Announcements

Aguia Resources is on the cusp of securing a processing facility close to its Tres Estrades phosphate project in Brazil that should see it avoid paying through the nose for a brand new one and lead to an earlier production ramp up by mid-2025. The identification of existing processing plants within an economic trucking distance of Aguia's orebodies presents a unique opportunity to cut costs and accelerate production timelines.

Aruma Resources has wasted little time in firming up confidence at its new Bortala project in the Mount Isa Copper Belt after an initial appraisal at the site confirmed some promising copper-gold targets. The acquisition revealed only in late May was part of what management described as potentially “company-changing” gains of two copper operations in Queensland and a highly-prospective IOCG and uranium play in SA.

Ora Banda Mining has beefed up the mineral resources and ore reserves at its Davyhurst gold project in WA, attributing the growth to its underground exploration success and the definition of a new gold lode. The company not only managed to increase its underground ore reserve by 94 per cent, but also sweetened up the gold reserve grade by an extra 17 per cent.

In this week's edition of Bulls N' Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Chilwa Minerals' drilling in Malawi that threw up an intriguing intercept of 13m at 10.5 per cent total heavy minerals. We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits from last week reported by Magnetic Resources and West African Resources.

Aurumin has unveiled a new suite of positive gold hits from four of its seven new targets at the company's 881,000-ounce Sandstone gold project in Western Australia following a first-pass reverse-circulation drilling campaign. With more imminent drilling to come, the latest finds build on results in May that included a bonanza 1m intersection of 344g/t from the company's Plum Pudding target.

ASX-listed Strickland Metals has tied up the acquisition of its mammoth Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia where a resource containing more than 5.4 million ounces of gold equivalent has already been defined. A 60,000m resource expansion and exploration drilling campaign is also well underway, with three rigs smashing out the metres and a fourth to be added shortly.

King River Resources is set to unleash the drill bit in a new campaign designed to home in on high-grade gold targets at its Tennant Creek project in the Northern Territory following detailed interpretations of geophysical studies. The 1600m reverse-circulation drilling program will test newly-identified gold targets at the company's promising Kurundi operation at Tennant Creek.

American West Metals has nailed 20m of copper at 2.3 per cent from 38m including 8m at 5.3 per cent in a drill campaign designed to test an electromagnetic (EM) anomaly at the “Gap” within its Storm project in Canada. The 8m intercept also jagged another 3m interval at 7 per cent copper from 41m, confirming the strong correlation between copper mineralisation and EM anomalism.

Lycaon Resources has won a tenement ballot for a highly-prospective new lithium and copper project in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The tenement, in addition to four other applications, lies adjacent to the Marble Bar and DOM's Hill projects that are held in a joint venture by Kali Metals and lithium major Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM).

Lindian Resources has lifted the lid on a compelling new set of financial numbers for its giant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, including a whopping annual EBITDA of US$84 million (AU$124.5 million) in a 45-year mine life. A feasibility study on the project's stage-one development also shows a post-tax payback period of just 1.5 years for a US$40 million (AU$60 million) pre-production capital outlay.

Dateline Resources has kicked the door in as the latest entrant to the million-ounce gold club on the ASX having just tabled a 1.1 million-ounce resource last month at its Colosseum gold and rare earths project near Las Vegas running 1.26g/t gold. Notably, the company says the resource still has plenty of legs, but it is also showing early signs of rare earths in a region that is revered for the scale and grade of its rare earths.

Estrella Resources has inked a milestone joint venture and royalty deed with Murak Rai Timor (MRT), the State-run mining arm of the Timor-Leste Government, to explore for manganese, copper and gold in that country. Estrella will hold 70 per cent of the newly-formed venture that includes three exploration licenses covering a landholding of 121.5 square metres, with MRT holding 30 per cent.

Larvotto Resources has revealed a bumper exploration target at its Hillgrove gold and antimony project in New South Wales, consisting of 2.8 to 3.6 million tonnes holding between 670,000 and 1.08 million ounces of gold equivalent grading at 7.4 to 9.46 grams per tonne. The target adds strong potential for the company to grow its vast resource base that contains 1.4 million ounces of gold equivalent at a cracking grade of 6.1g/t.

This week's Bulls N' Bears Runner of the Week is … InteliCare Holdings. Its shares jumped 144 per cent on the back of a $2 million capital raise to kickstart key commercial agreements for its AI-driven platform aimed at enabling the elderly to stay in their homes for longer. Other ASX movers and shakers were Encounter Resources, Vonex and Actinogen Medical.

ChemX Materials has taken a crucial step towards high-purity alumina production after cranking up the early-stage commissioning of a leach circuit at its innovative “HiPurA” pilot plant in Western Australia. The leach circuit is a critical initial part of ChemX's purification process in its aim to produce 99.99 per cent, or “four nines”, purity HPA from its planned 24-tonne per annum plant.

Surefire Resources says it has identified a significant opportunity to produce high-grade iron and titanium concentrates from its Unaly Hill magnetite deposit that sits in Western Australia's Mid West region. The company is also engaging with potential stakeholders interested in fast-tracking the development of its flagship Victory Bore project abutting its Unaly Hill ground, about 450km north-east of Perth.

