Public Company News

Specialist test work on natural flake graphite sourced from Comet Resources’ 100 per cent owned Springdale graphite project in the south of Western Australia has demonstrated its suitability to produce a precursor material for use in the manufacture of lithium-ion battery anodes. Comet says the results enhance the prospects for future development of the project.

ASX-listed K2fly Ltd has clinched a five-year contract with leading platinum, palladium and gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater, who has signed on for the implementation of the resources software-as-a-service provider’s Decipher mining tailings management solution. K2fly says the South African-headquartered Sibanye-Stillwater intends rolling out K2fly’s software at all of the miner’s more than three dozen tailing storage facilities it operates in southern Africa and the United States.

ASX-listed junior gold explorer Torian Resources says it has encountered gold mineralisation at high priority prospects at its flagship Mt Stirling project about 40 kilometres north-west of Leonora in WA following a round of auger vacuum drilling. The company has also dipped its toes into the cryptocurrency space via an equity swap arrangement with blockchain outfit BullionFX.

Legend Mining continues to reap the rewards of its highly targeted exploration efforts at its Rockford Project in WA’s emerging Fraser Range base metal province. A maiden diamond drilling program at the Octagonal prospect has hit a broad zone of blebby and semi-massive nickel-copper sulphides. Drilling has also confirmed the presence of a large layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion that looks to be analogous to the nearby Nova-Bollinger and Silver Knight deposits.

Manganese producer, Element 25 has scored an eight-year “innovation patent” for its cutting-edge extraction technology used to separate manganese from concentrate produced at its 100 per cent owned Butcherbird mining and beneficiation operation north of Meekatharra in WA. The company is looking to manufacture a high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate product for use in the thriving lithium-ion battery industry.

Infinity Lithium has ticked off a key milestone with metallurgical testwork producing the first battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain. The company’s technical advisory committee has undertaken a parallel review of all technically feasible alternative extractive technologies identifying multiple new processes which could provide opportunities for significant improvements in all parameters of the process flow sheet.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia is seeking to carve out a niche position as one of the only providers of nickel-free and cobalt-free cathode materials outside of China. The company says the reliance on China for the materials is of “great concern” and Lithium Australia’s wholly owned subsidiary is well positioned to establish a strategic stake in the lithium-ion battery market.

ASX-listed resources software provider K2fly Ltd has bedded down a five-year extension to its existing contract with the world’s largest gold company, Newmont Corporation in relation to its resource governance software-as-a-service solution. Perth-based K2fly says the extension deal, which takes the Newmont contract period out to March 2028, has a total contract value of A$1.3 million.

ASX-listed Hot Chilli has unearthed two large geochemical targets, Productora Central and Santiago, considered to be potential “game changers” at its Costa Fuego copper-gold development hub in Chile. Employing the latest advanced 3D geochemistry technology, Hot Chili says both targets come in at over 1km in diameter and look to be larger than the main Cuerpo 3 porphyry at the company’s massive Cortadera copper-gold discovery.

Mineral exploration company, Superior Resources has unleashed the drill rig at its Bottletree copper prospect in northern Queensland to test the core of a large geophysical anomaly where previous drilling on its northern margins hit an eye-catching 292m interval going 0.22 per cent copper. The company says recent 3D geophysical modelling confirms potential for the discovery of a major copper deposit.

Vietnam-focused nickel company, Blackstone Minerals is off to a flyer in a recently launched infill drilling campaign at its King Snake prospect, located at its Ta Khao nickel-copper and PGE project. The new drill campaign has already hit 8.5 metres of sulphides including massive sulphide veins. Assays from previous drilling at the prospect have also delivered multiple nickel, copper, cobalt and PGE hits.

Junior explorer Strickland Metals says its recently acquired 346,000-ounce Millrose gold project on the north-eastern flank of the prolific gold-bearing Yandal-Millrose greenstone belt in WA provides an outstanding drill-ready opportunity to potentially grow its gold resource base in pursuit of possible early production in the region. The Perth-based company snapped up the project for $10 million from previous owners Millrose Gold Mines and Golden Eagle Mining.