Public Company News

Mining heavyweight, Mineral Resources, is now lurking purposefully at 19.9% on the Norwest Energy share register after the JV partners upped their theoretical chances of hitting paydirt at the Perth Basin, Lockyer Deep-1 onshore gas prospect in the Perth Basin from 29% to 38%. Mineral Resources, which already has an 80% interest in Lockyer Deep-1, will need to launch a takeover bid to secure any more significant lines of Norwest stock.

AMA Group remains on track to produce some serious cash flows during the next couple of years on the back of its strategic acquisition strategy which includes its recent $440 million purchase of the Capital S.M.A.R.T panel repair business and ACM Parts. The company expects its three recent acquisitions, Smash Care, Diplocks and All Transport (trucks) to bolster its EBITDA line by $2.5m.

Image Resources has added another dimension to its zircon-rich Boonanarring mineral sands mine in WA after it significantly boosted the heavy minerals grade at the project, capping off an uber-successful year for the Perth miner. Recent work has seen the grade jump from 7.2% to 8.9% and the company also increased both the project’s zircon content from 22.7% to 27.5% and its in-situ zircon grade from 1.6% to 2.4%.

Canning Basin focussed hydrocarbon producer and explorer, Buru Energy, has a number of balls in the air for next year as it seeks to develop its range of gas and liquid hydrocarbon plays in the Canning Basin. Buru is sitting on 5.5 million acres of development and exploration permits and it is already turning out 1,400 barrels of oil per day at its flagship Ungani oilfield near Broome.

Horizon Minerals and mega gold miner, Northern Star Resources, have put the final ink on an agreement for a straight swap of mining and exploration tenements, which will strengthen Horizon’s gold project holdings near Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in the WA Goldfields region. Horizon will secure three gold projects near Coolgardie and four projects near Kalgoorlie, including Golden Ridge which has produced over 253,000 ounces of gold.

Solar window glass innovator, ClearVue Technologies, has broadened its presence in China after securing an original equipment manufacturing agreement with China’s Jiangsu YY Windows and Curtain Wall System Company. Under the terms of the agreement, YY Windows will be able to manufacture and sell ClearVue’s solar-powered insulated glass units either under its own name or through licensed distributors.

Novo Resources is rapidly getting the full picture of its nuggety conglomerate Pilbara gold deposit after tabling some positive results that will assist the TSX-listed company to squeeze every last skerrick of gold from the ground. The company has identified new areas of gold-bearing terraces at the South Egina and Paradise targets and it is rapidly gaining an understanding of the nuggety gold distribution in the conglomerate-hosted ores.

Big River Gold is on the verge of establishing a highly profitable, decade-long gold mining operation in north eastern Brazil that looks set to pay for itself within just two and a half years. A definitive feasibility study for the Borborema project shows the Perth company sitting on a stand-alone gold mine that will yield at least 729,000 gold ounces over an initial 10.2-year mine life.

ASX listed medical cannabis player, MGC Pharmaceuticals, will receive the first bulk shipment of its “CogniCann” product that will see the start of its phase IIb clinical trials to treat dementia and Alzheimer’s patients kick off. CogniCann is a GMP certified, pharmaceutical grade, medicinal cannabis product specifically developed for the treatment of dementia symptoms to improve specific cognitive functions.

Classic Minerals has just given one of its deposit resources at the Forrestania gold project a boost of nearly 40%, courtesy of a systematic drilling program that consistently hit the sweet spots. The updated resource for Lady Magdalene now stands at 5.92 million tonnes grading 1.32 grams per tonne gold for 251,350 ounces – taking the project’s total resource up to 270,100 ounces of gold.

Hot Chili is on fire at its Cortadera project in Chile, finishing off the year in style with a suite of impressive copper and gold hits for the second time in as many weeks. The Cupero 2 prospect has again delivered, with an 80m drill hit going 0.8% copper, 0.3g/t gold and 3.8g/t silver, right from surface. This includes 26m @ 1.7% copper and 0.7g/t gold from 54 metres depth.

Lindian’s Gaoual bauxite project in Guinea will soon be peppered with drill holes courtesy of an auger drill program that will target the Bouba and Mamaya prospects that are thought to be the more lucrative, conglomerate hosted deposits. Surface samples from Gaoual recently returned an impressive 53.57% alumina and a two-pronged drilling program is now being planned to assess the overall grade, thickness and scale of the deposit.