Public Company News

American West Metals’ Storm project in Canada is raging on with two new copper zones unveiled in its third diamond drillhole this year, just 1.7km south of the major discovery that took its share price to a record high earlier this month. Management says new results feature some of the best intercepts seen at the project, with more than 76m of near-surface breccia copper sulphides.

A new deal locked away with mining heavyweight Mineral Resources has sent Lithium Australia’s share price flying this morning, MinRes has agreed to help progress Lithium Australia’s lithium extraction technology, “LieNA” by solely funding the development and operation of a pilot plant up to the value of $4.5 million, in addition to providing the raw materials.

Reproductive technology specialist Memphasys has inked an exclusive five-year distribution deal with Vitrolife Japan KK – a subsidiary of the world-renowned Vitrolife Group – to sell its patented Felix system in Japan. Vitrolife is a world-leading global provider of medical devices, consumables and genetic testing services dedicated to the human IVF and reproductive health market, with a presence in more than 125 countries.

Empire Energy is predicting an increase in gas flow from its Carpentaria-3H well following a five-month post-fracture stimulation shut-in and soak at its permit within the Top End’s giant Beetaloo Basin. The company’s planned pause was designed to allow its reservoir shales to release more gas. The same technique proved successful in a sister well that targeted the same formation within the EP187 permit.

Strickland Metals has moved quickly to make use of the $61 million it pocketed from selling its Millrose gold project, with the company set to launch an exploration blitz at its Yandal and Earaheedy operations. Management says ongoing work in the Earaheedy Basin has identified a new lookalike prospect to its Iroquois project that has been dubbed Rabbit Well.

ChemX Materials has secured a funding package worth up to $6 million from US-based investment firm Mercer Street Global Opportunity Fund. Management says the fresh funding will go towards the company’s high-purity manganese play on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and its high-purity alumina project in Perth. ChemX has also promoted Peter Lee to the role of chief executive officer.

Budding gold producer Auric Mining has delivered the first five gold doré bars from its Jeffreys Find gold project near Norseman in WA to the Perth Mint for further refining. The company has also packaged a 36,000-tonne ore parcel for delivery to the Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie for toll treatment, which is expected to be completed in the coming week.

Buru Energy says commercialisation of its Rafael gas-condensate discovery in Western Australia’s Canning Basin will service the Kimberley’s power needs at reduced capital expenditure through phased development. It says the development is viable for all contingent resource volumes as it moves ahead with de-risking subsurface uncertainties and firming up volumetric estimates, with an imminent 3D seismic survey to be followed by appraisal well drilling next year.

ABx Group’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary Alcore has captured a research-and-development tax offset of $522,715 from the Australian Tax Office for work undertaken last year on its world-first process to recover hydrogen fluoride. Management says it also expects to receive an additional tax offset for the R&D activities it undertook at its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earths project in Tasmania.

Venture Minerals has received a handy boost to its coffers with $450,000 in research-and-development support from the ATO for the 2022 financial year. The cash bonus will help the company recoup the significant expenditure it has committed to metallurgical testwork and studies at its flagship Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project in Tasmania and will enable ongoing exploration on other important projects.

Ora Banda Mining has unveiled a swag of new drilling results, including an 8.1m hit at 13.4 grams per tonne gold from 515m, expanding its Riverina project beyond its current resource boundaries to the south and at depth. Management says separate exploration at the company’s Siberia project is also targeting below the current pit floors of the Missouri and Sand King open-pit mines.

Lindian Resources has delivered the highly-anticipated maiden mineral resource estimate for its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, coming in at 261 million tonnes at a cracking grade of 2.19 per cent TREO. Including 5.7 million tonnes of contained rare earths of excellent grade, it positions the project among the world’s biggest deposits and paves the way for offtake agreements and mine development.