Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Infinity Lithium has splashed out a stunning EBITDA of US$16.7 billion (AU$26 billion) for its San José project in Spain in an updated scoping study that outlines a 26-year mine life and annual production of 33,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The company’s new study shows a post-tax net present value of US$2.87 billion (AU$4.47 billion) and an internal rate of return of 21.3 per cent.

Newly ASX-listed Chariot Corporation has embarked on an initial diamond drill program to hunt for hard-rock, pegmatite-hosted lithium oxide at its flagship Black Mountain project in central Wyoming. The company is well positioned as the biggest landholder of lithium exploration assets in the United States and has a wealth of prospective ground spread through Wyoming and the Nevada-Oregon area.

ABx Group has launched the operation of its new pilot batch reactor in a world-first process to produce hydrogen fluoride from bath, a fluoride-rich waste product from aluminium smelting, at its technology centre in NSW. The company and its subsidiary, Alcore, believe the process they have developed could have great potential for Australia, which currently imports all of its aluminium fluoride.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has stretched the boundaries of its Pinjin project, 140km east of Kalgoorlie, after securing a new license from the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. The company has also lodged applications for two further tenements at the operation where it nailed gold hits last month including multiple intersections running between 10m and 15m wide and grading more than 5g/t.

Australian battery materials producer Neometals says its joint venture partner Primobius has produced industry-leading quality in trial production of battery-grade nickel sulphate from recycled lithium-ion batteries. The company believes the development, using Primobius’ patented technology, has immeasurable implications for sustainability through the recycling of expired batteries, which have largely unchanged components that can be recovered and turned into new batteries.

Infinity Mining will ramp up its search for a joint venture partner at its Hillside project, 50km south of Marble Bar in Western Australia, after unveiling new nickel assays with headline hits of 135m at 2189ppm from 64m and 95m at 2197ppm from 254m. Other significant results include 107m at 1727ppm from 235m, 52m at 1761ppm from surface and 16m at 2150ppm from 123m.

White Cliff Minerals has orchestrated a stunning pivot away from its WA lithium and rare earths focus by steering into a high-grade copper hunt at one of the world’s fastest-growing mineral hotspots, Canada. The company has secured a swathe of ground in the Canadian province of Nunavut after an agreement with a private party for 61 mineral claims covering 80,500 hectares at Coppermine River.

ABx Group has revealed plans to launch back into its hunt for rare earths in the Tasmanian bushland with a follow-up drill campaign at its Wind Break prospect before turning back to Deep Leads-Rubble Mound. The Wind Break drilling will be co-funded dollar-for-dollar by Mineral Resources Tasmania up to a maximum of $70,000 in the eighth round of the State’s Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative.

Everest Metals has signed a memorandum of understanding with Edith Cowan University to collaborate on rubidium extraction tests on samples from its Mt Edon lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite project near Paynes Find in Western Australia. The company has been developing a path to unlocking a rubidium-lithium resource since drilling identified high-grade zones of up to 0.51 per cent rubidium oxide and 0.94 per cent lithium oxide.

88 Energy has certified an additional 250 million barrels of oil equivalent in its best estimate of gross contingent reserves within the basin floor fan reservoir at its Phoenix project in Alaska. The maiden resource for the reservoir interval – the deepest hit by the Hickory-1 well in March – provides a project boost ahead of flow testing shallower reservoirs in the well early next year.

Titanium Sands is a significant step closer to securing a mining licence for its $545 million Mannar Island heavy mineral sands project in Sri Lanka after landowners affected by the operation signed land access agreements. The company describes the agreements as a milestone moment that takes it further towards completing its environmental impact obligations at the site.

American West Metals continues to record impressive hits at its Storm project in the Canadian province of Nunavut, with a peak result showing a 1.5m intercept at a whopping 8.3 per cent copper from 54.9m. The hit was found within a 24.4m section grading 1.1 per cent copper from 48.8m and also contained 6.1m going 2.8 per cent copper from 54.9m.

Buxton Resources’ burgeoning union with mining giant IGO has struck a positive new chord after the latter’s first diamond drillhole at their joint venture project in Western Australia’s West Kimberley region confirmed high-grade massive nickel sulphides from 179.06m depth. Headline results include 13.24m at 4.35 per cent nickel from 177.34m, with 5.6m at 7.47 per cent nickel from 179.08m.

GreenTech Metals has launched a 1500m diamond drill campaign at its Osborne joint venture project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, just as a trio of mining heavyweights have sunk their teeth into a notable neighbour. With nearby Azure Minerals attracting significant recent investment from Hancock, MinRes and SQM, GreenTech’s share price jump today may not be such a big surprise.

Strickland Metals’ share price has renewed a wild rise that has seen a 446 per cent jump in just eight months as it flew more than 59 per cent today on intriguing news at its Marwari gold play near the Western Australian town of Wiluna. The company now has all of its diamond and RC drill rigs focussed on exploring the potential of Marwari.

Altech Batteries says a definitive feasibility study shows it will be able to pump out 20 per cent more power than expected at its proposed Cerenergy sodium chloride solid-state grid battery plant in Germany. Through technical design optimisation, alongside lead engineering company Leadec and joint venture partner Fraunhofer, Altech believes it will now be able to produce 120 of its 1MWh “GridPacks” per year.

