Announcements

In a sure fire sign that the Chinese are becoming insatiable for our Lithium and will take it any way they can get it, Pilbara Minerals have signed a deal with a Chinese Lithium Carbonate manufacturer to supply direct shipping ore straight out of their Pilgangoora mine near Port Hedland without it even being processed - and the Chinese will pre-pay $10m for the privilege. 

Blackham Resources’ plans to double their Matilda Gold production have been boosted by solid new drill results that pave the way for another resource upgrade. The latest round of drilling found the mineralisation at Wiluna is more extensive than previously thought and amenable to open cut mining in some areas, providing a major boost for the economics of a proposed expansion.

Hammer Metals, recently voted Queensland Explorer of the Year for its breakthrough discovery of the Overlander deposit, has set its sights on a number of big new exploration goals around its Mt Isa tenements. A deep diamond drill hole is about to target extensions of a number of extraordinary copper-gold drill intersections that remain open at depth at the Kalman South prospect. 

Lithium Australia’s ground-breaking, low-cost technology for Lithium processing has begun testing at WA’s Murdoch University with the support of a State Government grant worth nearly $200,000. The new test program aims to further improve recoveries of Lithium and potentially valuable by-products and follows a recent successful pilot plant trial in NSW.

Perth based Weebit-Nano is on the way to commercialization after their French partner, Leti,reproduced the ASX listed company’s lab scale “Siox ReRam” computer memory technology in their massive pre-industrialization facility in France. Weebit say their computer memory technology is 1000 times faster and 1000 times more energy efficient than existing flash memory. 

ASX-listed MGC Pharma is a step closer to breaking into the lucrative European skincare market, with the medical cannabis company commencing official EU registration for its cannabis-based cosmetics used to treat conditions such as acne, psoriasis and seborrhoea.

ASX listed Sky and Space Global have provided their best validation yet that their innovative technology based on miniature satellites might actually work when it launches next year after the company was awarded a global technology award this week. The prestigious award was bestowed on them by global consulting and market research firm Frost & Sullivan.  

ASX-listed financial payments player Stargroup is on track to deliver its 12th consecutive quarter of record revenue after posting yet another ground-breaking month in October. Stargroup, who have over 350 ATMs across Australia, said their best-ever monthly revenues were laregely driven by the ATM hardware and software sales division.

In the public company world it's often said that it’s easier to get a promise of a cheque from the Chinese than the actual cheque itself, which sometimes never arrives. No such problem however for the George Bauk led Northern Minerals who now look set to create the first significant heavy rare earths mine outside of China after their Chinese shareholder showed them the colour of their money.

The Browns Range heavy rare earths project got a shot in the arm this week courtesy of a $1.76m federal Government R&D cheque with a $9m cheque from Chinese investors just days away.  Investors are also starting to give the company credit for its trailblazing resources play, with the share price nearly tripling in recent months. 

Rapidly expanding Stargroup continues to set a cracking pace, with the financial payments player gearing up for further acquisitions after completing due dilligence for its recent $6.5m take out of Indue. The Perth-based company announced this week it had also secured a new debt facility of up to $15m to fund the deal and other potential acquisitions.

Shark Mitigation Systems’ Clever Buoy will be put to the ultimate test by the NSW Government in a move that could trigger a global sales boom for the Perth-based company. NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair, announced this week that his department would team up with the University of Technology in Sydney to conduct a field trial of the Clever Buoy.

Pilbara Minerals have snapped up the 300-person Roy Hill Rail Camp in a deal that symbolises the emergence of Lithium as the new iron ore of the Pilbara. The camp is surplus to Roy Hill’s needs and located only 90km south of the Pilgangoora Lithium project which means capital cost savings for Pilbara Minerals and a terrific boost to plans to fast-track development.

Lithium Australia’s goal of a new paradigm in Lithium extraction is a step closer with a successful second stage of trials of their low-cost Sileach technology. The trial, conducted by the Federal Government’s ANSTO Minerals, produced 99% pure lithium carbonate that is just one small step away from being offtake ready for Lithium battery manufacturers.

Blackham Resources’ extraordinary run of exploration success has continued, with the latest round of drilling revealing significant extensions of mineralisation at the Matilda mine near Wiluna. Another resource upgrade seems likely, just four months after a previous upgrade with the company looking to quickly convert any new resources into valuable reserves.

There appears to be no end to the giant Lithium resource at Neometals' Mt Marion project near Coolgardie with a 30% upgrade announced this week on top of a 160% boost just three months ago. The latest upgrade follows a large drilling program between July and September that returned some spectacular intercepts from a high-grade feeder zone.

