Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

WA agribusiness and Pemberton avocado orchard developer, Alterra Ltd’s shareholder register has been fortified following the sale of a block of shares by its former chairman. Existing major Alterra shareholder, Sandon Capital and fellow major shareholders, Emanuel Exports and the Daws family, who came on board six months ago, have stepped up to the plate to boost their holdings to 22.2 per cent and 19.95 per cent, respectively.

3D metal printing group, Aurora Labs has locked down an Australian patent for a key part of its Multi-Layer Concurrent Printing technology as it looks to progress its flagship RMP-1 printer technology to commercial readiness. The patent adds to the two the company has already secured in China and Japan. MCP patent applications in other jurisdictions including the US and Europe are at various stages of the approvals process.

Central African lithium hopeful, AVZ Minerals has taken a significant step towards the ultimate development of its massive Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this week awarding a front-end engineering and design study contract to Melbourne-based engineering firm Mincore. AVZ says the study will also contain a project execution schedule for the proposed US$545 million development of Manono.

Podium Minerals is rapidly filling in the gaps along 15km of strike at its Parks Reef platinum group element discovery in WA’s Mid West. Multiple drill hits spanning around 1.2km of strike in the “eastern sector” of Parks Reef have turned up some remarkably consistent PGM mineral intercepts, including 13m at 1.49 g/t three-element platinum group metals from 57m.

Buru Energy has beefed up its board ahead of its big 2021 energy exploration push with its newly minted partner, Origin Energy, as it seeks to flex its muscles further in WA’s hydrocarbon-rich Canning Basin. Respected, long-serving non-executive director Eve Howell will retire and three new non-executives will join the board as Buru gears up for 2021.

Blackstone Minerals has discovered new nickel sulphide mineralisation in the previously untested Taipan Discovery Zone within the Ta Cuong nickel-PGE-copper-cobalt massive sulphide vein prospect. Ta Cuong sits about 6km northwest of Blackstone’s dormant but modern Ban Phuc nickel mine and processing centre in Vietnam. The first diamond hole to test Taipan hit 39.7m of continuous fresh sulphides, including some massive sulphides after 15.5m downhole.

Surefire Resources is fast-tracking its Perenjori magnetite iron ore project in WA, with the aspiring producer tabling a massive resource for the deposit that now weighs in at 192 million tonnes grading over 36 per cent iron that the company says can be beneficiated up to a stellar 70 per cent iron concentrate.

Element 25 says it will be processing manganese ore by the back end of next month at its new Butcherbird manganese project in the Pilbara. The company says it will dry commission the plant in the first half of March and achieve wet commissioning and start processing ore by the end of the month, representing a significant milestone in the history of the company.

ASX-listed Chilean copper player, Hot Chili has fired up a third drill rig to accelerate its recently commenced 40,000-metre follow-up diamond and RC drilling program at its massive Cortadera copper-gold discovery. Cortadera forms part of the Perth-based company’s proposed Costa Fuego porphyry copper-gold super hub project development in Chile about 600 kilometres north of the country’s capital, Santiago.

After nailing its maiden gold drilling campaign at the Gnows Nest project near Yalgoo, Emu NL is opening up a second and third exploration front in WA with auger drilling now set to kick off in the South West and the Eastern Goldfields. A detailed auger campaign will drill test the company’s Viper, Graceland and 8-Mile Dam projects in the coming weeks.

ASX-listed explorer King River Resources says drilling has unearthed its richest, high-grade gold vein outside of the Trudi Main prospect at its Mount Remarkable gold project in WA’s north-east Kimberley region. The first high grade, reverse circulation gold hit at its Jennifer North vein returned 2m at 8.44 g/t gold which included 1m going 14.8 g/t, within an overall 5m zone grading 3.45 g/t gold.

Todd River Resources’ share price hiked more than 8 per cent in ASX trade after the company finalised a $3.3 million capital raise, landing high profile fund manager Acorn Capital as cornerstone investor in the process. The flourishing WA nickel explorer is set to kick off a raft of exploration in the coming weeks across its highly prospective targets throughout the nickel-bearing terranes of Western Australia.

Venus Metals has commenced a fresh round of RC drilling at its 90 per cent-owned Range View prospect as it hunts down more gold at the interesting looking target just 1.5kms north-east of its Bell Chambers gold deposit. Venus is testing the extension of high-grade gold mineralisation discovered late last year at Range View, just off the Paynes Find-Sandstone Road, east of Mount Magnet in WA’s Goldfields region.

Venture Minerals is chasing down both copper and zinc sulphides at its Golden Grove North project in WA, with the budding developer kicking off diamond drilling at the prospect. The program is following up on a quiver of targets generated from the company’s maiden exploration program over the prospect which included drill intercepts of 1.3 per cent copper, 6.1 per cent zinc and 22 grams per tonne silver.

St George Mining is poised to begin drilling over a selection of deep geophysical targets at its Mt Alexander nickel project in WA. The budding explorer has recently completed development drilling over its Stricklands nickel deposit and is now set to move the diamond rig to the recently discovered western extensions of the Cathedrals Belt.

Horizon Minerals has completed the fourth and final toll milling campaign that treated ore mined from a trial open pit at its flagship Boorara gold project, 10 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie. The Perth-based company eked out a further $2.8 million in revenue including $1.2 million in net cash flow from the fourth instalment’s total production of 1,182 ounces of gold that realised a sales price averaging $2,356 an ounce.