Perth-based Triangle Energy and joint venture partner Athena Exploration have been offered five Cragganmore gas field blocks estimated to contain some 527 billion cubic feet of gas in the North Sea’s West of Shetlands province. The blocks are next to 16 others in two gas fields offered to petroleum giant Shell and have produced gas from two prior wells drilled in 2012.

Chimeric Therapeutics says it is a step closer to unlocking treatment hope for patients suffering from the world’s deadliest form of brain cancer after dosing its first patient as part of a phase-1B trial. The new trial comes on the back of positive survival results in the previous phase of testing as the company continues to tackle the devastating glioblastoma condition.

Askari Metals’ is poised for follow-up work at its Springdale project in New South Wales after a second reconnaissance rock-sampling program turned up gold grades up to 56.7 grams per tonne, with the top 20 samples averaging 12.34g/t. The company says the program turned up granite-hosted and structurally-controlled gold mineralisation related to local intrusives, faulting and shearing.

A technical review of Octava Minerals’ Talga project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region has revealed fractionation typical of LCT pegmatites and stellar gold grades in soil samples of up to 5.45 grams per tonne. The company says the study, conducted by CSA Global, has uncovered a previously unrecognised target zone for pegmatites of more than 100 square kilometres.

Ora Banda Mining is confident it has identified the potential site for its next underground gold mine after unveiling significant results from two holes sunk at the company’s Sand King prospect near Kalgoorlie. Management says the holes were designed to follow up historical drilling from the 1980s that showed potential for mineralisation at depth, with the known strike of Sand King at more than 800m.

K2fly has grown its annual recurring revenue (ARR) for a 13th straight quarter, revealing a 6 per cent jump up to $7.9 million in the company’s latest financial disclosure … and it says there is still room to expand. Management says ARR was up 22 per cent on last year’s corresponding quarter, while comparative revenue increased by 29 per cent.

Auric Mining has topped its record price for gold sales from its Jeffreys Find mine near Norseman after selling 1264 ounces at $3131 per ounce to the Perth Mint for a gross revenue of nearly $3.9 million. The joint venture operation between Auric and Kalgoorlie-based BML Ventures has now sold 8293 ounces from the gold mine for a gross revenue of close to $25 million.

The US Food and Drug Administration has provided crucial investigational new drug clearance for Australian clinical-stage cell therapy company Chimeric Therapeutics to begin trials using its “CHM 2101" gastrointestinal cancer therapy. The company plans to start testing the drug in multiple medical centres next year for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.

A record breaking 29 per cent increase in battery collection, an agreement with MinRes and the fifth consecutive quarter of gross profits have rounded a solid quarter for Lithium Australia. The company collected a whopping 413 tonnes of batteries last quarter, with higher-margin Lithium-ion batteries representing 44 per cent of collections that it will harvest lucrative battery metals from.

Australian explorer Gold Mountain has picked up lithium in soil samples over a 2.5km long zone at its new Salitre project in Brazil that it says could extend out to 8km in length. The anomalous zone also shows caesium, tantalum and tin and remains open to the north and south. Two nearby anomalies also require more sampling to resolve.

Business goliath Wesfarmers will pump $26m into Ora Banda Mining to buy 65 per cent of the lithium rights at the company’s Davyhurst gold project north of Kalgoorlie. The move follows the discovery of lithium at Davyhurst back in April and will also see Ora Banda pick up a 2 per cent royalty. Ora Banda plans to monetise its royalty up front, courtesy of a partial sale to a third party.

GreenTech Metals has snagged rock chips going up to 1.82 per cent lithium oxide over a combined 11.5km of strike at its North Kobe and South Pegmatite zones in the West Pilbara. The results demonstrate the elevated lithium grades and potential scale opportunity offered by LCT pegmatites in Greentech’s 100 per cent owned Ruth Well and adjoining Osborne tenements, the latter of which is just 25km west along strike from the Azure Minerals massive Andover lithium discovery.

88 Energy hopes to bolster its Phoenix project in Alaska this month by certifying a maiden contingent resource for the lower basin floor fan reservoir intersected by the Hickory-1well in March this year. The pay zone was drilled and flow tested successfully by neighbouring company Patheon Resources on its ground to the north, resulting in a significant 962.5 million barrels of total marketable liquid as a best estimate contingent resource for the reservoir.

DiscovEx says that its joint venture partner Carnaby Resources has completed its maiden interim mineral resource for its Greater Duchess iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) project of 21.8 million tonnes just 70km southeast of Mt. Isa in Queensland. The Greater Duchess Project includes the “Southern Hub” tenements in the Mt. Isa Region of Queensland where DiscovEx holds a 17.5 per cent free-carried interest in 12 exploration permits for minerals.

Lindian Resources has officially wrapped up its 4000m mine development drilling at its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi as it aims to define its resource at the operation into the indicated category. Assay results are expected to arrive in early December with a 400m geotechnical drill campaign to assess rock mechanics and ground stability set to start and finish next month.

Gold explorer Strickland Metals says it will begin 440m of diamond drilling this weekend homing in on its new Marwari gold target defined last month in maiden aircore drilling at the company’s Horse Well prospect in WA’s Yandal belt. Previous drilling at the prospect yielded a discovery hole which included an 8m interval running at an eye-catching 17.7grams per tonne gold which could indicate a new high-grade gold trend at Horse Well.