Announcements

Myanmar Metals’ extraordinary base metals play in Myanmar just got a little more extraordinary with the discovery of the Yegon Ridge lode that could reduce the already low strip ratio in the China Pit scoping study and significantly improve the project economics. The new find continues the company’s ongoing success in finding high grade mineralisation in areas that were too difficult to access for historical miners.

88 Energy is just one approval away from receiving the green light to spud its much anticipated Winx-1 exploration well that will target up to 400 million barrels of oil in Alaska’s famed North Slope oil province. The company will submit the drill permit application before the end of the year with approvals expected to flow in January 2019. This will allow the well to be drilled in February next year.

Strike Energy is wrapping up the takeover of fellow Australian oil and gas explorer UIL Energy after receiving acceptances representing 92.01% of UIL shares on issue for its all-scrip offer. UIL’s three northern permits are believed to potentially contain an extension of the Kingia-High Cliff sands that are the main target at the West Erregulla prospect. Strike plans to drill it in the first quarter of 2019.

Surefire Resources’ high level geological review of its Kooline project in the Ashburton region of WA, has thrown up extensive, untested areas the company says are prospective for lead-silver-copper and gold mineralisation. In the north, scattered gold results were reported from historical auger samples and shallow drilling, whilst to the south an investigation of the Kooline mine workings confirmed the potential of the mineralisation to thicken along strike.

Galena Mining says that a combination of higher lead/silver resource and reserve ore grades and reduced development costs at its Abra deposit, have the potential to materially improve the economic outcomes for the project. The company will complete an interim update of the PFS early next year, ahead of the release of its DFS for the underground base metal mining project in the middle of 2019.

Venus Metals has unearthed two intriguing looking exploration targets from gravity surveys at its DeGrussa North copper project near Meekatharra in WA. The anomalies are located 200m from surface and may be related to sulphide mineralisation. The targets are located 3km north of Sandfire Resources’ high grade DeGrussa copper-gold operations and the company is planning follow up ground electromagnetic surveys to help identify their source.

Australian Potash is set to benefit from a hefty reduction in WA State Government rental rates for potash brine projects as part of an initiative to help develop a new industry in the state. From the new year, rental rates for brine mining leases will be slashed from $18.70 per hectare to just $2.32 per hectare for the first five years before rising to $4.64 per hectare from the sixth year onwards.

Conglomerate gold developer Novo Resources continues to progress exploration and resource development activity for its large tenement holdings in WA’s Pilbara region. At the Egina project, bulk samples of gold-bearing gravels are being processed through the company’s gravity gold plant on-site, whilst progress on other work programs was reported for the Karratha, Beatons Creek and Talga Talga gold projects.

TNG Ltd has appointed Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank to lead a syndicate that will raise USD$600m to underpin development of its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory. The final capital requirements will be determined and optimised during the ongoing front end engineering and design study and lender’s due diligence.

Venus Metals has completed a detailed resource definition drilling program at its Youanmi vanadium oxide project near Sandstone in WA, in preparation for updating the mineral resource estimate for the deposit. The work will allow the company to convert a large part of the existing inferred resource into measured and indicated oxide resources, from which ore reserves can then be optimised.

Metalicity Limited says it has outlined four significant structural exploration targets for copper-gold at both of its recently secured large project regions in the Paterson province of the Pilbara region in WA. The company identified two targets each at the Mandora and Desert Queen projects that cover over 900 square kilometres, after compiling and modelling existing geophysical and geological data sets.

Volt Resources has received approval from the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange for its proposed USD$40m resources-based note issue that will underpin the stage 1 development of its Bunyu graphite project in Tanzania. The company is now awaiting final approval from the Tanzanian Capital Markets and Securities Authority before proceeding with the note issue.

Kalia Limited has been busy doing the geological ground work to systematically unlock the mineral riches on Bougainville Island from early next year. It has now completed a highly anticipated geophysical survey over the Mt Tore JV tenements and commenced data interpretation for the exploration of its porphyry copper-gold assets. The company’s engagement of local communities is bearing fruit, with a number of areas already approved for exploration.

Shareholders in WA agribusiness player Alterra are just one step away from receiving an unexpected direct income stream from the company’s carbon forestry business. The transfer of all forestry and carbon assets into Carbon Conscious Investments has been completed and the company is now seeking majority shareholder approval at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting to be held in Perth on 20 December 2018.

Azumah Resources has substantially increased the potential for underground mining at its flagship Wa project in Ghana after hitting an amazing 93m intersection grading 2.33 grams per tonne gold from 261m down-hole at the Bepkong East deposit. This includes two high grade intersections of 9.9m @ 8.42g/t gold from 295m and 2.16m @ 21.17g/t gold from 303m. Assays are pending on two other holes drilled at the deposit.

Classic Minerals’ latest drilling program near Southern Cross in WA has continued to deliver with multiple intersections of shallow, narrow, high grade gold mineralisation being unearthed at the emerging Kat Gap prospect. Better results included 3m @ 38.33g/t gold from 21m down-hole, including a metre at 111g/t gold from 22m deep and 5m @ 5.61g/t gold from only 6m down-hole which included 1m @ 12g/t gold from 8m.

