Announcements

ASX-listed pharmaceutical company, PharmAust continues to kick goals in its endeavours to develop antiviral treatment and prevention therapeutics for COVID-19. The company has once again demonstrated that its lead drug candidates monepantel and monepantel sulfone appear to show protection against cell death in non-human primate systems. Human clinical trials are now on the cards with production of the drug suitable for human consumption having already commenced.

Torian Resources has extended the interpreted strike length of the gold-bearing zone at its Mt Stirling gold project near Leonora in WA to more than 1.1km. It comes in the midst of the company’s ongoing drilling push aimed at building on an existing resource for Mt Stirling of 727,021 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.45 g/t for 33,893 ounces of contained gold.

St George Mining’s ongoing exploration at its Mt Alexander project in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields is gradually painting a picture of what could be a significant mineralised system. Its latest efforts saw multiple down-hole EM conductors light up adjacent to diamond drill holes positioned on the north-western extension of the Cathedrals Belt prospect. The company also has two sets of drill rods spinning simultaneously targeting more massive sulphide mineralisation.

Aspiring iron ore producer, CZR Resources has pegged and lodged a mining lease application taking a key step in bringing the 89.1-million-tonne Robe Mesa iron ore deposits into production in the Pilbara. DFS works are accelerating following the recent release of a PFS which demonstrated the economic potential of the project underpinning the drive towards production.

Calidus Resources says it has inked final agreements with Macquarie Bank for project loan facilities totalling $110 million in relation to its developing Warrawoona gold mine in WA’s East Pilbara. Under the terms of the debt funding package, the company also locked in a mandatory hedging arrangement covering the delivery of 125,000 ounces of forward gold sales from Warrawoona across the 3.25-year tenor of the loan facilities.

K2fly has partnered with Griffith University and The Keeping Place to deliver a new cultural heritage management system designed to map ancient indigenous rock art. Spanning Cape York Peninsula’s enormous Laura Sandstone Basin, the region hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in Australia. The joint project aims to record the rock art for future generations and help provide a framework for its sustainable management.

Novo Resources has tabled a “preliminary economic assessment” over its Beatons Creek conglomerate gold mine in WA. Figures from the study underline the profitability of leading-edge discovery, with the mine set to produce more than 100,000 ounces of gold per annum at a cash cost of US$702 per ounce, delivering an extremely healthy profit over a projected 6-year mine life.

Surefire Resources has unleashed a second drill rig on the exciting Yidby Road gold prospect at its Yidby Road gold project in WA. The company’s current RC drilling campaign comes on the back of its recent initial spectacular, thick drill hits of 40m at 3.01 g/t gold from 24m including 4m at 26.57 g/t, and 56m at 1.97 g/t from 44m including 4m at 14.47 g/t.

Godolphin Resources has been buoyed by a promising start to its resource definition drilling program at its Lewis Ponds polymetallic project in NSW’s venerated Lachlan Fold Belt region. The stand-out drill intersection from the company’s first diamond hole at Lewis Ponds was 18.6m grading 1.38 g/t gold, 55 g/t silver, 5.4 per cent zinc and 1.8 per cent lead for a gold equivalent grade of 6.72 g/t from 72m.

Image Resources has revealed a raft of resource upgrades across its heavy mineral sands projects in WA’s Mid West region, including the delivery of a massive 102 million tonne resource for its Bidaminna project. The company also continues to process and export a wealth of high-grade zircon-rich ores from its Boonanarring mine whilst it eyes a move into mining at its Atlas deposits in the north of the basin.

ASX-listed CZR Resources is gearing up for a maiden round of reverse circulation drilling next month at its Buddadoo gold project east of the 1.2-million-ounce Deflector gold-copper mine in WA’s Murchison region. CZR’s ground straddles the under-explored Gullewa greenstone belt where multiple targets that have been lit up by high-resolution magnetics are also coincident with soil and rock chip samples that returned anomalous gold readings.

Wiluna Mining continues to add grade at its Wiluna gold mining operation in WA. A suite of recent high-grade drill results headlined by 2.35 metres going 61.05 grams per tonne gold continue to demonstrate that Wiluna has ounce plus dirt on its hands at its namesake Goldfields project as it looks to eventually expand production to 250,000 ounces of gold annually.

Horizon Minerals has reported a string of bonanza gold drill hits from one of its core satellite gold deposits that form part of its proposed Boorara gold project development near Kalgoorlie. Drilling undertaken at the company’s Crake deposit delivered spectacular near-surface RC assays led by a 24-metre intersection at an average grade of 4.94 g/t gold from 32m including 1m at 57.17 g/t from 36m.

Wiluna Mining continues to tick boxes as it hurtles towards implementing its much-heralded production expansion plan at its Wiluna gold mining project that will see existing gold production double and then double again. Construction of a 750,000 tonne-per-annum flotation plant has now commenced as the company looks to grow gold production to 250,000 ounces annually.

ASX and Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed PharmAust has unveiled encouraging initial results from the continuing phase IIb clinical trial of its anti-cancer drug, Monepantel on pet dogs suffering from B-cell lymphoma. The Perth-based company says the first five dogs who have undergone treatment with Monepantel across five participating test sites show “minimal side effects”.

ASX-listed aspiring central African lithium developer, AVZ Minerals continues to attract offtake partners at its proposed Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Perth-based company has entered into a binding lithium offtake agreement for the sale of spodumene concentrate from Manono to another Chinese group, Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry Co.

