Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Everest Metals believes it is hot on the trail of another DeGrussa-style deposit as it launches a new campaign of three deep diamond holes for 1000m of drilling at its Revere project in Western Australia’s Murchison region. The program will follow up highly-encouraging geological indications and geophysical targets from its recent phase-one deep diamond drilling work at the volcanic-hosted massive sulphide play.

Strickland Metals has officially kicked off a new 40,000m air-core (AC) drill campaign, with a primary focus on its Horse Well gold project about 85km north-east of the Western Australian town of Wiluna. The aim of the program is to define new shear zones and extend known shear zones further north where regional magnetic surveys suggest the structures may extend for more than 20km.

Octava Minerals’ recent geochemical soil-sampling program has identified extensive nickel, copper and cobalt anomalism at the company’s Yallalong project, about 220km north-east of the Western Australian regional city of Geraldton. Management believes the early signs show it may be a precursor to unearthing another significant nickel-copper-PGE discovery in the virgin and mostly unexplored West Yilgarn mineral province.

ABx Group has pocketed a cool $1.25 million in research-and-development tax rebates after receiving more than $503,000 from the Australian Tax Office for rare earths activities in Tasmania throughout last year. Earlier this month, the company’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary Alcore took home a similar tax offset of $522,715 for work undertaken last year on its world-first process to recover hydrogen fluoride.

Xanadu Mines is on track to produce a prefeasibility study resource update for its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia before the end of the year after completing phase-one infill drilling at the site. Management says the infill program has defined and expanded the volume of higher-grade mineralisation within its Stockwork pit, indicating both grade uplift and resource expansion potential.

Hard on the heels of a recently-completed prefeasibility study, Image Resources has reported positive results from beneficiation testwork involving the conversion of ilmenite from its Bidaminna mineral sands project to synthetic rutile. The company believes it could offer an opportunity to enhance the processing, economic, marketing and ore utilisation considerations of its project in Western Australia’s North Perth Basin.

Reach Resources’ imminent maiden drill campaign at its Bonzer pegmatite field in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region now has new intrigue attached after the company unveiled soil samples going as high as 759ppm lithium oxide. Assays came in at an average of 128ppm lithium oxide, suggesting a strong, coherent lithium anomaly extending more than 1.5km along strike and 700m in width and remaining open.

DiscovEx Resources has continued to build the prospectivity of its Sylvania project near the Western Australian town of Newman after its maiden soil-sampling program returned anomalies of up to 78ppb gold and 1315ppm lead, close to the mineralised Prairie Downs fault zone. The company says it is the first time the zone has been investigated for gold.

Brightstar Resources has struck more gold at its Menzies project in WA’s glittering goldfields, where 18 of 19 holes hit grades of more than 2g/t at its Aspacia prospect and all holes within its “Link Zone” found pay. The company says gold mineralisation is now confirmed in more than 500m of strike at Aspacia, while the Link Zone area has potential for open-pit mining.

White Cliff Minerals’ incoming executive chairman and mining veteran Roderick McIllree has vowed to mark his new role by immediately focusing on the company’s exploration and business development programs. Technical director Ed Mead will transition to the role of executive director of exploration and business development and the pair will work together to build a global development business of critical metals in low-risk jurisdictions.

Galan Lithium’s Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina is now full steam ahead after securing all permitting required to clear the way for construction. Phase-one production of lithium chloride, at what is Argentina’s highest-grade, lowest-impurity lithium brine deposit, will deliver 5400 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent in a 40-year period starting in the first half of 2025.

St George Mining has picked up seven new hard-rock lithium projects in Western Australia through its wholly-owned subsidiary Lithium Star, including five operations in the renowned southern Yilgarn Craton area. The company has secured a total of 14 licenses covering a significant 653 square kilometres, with exploration programs already planned this year across each of its projects.

Empire Energy Group has revealed a new deal with infrastructure specialists APA Group to progress gas transport solutions for its Carpentaria gas project in the Northern Territory. The company says it is now planning two stages of development for the project, which has the potential to service the Top End and east coast of Australia with more than 500 terajoules of power per day.

Everest Metals has intercepted multiple lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites in all 12 holes of the stage-two reverse-circulation (RC) drilling program at its Mt Edon LCT project. The project sits along the Paynes Find greenstone belt in Western Australia’s South Murchison region, which hosts an extensive pegmatite field. Assays from the drilling program are expected next month.

Auric Mining has notched a major milestone with all of the gold from the first 36,000-tonne parcel of ore from its Jeffreys Find project near Norseman delivered to the Perth Mint for its final refining process. A total of seven doré bars have been transported to the Perth facility, where the semi-pure alloy will be refined into its purest form of the precious yellow metal.

American West Metals’ Storm project in Canada is raging on with two new copper zones unveiled in its third diamond drillhole this year, just 1.7km south of the major discovery that took its share price to a record high earlier this month. Management says new results feature some of the best intercepts seen at the project, with more than 76m of near-surface breccia copper sulphides.

