James Pearson

Suvo Strategic Minerals has turned nickel slag, the highly-polluting waste product of nickel pig iron production, into a high-strength, low-cost and low-carbon cement. Confirming positive laboratory testing that could revolutionise the centuries-old cement industry, the company says its recent trials in collaboration with Makassar State University in Indonesia achieved a compressive strength of 37.5 megapascals (MPa) after just seven days.

Fresh from delivering a feasibility study on its massive Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, Lindian Resources has completed a successful North American roadshow to promote the project's economic credentials and explore finance options. The company says it has fielded strong interest in helping it fund the first two stages of the operation and is in the process of reviewing potential partners.

Strickland Metals has landed a massive 545.7m drill hit grading 1.1 grams per tonne gold equivalent to create a northern resource extension of the Shanac deposit within its Rogozna gold and base metals project in Serbia. The intersection came from one of three recently-finished holes at site. Starting at 108m, it also included higher-grade sections of 102m at 1.7g/t and 30m at 2.4g/t.

Horizon Minerals has secured the green light to start gold mining at Phillips Find in WA, less than a week after mining the first ore from its Boorara mine that also sits in the State's Goldfields region.

Larvotto Resources is set to fast-track the development of its Hillgrove gold-antimony mine in NSW after appointing a manager to crunch the numbers for a definitive feasibility study by early next year, in a bid to start production in late 2025. MACA Interquip Mintrex will look after the metallurgical testing and necessary plant design modifications to optimise the 500,000 tonnes per annum processing plant.

Thunderbird Resources has revealed recordings of elevated radioactivity levels up to 597 counts per second using a downhole gamma probe in a maiden drilling campaign at its 100 per cent-owned Hidden Bay uranium project in Canada's Athabasca Basin. The recordings came in the fifth and final drillhole of the program that bore through 1781m in the renowned region.

Radiopharm Theranostics has moved closer to securing investigational new drug approval for a cancer-fighting radio-antibody after manufacturing the first batch of its “BetaBart” radiotherapeutic agent.

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.