Terry Bates

Galan Lithium’s Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina is now full steam ahead after securing all permitting required to clear the way for construction. Phase-one production of lithium chloride, at what is Argentina’s highest-grade, lowest-impurity lithium brine deposit, will deliver 5400 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent in a 40-year period starting in the first half of 2025.

Horizon Minerals is charging towards a resource estimate upgrade after completing an eight-hole drill program at its Penny’s Find gold mine, 50km north-east of Kalgoorlie. Results show its high-grade lode is open at depth, with intercepts including 3.2m at 4.19g/t gold from 318.3m, 1m grading 7.49g/t from 363.9m and 0.78m going 12.85g/t gold from 331.48m. Underground mining is planned.

Aruma Resources is hunting for unconformity-related rare earths at its Saltwater project in WA’s emerging Pilbara province. Fieldwork will consist of detailed mapping and extensive surface sampling through an 80km prospective strike, with work to start at a 15km-long priority radiometric target. Previous results of up to 11 per cent rare earths at the project will give Aruma confidence it could have the real deal.

Conico Limited has revealed more shallow high-grade nickel-cobalt-manganese-scandium results from its Mt Thirsty JV near Norseman. Results include 29m grading 0.09 per cent cobalt, 0.62 per cent nickel, 0.73 per cent manganese and 33.2g/t scandium from surface. The resource is 66.2 million tonnes grading 0.06 per cent cobalt, 0.43 per cent nickel and 0.45 per cent manganese, with the project’s scoping study due in July.

Octava Minerals has started drilling at its Pinnacle Well prospect in an area in Western Australia’s Pilbara region known as “lithium elephant country”. Drilling at the prospect, 10km north of the Archer deposit that has resources of 18 million tonnes at 1.0 per cent lithium oxide, will test a significant lithium anomaly, including a 1.5km pegmatite showing visible lithium mineralisation.

Venus Metals has revealed what it believes could be “game-changing” high-grade drill results in its JV with Rox Resources after uncovering the faulted extension of the 4-million-ounce Youanmi gold deposit. The lode-extending discovery hole returned 28m at 34.81 grams per tonne gold, with new drilling 200m further south hitting 5.7m at 8.26g/t gold from 233.3m and 5.08m grading 9.56g/t from 225.8m.

Emu NL has discovered a new rare earths region in WA’s Great Southern town of Jerramungup, 450km south-east of Perth. Emu has revealed significant mineralisation from 20m to 52m thick and up to 1138 parts per million total rare earths oxide (TREO) within basement granitoids and adjacent clay zones in a five-hole drill campaign at project Viper. The longest intersection was 52m at 542ppm TREO.

Venture Minerals and SensOre have inked a farm-in agreement on the former’s Golden Grove North project, 450km north-east of Perth. SensOre can earn up to 70 per cent in all minerals, with the exclusion of rare earths, by spending up to $4.5 million. SensOre will utilise its proprietary AI technology at the project, where it has already highlighted lithium and copper potential.

Quantum Graphite’s half-owned joint venture company has gained original equipment-manufacture intellectual property rights to The Sunlands Co.’s thermal energy storage battery cell. The cell is being aimed at revolutionising the grid-connected energy storage market by using long-duration energy storage techniques. Quantum says the JV company’s name will be changed from Quantum Sunlands Partnership to Sunlands Power.

Brightstar Resources has extended its 252,000-ounce Cork Tree Well gold deposit, 30km north of Laverton, with 6000m of RC drilling giving best results of 10m at 4.54 grams per tonne gold from 192m, including 2m at 17.23g/t and 13m grading 1.83g/t from 143m. An updated resource estimate will inform mining feasibility studies due for delivery by the middle of the year.

Infinity Lithium is pushing closer towards mining licence and environmental authorisation submissions for its San José lithium project in Spain following positive government permitting recommendations. The finalisation of the Extremadura regional government’s Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Document, compiled by its General Directorate for Sustainability, classes the project as compatible with environmental and land use requirements.

CZR Resources has cranked up its Pilbara-based Robe Mesa iron ore reserves by a massive 230 per cent to 27.3 million tonnes at 55 per cent iron, or 62.2 per cent iron after calcining. The reserves underpin an initial eight-year mine plan production of 3.5 million tonnes per annum with a cash cost of $57/t. CZR says there is still more scope for project growth.

Octava Minerals’ joint venture partner Future Metals, which operates their Panton North project in WA’s Kimberley region, is set to start exploration drilling on an interpreted extension of the neighbouring 5-million-ounce Panton platinum group metals deposit. Mineralisation was previously traced up to the tenement boundary. Drilling will also target soil and rock anomalies at Panton West, within the joint venture’s ground.

Askari Metals will accelerate lithium exploration at its Uis project in Namibia after meeting the conditions for $2.5 million in strategic equity investment by global battery materials supplier Huayou International Resources. Huayou will subscribe for 4.5 million fully-paid ordinary shares in Askari at an issue price of 55 cents per share. Askari has a current share price of about 40c, offering a healthy premium.

Infinity Mining will kick off a maiden 1700m RC drilling program at its Brisbane nickel-chromium prospect in the Pilbara in early June. The company will drill 10 holes across its ultramafic basal contact target where previous rock chips returned up to 0.764 per cent nickel and 0.892 per cent chromium and also where electromagnetic survey returned a prominent conductive target that may represent nickel sulphides.

Meeka Metals has bumped its total Murchison gold project resource up to 12.7 million tonnes at 3g/t for 1.215 million ounces of gold after revealing an initial oxide gold resource from its St Anne’s deposit. The St Anne’s resource of 270,000 tonnes at 2.8g/t gold for 25,000 ounces will be included in the company’s Murchison prefeasibility study to be released in June.