Lithium Australia have shown an uncanny knack for unearthing hot lithium properties, with initial samples from their new Lake Johnston project assaying almost 4% Lithium. The company swooped on the project just a week ago in a savvy mineral rights swap deal and they have wasted no time proving that Lake Johnston has exceptional potential for a major Lithium discovery.

Legend Mining and the Creasy Group have moved into the next phase of their hunt for a Nova-Bollinger lookalike by kicking off an 80-hole aircore drilling program at the Rockford project in the Fraser Range. The 5,000-metre drill program follows news a fortnight ago of highly encouraging assay results from two diamond drill holes at the project. 

The upcoming ASX float of Lithium Australia’s Canadian partner, MetalsTech, on the ASX, is looking really interesting for Lithium Australia after they signed a strategic partnership agreement this week with the high grade Lithium explorer. MetalsTech recently returned amazing direct shipping grade surface samples in Canada that were grading up to 7% Lithium. 

There is something quite special about turning an idea into reality AND making some money out of it – and its even sweeter when you manage to defy your critics in the process. Blackham Resources have certainly defied their critics by achieving their first gold pour this week at the Matilda project.

Lithium Australia have swooped on hot new Lithium exploration ground in the Lake Johnston area east of Perth and close to the Earl Grey project that is creating so much excitement for investors. The company has dramatically expanded its footprint around Lake Johnston in an exploration rights swap with Lefroy Exploration in one of the hottest emerging Lithium precincts. 

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global is running ahead of schedule with the assembly of its three demonstration "nano-satellites" as it progresses the launch of its potentially game-changing satellite based communications network. The company says construction of the first three units is due for completion in December ahead of the planned Q2 2017 launch.

The FIRB has cleared a $30m Chinese investment in Northern Minerals, clearing the way for the rapid development of the company’s heavy rare earths project at Browns Range in WA. Northern Minerals have already banked $3m and will bank another $9m from Huatai Mining next week with two more $9m payments to follow.

Lithium Australia is in the final approval stage for a maiden drill program in Mexico, adjacent to a world-class project that has already secured celebrated electric car maker Tesla as an off-take partner. It follows an announcement earlier in the week of an additional Lithium discovery at Electra from surface sampling that returned ore grade assays. 

Upstart biotech company Pharmaust is getting close to proving up their breakthrough anti-cancer drug in dogs with a second canine patient suffering from late stage cancer recruited last week. The company recently announced that a second dog had started treatment at Sydney’s Animal Referral Hospital using PharmAust’s reformulated drug known as Monepantel.

You know you're onto something when you cant even find a spot to build your mine because you keep discovering more Lithium under areas designated for mining infrastructure. Such is the predicament of Pilbara Minerals who are strugging to find a non-mineralized spot to build their mine.

A recent drilling campaign at Perth based hammer Metals’ “Millennium” project in Mt Isa has unearthed a cocktail of mineralization on a tenement package that cost the mining junior just $83k in cash and shares – and they bought it from Chinese interests. Minerals present include Copper, Gold, Cobalt, Silver and lead with most results easily convertable to plus 1% Copper equivalents. 

Lithium Australia have begun the final stage of pilot plant trials to prove up their unique “Sileach” Lithium processing technology. The goal of the current trial is to prove to the market that the company’s Sileach process can cheaply and efficiently turn raw mine product into highly sought after battery-grade Lithium Carbonate at around half the cost of traditional processes.

Blackham Resources this week joined the select ranks of Australian gold miners with the commencement of production at their Matilda gold project in Wiluna. With 860 sq km's of tenements to explore and a stellar record of working out where the gold is hiding, it is safe to assume that Blackham’s Matilda Gold resource wont sit at 5.1m ounces for long.

Terrain Minerals, with a market cap of less than $4m and a share price of around .009c are looking to differentiate themselves from the sea of mining junior's by creating an early cashflow from their Great Western gold project near Leonora. The company has appointed a consulting metallurgist to investigate building an onsite gravity milling operation. 

If Lithium is the new iron ore for W.A, then Pilbara Minerals are potentially the new Rio Tinto. The company is already sitting on arguably the largest Lithium resource in the world and they have just dramatically expanded their footprint in the Pilgangoora lithium district by paying $8m for Dakota Minerals' neighboring Lynas Find project covering 268 sq km's. 

An 80-hole aircore drill program is set to begin at the Rockford project, widely regarded as one of our best hopes for another Nova-Bollinger discovery in the Fraser Range. Legend Mining and the Creasy Group have been prompted to undertake the big regional drilling program following encouraging assay results from their first two diamond drill holes.