Public Company News

Shares in ASX-listed mineral explorer Emu surged 60 per cent during intraday trading after it lodged applications to extend its prospective Condingup project to an overall tenement area of 734 square kilometres. The company has also applied for another three new tenement packages in the broader area totalling a further 304 square kilometres. The latest land grab will substantially increase Emu’s exposure to rare earths by capturing more of the prospective Booanya granites.

Legend Mining’s board has got its boots on the ground at the company’s Rockford project in the Fraser Range to view field activities on-site including an ongoing 3D seismic survey of its Octagonal prospect. The company recently engaged hard rock seismic solutions company HiSeis to define the structure of the Octagonal intrusive complex at Rockford to a minimum depth of 1500m below the surface where it is targeting nickel-copper mineralisation.

Lindian Resources is off to a promising start with early samples from its maiden drill program at the Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi showing continuous visible monazite from surface to current depth. The company says monazite is the rare earths bearing mineral Lindian is targeting at the project and mineralisation is consistent with expectations indicated from surface mapping.

Valor Resources has successfully deployed radon-in-soil surveys at its Hidden Bay uranium project and identified priority targets located close to the historic Rabbit Lake mine in the Athabasca Basin, Canada. The surveys were designed to follow up on prospective targets previously identified by the company. The area of interest is situated close to the Athabasca unconformity with the potential for both basement-hosted and Athabasca sandstone-hosted uranium deposits.

Empire Energy has shattered another record in the Beetaloo sub-basin with a 2632m horizontal section of its Carpentaria-3H gas well in the Northern Territory cementing itself as the longest well section drilled in the zone to date. The company says over 90 per cent of its latest interval penetrated the hydrocarbon-rich Velkerri-B shale formation where strong gas shows were observed.

Internationally recognised lithium expert Joe Lowry expects the price of battery quality lithium carbonate to continue its upward trajectory into 2027 before hitting highs of US$97,000 per tonne as the supply and demand curve starts to invert. Speaking at this year’s Lithium Update by the Experts at Perth’s Hyatt Hotel, Lowry dubbed lithium the “irreplaceable element” in the new energy transition and says the balance of power in the industry has switched from China to Australia and South America.

WA-focused gold explorer Classic Minerals has received final approval from the state regulator to produce gold from the company’s flagship Kat Gap project south of Southern Cross in WA. The company says over the coming months it will move from a pure explorer to gold producer. Classic intends to take a staged mining approach at Kat Gap as it looks to reduce early overhead costs and mitigate risk.

Buru Energy has stepped up its commercialisation efforts associated to its Rafael gas development in WA’s Canning Basin by signing an agreement with Transborders Energy to conduct a pre-feasibility study for an LNG plant solution. The company says the Kimberley-based facility could promote a swifter, simpler and more capital efficient mechanism to liquify and export its resources.

Following rolling success across its reinvigorated battery metals and rare earth-focused portfolio, White Cliff Minerals has offloaded its non-core Gardener Dome rare earths project in WA to ASX-listed explorer Black Cat. The transaction will see the company pocket a non-refundable deposit of $5,000, followed by $45,000 in cash and $150,000 worth of fully paid ordinary shares in Black Cat upon the deal's completion.

Surefire Resources has achieved excellent gold recoveries of between 97.6 per cent and 99.5 per cent from gravity and cyanide leach tests on samples from the company’s Yidby gold project in the Murchison district of WA’s Mid West. The metallurgical test work was designed to provide greater insights into Surefire’s potential overall gold recovery and processing options for the project.

After an initial phase of reconnaissance, Askari Metals has uncovered high-grade spodumene-hosted lithium within extensive pegmatites at the company’s recently acquired Uis lithium, tantalum and tin project in Namibia, Africa. Results up to 2.1 per cent lithium oxide were returned from 196 rock chip samples collected as part of the company’s due diligence evaluation of the advanced project.

Blackstone Minerals has validated its process for the company’s proposed Ta Khoa nickel refinery project in Vietnam after its metallurgical test work program was successful in producing battery-grade nickel and cobalt sulphates in addition to processing third-party cobalt supply. The findings come from batch test work and commissioning of piloting equipment completed in August as part of a definitive feasibility study into the company’s Ta Khoa nickel project and its namesake refinery.