Aruma Resources has produced lithium concentrate from early metallurgical testwork at its Mt Deans project, 10km from Norseman in WA. Floatation has recovered 80 per cent of the lithium into 25 per cent of the mass with capture of tantalum, tin, potassium, rubidium and caesium giving the prospect of valuable additional by-products. Further testwork is to be undertaken with fresh outcropping pegmatite samples.

Horizon Minerals is targeting extensions to its known resource of 270,000 tonnes at 4.99g/t gold in a new drilling campaign at its high-grade Penny’s Find gold deposit, 50km north-east of Kalgoorlie. The company will drill 2400m of RC with diamond core tails. Penny’s Find gold production will follow Horizon’s Cannon gold mine, which will start production in the second half of this year.

Everest Metals believes the identification of a raft new pegmatites has significantly boosted the potential of its Mt Edon mining lease near Paynes Find. Deep Ground Penetration Radar survey over 21 line kilometres shows 133 pegmatite-like anomalies prospective for lithium-tantalum and rare earths mineralisation that extends to depths greater than 50m. The discovery has sparked a new drilling program, to start within a fortnight.

Northern Minerals’ definitive feasibility study for its Browns Range rare earths project in WA is on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, as it continues to develop mining, metallurgical processing and plant and engineering design studies. The mining strategy has been determined as an open pit to 125m depth, followed by an underground mine at its Wolverine deposit.

Javelin Minerals has ordered more air-core drilling at its Malamute rare earths and metals project, about 10km south-east of Tottenham in central New South Wales. The company will drill 18 new holes to follow up a 40-hole air-core program in 2019 that intersected significant lateritic material overlying ultramafic and mafic rock units, forming a prominent egg-shaped magnetic anomaly almost entirely within its ground.

Infinity Mining will drill 10 RC holes at its Brisbane nickel prospect in the Pilbara after receiving $117,810 in WA Government grant funding. The company has revealed plans to explore an ultramafic basal contact target at the prospect, in addition to a prominent conductive target that may represent nickel sulphides, which was identified by a helicopter electromagnetic survey.

Meeka Metals has added new impetus to Australia’s growing rare earths sector after unveiling 10 square kilometres of high-grade clay-hosted mineralisation at its Circle Valley project in WA. It will declare an initial resource in June after drilling gave grades up to 3084 parts per million total rare earth oxides with consistently high neodymium-praseodymium assays of up to 34 per cent of the TREO values.

Alaskan authorities have awarded 88 Energy the entire 10,291-square-kilometre Project Leonis lease area, south of the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field and north of its existing Phoenix operation and Hickory-1 well. Leonis sits near oil fields that successfully exploit the USB oil reservoir. In the project area, more than 60m of prospective oil zones were found in the Hemi Springs Unit 3 well.

Classic Minerals has forecast a start to gold production in June after completing bulk earthworks for the tailings storage facility at its wholly-owned Kat Gap gold mine, which is under construction 170km south of Southern Cross in WA’s Central Wheatbelt. The facility will be ready for use in May after the company installs a liner and monitoring bores.

Airborne magnetic and radiometric surveying at Venus Metals’ Mangaroon North rare earths project in WA’s Gascoyne region has identified high-priority rare earths carbonatite rock targets along a crustal structure. Eight ironstone-hosted rare earths targets, considered similar to Hastings’ Yangibana and Dreadnought’s Mangaroon-Yin projects, were identified over a 10km strike by the survey.

BMG Resources has delivered an impressive 518,000-ounce maiden gold resource from an 11.1-million-tonne haul at 1.45 grams per tonne gold at its Abercromby gold project near Wiluna. The company says mineralisation at its Capital gold deposit starts at surface and continues along strike outside the resource footprint, adding considerable potential. The project is on granted mining leases, providing an expedited pathway to mining approvals.

Auric Mining has drilled widespread sulphides and quartz veining over a 500m-long trend around an intensely-worked alluvial gold mine at Miitel South, near the abandoned WA town of Widgiemooltha. The best result in assays from three RC holes was 2m at 2.84 grams per tonne gold from 39m. It was part of a zone of widespread quartz veining and disseminated pyrite.

Venture Minerals has unveiled hopes of supplying boron to global markets after identifying large-scale borate-hosted tin and boron zones throughout its Mount Lindsay skarn mineralisation system in northern Tasmania. Venture appraised 102 historic diamond drill intersections to identify borate tin-boron zones not previously assessed in any mining studies at Mount Lindsay. Boron is critical in the solar panel and electric vehicle industries.

Brightstar Resources has extended its Cork Tree Well gold deposit 30km north of Laverton, WA with a successful 30 RC hole 6000m drilling campaign. Assays from the first 13 holes have confirmed gold mineralised extensions along strike and at depth with the best results including a 2m hit grading 4.23 grams per tonne gold from 106m, 2m running 3 g/t from 140m and 4m at 1.88 g/t gold from 152m.

Toro Energy has extended its Dimma nickel discovery with another massive nickel sulphide intersection of 2.4m with P-XRF analysis between 1.4 and 5.1 per cent nickel. Drilling intersected an 8.9m zone of visible nickel sulphide mineralisation from 327.2m downhole. Dimma is one of Toro’s four new nickel sulphide discoveries in a 7.5km long komatiite rock unit at WA’s Yandal greenstone belt.

88 Energy will proceed to flow testing after confirming multiple hydrocarbon bearing pay zones at its Alaskan Hickory-1 oil well. The company’s wireline program discovered a new zone in addition to verifying hydrocarbon bearing pay zones across all pre-drill targets. Estimated net pay was calculated from wireline data and totalled 137.1m. Pre-drill expectations were all met or exceeded on reservoir quality, thickness, size and total net pay.