Michael Philipps

Chariot Corporation has hit the ground running at its Black Mountain lithium project in Wyoming, with the first three holes drilled delivering initial hard rock results peaking at 3.09 per cent lithium oxide. The company says all three holes intersected high-grade spodumene mineralisation, confirming the potential of the lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite swarms at the United States-based project.

AVZ Minerals has increased the resource at its Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an extraordinary 842 million tonnes at 1.61 per cent lithium oxide, representing a massive 47 per cent rise. The remarkable resource expansion comes after the company generated results from a 53-hole diamond drill campaign across 15,684m along strike from known mineralisation at its Roche Dure deposit.

Venture Minerals has engaged resources-focused advisory company Argonaut PCF to undertake a strategic review of the Riley iron ore mine in Tasmania following increased interest due to high iron ore prices. The company believes it is in a position to consider its options after its offtake agreement with Prosperity Stell lapsed and the iron ore price rose to more than $220 per tonne in December.

A cashed-up Image Resources is focused on relocating its mining and ore processing operations to its wholly-owned Atlas project in Western Australia’s North Perth Basin after making significant progress with approvals. Atlas is a high-grade mineral sands mine containing 5.5 million tonnes of ore reserves at 9.2 per cent total heavy minerals (HM) and 96 per cent contained HM in the proven category.

American West Metals has unveiled a maiden mineral resource for its Storm project in Canada of 17.5 million tonnes at 1.2 per cent copper and 3.4g/t silver after just one season of resource drilling. The JORC-compliant estimate holds 205,000 tonnes of copper and 1.9 million ounces of silver at the operation on Somerset Island in the Canadian province of Nunavut.

Auric Mining has recorded multiple high-grade intercepts from grade control drilling at its Munda gold project near Widgiemooltha in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, including a 1m hit at a stunning 184.6g/t gold. The company has drilled 351 holes to complete the campaign, with assays already received from 244 holes sunk representing about 70 per cent of the program back from the laboratory.

The Nunuvut Planning Commission has given White Cliff Minerals the go-ahead to kick off exploration at its Coppermine project in Canada, where it will follow up on high-grade historical copper results. The company says it marks a major step in the permitting process and allows it to appoint contractors for this year’s exploration initiatives in the Canadian province of Nunavut.

Strickland Metals has kicked off drilling at its Earaheedy and Yandal projects in WA’s Pilbara region with a rig already operating on-site to focus on the company’s large-scale Rabbit Well base metals prospect. Management says a 6000m reverse circulation drill program has been designed at Rabbit Well to map out the mineralisation and geology of the target in preparation for follow up diamond drilling.

Galan Lithium says it is just two weeks away from beginning the evaporation process at its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina with the initial filling of its first pond underway. The move marks the first major step of the long-term production schedule for the project where Galan is aiming to produce high-grade concentrate of up to 6 per cent lithium by the first half of 2025.

Auric Mining has hit the ground running in 2024 with toll mining set to recommence at its Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman in Western Australia as soon as March following a successful finish to last year. The company produced more than 9740 ounces during two mining campaigns with joint venture (JV) partner BML Ventures in 2023, returning a total gold revenue of $29.28 million for the first stage of the two-year project.

Xanadu Mines has entered into a binding term sheet to earn up to 80 per cent of the Sant Tolgoi project in Mongolia which hosts multiple shallow copper-nickel targets over several kilometres of strike. The deal adds to the company’s already significant presence in Mongolia which is home to its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project and its highly prospective Red Mountain operation.

Ora Banda Mining has increased gold production and the head grade from its Davyhurst plant in WA’s Goldfields region for the third consecutive quarter while lifting its gold sales by 15 per cent. According to its December quarterly report, the company produced 16,340 ounces at a head grade of 2.1 grams per tonne and sold 15,387 gold ounces from its Davyhurst operations for the three-month period. All-in sustaining costs reduced by 15 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

St George Mining has expanded its footprint on the Ida fault in Western Australia’s Goldfields region after picking up a new exploration licence alongside its Destiny rare earths and lithium project. The recently acquired Prince of Wales tenement is considered prospective for lithium, nickel and gold mineralisation and covers about 8km of the Ida fault next door to Destiny’s 90km stretch of the geological feature.

Meeka Metals has extended its positive run of gold hits during the final seven infill holes drilled at its St Anne’s prospect with a 31m section grading 1.11grams per tonne gold from 31m including 4m at 4.66g/t gold. St Anne’s has an estimated mineral resource of about 277,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.8g/t gold for a contained 25,000 ounces of gold and forms part of the company’s Murchison gold project about 30km north-east of Meekatharra.