Red Metal's metallurgical testwork has given a green light to the rare earths at its Sybella play near Mount Isa in Queensland, with bulk mining and a low-cost heap leach process to lead to a potential mining operation. The company says granite-hosted soft ore that appears to be abundant in its ground, offers simple crushing and processing options that provide an economic edge to the project.

Novo Resources and its respective joint venture partners De Grey Mining and industry veteran Mark Creasy are firing up the rigs with multiple gold and base metal drilling programs in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The partnerships will be plunging a combined 32,000m of drilling into the respective Becher and Nunyerry North targets in a bid to make another compelling Pilbara discovery.

GreenTech Metals has kicked off its mission to lift the resource numbers at its Whundo base metals project in Western Australia's West Pilbara region after cranking up a new 2200m reverse-circulation drilling program. The company flagged the program a fortnight ago, about a month after revealing that an extensive review, based largely on geophysics, had confirmed significant additional resource potential at the project.

Geological mapping and grab sampling by Estrella Resources has stretched its manganese strike out to 47km in Timor-Leste, with some priority samples already crushed and sent back to Perth for expert lab analysis. The company is now weighing up its business case for the potential first-ever manganese exports from the Southeast Asian country formerly known as East Timor.

Radiopharm Theranostics' stock rocketed up more than 35 per cent this morning after the cancer-fighting firm secured commitments from leading international and Australian institutional investors to raise $70 million at a premium to its most recent share price. The funds will be used to advance the company's clinical programs for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer through its innovative radiopharmaceutical products.

ASX-listed K2fly's cloud-based software solution that audits mineral inventories has attracted as new customer, with Canadian company Lundin Mining committing to a new three-year, $661,000 agreement. The deal – which has an annual recurring revenue value of $180,000 – will provide Lundin with a total mineral resource governance solution to be delivered at the corporate level, covering all of the company's material reporting sites.

American West Metals has secured $18.8 million in non-dilutive funding to accelerate its Storm copper project in Canada after signing a royalty package deal with Australian-based Taurus Mining Royalty Fund. The funding package is designed to underpin the exploration and drilling activities that are already underway at the potentially district-scale project, along with fast-tracking project development amid a surging global thirst for copper production.

Strickland Metals has gone back to its Horse Well gold camp in the Western Australian desert and returned with another string of impressive hits including 20.3m at 1.9 grams per tonne gold from 103

In this week's edition of Bulls N' Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the more notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Astute Metals' 59.43m at 1300 parts per million lithium from 73.2m. We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits revealed last week by Patagonia Lithium, Australian Rare Earths and FireFly Metals.

Mining software provider K2fly's shares hiked 85 per cent today after revelations emerged that the company is set to be taken over by globally-renowned, technology-focused investment firm Accel-KKR. Under the binding scheme implementation deed signed by the two companies, K2fly shareholders will be entitled to receive 19c per share – representing a massive 90 per cent premium on the company's previous closing price of 10c.

This week's Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is … Schrole Group. Its shares jumped 187.5 per cent as the new listing of Mexican fast food chain Guzman y Gomez also tantalised the market's tastebuds in an impressive debut. Other ASX movers and shakers this week included Terra Metals, Lithium Plus Minerals and HeraMED.

Xanadu Mines has identified key follow-up targets at its Red Mountain project in Mongolia after returning positive copper and gold results from near-surface in a discovery drill campaign across four prospects. The company recorded epithermal gold extensions in shallow mineralisation at its promising Target 33 prospect, with assay highlights showing a 41m hit grading 1.07 grams per tonne gold from 34m.

Radiopharm Theranostics looks set to fill its coffers with a healthy $18 million following a strategic equity investment and asset transfer deal with leading United States-based radiopharmaceutical company Lantheus Holdings. Lantheus has agreed to make an initial strategic equity investment of $7.5 million in Radiopharm at an offer price of 0.5c per share – a whopping 47 per cent premium to the last closing price.

With niobium-related news again rattling the ASX market this week, Lycaon Resources is getting closer to launching its hunt for the lustrous metal in Western Australia's West Arunta region after scheduling heritage surveys for next month. Recent discoveries by WA1 Resources and Encounter Resources have demonstrated the potential for the West Arunta region to host significant niobium and rare earths mineral systems.

Chariot Corporation has moved quickly to get boots back on the ground at its Black Mountain lithium project in Wyoming, with exploration activities kicking off just one month after phase one drilling finished. The announcement caused a flurry of interest on the ASX, with the company's shares jumping more than 31 per cent from a previous close of 18c to touch 23c during intraday trading.

Strickland Metals is convinced it has one hand wrapped around the tail of a “significant-scale” mineralised system at its Rogozna gold and base metals project in Serbia after step-out drilling spat out a new suite of solid results. The company plans to quickly follow up the positive assays from its Medenovac prospect, with a 10,000m diamond drill campaign set to kick off this week.