Public Company News

A protein derived from scorpion toxin being used to spearhead Chimeric Therapeutics’ assault on brain cancer cells has delivered encouraging early results from a study being conducted at the world-famous City of Hope Hospital in Los Angeles. Patients in the study responded well to the simultaneous introduction of the cell therapy by injecting it into both the tumours and the brain.

WA’s new quarantine laws have offered Buru Energy a project boost. The reduced 7-day isolation period now means the well test team currently stranded in Perth quarantine facilities can mobilise to the Rafael 1 well site to carry out the all-important flow tests of the ‘wet’ gas discovery in WA’s Canning Basin.

ASX-listed junior explorer Aruma Resources has launched a 3,000 metre RC drilling campaign targeting a previously identified pegmatite swarm at its Mt Deans lithium project approximately 170 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie. Pegmatite occurrences have been mapped over a 1km strike length and historically yielded high-grade surface rock chips grading up to 2.1 per cent lithium and 555.9 parts per million tantalum.

Venus Metals has discovered multiple outcropping lithium rich pegmatites at its Henderson project 50km northwest of Menzies in WA. Rock samples from the outcrops returned lithium results up to an extraordinary 3.5 per cent lithium oxide with enriched tantalum and niobium. Henderson sits 15km south of the spodumene-rich lithium pegmatites discovered by Red Dirt Metals in the emerging Mt Ida/Ularring greenstone belt lithium province.

Aruma Resources has snagged a high-grade gold hit amongst several other wide, shallow, lower grade gold intercepts during first pass greenfields drilling at its Salmon Gums gold project approximately 200km south of Kalgoorlie in WA. High grade hits included a 1 metre section grading 13.35 grams per tonne gold from 108m within a broader 4m interval going 4.26g/t gold from 105m downhole.

White Cliff Minerals has completed a maiden 74 hole 4,440m RC drilling campaign at Reedy South in WA. Drilling targeted large soil gold geochemical anomalies at the contact zone between mafic rocks and banded iron formations at the Cracker Jack and McCaskill Hill prospects. The anomalous zone is thought to be associated with the prospective Burnakura shear zone. Samples have been sent for analysis.

Oil and gas producer Buru Energy is one step closer to another commercial gas field at its Rafael-1 discovery in the Canning Basin after the testing crew crossed WA’s borders in advance of kicking off the highly anticipated well test. The test crew started 14 days quarantine in Perth on Saturday before heading to site for the 10-day testing program.

Meeka Gold has turned out an impressive 20m wide gold drill intercept going a solid 4.66 grams per tonne gold from just 12m downhole from the first RC drillhole completed in early January at its greenfields Circle Valley project in WA. The gold hit formed part of a wider 36m mineralised parcel that gave up 2.69g/t gold from 12m.

DiscovEx Resources and JV partner Carnaby Resources have confirmed a major copper-gold discovery at the Nil Desperandum prospect, which forms part of the larger Greater Duchess project in Mt Isa, Queensland. Carnaby’s shares soared more than 40 per cent higher during intraday trading, with DiscovEx stock following suit, up more than 30 per cent on news of the discovery.

Mineral explorer Aldoro Resources has intersected multiple pegmatite intervals prospective for lithium mineralisation in all 15 holes of a follow-up, phase two RC drill program at its Niobe project in WA. The company says the drilling validates and extends both the phase 1 drilling and the historic drilling results. The campaign forms part of a larger 64-hole investigation of the project’s landholdings.

Nickel and gold explorer Panther Metals has ticked over the halfway mark in its maiden 6,000 metre drill campaign targeting nickel-cobalt mineralisation at the company’s flagship Coglia project just 70 kilometres east of Glencore’s Murrin Murrin processing plant within the Laverton region of WA. The first assays have been submitted, testing the prospectivity of the laterite hosted nickel-cobalt mineralisation.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia is closing in on full ownership of its 90 per cent owned subsidiary, Envirostream Australia, after agreeing to terms for the acquisition of the final 10 per cent of the battery recycling company. The company says with the Battery Stewardship Scheme now in full swing and the stockpile of used batteries ever increasing, the move is a “strategic imperative”.