Public Company News

With mapping now completed, new outcropping identified and geophysics kicking off before a diamond drilling campaign next quarter, Everest Metals is getting closer to full ownership of its Mt Edon project in WA. The company says its most recent mapping program, covering over 192.4 hectares, delivered another surprising exploration windfall, with several new lithium-ceasium-tantalium pegmatites and quartz bearing veins identified this time, all of which were not previously known to the company before.

Empire Energy says it has boosted production ambitions by lifting its average 30-day gas flow rate by more than 17 per cent in initial tests held at the NT’s Beetaloo Basin. It says a new rate of 2.81 million standard cubic feet (mmscf) per day at its first horizontal well represents a normalised flow rate of more than 3mmscf a day per 1000m of horizontal section.

Image Resources is fast approaching ‘mission complete’ at its high-grade Boonanarring mineral sands project 80km north of Perth with the company expecting the ore reserves to be depleted by mid-year. The company has had a stellar run at the project, generating a tidy $50m bank balance while eliminating its debt ahead of schedule and paying out a maiden dividend to shareholders in the process. Image now has its eyes firmly trained on its next target, the Atlas mineral sands deposit near WA’s Wheatbelt town of Cervantes.

ASX-listed 88 Energy has quickly escalated its chase for a lucrative 647 million barrels of oil by tapping into the giant Alaska North Slope basin with drills intersecting three primary reservoirs at its Hickory-1 well. Early interpretations allude to a hydrocarbon pay that will be further assessed by wireline logging and a coring program, as drilling continues to target two deeper secondary reservoirs.

St George Mining has seen its biggest volume of share trading in nearly two months after recording a continuous 121m pegmatite hit in a single diamond drill hole at its Mt Alexander project, 200km north of Kalgoorlie. The company has reported 225m of pegmatites intersected in the same hole as part of its investigation into a wider target identified by a large seismic reflector.

Infinity Lithium’s bid to join Europe’s burgeoning green energy revolution has gained further momentum after it was granted another important permit for its ambitious San José project in western Spain. The Extremadura Regional Government has granted Infinity a new exploration permit, which the company regards as a milestone on its lithium journey and one that reinforces stakeholder commitment to San José.

Aruma Resources has set the rods in motion at its flagship Salmon Gums gold project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields as it looks to follow up previous bonanza hits of 5m running at 50.2 grams per tonne gold. The exploration program is designed to probe the extent of gold mineralisation at the company’s Iris and Thistle prospects which sit along a 4km stretch of greenstone belt housing Pantoro’s nearby 3.9 million tonne Scotia deposit averaging 3.6 g/t.

Altech Batteries has launched what it says is game-changing technology in the design of its new sodium chloride battery “GridPack”, which it expects to be up to 40 per cent cheaper to produce than lithium-ion batteries. Designed for the renewable energy storage market, the battery uses sodium ions found in table salt and avoids using scarce and expensive metals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and copper.

A detailed 3D seismic cube has helped Legend Mining identify what it says are compelling targets within its Octagonal nickel-copper prospect, which sits within the same structural corridor as IGO’s Nova-Bollinger deposit in WA’s Fraser Range. The company says data processing results support its exploration model that suggests the intrusive complex continues below previously completed drilling.

Zuleika Gold has its drills on standby after it uncovered encouraging gold anomalies in Menzies. The finds have provided a boost for its hopes of producing the precious yellow metal in the “medium term”. The company says one anomaly is 2km long and coincides with a line of poorly-tested historical workings. It plans to complete an in-field review, with possible in-fill geochemistry, prior to drilling.

Askari Metals is eagerly-awaiting results from a reconnaissance mission targeting rare earths at Barrow Creek after rock chip samples highlighted results of up to 4553 parts per million total rare earth oxides. The project is within 40km of Arafura’s Nolans Bore deposit that hosts a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 56 million tonnes at 2.6 per cent TREO. Askari believes it may host similar geology.

Infinity Mining is turning towards space to find what lurks underground at its Tambourah South project in the East Pilbara, where it is chasing pegmatite-hosted lithium, rubidium and rare earths mineralisation. The company is installing a new, advanced geophysical method to map several hundred metres of subsurface and to create 3D data visualisation to help focus its exploration activities.