James Pearson

Horizon Minerals says it expects to rake in $30 million in free cash flow from its Boorara gold project, 15km east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. After giving Boorara the green light just two months ago, the company has wasted little time getting its shovels into the ground for the project that is set to produce 49,500 ounces of gold.

Chariot Corporation has hitched its wagon to a pilot plant strategy at its United States-based Black Mountain lithium project in Wyoming to fast-track production and supply spodumene concentrate into that nation’s rising domestic demand for the silvery-white metal. The decision follows an internal review that revealed a quicker, lower-cost route to production in time to capitalise on a predicted resurgence in lithium prices.

Askari Metals' share price surged 63 per cent today on big volume after a strategic review of its 100 per cent-owned Mt Maguire gold project in Western Australia’s Ashburton region threw up historic high-grade hits. The findings included 2m at 12.14g/t from 35m and 31m at 0.84g/t from 20m as the company moves to tap into the potential for a gold discovery at the site.

Latitude 66 has wrapped up what could prove to be a pivotal 18-hole, 2197m diamond drilling program at the K South target within its Kuusamo Schist Belt (KSB) play in Finland, in a bid to lift the project’s gold resource. The company says all samples from the program have now been submitted to MSALABS in Canada, with assay results expected in early November.

Altech Batteries has clocked up a key milestone with the successful launch of its first 60kWh “Cerenergy” sodium-chloride battery prototype in Germany. The company says the battery unit, which has been installed at the Fraunhofer IKTS lab in Dresden, has passed all physical tests with “flying colours” and has smashed through forecast performance and efficiency expectations in the rigorous daily assessments.

Estrella Resources has revealed high-grade manganese in Timor-Leste just days after nailing down new exploration licenses at its Samalari prospect in the nation’s Baucau Municipality. The site is showing manganese oxide mineralisation along a 1.7km strike zone with widths of up to 5m and early samples have returned impressive hits going up to 53.9 per cent manganese, according to analysis from Australian Laboratory Services.

Lithium Universe has defied market trends to post an upbeat prefeasibility study for its Bécancour lithium carbonate refinery in the Canadian city of Québec, delivering a pre-tax NPV of US$779 million (AU$1.17 billion) and an annual EBITDA of US$147 million (AU$221 million) in its bid to service the growing North American market and fill the conversion gap by reducing the need for Chinese product.

Estrella Resources has locked up four extra exploration and evaluation concessions to kick off Timor-Leste’s newly-instituted 2021 mining code direct grant process. The leases, which are particularly prospective for manganese, sit in the Southeast Asian country’s western Baucau Municipality and add to its four exploration licences, 30km to the north-east, that it picked up last year.

A recently-completed magnetic survey by Carnaby Resources has jagged multiple new targets at the Greater Duchess copper-gold joint venture (JV) it shares with Latitude 66 near Mount Isa in Queensland. The versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey covering 194 line kilometres revealed multiple strong bedrock conductors at previously-undrilled sites at the JV’s Mount Hope and Nil Desperandum deposits.

Strickland Metals has struck the third-biggest drill result from its Rogozna play in Serbia, reeling in a hefty 50m intercept grading 5.6g/t gold equivalent as part of a total 365.8m hit at 2g/t. The drillhole was aimed at replicating the more than 300m-thick body of gold, copper and zinc mineralisation discovered at an earlier hole and has confirmed a 60m extension to the south-east.

Allup Silica has readied itself for drilling as early as next month in a bid to fast-track the development of its 100 per cent-owned McLaren heavy mineral sands project near Balladonia in WA as it pushes forward with a prefeasibility study. The infill drilling is aiming to refine the project’s existing resource estimate and ultimately target a 200 million-tonne deposit.

As market conditions continue to improve, Toro Energy has cranked up the resource estimate at its Lake Maitland deposit near Wiluna in WA to reveal a 12 per cent rise in its uranium resource and a 74 per cent jump in vanadium, after lowering the cut-off grade to 100 parts per million (ppm) to better align with its peers

American West Metals has sealed a US$12.5 million (AU$18.8 million) royalty funding deal from TMRF Canada – a subsidiary of Australian-based Taurus Funds Management – to boost the development of its Storm copper project in the Nunavut territory in northern Canada. The company expects to pocket the first US$1 million in the next few days and it will be followed shortly by an additional US$4 million.

Neometals has dusted off historical data to unveil a new Western Australian gold strategy at its Barrambie project that previously produced 27,000 ounces at 27.8g/t. The company says recent rock-chip samples threw up grades as high as 44g/t, prompting it to pivot back to the precious yellow metal, while its titanium and vanadium pursuits will now take a backseat.

Reach Resources says a grab sampling program has helped it unlock the geological key to its Wabli Creek rare earths play in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region. Armed with its newfound wisdom, the company is now drawing up an exploration plan aimed at replicating earlier successes at the site that include rock-chip samples from bedrock returning assays up to 17.65 per cent niobium oxide.

Antimony is the latest critical metal to send the hearts of ASX punters aflutter, but with new "must-have" metals constantly emerging, investors may be feeling just a little confused by the ever-changing landscape. Bulls N’ Bears takes a look into the rise and rise of the metal also sometimes referred to as stibnite and the companies jumping on the increasingly raucous bandwagon.

