Announcements

Todd River Resources has divested 100 per cent of the Manbarrum zinc-lead-silver in the Northern Territory to Boab Metals. Under the agreement Todd River will be issued with A$500,000 of Boab shares and retains a 1.25 per cent net smelter return royalty. The strategic sale paves the way for Todd River to focus on developing other key assets including the Berkshire Valley nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia.

Central Africa lithium developer AVZ Minerals hopes to secure an all-important mining licence for its advancing flagship Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the DRC in the not-too-distant future as it builds relationships with the newly formed Congolese Government. The company says some timelines for regulatory approvals have been prolonged due to the change in the country’s government earlier this year.

Oar Resources has launched field exploration at its Crown nickel-copper-PGE and gold project just 9km west of Chalice Mining’s heralded Julimar discovery in Western Australia. Geological mapping and outcrop sampling will look to assess about 20 identified target areas, with systematic soil sampling set to follow. A maiden drilling program is planned for later in the year.

ASX-listed Wiluna Mining continues to deliver impressive drilling results in areas targeted for expanding underground production at its namesake operations in Western Australia. Ongoing diamond drilling across the East and Happy Jack lodes has turned out a welter of new high-grade intercepts grading up to 773 g/t gold in the Happy Jack area.

ASX-listed Galan Lithium has hit the go-button on a scoping study into the potential development of its Candelas lithium brine project in the Catamarca, Argentina, sector of South America’s “lithium triangle”. Candelas lies south-east of and in the same fertile salt flat terrane as the Perth-based company’s flagship Hombre Muerto West brine project, which was the subject of an impressive scoping study last year.

ASX-listed Image Resources is on track to beat its 2021 heavy mineral concentrate production guidance after reporting record June quarter output from the wholly-owned Boonanarring operation, 80km north of Perth in Western Australia. The company says surging ilmenite, rutile and now zircon prices are set to boost its full-year heavy mineral concentrate sales and strengthen its pursuit of growth options.

Neometals is edging closer to demerging its significant Mt Edwards nickel sulphide project near Kambalda in Western Australia into a new company, Widgie Nickel, which is targeting a September listing on the ASX. Existing Neometals shareholders are set to get a free piece of Widgie proportionate to their current shareholdings. A new board of directors has now been appointed for Widgie.

Junior explorer Latitude Consolidated has scored a high-grade gold hit at the St Anne’s prospect just 3km south of its existing 610,000-ounce Turnberry open-pit deposit, which forms part of its Murchison gold project in WA’s Murchison Goldfields. The latest drilling highlight from the company’s recently completed reverse circulation program was an intersection of 5m grading an average 6.77 grams per tonne gold from 103m depth.

Venus Metals has pounced on a hefty 546 square kilometres of ground prospective for nickel, copper, platinum group elements, gold and rare earths in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Two of the new licences, one granted and one under application, adjoin tenure hosting a 1km-long outcropping structure where rock chip samples have returned 1 per cent copper and 0.6 per cent nickel.

Adriatic Metals has successfully cleared the final major regulatory approval hurdle that now opens the way for it to start construction of its proposed Vares silver-zinc-lead mining and processing operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina later in the year. The company says it clinched the exploitation, or mining, permit for the project’s keystone Rupice underground deposit from the country’s Federal Ministry for Energy, Mining and Industry.

Australian Bauxite’s 87 per cent owned chemical refining subsidiary, Alcore, appears to have made a significant technical breakthrough with its proprietary mineral production process used to produce commercial-grade aluminium fluoride from metal refining waste known as “dross”. The company believes its process can deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits for Australasian aluminium smelters reliant on imports of the material.

ASX-listed Comet Resources expects to have results of testwork to assess the suitability of concentrate produced from its Springdale graphite project in Western Australia to be used in battery anode manufacturing in the current quarter. The company says the testing at a specialised facility in Germany follows initial “excellent” grade and recovery results in preparation of the concentrate sample in Perth.

Terrain Minerals has intercepted “exciting” new gold zones at three prospects at its Smokebush project in Western Australia’s Murchison goldfield, including a 3m hit going 4.86 grams per tonne gold at the Monza prospect where strike length has now more than doubled to 700m. First pass drilling has also hit a new mineralised structural zone at Monza North with returns including 3m at 1.53 g/t gold from 39m.

After locking in a couple of major project acquisitions that consolidate its foothold on the north-eastern flank of the Yandal-Millrose greenstone belt in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields, Strickland Metals has cranked up a systematic initial exploration campaign across its expanded ground position. The company’s current gravity survey and surface geochemical programs will pave the way for 100,000m of aircore drilling and 30,000m of reverse circulation drilling.

ASX-listed explorer Victory Mines has extended the length of the gold-copper mineralised trend at its Coogee project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to 1km, with latest drilling results including 8m at 3.03 grams per tonne gold and 0.37 per cent copper from 124m in the “Eastern Trend” area. Assay results from other holes remain pending as the recently commenced drilling program motors on.

ASX-listed Altech Chemicals has officially opened an advanced battery materials research and development centre in Germany, where it is seeking to construct a battery materials high purity alumina coating plant. The company is ticking along with a pre-feasibility study into the venture as it looks to fast-track its coating technology to full-scale commercialisation.