White Cliff Minerals has added 3300sq-km to its Canadian portfolio after securing the Radium Point multi-element project in the Northwest Territories province that takes in several historical mining operations. The company is focussed on iron-oxide-copper-gold-uranium deposits and silver mineralisation in the area that hosts the historical Eldorado, Echo Bay and Contact Lake mines.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears top ASX runner is… Kali Metals. Its share price rose up some 256 per cent to join fellow movers and shakers Culpeo Minerals, Jupiter Energy and Singular Health Group.

While 2023 saw explorers flock to the James Bay region of Quebec in Canada, a host of ASX-listed companies set their sights further north to the province of Nunavut to hunt for gold, copper and critical minerals. With Quebec becoming a little too popular, several hopefuls decided to roll the dice in the cold, but far less crowded province of Nunavut.

Larvotto Resources says new testwork shows it can simply and efficiently upgrade rare earths samples from its Eyre multi-element project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region by using a hydrometallurgical cyclosizer. AC drilling last April at Eyre’s Merivale South prospect returned impressive total rare earth oxides results of up to 1.26 per cent, or 12,611ppm, including 3787ppm magnetic rare earth oxides.

Galan Lithium is making impressive progress with the construction of its wholly-owned Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina, with its first evaporation pond almost complete and liner installation underway. Filling the initial pond is expected this quarter, with the evaporation process for the operation – the first major step of the company’s long-term production schedule – set to begin in the coming months.

Si6 Metals has received the green light from shareholders to acquire a 50 per cent share in four Brazilian projects covering 10 exploration licenses and form a joint venture with seller Foxfire Metals. The purchase will see the company pick up the half share in tenements covering 17,000 hectares across three Brazilian States prospective for lithium, rare earths, gold, base metals and platinum group elements.

Larvotto Resources has lit up a slew of new drill targets at its Mt Isa copper-gold-cobalt project in Queensland after collecting more than 6200 samples from a geochemical soil sampling program last year. Key areas highlighted for further exploration include the Ballara Saddle, Portal Creek, IXL and Psamathe targets, with a geophysical induced-polarisation survey already underway.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears top ASX runner is … Orion Equities. Its shares rose more than 250 per cent to join fellow movers and shakers Pan Asia Metals, MTM Critical Minerals and Calima Energy.

While some companies slow down at the end of each year, Valor Resources spent December building its lithium and uranium portfolio and also added a cool $1 million to its coffers through a successful placement. The first move it made in the last month of 2023 was entering into an exclusive option agreement to pick up three lithium projects in the Canadian province of Ontario.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears profiled ASX runner is … MTM Critical Metals. Its shares tripled this week to join fellow movers and shakers Culpeo Minerals, Novo Resources and Millennium Services Group.

Novo Resources is closing out its year with a flurry, revealing it has formed a new joint venture partnership with private company Liatam Mining for its Quartz Hill project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara region. Subject to TSX approval, Liatam has also agreed to invest $1.8 million for 9 million Novo shares at 20c each to increase its shareholding to about 6 per cent.

Galan Lithium is on track to install the first pond of its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina before the end of the year, with 85 per cent of the construction process now complete. The initial filling of the pond is expected by the first quarter of next year and the project remains on track for maiden production in the first half of 2025.

Altech Batteries has forecast a stunning project life EBITDA of more than €3.08 billion (AU$5 billion) for its 8000 tonnes per annum Silumina Anodes project in Germany following the completion of a definitive feasibility study. The facility will produce patented alumina-coated silicon battery anode materials known as Silumina Anodes to meet high demand in the European and US electric vehicle and grid storage battery markets.

An independent life-cycle assessment into Neometals’ Primobius lithium-ion battery recycling plants has shown the potential for its strategy to produce key battery materials with an exceptionally low carbon footprint. The assessment, conducted by environmental impact mitigation company Minviro, confirmed Primobius’ integrated hydrometallurgical refining process had a significantly lower footprint in terms of global warming potential.

Novo Resources will join forces with SQM Australia after the latter agreed to pay $10 million for a 75 per cent interest in five of the former’s lithium-nickel tenements in Western Australia’s West Pilbara region. The two companies will create the “Harding Battery Metals” joint venture, with the deal also including an option over additional tenements held by Novo in the Pilbara.

ASX-listed Larvotto Resources is looking at a major transitional change from mineral explorer to producer after confirming it had picked up the Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW for a song. The company acquired the 1.4-million-ounce gold equivalent operation after entering into a binding term sheet with the administrators of former owner Red River Resources for a purchase price of less than $6 per ounce.

King River Resources is set for a big 2024, with 20,000m of drilling planned for 12 priority targets at its Tennant Creek gold project in the Northern Territory after running an extensive geophysics campaign this year. The company has set aside $2.5 million for the program, which includes 17 reverse-circulation (RC) holes already completed for 2790m at its Providence prospect.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears profiled ASX runner is … Arrow Minerals. Its shares tripled this week to join fellow movers and shakers Battery Minerals, West Cobar Metals and Sigma Healthcare.