88 Energy has today reported a significant increase in the oil and gas resources in two of the six key reservoirs at its Phoenix project in northern Alaska following an independent assessment of the operation. The company says respected energy consultant ERCE Australia has verified the 50 per cent resource jump to 378 million equivalent barrels of oil at the project.

The ASX share price of Octava Minerals surged almost 200 per cent today after the company revealed high-grade antimony hits from historic drilling at its Yallalong project, 220km north of Geraldton in Western Australia. The finds include an impressive 3m at 6.83 per cent antimony and 7m at 3.27 per cent at a time when the silvery metal is all the range on global markets.

Lycaon Resources' share price has surged 31 per cent to 31.5c on significant trading volume after it secured the crucial heritage clearance that will enable a maiden drilling campaign at its Stansmore niobium-rare earths project in Western Australia’s West Arunta region. The company will use a $180,000 exploration incentive scheme grant from the WA Government to fund the program.

Altech Batteries has inked a letter of intent to supply 30 of its 1MWh Cerenergy GridPack sodium chloride batteries annually to be used at a major German industrial park for energy storage as part of a five-year deal starting in 2027. The agreement has been struck with consultancy firm Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe, which oversees the park in the Lusatia region of south-east Germany.

Novo Resources has joined the global hunt for antimony across its grounds in Western Australia’s Pilbara region on the back of widespread growing interest in the metal after China’s recent decision to implement export bans has reshaped the global supply chain. The company says it has identified two early-stage exploration sites – Sherlock Crossing and Southeast Wyloo – that are showing promising prospects.

Galan Lithium has rung the till for AU$25 million from a placement and a rights issue to support the completion of the first phase of lithium production from its Hombre Muerto West project in Argentina in 2025. The capital raise includes a firm commitment for AU$12 million through a placement at 10.5c per share and a non-renounceable entitlement offer aimed at raising an additional AU$13.3 million.

Empire Energy Group has locked in contractors to start drilling its Carpentaria-5H well next month, with an aim of supplying 25 terajoules a day for 10 years under a new agreement with the NT Government. The company has confirmed it has signed deals with Ensign Australia for drilling services and Halliburton Australia for fracture stimulation at the pilot project that sits 650km south-east of Darwin.

A gravity survey by Sipa Resources at the Barbwire Terrace project it shares with Buru Energy east of Broome in WA has unearthed a big anomaly and telltale structures to boost its chances of a lead-zinc find. Sitting on the southern margins of the Fitzroy Trough, the findings show geological similarities to the Lennard Shelf on the northern side of the trough.

A 14-hole step-back diamond drilling program has rewarded Aurum Resources with a gold hit of 40m at 1.03 grams per tonne from 136m at its Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire as it moves to develop a large-scale mine. The headline hit also features a 5m slice at 1.7g/t gold, with other results including 11m at 2.15g/t from 169m and 10m at 2.02g/t.

Meeka Metals has slotted in the final piece of the approvals puzzle from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS), allowing it to launch full-scale development of its Murchison gold project in Western Australia. With the green light now shining brightly, Meeka has quickly moved from planning to construction and is targeting its first gold pour by July next year.

Meeka Metals has secured a $73 million funding war chest, paving the way to finalising the development and production ramp-up at its 100 per cent-owned Murchison gold project in Western Australia. The funding comprises a $26 million gold loan and a $12 million gold stream from Auramet International, in addition to a $35 million institutional placement that includes a $5 million equity investment from Auramet.

A leadership restructure at Atomos and a new product suite has led to a 5.1 per cent increase in sales and lifted gross margins to 40 per cent as part of a solid financial turnaround for the video technology innovator. It comes on the back of a 22 per cent cut in fixed operating costs following a $15 million loss in the past year.

Strickland Metals has nailed more stellar gold hits from extensional drilling at the Warmblood prospect within its Horse Well camp near Wiluna in Western Australia. The company has extended the high-grade mineralised plunge at the site by an additional 170m, with a drill intersection of 7.9m at 9.7 grams per tonne peaking at a grade of 22g/t across 3.2m.

As part of an extensive exploration program at the Egina Gold Camp, Novo Resources and billionaire “prospector” Mark Creasy have stretched the strike extent at the joint-ventured Nunyerry North gold prospect in WA’s Pilbara region to 500m after some solid drill hits, including 13m at 2.68g/t from 66m, 11m at 2.20g/t from 84m and 17m at 1.85g/t from 25m.

In the high-stakes world of high-tech, Atomos had not so long ago lost its way. But with a new product suite and a new-old boss, the company appears to be surging back towards a healthy financial future. It comes on the back of returned managing director Jeromy Young’s restructuring of the company and its share price is now riding high on the promise of elevated sales.

Buxton Resources has revealed a 54m graphite zone, with 20m estimated to be grading more than 10 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC), in a maiden drillhole at its Ranger prospect in Western Australia’s Murchison region. Sitting within the company’s Narryer project, the discovery has bolstered its efforts to expand its graphite footprint, complementing the promising nearby Graphite Bull project.