Public Company News

Buxton Resources is aiming to get back in the black – the black-coloured carbon at its Graphite Bull project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region, that is – when it kicks off a new diamond drill program to explore deep geophysical targets in the hope of expanding its existing resource numbers. The company’s two diamond drillholes have been designed to target potentially significant extensions of its graphite mineralisation.

Initial geochemical results from 260 regional stream samples at Gold Mountain’s Down Under project in Brazil have thrown up anomalous rare earths responses from a combined area of about 80 square kilometres. The company says the results indicate good potential for ionic-adsorption clay (IAC)-hosted rare earths deposits and ultra-high-grade, hard-rock monazite-hosted mineralisation featuring niobium, uranium and scandium.

In a bold bid to unveil Namibia’s onshore resource treasures, 88 Energy has launched a major 2D seismic acquisition program for its petroleum exploration licence 93 (“PEL 93”) within the Owambo Basin's uncharted Damara system. The ambitious initiative that covers 18,500 square kilometres of largely-unexplored territory, represents a pivotal milestone for both the company and the region, with an eye to unlocking new oil discoveries.

Meeka Metals has secured mine dewatering and clearing permits to step closer to first gold at its Murchison project in Western Australia’s Mid West region, with the company now expecting mining permits early in September. Management has drawn down on $1.34 million of a $2.2 million secured bridging loan facility to purchase the camp and associated infrastructure at the operation.

White Cliff Minerals has beefed up its landholding at its Nunavut copper-gold-silver project in the northern Canadian province of the same name after putting its foot on two adjoining and “highly-prospective” exploration licences covering up to an additional 63 square kilometres. The new tenure includes the Halo prospect where historical drilling returned a 4.7m intercept at an eye-catching 10.47 per cent copper.

Dateline Resources is tapping investors for up to $5.8 million via a renounceable rights issue to provide a financial boost for its compelling Colosseum gold and rare earths project in California. The company plans to use the funds to conduct further exploration works and complete a mine planning study for the bumper 1.1 million-ounce gold resource it recently reported at the project.

Red Metal has produced what it says could be a premium saleable rare earths product after its first impurity removal trial using ore from its globally-unique Sybella rare earths project near Mount Isa in Queensland. The company says its low-impurity, magnet rare earth oxides-dominant product is another proof-of-concept step towards Sybella becoming a significant, low-cost rare earths mining operation.

Latitude 66 has immediately hit its stride after a recent reverse takeover of DiscovEx Resources and re-listing on the ASX, revealing impressive new gold assay results up to 22.4m at 2.4g/t from extensional diamond drilling at its Kuusamo Schist Belt (KSB) project in Finland. The company is building on the existing indicated resource of 650,000 ounces of gold and 8000 tonnes of cobalt.

Ardea Resources has launched a $98.5 million definitive feasibility study, fully funded by a powerhouse Japanese consortium, for its giant Goongarrie Hub nickel project that sits 70km north-west of Kalgoorlie in WA’s Eastern Goldfields region. The Goongarrie Hub is an integral part of the company’s Kalgoorlie nickel project that embraces a collection of deposits combining to host what it says is the biggest nickel-cobalt resource in the developed world.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Warriedar Resources’ 19m at 4.94g/t gold from 188m at its Ricciardo Mine in Western Australia’s Murchison region. We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits from last week as reported by AIC Mines, Mt Malcolm Mines and KGL Resources.

Aguia Resources has endured a forgettable few years, but with new management and a new plan in place for its South American projects, a road to riches may well lie just ahead. The company is aiming to deliver strong early cashflow from its high-grade Santa Barbara gold mine in Columbia to provide the cash needed to fire up its organic phosphate operations in Southern Brazil.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Infini Resources. Its share price jumped nearly 226 per cent on the back of a slew of lab-busting soil-sampling uranium results that showed grades so high that they have been dispatched back to the lab for another round of analysis. Other movers and shakers this week were Waratah Minerals, AML3D and Wellard.