Doug Bright

Horizon Minerals has extended deep gold mineralisation under its Penny West mine in Western Australia’s Goldfields region and it will be just one of several targets dripping with the yellow metal that the company will further explore next year. Management has also proven two distinct gold mineralisation styles at Kanowna South and intersected supergene gold up to 10g/t at Binduli.

Horizon Minerals has revealed details about its pathway to gold production and a longer-term project pipeline relating to four of the company’s extensive suite of projects, mostly within about 35kms of Kalgoorlie. The details provide a snapshot on the company’s ramp-up work, including bringing on the underground operations at Cannon and Penny’s Find and its open-pit developments at Kalpini and Boorara.

Gold Mountain has applied for 57 exploration licences enclosing more than 100,000 hectares of rare earths terrain in Brazil ¬– and the ground sits right next to a major inferred 510.3-million-tonnes-resource. The company’s new “Down Under” project in the State of Bahia is partly contiguous with Brazilian Rare Earths’ tenure and a resource with an overall grade of 1513ppm total rare earth oxides.

Horizon Minerals has set off on a lithium hunt through its gold-bearing Western Australian tenements after generating new exploration targets in the Goldfields and near the world-renowned Greenbushes project in the State’s South West region. The company says it has been encouraged by its results to date, but more work is now planned as it looks to broaden its operations.

Venture Minerals has produced what it says are exceptional assays of up to almost 7400 parts per million total rare earth oxides in a maiden 25-hole RC drilling program at its new Jupiter target in Western Australia’s Mid West region. Results reveal a remarkable consistency in multiple intercepts of between 12m and 32m thick and ranging on average between 2000ppm and 2500ppm TREO.

GreenTech Metals has revealed West Pilbara pegmatite intersections up to 24.6m thick in a maiden diamond drillhole that reached down to 810.2m at its Osborne joint venture lithium project … with more holes still to come. The company believes its highlight hit from 674m downhole could represent a down-dip extension of a mapped pegmatite at surface.

The State Government has thrown its financial grunt in behind Infinity Mining’s diamond drilling program at the company’s Tambourah South lithium project, with a $149,675 Exploration Incentive Scheme grant. Infinity will fund the balance of the $299,350 program, which will see the drilling of two NQ-diameter diamond holes to depths of up to 300m to evaluate the geology under the project’s pegmatite swarm.

Terrain Minerals has kicked off a maiden air-core drilling campaign at its Larins Lane base metals-gold-silver prospect to test for what it believes could be a deposit analogous to 29Metals’ hulking Golden Grove operation in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The company plans to drill 145 holes for 2500m in two priority categories on three separate main targets and a handful of unexplained anomalies.

Following several recent divestments, Aurumin has made good its promise to home in on its 946,000-ounce Sandstone gold project in Western Australia’s Mid West region after revealing it had secured three new exploration licences. The move more than doubles the company’s presence in the central project area as it gets closer to eradicating an overhanging $6.4 million debt relating to its Sandstone acquisition last year.

Aurumin has continued to level its exploration and financial focus further on its Sandstone gold project in Western Australia after selling the iron ore rights at its Mt Dimer operation to a subsidiary of Mineral Resources. It will retain exposure through progress and royalty payments as part of a $250,000 sale to Polaris Metals for iron ore rights at four of its Mt Dimer tenements.

Chimeric Therapeutics’ mission to beat cancer with its “natural killer” therapy has hit a new high point, with test-tube studies showing a 300 per cent increase in its ability to kill the pancreatic form of the insidious disease. The company’s latest revelations also show its off-the-shelf “CLTX CAR NK” cell therapy recording a 260 per cent jump in killing ovarian cancer.

Infinity Mining’s recent drilling in a big swarm of stacked Pilbara pegmatites has yielded assays of up to 2.1 per cent lithium oxide and supportive rubidium, caesium and tantalum values, with more work to come. The company says its campaign of eight reverse-circulation drillholes for 834m at its Tambourah South project in Western Australia produced several outstanding shallow lithium-caesium-tantalum intercepts.

Askari Metals has jagged a high of 24.5g/t gold in one rock-chip sample from its Myrnas Hill project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara region, while soil samples yielded up to 2g/t, 1.37g/t and other lower gold and nickel spikes. The company says the campaign also recorded elevated nickel responses of up to 1280 parts per million.

A research and development tax rebate of nearly $5 million from the Australian Government will boost Radiopharm Theranostics’ mission to further develop its suite of diagnostic and therapeutic products aimed at beating the cancer scourge. The refund recognises the company’s R&D activity during the 2023 financial year and comes as it prepares to run clinical pancreatic cancer trials in New York.

Two diamond-core holes drilled by Alma Metals into the central zone of its Briggs porphyry copper-molybdenum project in Central Queensland have defined thick mineralisation extending from surface through almost the full 200m hole depths. The company says its latest results further support the possibility for bringing to life its previous visions of a shallow, high-grade initial open pit.

Gutsy copper-gold extensions have emerged at Queensland’s Greater Duchess joint venture project – held by DiscovEx Resources and Carnaby Resources – following a new, seven-hole diamond drilling campaign. The JV says results associated with an “intensely strong” downhole EM conductor at its Chalcus lode were highlighted by an 87m hit going 2.3 per cent copper and 0.5g/t gold from 550m.

