Public Company News

Ora Banda Mining says its central Davyhurst gold processing hub and surrounding satellite mines in WA’s Eastern Goldfields have continued to make performance improvements across the board during the operation’s current ramp-up phase. The company eked out gold production of just over 2,450 ounces in the past couple of weeks and estimates total gold output of about 9,000 ounces across July and August.

ASX listed Emu NL has ramped up drilling at its lode-gold style Gnows Nest project in WA with a 6,500m reverse circulation program that has already intersected quartz veining at depths between 120m and 190m downhole. Drill testing is ongoing at the historic Gnows Nest mine, the Monte Cristo prospect and at a new target known as Watertank Hill, within a significant structural zone between Gnows Nest and Monte Cristo.

Junior exploration company, Torian Resources has delivered several significant gold drill hits at its Stirling Well deposit some 40km north-west of Leonora in WA including 1m at an impressive 16.81 g/t gold. The company says the recently announced results have increased the mineralised footprint beyond the existing resource which already consists of 253,500 tonnes going 2.01 g/t gold for more than 16,000 ounces of the precious yellow metal.

ASX-listed aspiring gold developer Bardoc Gold has revised its cash-flow optimisation strategy and brought forward development of its cornerstone Aphrodite deposit which will increase early profits and free cash flows from its proposed Bardoc gold mine in WA. The revised plan will increase the forecast gold production to 150,000 ounces of gold per year by year three of the initial five-year plan.

Vietnam nickel hopeful Blackstone Minerals has produced a series of encouraging results from a maiden drilling program targeting the Ban Khoa disseminated nickel sulphide prospect at its Ta Khoa project about 160km west of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. The pick of the initial assays was 147m averaging grades of 0.31 per cent nickel, 0.04 per cent copper, 0.01 per cent cobalt and 0.14 grams per tonne PGEs from 62m depth.

ASX-listed Element 25’s second shipload of about 27,000 tonnes of manganese concentrate produced at its Butcherbird operation in WA’s southern Pilbara region has recently departed Port Hedland, only a handful of weeks after the inaugural export shipment of about 27,000 tonnes set sail. The Perth-based company says the ore aboard a Handymax-size vessel will be delivered to its offtake partner OM Materials’ smelter in China.

Comet Resources has confirmed recent re-assaying of core from an historic drilling program at their Santa Teresa project in Mexico has proven intersections of high-grade gold, including ‘bonanza’ grade hits of up to 132g/t gold. Comet has also completed the analysis of samples from a surface sampling program and phase 1 metallurgical test work.

ASX-listed explorer, Oar Resources claims to have set a new record for the highest grade halloysite recorded in Australia at its Gibraltar project on the Eyre Peninsula in SA. A series of “exceptionally” high-grade halloysite strikes above 30 per cent confirm the exciting halloysite-kaolin discovery with one sample printing at a dazzling 53 per cent.

A second batch of assay results from a further eight reverse circulation holes through Superior Resources’ Steam Engine prospect has got pulses racing at the company, with impressive gold grades including 7 metres at 3.7 g/t gold which contained 4m at 5.0 g/t. The results are from the company’s 13,000-metre drilling campaign at its Greenvale project, approximately 210km west of Townsville, Queensland.

Auger geochemical sampling by ASX-listed explorer, Todd River Resources has outlined three zones with elevated levels of nickel-copper-platinum group element mineralisation at its 100 per cent owned Berkshire Valley project in Western Australia, 100km north of Chalice Mining’s spectacular Julimar discovery. The company says the zones cover some three kilometres of strike and are associated with a strong, complex magnetic feature interpreted to stem from mafic and ultramafic intrusions.

Conico has discovered a new massive sulphide prospect at its Ryberg project on the east coast of Greenland. The company has wasted no time in getting the drill rods spinning and has commenced ploughing the first hole into the newly-named Cascata prospect whilst sulphide hits at its existing Sortekap and Miki prospects continue to stack up. Molybenite has also been added to the cocktail of minerals present.

Valor Resources is on a roll in Canada with the budding explorer identifying new high-grade uranium mineralisation from rock chips at the company’s Hook Lake project in Canada’s famed Athabasca uranium basin. Additional silver, lead and high-grade rare-earths mineralisation with key rare earth elements neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium have added some unexpected value to the project.