Spectrum Metals has completed the acquisition of the high grade Penny West gold project and an exploration licence located immediately east of the project in WA’s Goldfields region. The company is currently awaiting assay results from a 1000 hole auger geochemistry program and is planning to start a RC/Diamond drilling program in the first quarter of next year.

Ironbark Zinc has applied for two new exploration licences covering 400 square kilometres that may host potential extensions of its giant Citronen zinc project in Greenland. The licences cover mineralised outcropping gossans over an extensive region on the interpreted source fault that aligns with the trend of the broad Citronen ore system.

Surefire Resources has intersected wide, high grade vanadium mineralisation in a resource extension drilling program completed at its Unaly Hill project, located near Sandstone in the Murchison region of WA. Results up to 34m @ 0.53% vanadium pentoxide from 79m down-hole, including 16m @ 0.69% vanadium pentoxide from 89m have extended the strike of the existing resources by another 4km to the north northeast.

Hammer Metals is set to kick some serious goals at its early-stage Mt Philp breccia iron oxide-copper-gold project near Mount Isa in Queensland, after being awarded $80,000 by the State Government to partially fund exploration activity at the property. The company will use the funds to assay geochemical soil samples and complete geophysical data interpretation and surveys, to generate a 3D model and pinpoint specific drilling targets.

Lithium Australia has formalised an option agreement to acquire the three exploration licences that comprise the Youanmi lithium project about 100km southwest of Sandstone from private exploration firm Diversity Resources Pty Ltd. The project could be a feed source for the company’s upcoming third generation SiLeach pilot plant trial.

Southern Gold has signed a new agreement with Northern Star to acquire two strategic mining tenements at no cost, in order to facilitate development of the company’s Cannon underground gold resources near Kalgoorlie in WA. The agreement optimises the combined assets for a standalone mining operation or simple monetisation, as the gold mineralisation at Cannon plunges into the existing Northern Star lease.

Sky and Space Global has signed a reseller MoU with India’s Globe Teleservices and MoUs with BT LATAM Brasil and the Blue Power Group covering the potential use of its nano-satellite narrow-band communications network. Globe has also agreed to distribute a minimum number of devices and services.

Bellevue Gold is accelerating an updated resource estimate for its namesake gold project near Leinster in WA to the first quarter of 2019 thanks to ongoing high grade drilling results such as 2.4m @ 26.1g/t gold from 269.89m and 1.3m @ 35.2g/t gold. Drilling has also extended the Bellevue lode by a further 230m to the south of historic underground workings where mineralisation remains open in that direction.

Graphite developer BlackEarth Minerals has generated a high grade 95% graphite concentrate product from its Razafy graphite deposit in southern Madagascar, with nearly 50% reporting above the premium large flake size. Results from the recent test work will be used to finalise the project’s processing flow sheet and ongoing scoping study, ahead of a BFS which is due to kick off in the first quarter of 2019.

Sometime in the next few weeks, ASX listed tech company, Aurora Labs, is expected to officially launch its game changing, multi-level, 3D printer that is capable of printing about 30 layers in a single pass. The company says the new printer could drastically lower the cost of 3D printing. In the next six to twelve months, Aurora is also planning to introduce a full-sized, large format 3D printer that could print up to 100 layers in a single pass.

Mongolia focussed coal developer Aspire Mining has completed a $15m financing package for its Ovoot coking coal project in the northwest of the country and is now debt free and fully funded to complete the required feasibility work. Upcoming studies will focus on a high quality, low ash, low strip ratio carve out from the Ovoot ore reserve, concentrating on extraction and processing of the premium Ovoot upper seam.

Phylogica’s biological “peptide” vaccine has performed the best in coaxing an immune response against HSV during animal testing, with 75% of the mice treated with its peptides mated to a common HSV antigen showing no detectable signs of the virus. The company will now pit its peptide vaccine against Swiss company Amal Therapeutics’ zebra CPP with results expected in the first quarter of 2019.

Southern Gold says that JV partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has produced high recoveries of gold up to 80% and around 60% for silver, from simple gravity separation met test work at the Kochang project in South Korea. The company also said that a low CAPEX option for initial processing could result in early cash flows from the proposed Kochang operation, based on recoveries of precious metals via gravity techniques.

Calima Energy is now tantalisingly close to drilling its exciting oil and gas play in the revered Canadian Montney formation with the access road to the drill pad for its planned three well program now complete. Calima’s share price has held steadfast over the last year with only one brief foray below its floor price of 4.5c as investors choose to stay the course and await the moment of truth.

Affinity Energy and Health has signed a non-binding heads of agreement with St John of God Hospital Subiaco to identify and undertake medical cannabis research and development projects. St John has a strong focus on research and medical excellence that is expected to help Affinity underpin the commercialisation of its Australian medical cannabis strategy.

Ironbark Zinc has kicked off a helicopter-borne electromagnetic survey to gain a better understanding of the large-scale Jerangle prospect at its Captains Flat multi-element project in New South Wales. Earlier drilling by the company returned significant base metal intercepts such as 4.4m @ 12.05% zinc , which follows up on historic drill results.