Public Company News

Perth-based explorer Thunderbird Resources is beefing up its bank balance to the tune of $4.1 million ahead of a 2400m drilling blitz targeting high-grade uranium at its flagship Hidden Bay project in the globally-renowned Athabasca Basin in Canada. Fieldwork programs are already underway, with the company’s drill-testing of multiple targets at the operation expected to kick off in August.

Red Metal has delivered a boost to its Sybella rare earths discovery in Queensland, with metallurgical testwork enhancing the prospects of a low-cost and low-capital heap leach processing operation. Management believes the results could pave the way for a process route that lifts revenue and lowers processing costs in a future mine at the project.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we unravel some of the more curious drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Southern Cross Gold’s 0.5m at 473g/t gold equivalent from 913.6m. We also take a close look at other notable drill hits in the past week from Falcon Metals, Flynn Gold, Northern Minerals and Austral Resources.

Estrella Resources’ hunt for manganese in Timor-Leste is heating up, with recent grab samples from riverbeds going as high as 58.4 per cent manganese at the company’s newly-coined Dasidara prospect. Management says geological reconnaissance across its 503.7 square kilometres of ground has defined mineralisation through 30km of strike length as proposals to kick off trenching and drilling are maturing.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week goes to … DY6 Metals, which hiked more than 505 per cent on the back of impressive historic rare earth assays at its Tundulu project in Malawi. It joins fellow runners Forrestania Resources, Nanoveu and DeSoto Resources.

ASX-listed Aurumin will focus its attention on its flagship Sandstone gold project in Western Australia’s Mid West region after completing the last of its strategic divestments near Southern Cross in a deal with Kula Gold. The company has entered into a binding term sheet for Kula to acquire an initial 51 per cent interest in the Mt Palmer project for $250,000 in cash or shares.

Si6 Metals says it has discovered a 3km-by-800m pegmatite corridor at its Padre Paraiso project in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, with assays returning anomalous lithium from auger drilling and rock chip samples. The project sits 20km from Sigma Lithium’s renowned Grota do Cirilo operation that produces 270,000 tonnes per annum of lithium concentrate.

Liatam Mining has today confirmed it will spend $6 million in a new hunt for lithium at the Quartz Hill joint venture project it shares with Novo Resources in WA’s Pilbara region. Exploration to date has extended the known hard rock lithium mineralisation at the JV’s Lepidolite Fields prospect, with sampling results reading as high as 2.71 per cent lithium oxide and 828ppm caesium oxide.

Scoping study details revealed today on the Carnaby Resources-DiscovEx Resources copper-gold joint venture in Mount Isa shows the operation will deliver $491 million in free cash during the project’s nine-year mine life. The study indicates that commercialisation of the project is viable by 2026 and also confirms that processing by a third party will be the best option.

Strickland Metals’ Palomino prospect has produced more strong results, with a top new hit of 10.6m at 7.5g/t gold from 161.4m including 3m going 21.2g/t at the project within WA’s Yandal gold belt. Reinforcing other recent gold runs, the company’s latest RC drilling also threw out 9m going 2.4g/t gold from 22m and a deeper 21m intercept in the same hole at 1g/t from 76m.

Meeka Metals has outlined its pathway to gold production, with plans to mine 400,000 ounces during an initial nine-year mine life at its Murchison project following the release of a definitive feasibility study. The operation, near Meekatharra in Western Australia, hosts a mineral resource of 1.2 million ounces at 3g/t gold, with an ore reserve of 2.5 million tonnes at 3.8g/t for 305,000 ounces.

Thunderbird Resources has levelled its sole focus on its prospective portfolio of uranium projects in Canada’s world-class Athabasca Basin after turning its back on a pair of lithium projects in Ontario. Following a strategic review of its operations, the company is adamant it will get “more bang for its buck” by using its available financial and human resources across fewer projects.