Public Company News

Heavy rare earths producer, Northern Minerals, has started exploration drilling at its Browns Range project in the Kimberley region of WA to follow up recent successes at the emerging Dazzler prospect. The company will carry out 3,000m of reverse circulation drilling at the Dazzler and Iceman prospects and a further 1,500m at the Banshee South, Cyclops, Longshot and Rogue prospects.

Bellevue Gold continues to churn out the high-grade gold hits beneath its historical namesake mine near Leinster, WA, with diamond drilling outside the current resource area returning a peak intersection of 4.4m @ 62.4g/t gold in the new Deacon Lode. The company has also intersected high-grade gold of up to 1.1m @ 75.3g/t gold from 654.6m at the newly discovered Mavis Lode that runs parallel to the Deacon Lode.

ASX-listed graphite developer Volt Resources has lodged a draft prospectus for its USD$40 million Mauritian Note with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and expects approval to be granted within 4 weeks. The Mauritian bond issue follows on from the company’s previously announced Tanzanian Note issue, both of which will provide funding to underpin the company’s planned development of its Bunyu Graphite project in Tanzania.

According to a recent technical report for Reedy Lagoon’s Burracoppin magnetite deposit located near Merredin, WA, the project’s iron ores could be upgraded into a high-grade concentrate, suitable as a feed product for the HIsmelt process that generates high-value “pig” iron. The company is proposing to complete drilling at the Burracoppin project to supplement historical work and then generate a JORC-compliant mineral resource.

PharmAust has finalised contractual arrangements with the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital to commence the Phase II clinical trials into the effectiveness of its Monepantel anti-cancer drug in dogs. The trial will be overseen by U-Vet’s Head of Small Animal Medicine and Oncology, Dr Claire Cannon, who will also oversee recruitment at other nominated sites within Australia.

Hammer Metals has discovered the new Shadow zone of copper-gold mineralisation at the Mt Philp Breccia Complex in Queensland’s Mount Isa mining district with rock chip sampling returning up to 4.64 grams per tonne gold and 27.7% copper. The company plans to carry out further mapping and sampling of the new area, which has been delineated over a 200m strike and is up to 50m wide.

Geopacific Resources has strengthened its Board with the appointment of former Gold Road Resources Managing Director Ian Murray as a non-executive director to assist with the development of its Woodlark gold project in PNG. He played a key role in progressing Gold Road’s Gruyere project from an exploration play through to a mining operation that is scheduled to produce 300,000 ounces of gold per annum in joint venture with Gold Fields.

Strike Energy is preparing to start the key controlled drawdown phase that could increase gas production at its Jaws-1 super-deep coal seam gas well in the Cooper Basin, South Australia. Water flow rates at the well have declined from 450 barrels per day in late June to the current 350 barrels per day while the Jaws and Klebb wells have exhibited strengthening gas flares as production rates slowly build.

Rox Resources and Venus Metals have delivered high-grade drilling intersections from several regional and near-mine prospects at their emerging Youanmi gold project in the Murchison region of WA. The companies generated intercepts of 2m @ 23.67g/t gold from 76m and 4m @ 6.57g/t from 64m at the Commonwealth prospect and also discovered 8m @ 4.17g/t gold from 96m at Youanmi South.

Australian Potash has ticked off another box for its Lake Wells SOP project near Laverton, WA, signing an import-export agreement with the Port of Geraldton in the Mid West region, that underpins the FEED study underway for the project. The company’s recent DFS for Lake Wells was modelled on a road freight solution to the Geraldton port and export of its SOP product from that site.

PharmAust has kicked-off its much-anticipated Phase II clinical trials that will study the effectiveness of the new palatable and high dose tablet formulation of its Monepantel anti-cancer drug in dogs. The trial will determine the efficacy of the drug over a prolonged period of time in dogs with B cell lymphoma before testing progresses to low dose maintenance of progression free survival and efficacy in other cancers.

Buru Energy is a step closer to unlocking its tight gas portfolio in the Canning Basin after the Western Australian state government lifted the moratorium on fracture stimulation over existing petroleum titles. The company previously estimated that its Yulleroo gas field contained 2C contingent resources of about 714 petajoules of gas and 24.9 million barrels of associated liquids within the Laurel tight gas formation.