James Pearson

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.

Carnaby Resources has jagged 3m at 3.2 per cent copper and 2.2 grams per tonne gold – including 1m at 7.6 per cent copper and 3.8g/t gold – at the Lady Fanny prospect within the Greater Duchess joint venture (JV) with Latitude 66 near Mt Isa in Queensland underlining the prospectivity of the deposit to host a greater resource than its 46,500 tonnes of copper equivalent.

Reach Resources has identified new high-priority targets rich in niobium and rare earths after nailing down a comprehensive mapping and sampling campaign at its Wabli Creek project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region. The company plans to use the results gleaned from its latest work to plan a drilling program that it expects to roll out towards the end of this year.

Dateline Resources drilling has reeled in two giant hits going 1g/t gold, including a richer zone of 10.7m of 8.17g/t, as it works to bring its Colosseum project in California back into production. The company says its first two diamond drillholes show 203.6m grading 1.03g/t gold and 192m running at 1g/t, confirming the potential for expanded mineralisation at the site.

Galan Lithium has signed a memorandum of understanding with China-based Chengdu Chemphys Chemical Industry Co., paving the way for a US$40 million funding and offtake package at its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina. The package, subject to due diligence, will be in exchange for a five-year purchase agreement for Galan to deliver a total of 23,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent material.

Latitude 66 has started turning the diamond drill bit at the K South prospect within its Kuusamo Schist Belt gold project in northern Finland. The company says the initial focus will be on its K9 and K8 targets, with the drilling program set to extend up to a total of 2000m in a bid to unlock further high-grade hits of the yellow metal.

ASX-listed Neometals has switched up its corporate strategy to sharpen focus on rolling out bigger and more lithium-ion battery recycling plants to a growing list of license holders via the Primobius joint venture it shares with SMS group. It will also target the sale of non-core assets and building strategic partnerships to share the ongoing development expenditure of other technologies to better manage its capital.

Strickland Metals has reeled in another mammoth hit from the Shanac deposit within its Rogozna gold-base metals project in Serbia, this time unveiling 308.4m grading 1.9 grams per tonne gold equivalent. The impressive intercept follows up an 89.7m hit running at 4g/t that was drilled at an opposing angle on the same deposit, as revealed by the company just a fortnight ago.

Xanadu Mines has revealed a significant increase in the mineral resource estimate for its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, reporting a 463,000-tonne increase in contained copper and a 746,000-ounce rise in contained gold. The boost has been driven by both the results of new drilling at the White Hill deposit and a refined pit design generated as part of the company’s current prefeasibility studies.

Larvotto Resources is ready to roar into a highly-anticipated drilling campaign at its wholly-owned Hillgrove gold-antimony project in New South Wales after securing the required drill permits to launch the work. The company has designed the program to test a significant geochemical anomaly south of its Clarks Gully deposit and will conduct infill drilling with 20m spacing to enhance its confidence in the resource.

Radiopharm Theranostics has secured the services of United States-based Dr Dimitris Voliotis as its new chief medical officer in a bid to advance the company’s novel fight against aggressive cancers. Dr Voliotis comes to the company with almost 20 years of experience under his belt in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors across the US and Europe and has also spent 12 years pursuing academic research.

St George Mining has beefed up its in-country leadership in Brazil – and its environmental credentials – by securing a pair of renowned niobium experts as it completes the acquisition of the high-grade, niobium-rich Araxá rare earths project in the State of Minas Gerais. The company says its new appointments add a combined four decades worth of experience in managing mining operations in Brazil.

Larvotto Resources has cited China’s recent decision to install export bans on antimony as a key reason behind its 100 per cent share price surge and increased trading volumes since Friday’s ASX market open. However, the company has also made its own luck, purchasing the Hillgrove mine in NSW six months ago for $8 million, including a $5 million environmental bond.

White Cliff Minerals has dished up more promising rock-chip samples from a maiden program at its Great Bear Lake project in Canada, including hits of up to 42 per cent copper, 17.4g/t gold and 716g/t silver. Management believes the discovery of consistent high-grade copper, gold and silver occurrences across a relatively small portion of the project underscores the district's significance.

Hot on the heels of kicking off the oil well pad construction at the Rafael Shallow 1 project in Western Australia’s Canning Basin earlier this week, Buru Energy has named David Maxwell as the company’s new chairman. Maxwell will replace retiring chairman and founding shareholder Eric Streitberg, who is regarded as an industry stalwart after compiling a 50-year career.

Allup Silica has beefed up the leadership team tasked with producing a prefeasibility study on its mineral sands project in Western Australia's Eucla Basin by installing Simon Finnis as its new managing director. The company has also added experienced mineral sands operator Peter Secker as a non-executive director as it ramps up its plans to develop the McLaren valuable heavy mineral sands project.

Estrella Resources has applied for four additional exploration and evaluation licenses, identified as containing rich outcropping manganese, in Timor-Leste’s Baucau municipality. The new coastal licenses, which are 8km west of the company’s existing grounds, cover an area of 194.4 square kilometres. If granted, the additional prospects would bring Estrella’s total landholding in the country to nearly 700 square kilometres.

Latitude 66 has found evidence of high-grade gold hits after digging through historical data from its K8 target in northern Finland and says the findings support the company’s previous strong assay results and is further evidenced through recent geophysical work at the site. The data was previously compiled from drilling campaigns run by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and former project owner Belvedere Resources.

With Galan Lithium’s phase one pond inventories now sitting at 3200 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) – up 15 per cent from last month – and its fourth and fifth ponds nearing completion, the company has continued to make strong inroads at its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in the Catamarca region of Argentina as it continues to push forward with finance and offtake agreements.

Aruma Resources has acquired three new projects featuring copper and uranium in South Australia and Queensland, adding to the company’s three-project rare earths and lithium portfolio in Western Australia. The new projects include the Wilan iron oxide-copper-gold-uranium project on SA’s Olympic Dam doorstep and the Queensland-based Fiery Creek copper play and Bortala copper operation that both sit within the State’s Mt Isa region.

Aurum Resources has launched a scoping study to assess the development potential of its Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire after locking in metallurgical experts in a push to deliver a resource estimate by year’s end. After a recent raft of high-grade hits and strong metallurgical test results, the appointments also signal the next step in pushing the project quickly towards a prefeasibility study.