Public Company News

Image Resources has launched the on-ground construction activity for its Atlas heavy mineral sands project in Western Australia’s North Perth Basin as management ramps up the operation’s proposed development. The company plans to soon start building a new accommodation camp at Atlas and will also dismantle and transfer the wet concentrator from its now-completed Boonanarring mining project.

Strickland Metals has launched into a new exploration campaign at its 5.44 million-ounce gold equivalent Rogozna project in Serbia, with two rigs kicking off a planned 60,000m of drilling and another two on the way. The infill, extensional and scout probing strategy devised by the company will be the biggest program ever committed to the project.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we unravel some of the more curious drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including WA1 Resources’ 40.1m at 3.2 per cent niobium pentoxide from 126m. We also take a close look at other notable drill hits in the past week from ACDC Metals, Iltani Resources, KGL Resources and Talisman Mining.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is … The Calmer Co International. Its shares jumped 185 per cent on the back of a significant spike in online and retail sales for its products to see it join fellow movers and shakers Firetail Resources, Osteopore and INOVIQ.

Gold Mountain has found thorium anomalies – which may indicate high-grade rare earths – in four areas up to 250m wide within its Brazilian ground after tests with a new state-of-the-art hand-held spectrometer. The results from the Ronaldinho project area peaked at about 640 counts per second thorium. Management says the hits are similar to those from known rare earths grading more than 4 per cent TREO.

The bright lights of a future Saudi Arabia are enticing Australian companies such as Surefire Resources to the Arabian Peninsula – and the company is looking to supply the minerals needed to build the Kingdom’s pipeline of significant projects planned for the coming decades. The super-wealthy country has openly acknowledged it needs help from “experienced mining heads” to help develop its fledgling industry.

A comprehensive analysis study by Askari Metals has identified seven new lithium pegmatite targets at the company’s Uis project in Namibia, with a detailed mapping and rock sampling campaign already underway. Management says its recently-discovered K10 pegmatite has an interpreted strike length of 3.1km, the GP target has an estimated length of 2.4km and its Tawny prospect extends for 2.2km.

Novo Resources has jagged some solid gold numbers from a six-hole, 2529m diamond drilling program at its Belltopper project in Victoria, with a highlight hit of 2m going 15.18 grams per tonne gold from 185m. The intersection flagged a previously undiscovered gold-bearing reef, while 430m further south, a second hole shows 4.25m going 5.88g/t gold from 274.75m with 2m running 11.15g/t from 277m.

Lithium Universe says it is making significant progress in definitive feasibility study work for its proposed Bécancour lithium refinery in Canada, with process flow sheets and stream tables already finalised. The company has plans for a 16,000 tonnes per annum battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery in the North American nation, with heavyweight engineering firm Hatch commissioned to undertake a comprehensive study for the refinery’s design.

ABx Group has confirmed that its “Alcore” technology has delivered its best fluorine recovery result to date, returning 93 per cent in testwork at its Technology Centre on the NSW Central Coast – increasing the company’s confidence in the commercial viability of the process. Management says detailed experimental work and an in-depth knowledge of the relevant process underpinned the impressive result.

88 Energy says its maiden net mean prospective resource estimate for its Leonis project on the North Slope of Alaska shows 381 million barrels (MMbbls) of recoverable oil from the Upper Schrader Bluff formation. The prospective estimate indicates an unrisked (3U) net high of 671MMbbls, a 2U best estimate of 338MMbbls and a 1U low of 167MMbbls.

Neometals has taken a first-hand look at the extraction of high-value metals palladium and gold from metallurgical testwork at the United State-based Precious Metals Recovery pilot plant as it considers taking an 80 per cent stake in the high-tech operation. A second trial has also now begun in a bid to replicate the success when using the preferred feedstock and re-agents process.