Terrain Minerals has earned its 80 per cent holding in the joint venture tenements at its Smokebush gold project in WA, with ownership of the tenure having now been transferred to the company. Terrain has ploughed over $250,000 into its exploration of the five joint venture tenements and has also issued the vendors 5 million shares in the company, meeting the conditions of the earn-in arrangement.

ASX-listed healthcare technology company, InteliCare has shown it is capable of scaling up after posting first-half customer revenues of $235,518 against revenues of just $9,497 for the previous corresponding quarter. The company also banked an additional $553,813 on the top line for the December 2020 half, largely from an R&D tax offset grant and Government COVID-19 grant payments.

Surefire Resources is poised to resume drilling at its historic Yidby Road gold project in WA’s Murchison Goldfields. The new program will follow up on a bundle of recent exciting gold drill hits. The spectacular assay results from the company’s maiden round of RC drilling late last year featured a 56-metre intersection going an average grade of 1.97 grams per tonne gold from 44m down-hole that included 4m at 14.47 g/t.

Indiana Resources has unearthed a golden labyrinth at its Minos discovery in SA, with the company’s maiden drilling program returning a quiver of high-grade intercepts. Drilling has returned gold-rich intervals in each of the five drill holes received to date, including an impressive 22 metres at 3.07 grams per tonne gold and a stellar 5m at 24.35 g/t gold.

West African bauxite hopeful, Lindian Resources has moved to separate the infrastructure interests and mining ownership structures in relation to its Lelouma, Gaoual and Woula bauxite projects in Guinea as it looks to firm up a business model for the development and operation of the assets. As part of the grand plan, the company hopes to strike binding agreements with various parties to participate in the infrastructure development required for the projects.

Emu NL has uncovered a treasure trove of gold mineralisation at its Gnows Nest project in WA, with the company’s maiden drilling program delivering a haul of high-grade intercepts including 3 metres at a stunning 42.18 grams per tonne gold, including an even more impressive 1m at 89.57 g/t gold from 78m down-hole and 4m at 20.4 g/t gold from only 51m down-hole.

ASX-listed West Africa gold explorer, Mako Gold has hit the ground running at its recently granted wholly owned Korhogo gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, kicking off a soil geochemical survey across the project’s two permit areas called Ouangolodougou and Korhogo Nord. Korhogo sits in the same highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt that hosts Barrick Gold’s 4.9-million-ounce Tongon gold mine and Montage Gold’s 3.1-million-ounce Kone gold deposit.

ASX-listed oil and gas explorer, 88 Energy is set to spud the Merlin-1 oil well at its Project Peregrine on the North Slope of Alaska early next month. The Perth-based company, who successfully rattled the tin recently for $12 million in a heavily oversubscribed capital raise, says mobilisation of the drilling rig to the Merlin-1 well location has commenced.

AVZ Minerals’ resource drill out continues to impress with broad drill intersections of pegmatite discovered in the Roche Dure pit floor at the company’s massive Manono lithium and tin project in the DRC. AVZ says the project will spit out an incredible US$400 million a year in average EBITDA when fully developed. The most notable new intersection came in at 173m grading 1.63 per cent lithium oxide.

Deep Yellow has banked a massive $40.8 million after adding several domestic and international financial institutions to the uranium developer’s registry. The company also received strong support from its existing institutional shareholder base with the placement set to finance the ongoing exploration and development efforts in Namibia and provide funding pipeline for any acquisition opportunities that might arise.

First-pass drilling at Oar Resources’ Gibraltar project in SA has delivered a potential treasure trove of mineralisation, with sampling revealing intercepts of both high-value halloysite and kaolinite. Some stand-out results for the flourishing project area include 3 metres at 19.6 per cent halloysite with 42.4 per cent kaolinite from 26m and an equally impressive 13m at 5.3 per cent halloysite with 80.9 per cent kaolinite.

Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Novo Resources has poured first gold from its Beatons Creek conglomerate gold mine at Nullagine in WA’s East Pilbara region following a rapid-fire project development. The Vancouver-based C$615 market-capped company achieved the gold production milestone during the plant commissioning phase in less than six months after buying and refurbishing the nearby Golden Eagle mill.

Aruma Resources’ maiden RC drilling campaign at its Saltwater gold project in WA’s Pilbara region has returned a cluster of encouraging gold sniffs that the company says may be the makings of what it calls a “new gold camp”. According to Aruma, assay results received for 37 holes of the 40-hole program point to a possible 4km strike length and the discovery of a potential gold camp on a “ring structure” at the project.

Eclipse Metals has taken control of the Ivittuut “cryolite” mine in Greenland, with the Minister of Finance, Industry and Mineral Resources approving the transfer of the exclusive exploration licence to the company, clearing the way for management to get “boots on ground” and kick off exploration in the coming field season.

A frustrating wait from assay labs gave way to satisfaction as in-fill and extensional drill results at Anglo Australian’s Mandilla project near Kambalda pointed to wide mineralised zones to the north of the project which remains open at depth and along strike. The company is now awaiting results from drilling at the Mandilla East zone before a short march to a maiden resource at project.

Image Resources is set to power up its 2021 mineral sands production at its Boonanarring project with the Perth miner meeting its 2020 guidance and retiring its outstanding debt. The company has already advanced its new year’s development schedule which boasts a growing pipeline of mineral sands production targets across WA’s Mid West region, stretching from Cervantes in the north to Gingin in the south.