A new deal locked away with mining heavyweight Mineral Resources has sent Lithium Australia’s share price flying this morning, MinRes has agreed to help progress Lithium Australia’s lithium extraction technology, “LieNA” by solely funding the development and operation of a pilot plant up to the value of $4.5 million, in addition to providing the raw materials.

Reproductive technology specialist Memphasys has inked an exclusive five-year distribution deal with Vitrolife Japan KK – a subsidiary of the world-renowned Vitrolife Group – to sell its patented Felix system in Japan. Vitrolife is a world-leading global provider of medical devices, consumables and genetic testing services dedicated to the human IVF and reproductive health market, with a presence in more than 125 countries.

Empire Energy is predicting an increase in gas flow from its Carpentaria-3H well following a five-month post-fracture stimulation shut-in and soak at its permit within the Top End’s giant Beetaloo Basin. The company’s planned pause was designed to allow its reservoir shales to release more gas. The same technique proved successful in a sister well that targeted the same formation within the EP187 permit.

Strickland Metals has moved quickly to make use of the $61 million it pocketed from selling its Millrose gold project, with the company set to launch an exploration blitz at its Yandal and Earaheedy operations. Management says ongoing work in the Earaheedy Basin has identified a new lookalike prospect to its Iroquois project that has been dubbed Rabbit Well.

ChemX Materials has secured a funding package worth up to $6 million from US-based investment firm Mercer Street Global Opportunity Fund. Management says the fresh funding will go towards the company’s high-purity manganese play on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and its high-purity alumina project in Perth. ChemX has also promoted Peter Lee to the role of chief executive officer.

Budding gold producer Auric Mining has delivered the first five gold doré bars from its Jeffreys Find gold project near Norseman in WA to the Perth Mint for further refining. The company has also packaged a 36,000-tonne ore parcel for delivery to the Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie for toll treatment, which is expected to be completed in the coming week.

Buru Energy says commercialisation of its Rafael gas-condensate discovery in Western Australia’s Canning Basin will service the Kimberley’s power needs at reduced capital expenditure through phased development. It says the development is viable for all contingent resource volumes as it moves ahead with de-risking subsurface uncertainties and firming up volumetric estimates, with an imminent 3D seismic survey to be followed by appraisal well drilling next year.

ABx Group’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary Alcore has captured a research-and-development tax offset of $522,715 from the Australian Tax Office for work undertaken last year on its world-first process to recover hydrogen fluoride. Management says it also expects to receive an additional tax offset for the R&D activities it undertook at its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earths project in Tasmania.

Venture Minerals has received a handy boost to its coffers with $450,000 in research-and-development support from the ATO for the 2022 financial year. The cash bonus will help the company recoup the significant expenditure it has committed to metallurgical testwork and studies at its flagship Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project in Tasmania and will enable ongoing exploration on other important projects.

Ora Banda Mining has unveiled a swag of new drilling results, including an 8.1m hit at 13.4 grams per tonne gold from 515m, expanding its Riverina project beyond its current resource boundaries to the south and at depth. Management says separate exploration at the company’s Siberia project is also targeting below the current pit floors of the Missouri and Sand King open-pit mines.

Lindian Resources has delivered the highly-anticipated maiden mineral resource estimate for its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, coming in at 261 million tonnes at a cracking grade of 2.19 per cent TREO. Including 5.7 million tonnes of contained rare earths of excellent grade, it positions the project among the world’s biggest deposits and paves the way for offtake agreements and mine development.

TSX-listed Novo Resources is aiming to join the ranks of ASX mineral explorers after lodging a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission amid plans for an initial public offering. It has secured the support of giant neighbour De Grey Mining as a cornerstone investor and potential joint venture partner in a deal worth up to $35 million at its Becher project.

Galan Lithium says its new Catalina tenement in Argentina’s “Lithium Triangle” could add between 500,000 and 1.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at between 953 and 988 milligrams per litre lithium to its Hombre Muerto West resource. Management says a well-drilled 500m to the south of Catalina hit lithium grades in the target range and believes it may extend into its exclusively-owned ground.

An independent technical review of Gold Mountain’s Wabag project in Papua New Guinea has highlighted its potential for more copper exploration and recommended extra work across several prospective zones. Management says the comprehensive report’s author, Dr Steve Garwin, has already identified a series of targets using the company’s database for its Wabag tenements.

American West Metals’ stock touched an all-time high of 31 cents during today’s intraday trading, up from last night’s close of 20c after making a fresh copper discovery at its Storm project in Canada – including 45.5m of visual sulphides in one hole. It says the discovery exhibits similarities to many of the world’s major sediment-hosted copper systems.

Octava Minerals has launched a new soil-sampling program to follow up three priority targets defined by a recent hyperspectral survey within its Talga project near Marble Bar in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The campaign has a particular focus on lithium, although the gold and base metals potential in the wider tenement area is also of interest to the company.