Public Company News

Lithium Australia is set to become a producer of battery grade lithium chemicals and, in the process, establish its breakthrough SiLeach technology as the way of the future for the downstream lithium industry around the globe. The company has committed to build a large-scale pilot plant producing 2,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate per annum, with a view to ramping up to 10 times that production.

Galena Mining is racing towards a prefeasibility study on a high-grade-underground development of the giant Abra lead-silver deposit after completing a maiden drill program with high-grade hits encountered in every hole. Final assays released today completed a perfect run for Galena and have cleared the way for a maiden estimate of a high-grade resource within weeks.

Aerial drone detection and disabling company DroneShield, has released a new drone-combating product known as DroneGun Tactical. The new product has been launched as a complimentary weapon to DroneShield’s DroneGun MKII, both of which are able to force a drone to land or return to base. DroneGun Tactical has a few new features adding versatility to DroneShield’s security arsenal.

ASX-listed Online screening and verification company CVCheck reported an 11 per cent surge in cash receipts to $2.8 million last quarter on the back of burgeoning demand from corporate clients. Corporate customers now account for almost 60 per cent of total revenue as more and more large companies seek to weed out dodgy job seekers from their interview lists.

After a difficult 2017, Blackham Resources has turned around mining activity at its 100%-owned Wiluna gold project. A strong lift in ounces mined in January continued the positive trend begun late last year and the company expects strong operational cash flows through 2018. Blackham also enters the new year with a strong balance sheet thanks to a fully underwritten capital raising of $36 million that will see it convert resources to reserves.

A revised gas off-take agreement to supply packaging firm Orora has been pushed out to 2020, giving junior explorer Strike Energy the manoeuvrability to fully-focus on its streamlined development strategy in the Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project. The company has welcomed the new deadline for the deal as it prepares to spud its ground breaking Jaws-1 appraisal well, which is potential a game-changer for the oil and gas industry generally.

Calidus Resources has continued last year’s remarkable run with the drill bit with a new series of high-grade gold hits from two prospects within 15kms of its flagship Klondyke deposit in the East Pilbara. The latest results follow a 74% jump in the company’s resource base to more than 700,000 ounces last year and show Calidus is mastering the geology of a significant new gold region.

The final piece of the land jigsaw puzzle has been put in place by Calima Energy as the ASX-listed company completed its core acquisition strategy in the lucrative and liquids-rich sweet spots of the Montney Formation in northeast British Columbia, Canada. The Perth-based explorer is now targeting the next phase culminating in a drilling campaign to take advantage of increasing oil price tailwinds.

New geophysical work by St George Mining at its East Laverton project suggests the Windsor X3 conductor could represent a deeper, larger nickel target than previously modelled which prompted an immediate second drill hole. An electromagnetic survey down the first hole at Windsor X3 suggested a conductor about twice the previous size was lurking further down.

Metallurgical testwork on King River’s giant Speewah vanadium deposit in the Kimberley has shown that it could produce super-high purity titanium dioxide, boosting the economics of the project. The latest leach test on Speewah concentrates produced 99.5% purity titanium dioxide. The high purity levels potentially open up new master allow markets such as the aerospace market for King River.

ASX-listed biotech PharmAust has successfully identified a revamped formulation of its promising anti-cancer drug “Monepantel”. Perth-based PharmAust says that the reformulated Monepantel will improve the drug’s taste and enable the delivery of over 10 times the amount of substance per dose than previously, paving the way for clinical trials ahead of full scale commercialisation.

One of the oil industry’s top analysts has given a very positive report on Strike Energy as it embarks on a drill program with the potential to save the east coast gas market from its supply shortage. Peter Strachan’s new report concludes Strike is worth 66% more than its current share price and that’s before the high-impact Jaws drilling program gets underway in the Cooper Basin.