attention to doing the same using ore from Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora project. 

The mind bending process of choosing a surfboard to buy for shark conscious surfers is about to get a little easier after iconic surf brand Rusty signed a licensing agreement to include Shark Mitigation System’s proprietary shark deterrent patterns on their Australian and New Zealand surf boards. In a sea of compteing brands Rusty may have gained an edge. 

Lithium Australia announced this week they were adding yet another string to their already diversified bow as the company looks to set up a Lithium recycling business from discarded Lithium-ion batteries. Lithium recycling from batteries is almost non-existent at the moment, presenting a real opportunity for Lithium Australia to carve out a niche. 

Lithium Australia is turning its processing expertise to Lithium clays in Mexico, where it is earning up to 49% of a patch highly prospective ground adjacent to a project that secured a major offtake agreement with Tesla. Metallurgical testing has begun at the company’s Electra project and will run in parallel with a drill program due to get underway next month.

Listed financial technology and ATM machine company Stargroup expects 2017 to be another standout year after amassing a $15m war chest to acquire Indue Ltd’s ATM machine business assets and fund further acquisitions. The company says it is now in a position to explore additional mergers and acquisitions without the need to issue further capital. 

ASX listed medical device company Analytica has released positive findings from new post usage research on the effectiveness of its device for women suffering from urinary incontinence due to pelvic floor muscle disorders.  The research indicates that 70% of sufferers reported an improvement in their condition.

ASX listed Sky and Space Global has added to its existing customer base after entering into a new commercial contract to sell a portion of its nano-satellite bandwidth to African app developer BeepTool. The company says the deal further signals its potential to generate early stage revenue from their first 3 trial nano-satellites, scheduled for launch in 2017.

Northern Minerals have taken another step towards building Australia’s first heavy rare earths mine after they banked another $5.5m in equity funding from China’s Huatai Mining. The latest payment reaffirms the Chinese company’s commitment to Northern Minerals’ proposed Browns Range heavy rare earths pilot plant near Halls Creek in W.A. 

Auroch Minerals have secured even more ground at their exciting Karibib Lithium project in Namibia under an option and joint venture agreement. The deal follows Auroch’s entry to Namibia in November which triggered a surge in the company’s share price and attracted attention from a serious Lithium investment fund.