Public Company News

Larvotto Resources says new testwork shows it can simply and efficiently upgrade rare earths samples from its Eyre multi-element project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region by using a hydrometallurgical cyclosizer. AC drilling last April at Eyre’s Merivale South prospect returned impressive total rare earth oxides results of up to 1.26 per cent, or 12,611ppm, including 3787ppm magnetic rare earth oxides.

Everest Metals Corporation has placed its foot firmly on strategically important new ground, with the acquisition of two new exploration licenses and an application for a third at its Revere gold and base metals project, 90km north-east of Meekatharra in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The acquisitions more than double the area of the company’s existing tenure in the area.

Galan Lithium is making impressive progress with the construction of its wholly-owned Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina, with its first evaporation pond almost complete and liner installation underway. Filling the initial pond is expected this quarter, with the evaporation process for the operation – the first major step of the company’s long-term production schedule – set to begin in the coming months.

In the second Bulls N’ Bears instalment on what made stocks jump in 2023, we look at how some bonanza hits at American West Metals’ Storm Copper project in northern Canada blew up a share price gale. The company’s stock bulged from just 4.3 cents in March to hit a high of 37.5c on August 10 – a rise of more than 772 per cent.

Si6 Metals has received the green light from shareholders to acquire a 50 per cent share in four Brazilian projects covering 10 exploration licenses and form a joint venture with seller Foxfire Metals. The purchase will see the company pick up the half share in tenements covering 17,000 hectares across three Brazilian States prospective for lithium, rare earths, gold, base metals and platinum group elements.

Chariot Corporation has vowed to break out from a freezing Wyoming winter and polish off its diamond drilling campaign at Black Mountain, following its scheduled halt for the Christmas holiday season. Management says that since beginning its phase-one program in mid-November, it has drilled six diamond-core holes for a total of 652m of triple-tube HQ core and results are expected this month.

Analytical results from Askari Metals’ Uis lithium project in Namibia have turned up lithium oxide grades going as high as 2.91 per cent in its southern licence and 1.92 per cent in its northern licence. Tantalum oxide grades of up to 339ppm and 757ppm were returned from the north and south licences, respectively, accompanied by a best tin oxide hit of 0.52 per cent.

Larvotto Resources has lit up a slew of new drill targets at its Mt Isa copper-gold-cobalt project in Queensland after collecting more than 6200 samples from a geochemical soil sampling program last year. Key areas highlighted for further exploration include the Ballara Saddle, Portal Creek, IXL and Psamathe targets, with a geophysical induced-polarisation survey already underway.

What made share prices rise in 2023? Bulls N’ Bears will take a look in the next few days, starting with Ardea Resources. Its stock jumped 162 per cent in a busy four days during the middle of last year on the back of a mineral resource upgrade and a mammoth prefeasibility study for its Goongarrie Hub nickel-cobalt deposits in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears top ASX runner is … Orion Equities. Its shares rose more than 250 per cent to join fellow movers and shakers Pan Asia Metals, MTM Critical Minerals and Calima Energy.

While some companies slow down at the end of each year, Valor Resources spent December building its lithium and uranium portfolio and also added a cool $1 million to its coffers through a successful placement. The first move it made in the last month of 2023 was entering into an exclusive option agreement to pick up three lithium projects in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Following the sale of its Mt Dimer asset, Aurumin has wasted no time in making good its promise to home in on its Sandstone gold play, with the addition of a new tenement containing three historic gold mines. The mines produced 197 tonnes grading 10.58g/t gold for 67 ounces, 376 tonnes at 27.45g/t for 331 ounces and 82 tonnes at 5.92g/t for 15 ounces, respectively.