Public Company News

ASX-listed Blue Star Helium continues to build out its strategic land bank in the USA that surrounds the historic Model Dome helium gas field which once produced helium at good rates with awesome yields. Blue Star has increased its net acreage holding to 120,000 acres, recently adding 12,557 net acres, mostly within its highly ranked Galileo prospect, due west of Model Dome.

Calidus Resources has stepped up its exploration program in the Pilbara, completing first pass drilling over the Otways copper prospect near Nullagine in WA. Reconnaissance drilling has confirmed the results of previous work, delineating wide intercepts of near-surface copper mineralisation including an impressive 40m at 0.70 per cent copper, hosting 10m at 1.64 per cent copper, from surface.

Primobius GnbH, a joint venture company owned by ASX-listed urban metals player Neometals and its 50 per cent partner, German industrial giant, SMS Group GmbH, has signed an MoU with European battery producer InoBat j.s.a. The intended JV plans to investigate the business case for sustainable recycling of lithium-ion batteries, InoBat production scrap and other, third-party feedstock in Central/Eastern Europe.

ASX-listed gold and base metals explorer, White Cliff Minerals, has completed an extensive geochemical soil sampling program at its Midas copper-gold project in the coveted Paterson Province of WA. Just over 500 samples were gathered across five of seven priority target areas previously identified by the Perth-based junior, with pending assay results expected to help form the basis of a maiden drilling program at the project.

ASX-listed medical technology company, Proteomics International Laboratories’ coffers have been further boosted by a $1.1 million research and development tax rebate following a recent successful capital raise of $6 million. The Perth-based company, known for its predictive diagnostic tests, now has approximately $8.5 million in cash reserves including the funds from the share placement and the rebate of $1.13 million from the Australian Taxation Office.

Victory Mines has completed the purchase of the Coogee gold project with the company expediting the terms of its farm-in agreement through a share purchase agreement. The company will issue the current holders of the project, Ramelius Resources, $1 million in shares to deliver full ownership to Victory Mines.

A potentially lucrative base metals joint venture project between Classic Minerals and Independence Group in the revered Fraser Range nickel province of WA has been quietly bubbling away at the same time as the ASX-listed junior explorer looks to develop its flagship Kat Gap gold project about 170km south of Southern Cross.

Gawler Craton stalwart and former managing director of neighbour, Marmota Limited, David Williams, has bolstered the Board of Indiana Resources. Williams joins as a non-executive director, just a month after Indiana locked away a deal for around 2,700 square kilometres of fresh gold ground in South Australia from private player, Patron Resources, also led by Williams.

Northern Minerals has launched a major drilling campaign at its Browns Range heavy rare earths project in WA’s East Kimberley region, with 8,000m of the 16,500m RC program planned for the financial year set to be completed before Christmas. It has also recently started building a $5.9 million ore sorter at the front end of the project’s pilot plant that is flagged as a low-cost method of potentially doubling the ore feed grade.

Middle Island Resources’ 50,000m-plus drilling campaign this year has reaped a mind-boggling array of high-grade gold hits from its historic Sandstone gold project in the East Murchison mineral field in WA. The positive results from its drilling blitz aimed at upgrading existing deposits, infilling and extending five new satellite open-pit deposits saw the Sandstone gold resource climb to the latest total of 732,100 ounces.

Novo Resources has completed a battery of test work on the bulk samples from its Karratha gold project, successfully recovering fine nuggety gold from the conglomerate ores found at both the Purdy’s Reward and Comet Well deposits. The recovery of this size fraction, via mechanical sorting, significantly enhances the potential economics of the operation and validates the process flow sheet being designed for the developing operation.

Adriatic Metals has been buoyed by early diamond drill hits from a 10,000m confirmation drilling program at its historic Kizevak silver-lead-zinc deposit, part of the recently acquired Raska project in Serbia. The new asset in the company’s project portfolio, courtesy of an all-scrip acquisition of fellow Balkans precious and base metals play, Tethyan Resource Corp, is located approximately 200km from its advancing flagship Vares silver-lead-zinc project in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.