Public Company News

Regulatory approval for its Tarcoola gold project has Barton Gold fast-tracking towards its upcoming drilling programs in South Australia’s Gawler Craton. The company will be testing targets generated in recently completed gravity surveys, including a large-scale anomaly that sits beneath the existing open pit that, in 2018 yielded a 1m hit grading an astonishing 607.75 g/t gold from 17m within a larger 11m going 73.31 g/t from a shallow 11m.

Minerals explorer Panther Metals has hit a new high from drilling at its Coglia project in the Laverton region of WA with initial assays delivering the best nickel and cobalt grades to date at the venture. The headline results were a 1m intercept going 3.77 per cent nickel from 74m in one hole and another 1m section at 3160 parts per million cobalt from 49m in another.

Indonesia-focused gold explorer, Sihayo Gold has produced some eye-catching drilling results including a standout strike that returned 2.1m going 74 g/t gold and 119 g/t silver from 112.8m downhole in North Sumatra. The results come from a southern target outside the company’s existing mineral resource and Sihayo aims to incorporate the high-grade mineralisation into its Starter project.

88 Energy has struck oil after successfully reaching total depth in the Merlin-2 appraisal well in Alaska and is now waiting on wireline logging results to confirm whether oil will actually flow to surface from the target Nanushuk Formations. The company said it would take between seven and ten days to complete logging the 100 per cent owned well.

Horizon Minerals has updated its open pit ore reserve figures at the company’s Lilyvale vanadium deposit in Queensland to a solid 560 million tonnes grading 0.48 per cent vanadium at a 0.3 per cent cut-off. A bankable feasibility study has also progressed through offtake and alliance discussions with battery and electrolyte manufacturers, onshore refining assessments and project approvals for advancement to major project status.

Perth-based oil and gas outfit Buru Energy says an initial review of its Rafael 1 flow testing program has confirmed positive results scored in the field. The company says an ongoing data review suggests the area could hold significant gas accumulation housed in conventional reservoirs with “very valuable light oil and low CO2 content”. The company’s share price rose more than 36 per cent on the back of the news in intraday trading.

Perth-based explorer Kula Gold is closing in on the finish line of a diamond drilling campaign at its Boomerang kaolin prospect, part of the larger Marvel Loch – Airfield project near Southern Cross in Western Australia. According to the company, the campaign marks its final stage of fieldwork for resource studies and says its metallurgical test work is nearing a conclusion.

Reproductive biotechnology company Memphasys looks to be hitting the mark in the high-value world of horse breeding after its Samson fertility diagnostic device achieved accuracy rates of more than 80 per cent when predicting pregnancies in thoroughbred and standardbred horses, all within a turnaround time of an hour. The company has been developing and field testing the device for the past 18 months.

Battery metal explorer Conico and its joint venture partner ASX-listed Greenstone Resources are relishing today’s high prices for cobalt and nickel that are turbocharging the economics of the 50-50 Mt Thirsty project in Western Australia. The project aims to produce a mixed sulphide product to be consumed by the burgeoning lithium-ion battery industry.

Gold explorer Barton Gold and ASX-listed SensOre have inked a term sheet to form a strategic research and development partnership focused on the Gawler Craton. The deal will see SensOre serve up targets to the explorer using its AI technology to then be validated by the drill. The mineral targeting company stands to benefit in the form of royalties for any gold or copper produced.

Godolphin Resources has entered into a binding term sheet with ASX-listed Orange Minerals to offload its Ophir and Wiseman’s Creek projects in New South Wales for a total consideration of $550,000. The projects are prospective for gold and base metals and according to the company, the sale will provide a cash injection that will be funnelled to its nearby Narraburra rare earths project.

Buoyed by initial drilling results, Surefire Resources has booked a rig for April to drill out anomalies 400m northwest of its Yidby gold project in WA that returned 16 metres of gold at 1.39 grams per tonne from 16m. The company said the figures suggest a new discovery area hosting a northwest trending structure with wide downhole gold results.