Public Company News

Coda Minerals has shifted exploration at the Elizabeth Creek copper project in South Australia into higher gear. A major drilling campaign is underway to convert an existing exploration target at the Emmie Bluff prospect, estimated at 46-77 million tonnes going at 0.5-2.3 per cent copper-equivalent, into a maiden resource. Priority regional targets are also to be tested.

ASX-listed Kairos Minerals is waiting for assays from a reverse circulation drilling program completed at its Roe Hills gold and nickel project about 120km east of Kalgoorlie in WA, however visual indications of sulphides in rock chips have management eager to move forward. The Perth-based company punched out 20 holes for a total of 2,992 metres at the Caliburn, Talc Lake and Black Cat prospects.

Buru Energy looks to be on schedule to move into drilling of its inaugural 2021 well at Currajong 1 in WA’s Canning Basin. The company says site works for the well east of Broome are nearing completion with the first loads of rig gear expected to leave the Northern Territory next week. Drilling is expected to kick off in mid-June 2021.

Classic Minerals has achieved another significant milestone on the way to production start-up in the form of a native title agreement over the mining area at its developing Kat Gap gold project about 170km south of Southern Cross in WA. The company says it has now executed a Noongar Alternative Heritage Agreement with the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, representing the Ballardong Agreement Group.

Northern Minerals continues to optimise its cutting-edge rare earth processing circuit in WA, with the addition of an ore sorter that management says has the potential to double the feed grade to the milling circuit. The new equipment might also deliver considerable cost savings for future production by increasing throughput and reducing both capital and operational expenditure.

TSX-listed WA gold producer, Novo Resources has moved to speed up the process for receiving its gold assay results. The company has now secured a deal with Intertek Testing Services (Australia) Pty Ltd that will see the latter provide on-site laboratory and sample preparation services and PhotonAssay services. Intertek will manage an on-site laboratory at Novo’s Golden Eagle gold processing plant near Nullagine in the East Pilbara.

Comet Resources has pulled off something of a coup, entering into an agreement to acquire the mineralised extensions to its Santa Teresa gold mine in northern Mexico. The company is looking to secure the La Sorpresa III lease to the north-west of its mine, said to host a number of old shafts and workings, where historical records show production grading at an incredible 280 grams per tonne gold.

ASX-listed Indonesia gold explorer, Sihayo Gold has generated encouraging early gold assays from a diamond drilling program at one of the brownfield prospects at its namesake project in North Sumatra. Notable intersections from nine drill holes completed at the Sihayo-2 prospect were 24.8m at 1.09 g/t gold from 52m including 6m going 2.46 g/t, and 8m at 1.32 g/t from 96m including 1m at 4.4 g/t.

The hits keep coming for Estrella Resources, with drilling at its Carr Boyd nickel project continuing to intersect sulphide mineralisation. Two drill holes above the feeder zone of the T5 discovery have intersected more than 47 metres of disseminated to matrix-textured sulphides, with mineralisation including visible nickel-rich pentlandite and copper-rich chalcopyrite. Assays are not far away.

ASX-listed mining technology company K2fly has signed a A$1.455 million contract extension with Australian iron ore major Fortescue Metals Group, which will widen the use of the supplier’s innovative land management software into Europe and South America.

Northern Minerals is set to leap back into rare earth exploration at Browns Range in WA’s Kimberley region, tabling a plan to drill up to 10,000m. The upcoming reverse circulation drilling will follow up on the last field season that generated numerous stellar rare earth oxide hits including 12m going 0.43 per cent TREO from just 34m.

AVZ Minerals says a maiden placer tin exploration target of up to 75 million cubic metres of contained cassiterite grading between 75 and 180 grams per cubic metre at its Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo underlines the potential for a standalone tin mine at one of the world’s largest emerging hard-rock lithium projects.