A $5 million placement has helped Buru Energy advance preparations for its mission to appraise its 100 per cent-owned wet gas and condensate Rafael discovery in Western Australia’s Canning Basin after the end of the Kimberley wet season mid-next year. It has now ordered long-lead items, advanced detailed well design and discussions with potential rig providers and has 3D seismic data processing on schedule.

Aurumin is sharpening its focus on its Sandstone gold project in WA after selling its Mt Dimer ground in a strategic decision that has edged it closer to wiping out an overhanging $6.4 million debt. It will pocket $3 million from Beacon Minerals for the sale of Mt Dimer, leaving just $1.4 million to pay to remove a convertible note relating to its Sandstone acquisition.

Reach Resources has mobilised Strike Drilling to start a 9000m phase-two reverse-circulation drill program at its Morrissey Hill lithium project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region – right next door to the notable Delta Lithium discovery. The campaign is designed to follow up results from previous drilling at the Bonzer prospect where all phase-one drillholes hit pegmatites, with some individual intercepts up to 30m long.

Altech Batteries says a decision to remove graphite from a definitive feasibility study into its Silumina Anodes pilot plant in Germany has triggered an “eightfold” output increase to 8000 tonnes per annum of alumina-coated silicon. The modified study, which reveals the increase from 1000 tonnes per annum, is in response to customer preferences and has been achieved with no change to the plant or equipment.

Neometals says it has discovered visible spodumene, the major hard-rock source of lithium, under ultraviolet light in historic diamond core from its Spargos exploration licence, which straddles the prospective Mt Ida fault, north/north-west of Norseman in Western Australia. No modern or older lithium assays are available, but resampling and verification work is underway on selected old core retained by the company.

Strickland Metals has intercepted promising shearing and alteration in four diamond holes completed at its Marwari gold play near Wiluna in Western Australia, with a fifth hole in progress at the company’s intriguing new focus ground. It follows revelations 10 days ago that it had suddenly redirected all reverse-circulation and diamond drill rigs to Marwari, sending its share price on a tear.

ChemX Materials has nailed the vital “4N” (99.99 per cent) product purity in alumina from its trial micro-plant in Perth and is now refocusing on the commissioning of its proposed pilot plant in next year’s first quarter. It confirmed 4N in an analysis of 66 elements, with a best result of just 39ppm total impurities (99.996 per cent purity) – close to 5N.

Battery materials recycler Neometals says purification testwork on its pilot proprietary “ELi” lithium production process removes more than 97 per cent of brine feed-source impurities, creating a solution suitable for electrolysis. The company says the level of purification in the clean brine solution meets the specification required for the electrolytic stage in its majority-owned and trademarked ELi process.

Drilling and geophysical surveys at Venture Minerals’ new Jupiter prospect in Western Australia’s Mid West region has revealed the strong possibility it may contain a clay-hosted and deep intrusive rare earths resource that warrants early follow-up drilling. The diversified metals explorer says air-core drilling results include a hole that intersected 28m at 2246ppm total rare earth oxides in clays.

ABx Group has launched the operation of its new pilot batch reactor in a world-first process to produce hydrogen fluoride from bath, a fluoride-rich waste product from aluminium smelting, at its technology centre in NSW. The company and its subsidiary, Alcore, believe the process they have developed could have great potential for Australia, which currently imports all of its aluminium fluoride.

Australian battery materials producer Neometals says its joint venture partner Primobius has produced industry-leading quality in trial production of battery-grade nickel sulphate from recycled lithium-ion batteries. The company believes the development, using Primobius’ patented technology, has immeasurable implications for sustainability through the recycling of expired batteries, which have largely unchanged components that can be recovered and turned into new batteries.

Everest Metals has signed a memorandum of understanding with Edith Cowan University to collaborate on rubidium extraction tests on samples from its Mt Edon lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite project near Paynes Find in Western Australia. The company has been developing a path to unlocking a rubidium-lithium resource since drilling identified high-grade zones of up to 0.51 per cent rubidium oxide and 0.94 per cent lithium oxide.

Titanium Sands is a significant step closer to securing a mining licence for its $545 million Mannar Island heavy mineral sands project in Sri Lanka after landowners affected by the operation signed land access agreements. The company describes the agreements as a milestone moment that takes it further towards completing its environmental impact obligations at the site.

Buxton Resources’ burgeoning union with mining giant IGO has struck a positive new chord after the latter’s first diamond drillhole at their joint venture project in Western Australia’s West Kimberley region confirmed high-grade massive nickel sulphides from 179.06m depth. Headline results include 13.24m at 4.35 per cent nickel from 177.34m, with 5.6m at 7.47 per cent nickel from 179.08m.

Strickland Metals’ share price has renewed a wild rise that has seen a 446 per cent jump in just eight months as it flew more than 59 per cent today on intriguing news at its Marwari gold play near the Western Australian town of Wiluna. The company now has all of its diamond and RC drill rigs focussed on exploring the potential of Marwari.

Perth-based Triangle Energy and joint venture partner Athena Exploration have been offered five Cragganmore gas field blocks estimated to contain some 527 billion cubic feet of gas in the North Sea’s West of Shetlands province. The blocks are next to 16 others in two gas fields offered to petroleum giant Shell and have produced gas from two prior wells drilled in 2012.