Public Company News

Active junior explorer, Native Mineral Resources has added some exciting greenfields copper, gold and nickel search targets to its WA and Queensland copper-gold portfolio after a successful bid for ground in the WA Nullarbor region. The company is aiming to get on the ground and commence fieldwork as soon as the tenements are granted.

WA explorer, Estrella Resources says a further intersection of massive nickel-copper-iron sulphides from drilling in the T5 discovery area near the old Carr Boyd nickel mine north of Kalgoorlie has added to confidence in its geological modelling ahead of market reporting of assays. An incoming funding boost will put Estrella in a position to up the tempo again at its cornerstone project.

Gold explorer Barton Gold has successfully raked in $15 million in a “significantly oversubscribed” IPO as it prepares to list its shares on the Australian Securities Exchange later this month. The company says the capital raise will now be closing on Monday, four days ahead of the prospectus deadline.

Aspiring Balkans polymetallic project developer, Adriatic Metals has locked in another of the key regulatory approvals for its significant new Vares silver-zinc-lead project in Bosnia and Herzegovina that puts it on the verge of a mining permit all-clear. The company says it has just been granted an urban planning permit for the cornerstone Rupice underground deposit from the country’s Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning.

Toronto-listed Novo Resources will step up its gold exploration activities in WA’s Pilbara region and Victoria over the balance of 2021 after recently completing a C$26.4 million equity raising and pouring first gold from its flagship Pilbara project earlier this year. The company has laid out a $12m exploration budget to expand work at Malmsbury in Victoria and on its huge 14,000sq.km Pilbara landholding.

Neometals will focus on lithium recycling and new technologies after divesting its option on 30 per cent of the spodumene offtake from the Mt Marion lithium project in WA for $30 million. The windfall bolsters the company’s balance sheet ahead of some significant core project investment decisions over the next year or so.

Impact Minerals appears to be on target at its Broken Hill PGE project in New South Wales, with diamond drilling intersecting disseminated and vein sulphide mineralisation over significant widths in the basal units of the Little Broken Hill Gabbro and Red Hill chonolith. The deeper drilling campaign appears to have confirmed results of earlier exploration and hints at the significant PGE endowment of the region.

Classic Minerals has retained Australian mid-tier miner IGO Limited as an exploration joint venture partner at its Fraser Range nickel-copper prospect in WA. It will pocket a $500,000 payment from IGO for 51 per cent of the prospect and the senior partner has committed a further $1m for ongoing exploration. The deal leaves Classic to focus on becoming a gold producer at Forrestania.

Lithium Australia has taken an important step towards becoming a key player in lithium ferro phosphate battery, or “LFP” supply chains, securing an Australian patent for its innovative SiLeach technology. SiLeach is used to recover lithium from micas and clays to produce lithium phosphate, a vital ingredient in LFP batteries that will power Tesla 3 electric vehicles.

ASX-listed NSW precious and base metals explorer, Godolphin Resources has appointed experienced geologist, Jeneta Owens as its new Managing Director. The Orange-based company’s decision comes after former Chief Executive Officer, David Greenwood recently returned to WA for family reasons in the wake of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Owens was previously an exploration manager and exploration team leader at the Northparkes copper gold mine, adjacent to Godolphin’s assets.

ASX-listed Indonesia gold explorer, Sihayo Gold has returned further encouraging gold hits from an ongoing diamond drilling program at its Sihayo gold project in North Sumatra. Better assays from the latest hole at the brownfields Sihayo-2 prospect include 8.4m at an average grade of 2.56 g/t gold from 47m and 9.8m at 1.77 g/t from 77m.

ASX-listed Calidus Resources’ plant construction at its Warrawoona mining and processing operation about 25km south-east of Marble Bar in the East Pilbara region is well advanced as it draws down the first tranche of funds from a Macquarie Bank $110 million debt facility. The company says its new mine remains on budget and on course to pour first gold in the June quarter next year.