Doug Bright

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.

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.

Aruma Resources has wasted little time in firming up confidence at its new Bortala project in the Mount Isa Copper Belt after an initial appraisal at the site confirmed some promising copper-gold targets. The acquisition revealed only in late May was part of what management described as potentially “company-changing” gains of two copper operations in Queensland and a highly-prospective IOCG and uranium play in SA.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Chilwa Minerals’ drilling in Malawi that threw up an intriguing intercept of 13m at 10.5 per cent total heavy minerals. We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits from last week reported by Magnetic Resources and West African Resources.

American West Metals has nailed 20m of copper at 2.3 per cent from 38m including 8m at 5.3 per cent in a drill campaign designed to test an electromagnetic (EM) anomaly at the “Gap” within its Storm project in Canada. The 8m intercept also jagged another 3m interval at 7 per cent copper from 41m, confirming the strong correlation between copper mineralisation and EM anomalism.

Lindian Resources has lifted the lid on a compelling new set of financial numbers for its giant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, including a whopping annual EBITDA of US$84 million (AU$124.5 million) in a 45-year mine life. A feasibility study on the project’s stage-one development also shows a post-tax payback period of just 1.5 years for a US$40 million (AU$60 million) pre-production capital outlay.

GreenTech Metals has kicked off its mission to lift the resource numbers at its Whundo base metals project in Western Australia’s West Pilbara region after cranking up a new 2200m reverse-circulation drilling program. The company flagged the program a fortnight ago, about a month after revealing that an extensive review, based largely on geophysics, had confirmed significant additional resource potential at the project.

Strickland Metals has gone back to its Horse Well gold camp in the Western Australian desert and returned with another string of impressive hits including 20.3m at 1.9 grams per tonne gold from 103

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the more notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Astute Metals’ 59.43m at 1300 parts per million lithium from 73.2m. We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits revealed last week by Patagonia Lithium, Australian Rare Earths and FireFly Metals.

Gold Mountain will keep a foot planted on the Salitre lithium project in Brazil that is now set to become a joint venture operation that it will share with Alderan Resources and Mars Mines in a new earn-in deal. The move will allow Gold Mountain to retain exposure to exploration upside at Salitre, while also narrowing its focus on its diverse portfolio of mineral holdings.

St George Mining has defined a promising 2.1km-diameter high-density circular intrusive at its Destiny project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields via a follow-up gravity survey designed to identify potential rare earths-rich carbonatite targets. The company says the geophysical characteristics of the gravity anomaly are consistent with a potentially-mineralised intrusive body that could be similar to other local structures known to host rare earths and related mineral suites.

Aurum Resources has delivered yet another suite of lengthy gold hits from its burgeoning Boundiali project in West Africa’s Côte d'Ivoire, this time with a headline act showing 69m at 1.05 grams per tonne gold from 195m including 12m at 2.28g/t. Another hole in the ongoing campaign bored through 10m at 1.97g/t gold from 131m including 2m at 7.37g/t.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the more curious drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Culpeo Minerals’ biggest-ever run of 298m at 0.98 per cent copper equivalent from 90m downhole. We also take a close look at other notable drill hits last week from Wildcat Resources, Spartan Resources and Terra Metals.

GreenTech Metals is putting the finishing touches on a new 2200m reverse-circulation drilling plan aimed at lifting the resource numbers at its Whundo volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit in Western Australia’s West Pilbara region. The move follows the company’s detailed review of the old Whundo and Ayshia deposits and other spatially or geologically-related targets identified between the two zones, primarily from fixed-loop electromagnetic geophysics

Triangle Energy expects to have the drill rods turning late next month at its Booth-1 well in the North Perth Basin after the company today confirmed the rig will soon be released to the joint venture project. Management says Booth hosts a prospective resource range of between 113 and 540 billion cubic feet of gas (Bcf), with a best estimate of 279Bcf.

Classic Minerals has pumped up the combined indicated resources for its Lady Ada and Lady Magdalene deposits to establish a new mark of 69,966 ounces of gold at the company’s Forrestania project near Southern Cross in Western Australia. Management says its inferred resource for the two projects now shows more than 227,613 gold ounces, bringing the combined indicated and inferred resource to 297,579 ounces.

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.

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.

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.

King River Resources has completed 11 reverse-circulation drillholes for 1824m at two of the company’s Langrenus gold targets within its Tennant Creek project in the Northern Territory and has sent some 1300 samples away for assay. Management now plans to move the rig to its Commitment deposit, then back to Langrenus to test the orientation of a new quartz-haematite target.

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 Southern Cross Gold’s 0.5m at 473g/t gold equivalent from 913.6m. We also take a close look at other notable drill hits in the past week from Falcon Metals, Flynn Gold, Northern Minerals and Austral Resources.

Liatam Mining has today confirmed it will spend $6 million in a new hunt for lithium at the Quartz Hill joint venture project it shares with Novo Resources in WA’s Pilbara region. Exploration to date has extended the known hard rock lithium mineralisation at the JV’s Lepidolite Fields prospect, with sampling results reading as high as 2.71 per cent lithium oxide and 828ppm caesium oxide.

Strickland Metals’ Palomino prospect has produced more strong results, with a top new hit of 10.6m at 7.5g/t gold from 161.4m including 3m going 21.2g/t at the project within WA’s Yandal gold belt. Reinforcing other recent gold runs, the company’s latest RC drilling also threw out 9m going 2.4g/t gold from 22m and a deeper 21m intercept in the same hole at 1g/t from 76m.

Aurumin has smashed its previous ASX trading volume record out of the park after it revealed a bonanza gold grade hit of 1m going 344 grams per tonne from 43m in drilling at its Sandstone project in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The immediate market response saw 56 million of the company’s shares change hands – more than six times its previous record volume.

Si6 Metals has increased its tenement area in the Limpopo Mobile Belt in Botswana by 45 per cent to a total of 2868 square kilometres after being granted a new 903sq-km prospecting licence. The newly-granted ground in the South African country sits 7km south of the company’s high-grade copper-silver projects at Airstrip and Dibete and the Maibele North nickel-copper-cobalt.

Neometals is looking to stage a US$10 million ($AU15.1 million) cash-and-shares payment to grab an 80 per cent share in a United States-based company which has developed a hydrometallurgical process that selectively recovers precious metals from industrial waste streams. The company says it has secured an option for the acquisition, believing its expertise could increase production by further refining the pilot-plant process.

Terrain Minerals says the latest gallium and rare earths hits at its Larin’s Lane project have provided more compelling evidence of an emerging mineralisation province in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The company’s air-core sample assays show total rare earth oxides (TREO) to a high of 3254ppm and surprisingly-elevated gallium signatures to a maximum of 53.74ppm gallium oxide.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we unravel some of the more curious drill intersections revealed on the ASX last week, including Turaco Gold’s long 105m hit at 1.61 grams per tonne gold from 135m. We also take a close look at other notable drill hits from Everest Metals Corporation, Toubani Resources, Venture Minerals and Aurum Resources.

Image Resources has edged a step closer to its mining plans at its high-grade Atlas mineral sands project 90km north of Boonanarring in Western Australia after securing environmental approval for the proposed development. Atlas’ 18 million-tonne resource features a heavy mineral grade of 6 per cent, including 9.3 per cent zircon, 46 per cent ilmenite, 4 per cent leucoxene and 6.5 per cent rutile.