Public Company News

Rio Tinto Exploration, a subsidiary of the mining giant, has exercised its option to farm-in to ASX-listed Twenty Seven Co’s North Rover project with plans to begin a 500-1000m drill program to test for lithium at the site. The two companies entered into an earn-in option agreement in March stating the Rio subsidiary can earn an 80 per cent interest in non-gold minerals at the tenement by spending $5 million on non-gold exploration at the site.

Classic Minerals has delivered more high-grade gold intercepts from infill RC drilling at the company’s flagship Kat Gap gold project 170km south of Southern Cross in WA. Significant results include a 1m hit going 47.5 g/t gold from 20m and a broader 6m strike going 4.08 g/t from 48m. The results come from another 32 holes of Classic’s 109-hole infill program designed to provide more accurate data for the company’s resource model as it looks to start producing.

St George Mining has unearthed a raft of nickel sulphide targets at its Mt Alexander project near Leonora including a large electromagnetic conductor that has been identified as a priority drilling prospect. The company is currently conducting fixed loop electromagnetic surveys combined with seismic data to pinpoint a series of anomalies identified earlier last month.

After recent channel sampling efforts, mineral explorer PolarX has uncovered a new extensive gold and silver intercept at surface within a large outcropping vein system at the company’s Humboldt Range gold and silver project in Nevada. Two of the channels combine to form one 69m long mineralised surface interval going 1.1 g/t gold and 7.65 g/t silver.

ASX-listed Radiopharm Theranostics says a new report published by prestigious science journal Nature on the role of cancer catalyst LRRC15 in the growth of tumours could demonstrate the effectiveness of the company’s DUNP19 antibody. LRRC15 is a substance produced by aggressive cancer cells and cells in the surrounding micro-environment, but not healthy normal tissue.

Coda Minerals has wrapped up its maiden 27-hole, 2800m RC drilling campaign at its Cameron River copper-gold project located in the world-class Mt Isa mineral province in North Queensland. Early visual identification of copper-bearing sulphides in samples, backed up by anomalous pXRF analysis, suggests the company has tapped into a copper-mineralised system. Assay results from the program are expected later this year.

Final assay results from Horizon Minerals’ recent foray with the drill bit at its Cannon project near Kalgoorlie in WA have notched up several encouraging nickel hits including 2m at 2.21 per cent nickel from 161m. Further afield at the company’s Golden Ridge and Yarmany projects, prospective fertile ultramafic horizons have been etched out from a reconnaissance drilling probe and downhole geophysical surveys.

Drilling results have confirmed the presence of rhodium and iridium along the entire 15km strike length of Podium Minerals’ 5E PGM Parks Reef project near Meekatharra in the Mid West region of WA. The company recently received results from 30 of the 53 holes drilled as part of its stage 10 campaign designed to firm up the presence of rhodium and iridium. The company recently officially added the two metals to its mineral resource estimate at Parks Reef creating what it says is Australia’s first defined 5E PGM resource.

Brightstar Resources’ recent 12-hole RC drilling program has identified a new mineralised lode at the company’s Cork Tree Well gold project 30km north of Laverton in WA. The drilling was performed at the project’s Delta 2 prospect and returned a series of high-grade hits including 2m going 6.05 grams per tonne gold from 29m, 1m running 5.31 g/t from 102m and 2m grading 2.42 g/t from 94m.

Triangle Energy’s Cliff Head JV with Pilot Energy could soon pocket about $6.8 million after unloading and subsequently selling off close to 51,000 barrels of oil via a new shipping route through Thailand. The Perth-based oil and gas player could earn about $5.4 million from its share in the project with the company’s joint venture partner taking home an estimated $1.4 million for its part of the deal. Another shipment is scheduled for later in the year.

Askari Metals has acquired another lithium project in WA’s highly prospective Pilbara region from private outfit Mining Equities for a total of $125,000 in cash and shares, bolstering its already brimming battery metals portfolio. In a busy period of activity, the explorer is also reviewing its Red Peak lithium project for rare earth elements potential and has wrapped up its maiden drilling campaign at the company’s Horry copper and gold project.

Newly listed explorer Octava Minerals has shot out of the blocks and commenced a battery metals hunt at its Talga lithium project in the Pilbara region of WA - just weeks after listing on the local bourse. The company will use the campaign to seek out lithium-bearing pegmatites with a ground-based exploration program, including mapping and sampling within earshot of Global Lithium’s 10.5 million tonne Archer deposit.