Barton Gold has launched a “phase two” drilling campaign at its brownfields Tarcoola gold project in SA designed to follow up on a string of earlier high-grade gold hits. The company says last year’s RC drilling at Tarcoola encountered multiple southern and down-dip extensions of the Deliverance target beneath the former Perseverance mine and also led to the discovery of the shallower Perseverance West gold zone.

Strickland Metals has sewn up the acquisition of strategic ground-holdings abutting its flagship Horse Well gold project in WA that increases its footprint in the Yandal greenstone belt in the north-eastern Goldfields. The company completed the deal to purchase a 75 per cent stake in the Yandal East gold project tenements from Renegade Exploration for a consideration of 40 million new Strickland shares and $800,000 cash.

ASX-listed junior precious and base metals explorer Godolphin Resources is set to kick off a follow-up reverse circulation drilling program at its high-priority Lewis Ponds project in the New South Wales Lachlan Fold Belt region’s Lachlan Transverse Zone next week following encouraging gold sniffs from an initial round of resource definition diamond drilling.

ASX-listed Galan Lithium is consolidating its position in South America’s prolific “Lithium Triangle”, executing a binding option agreement with a private Argentinian landholder to earn a 100 percent interest in the Casa Del Inca III lithium brine tenement. The land package strategically abuts Galan’s Hombre Muerto West project. A further 900 hectares is also available under the agreement.

Infinity Lithium is edging closer to producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain with feasibility study metallurgical testwork advancing to the final “crystallisation” stage of the planned process flow sheet. Infinity recently entered a memorandum of understanding with leading lithium-ion battery producer, LG Energy Solutions, on potential long-term supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

Element 25’s maiden shipment of manganese concentrate from its Butcherbird operation in WA has left Port Hedland, marking a stunning development pathway to production time frame of a little over a year from an initial PFS to exporting first commercial ore. The company’s first load of about 27,000 tonnes of manganese concentrate aboard a Handymax-size vessel departed Utah Point bulk handling facility yesterday.

Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources appear to have confirmed significant open-pit mining cost savings for the proposed shallow, high-grade Grace gold deposit near Mount Magnet in Western Australia’s Murchison district. Grace forms a part of the duo’s 1.66-million-ounce Youanmi gold resources that the partners are looking to bring into production.

AVZ Minerals has unveiled a 41.6 per cent increase in the proved and probable ore reserves for the centrepiece Roche Dure deposit at its monster Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the DRC. Reserves now stand at 131.7Mt at average grades of 1.63 per cent lithium oxide and 990 g/t tin, up from 93Mt at 1.58 per cent lithium oxide and 988 g/t tin.

ASX-listed Infinity Lithium says the Spanish government has approved a “historical funding package” of €4.3 billion through to 2023 aiming to transform the nation into a European electric vehicle production hub. Infinity is looking to provide critical raw materials for production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain.

ASX-listed Alaska oil and gas explorer 88 Energy says it is on track to present the market with a full appraisal of results from Merlin-1 well testing at its Peregrine project early next month after being “highly encouraged” by latest preliminary hydrocarbon indications. The company is targeting more than one billion barrels of oil resources in the Peregrine field.

ASX-listed Horizon Minerals has tabled an updated mineral resource for the joint-ventured Penny’s Find gold project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields as it eyes a start to toll ore processing from the high-grade gold asset in the March quarter next year. The satellite underground deposit hosts an indicated and inferred resource of 250,000t at 5.22 g/t for 42,000 ounces of contained gold.

Geophysical surveying that accurately mapped known sulphide mineralisation at Si6 Metals’ Maibele North project in eastern Botswana has also defined several new nickel-copper sulphide targets along strike from, and below, the project’s 2.38 million tonne resource grading 0.72 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent copper. Si6 is considering a drill campaign to test the new targets.

New ASX listing Askari Metals has secured a drilling contractor to undertake a maiden reverse circulation drilling program at its Burracoppin gold project in Western Australia. Planned drilling is designed to test several high-grade historical results and artisanal workings. The company is cashed up after recently raising close to $6 million as part of its initial public offering.

Kairos Minerals has intercepted shallow gold zones with drilling at its Roe Hills project some 120km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Hits at the Caliburn prospect include 8m at 1.32 grams per tonne gold from just 32m, with a 4m interval going at 2.29 g/t gold. Infill drilling is now on the cards as Kairos looks to work Roe Hills toward a maiden resource estimate.

Indiana Resources has served up numerous “stunning” gold hits at the exciting Minos discovery at its 100 per cent owned Central Gawler Craton project in South Australia. One broad 21m intercept returned 8.43 grams per tonne gold from 176m, including a bumper grade 1m interval going 159 g/t gold. The company is looking to table a maiden resource estimate for Minos.

Todd River Resources plans to get busy on the ground this quarter at its Nerramyne project in WA’s Murchison region after applying for further ground next to its large, granted exploration licence covering a 40km-by-6km copper soil anomaly. The company says a newly defined mafic intrusive will be one target worth investigating further in the expanded Nerramyne project area.