Andrew Todd

Toro Energy is closing in on the finalised design of a pilot plant that will allow it to test ores from three uranium-vanadium deposits at its project south-west of the WA town of Wiluna later this year. The plant will test improved beneficiation and hydrometallurgical circuits Toro has developed at near-production scale with an eye to incorporating the design flow sheet upgrade into future feasibility studies.

Ora Banda Mining has increased the gold production and head grade from its Davyhurst mine in Western Australia’s Goldfields region as it ramps up its mission to become a high-grade underground miner. The company today confirmed record gold-ounce production for the past quarter, fuelled by its new Riverina underground development, despite confronting considerable weather delays during the month of June.

Triangle Energy’s payoff for the sale to Pilot Energy of its Cliff Head oil asset off the coast of Western Australia now stacks up to $16 million after adjustments made to offset delays in the deal settlement. The new agreement features an extra $1 million for Triangle, which now plans to focus on its prospective conventional oil and gas activities in the Perth Basin.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … the ASX itself. The ASX 200 hit an all-time high of 8083.7 points, indicating to investors that there may just be green shoots and blue skies ahead. Small-cap companies that ran hard during a promising week included DGR Global, Labyrinth Resources, Miramar Resources and Stelar Metals.

White Cliff Minerals says it has now uncovered four visible iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) systems during the company’s initial field program at its promising Great Bear Lake project in northern Canada. One of the four hydrothermal system discoveries has been dubbed the “Cleaver” target and, according to management, it has a gossanous zone so extensive that it is identifiable via satellite.

Aurumin has unmasked what it says is a “real” high-grade iron ore discovery with the potential for significant scale at its flagship Sandstone gold project in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The company has confirmed high-grade rock chip assays up to 67 per cent iron in banded-iron formations within a discontinuous strike of about 6km at the site.

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.

The new combined ASX entity known as Latitude 66 believes it has high-tech electromagnetic data that makes exploration at its flagship KSB gold-cobalt project in Finland as easy as “shooting fish in a barrel”. DiscovEx Resources’ reverse takeover of Latitude 66 Cobalt has put together “a group of like-minded people” after the corporate transaction on the back of a $4 million capital raise.

Ora Banda Mining has beefed up the mineral resources and ore reserves at its Davyhurst gold project in WA, attributing the growth to its underground exploration success and the definition of a new gold lode. The company not only managed to increase its underground ore reserve by 94 per cent, but also sweetened up the gold reserve grade by an extra 17 per cent.

Aurumin has unveiled a new suite of positive gold hits from four of its seven new targets at the company’s 881,000-ounce Sandstone gold project in Western Australia following a first-pass reverse-circulation drilling campaign. With more imminent drilling to come, the latest finds build on results in May that included a bonanza 1m intersection of 344g/t from the company’s Plum Pudding target.

Lycaon Resources has won a tenement ballot for a highly-prospective new lithium and copper project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The tenement, in addition to four other applications, lies adjacent to the Marble Bar and DOM’s Hill projects that are held in a joint venture by Kali Metals and lithium major Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM).

Dateline Resources has kicked the door in as the latest entrant to the million-ounce gold club on the ASX having just tabled a 1.1 million-ounce resource last month at its Colosseum gold and rare earths project near Las Vegas running 1.26g/t gold. Notably, the company says the resource still has plenty of legs, but it is also showing early signs of rare earths in a region that is revered for the scale and grade of its rare earths.

American West Metals has secured $18.8 million in non-dilutive funding to accelerate its Storm copper project in Canada after signing a royalty package deal with Australian-based Taurus Mining Royalty Fund. The funding package is designed to underpin the exploration and drilling activities that are already underway at the potentially district-scale project, along with fast-tracking project development amid a surging global thirst for copper production.

Reach Resources has stepped closer to unlocking the exploration potential of its Wabli Creek rare earths project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region after scheduling a crucial Aboriginal heritage survey. The company today confirmed it would be meeting next month with the local Burringurrah Aboriginal Corporation in a bid to gain clearance for its long-awaited maiden drilling program that could launch as soon as next quarter.

Buru Energy’s Ungani oilfield is set for a new lease on life following the company’s significant farm-in agreement with Sabre Energy that is designed to spearhead a production restart and continued exploration at the site in Western Australia’s Canning Basin. Sabre will earn a 70 per cent interest in the Ungani oilfield and control of the operations for a $6 million outlay.