Public Company News

Location and scale are two areas that Lithium Australia is studying for its planned, large-scale lithium processing pilot plant to reduce capital requirements and optimise the technical and financial benefits. The company said that with changes to the Australian Federal Government’s R&D rebate scheme, it would locate its pilot plant in a jurisdiction that will provide the greatest practical benefits.

Artemis Resources’ drill campaign at Carlow Castle has uncovered the potential for more mineralisation at depth with a notable intersection of 25m @ 3.38g/t gold, 0.24% cobalt and 0.77% copper from 228m including 5m @ 9.62g/t gold, 0.65% cobalt and 0.79% copper. Further extensional and infill drilling is planned to target further strike extensions and define the major controlling structures.

Galena Mining has reported some outstanding results for its Abra lead/silver project PFS, showing an initial 14 year mine life and a pre-tax NPV of A$528m, $134m more than previously thought. Galena says Abra will churn out an impressive A$97m worth of free cash annually after 2022. The company also reported a maiden ore reserve of 10.2 million tonnes grading 8.1% lead and 20g/t silver this week.

Azumah Resources has reported that a review of the cost structure at the company’s Wa gold project in Ghana shows lower capital and operating costs compared to its 2015 feasibility study. The work shows higher plant throughput could be achieved, potentially positioning the project for future development. Recent exploration activity has defined a number of new drilling opportunities at Wa East, which has seen little or no historical work.

ASX-listed vanadium player TNG Limited has taken another step towards development of its vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory, securing a $10 million strategic investment deal with a leading Indian mining conglomerate. TNG sees the deal with Vimson, a family-owned Indian resources company, as another milestone on its move towards making its flagship 100 percent-owned Mount Peake Project a reality.

With the bulk de-watering phase now complete, Strike Energy is carefully managing drawdown at its historic Jaws-1 super-deep coal seam gas well in SA with gas flows expected to start soon. it’s a case of softly softly for Strike who is methodically seeking to prove its theory that coal seam gas can in fact be accessed economically from over 2km down hole.

Anglo Australian Resources has gone back to the future to squeeze more ounces out of a gold prospect near Kalgoorlie that netted it a tidy sum of gold back in 2006 and 2007. The company has kicked off a 70 hole drill campaign to revisit the Mandilla project where it previously identified a near-surface weathered bedrock target with a strike of more than 1.5km.

Southern Gold’s JV partner in South Korea, Bluebird Merchant Ventures, is set to increase its pre-development activities at the historical Gubong gold mine over the next few months, including all necessary approvals and the granting of a “permit to develop” the underground operation. Progress is also reported for the Kochang JV, with Bluebird due to report on the feasibility of re-starting that underground mine in late October.

Venus Metals has executed a farm-in and JV agreement with AIC Resources, for that company to earn an 80% interest in 5 exploration tenements within Venus’ Doolgunna project near the Plutonic gold mine in WA. The deal requires AIC to spend $175,000 over a 2 year period. The tenements are prospective for volcanic-hosted massive sulphide mineralisation similar to the nearby DeGrussa copper mine and shear-hosted gold deposits such as Plutonic.

Tyranna Resources has started its resource development infill drilling program at the Jumbuck gold project, located west of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine, in the highly prospective Western Gawler Craton in SA. The project has existing mineral resources of 8.7 million tonnes @ 1.1g/t gold for 319,000 ounces. The program will target the Campfire Bore prospect to upgrade the JORC status of the deposit’s inferred mineral inventory totalling 109,000 ounces.

Kalia Limited has announced that a detailed geophysical survey is well underway at its Mt Tore JV tenements on Bougainville Island in the PNG. The highly anticipated exploration program across its porphyry copper-gold assets is ramping up with geological reconnaissance and geochemical sampling underway in the Aita area. The company’s active engagement of local communities is bearing fruit now, with a number of areas already approved for on-ground exploration activities.

Versatile ASX listed telco Vonex’s recent trial marketing campaign in south-eastern Queensland to increase brand awareness and gather market intelligence has resulted in a 114% increase in daily average Vonex website and a spike in converted sales. The company’s major marketing push in October will target areas where the NBN is available but not connected yet, or construction is complete and the area is becoming available.