K2fly continues to stamp its mark on the mining software market, topping off a record quarter with the purchase of specialist software provider, Decipher. The purchase of Decipher received final approval at a meeting of shareholders this week and delivers K2fly another significant software solution for mine rehabilitation and tailings management. Decipher provides the only end-to-end mining and tailings management solution in the current market, according to K2fly.

ASX-listed 88 Energy, is staring down the barrel of a potential oil discovery at its 600-million-barrel prospective oil target being drill tested in the frozen arctic ground of Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope. The company said its Merlin-1 drill hole has intersected multiple reservoir sandstone layers, within the target Nanushuk formation, with many exhibiting indications of the presence of oil, collectively referred to as “oil shows”.

Native Mineral Resources looks to have struck a chord at its Music Well prospect in WA, with the ASX-listed company’s recent exploration program delivering in spades. Samples from the new program showed visible gold which is always good cause for some in-field excitement and importantly, some assays weighed in at over 100 grams per tonne gold.

Eclipse Metals' ongoing interrogation of the data across its historical Ivittuut cryolite mine in Greenland is revealing a wealth of potential out-wide production opportunities, including high-purity silica for use in a range of existing and emerging technologies. Modelling of the rich ore system shows a distinct silica-rich core to the Ivittuut intrusion, with historical drill holes returning wide quartz-rich intercepts grading at over 97 per cent silica.

Buru Energy and its newest JV partner, ASX-listed mining and energy giant, Mineral Resources, have been awarded a new onshore oil and gas exploration license in WA’s Mid West to target traditional oil and gas plays in the area by targeting the deeper, under-explored rock formations of a similar geological age to Buru’s established targets to the north in the state’s Canning Basin.

AVZ Minerals has locked in yet another offtake partner relating to its proposed Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Perth-based company says it has struck a binding three-year offtake contract for the sale of 600 tonnes of tin concentrate per annum from the Manono project to Kalon Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-headquartered Noble Group Holdings.

Aspiring WA gold producer, Horizon Minerals is set for a $7m boost through the sale of its Janet Ivy and Otto Bore mining royalty streams from WA gold mines. The proceeds, of which at least $4m will be cash, will add to Horizon’s existing cash reserves of $9.8 million as the company advances a feasibility study at its Boorara mining hub in the Goldfields.

Major Chinese construction outfit, China Railway Seventh Group has completed a visit to Lindian Resources’ bauxite assets in Guinea, West Africa, as agreed under a memorandum of understanding executed earlier this year. China Railway Seventh Group is a key player in Lindian’s infrastructure grand plan and bid to bring its Guinean bauxite projects on stream in the near term.

Bardoc Gold has released a cracking definitive feasibility study on its proposed Bardoc gold mining and processing operation approximately 40 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. The company says the recent financial study shows the Bardoc gold mine spitting out an average of $113 million a year in free cash flows based on a total recovered gold target of 1.1 million ounces across an initial processing life of about eight years.

Anglo Australian Resources continues to pump out high-grade gold hits, as it charges towards a maiden resource over its Mandilla gold project in WA. Drilling at Mandilla East has returned a series of impressive results, with the latest batch including an impressive 18 metres at 4.74 grams per tonne gold from 54m and 29m at 1.81 g/t gold from 105m down-hole.

Venus Metals has racked up encouraging near-surface gold hits from a second round of RC drilling at the Range View prospect nearby the Bellchambers deposit as part of its Sandstone gold project in WA. Better intercepts from the latest drilling were 6m at 2.06 g/t gold from 20m including 1m at 6.14 g/t and 5m at 2.76 g/t from 45m including 1m at 6.23 g/t.

Things just got interesting for King River Resources at its immense Speewah Dome project in the Kimberley region of WA with its share price soaring 27 per cent on the back of news the company has produced high purity alumina at greater than 99.99 per cent purity. The company is currently looking to finish its ongoing feasibility study over the project.

Ardiden’s three hard-rock lithium projects in north-west Ontario, Canada may be in play as the company weighs up options to advance its lithium asset portfolio. One of the projects already hosts a resource of 4.8 million tonnes of ore grading 1.25 per cent lithium oxide. Management says it is evaluating strategic alternatives for the projects including retention, potential sales, spin-offs, joint ventures or business collaborations.

TNT Mines is preparing to drill test its key, high-grade uranium targets at the East Canyon project in Utah. The company is paying the requisite bonds to the US government and entering the final phase of the permitting process, with initial drilling to focus on the historical mine workings in the north of TNT’s tenure, including the targets at None Such and Bonanza.

ASX-listed junior explorer, Kingwest Resources has finalised the acquisition of its advanced, multi-deposit Menzies gold project about 130 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and the greenfields Goongarrie gold project 90km north of Kalgoorlie. Horizon Minerals has now banked the last instalment of $1.625 million cash and 10.83 million Kingwest shares to complete the $8 million sale to Kingwest announced in 2019.

Neometals has highlighted the strong environmental credentials of its proprietary, patent-pending, vanadium recovery process flowsheet after an independently assessed, ISO-compliant, life cycle assessment showed potential to produce zero-carbon vanadium from the company's proposed Scandinavian vanadium recycling project. Neometals remains on track to deliver a ‘peer-reviewed’ PFS to recover vanadium from a vanadium-bearing steel making by-product, known as “slag”, by the end of June.