Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Following rolling success across its reinvigorated battery metals and rare earth-focused portfolio, White Cliff Minerals has offloaded its non-core Gardener Dome rare earths project in WA to ASX-listed explorer Black Cat. The transaction will see the company pocket a non-refundable deposit of $5,000, followed by $45,000 in cash and $150,000 worth of fully paid ordinary shares in Black Cat upon the deal's completion.

Surefire Resources has achieved excellent gold recoveries of between 97.6 per cent and 99.5 per cent from gravity and cyanide leach tests on samples from the company’s Yidby gold project in the Murchison district of WA’s Mid West. The metallurgical test work was designed to provide greater insights into Surefire’s potential overall gold recovery and processing options for the project.

After an initial phase of reconnaissance, Askari Metals has uncovered high-grade spodumene-hosted lithium within extensive pegmatites at the company’s recently acquired Uis lithium, tantalum and tin project in Namibia, Africa. Results up to 2.1 per cent lithium oxide were returned from 196 rock chip samples collected as part of the company’s due diligence evaluation of the advanced project.

Blackstone Minerals has validated its process for the company’s proposed Ta Khoa nickel refinery project in Vietnam after its metallurgical test work program was successful in producing battery-grade nickel and cobalt sulphates in addition to processing third-party cobalt supply. The findings come from batch test work and commissioning of piloting equipment completed in August as part of a definitive feasibility study into the company’s Ta Khoa nickel project and its namesake refinery.

JV partners Triangle and Pilot Energy could lodge a formal application to use the company’s Cliff Head oil reservoirs as carbon storage tanks in the next few weeks after finalising the regulatory approval data required for the submission. The producer’s oil fields are currently churning out about 700 barrels of oil per day but once depleted it is hoped they will be used to progress the partnership’s clean energy initiatives.

BMG Resources has extended the mineralised footprint of its Abercromby gold project near Wiluna out to 1.3km after receiving assay results from the company’s recent diamond drilling campaign. Assay highlights include a 5.56m hit at 3.5 grams per tonne gold from 400m whilst a second hole recorded a 6m intercept going 2.79 g/t gold from 171m.

As the price of gold continues to recover lost territory, Surefire Resources has wrapped up a five-hole diamond drilling program at the company’s Yidby gold project in the Murchison district of WA’s Mid West. The campaign was designed to reveal structural and lithological information as the explorer looks to home in on the project’s broad gold mineralisation and localised high grades. The drill core has been transported to a laboratory in WA and is currently under the geological microscope.

West Perth-based Asra Minerals has appointed experienced geologist and mining executive Rob Longley as its new Managing Director. Longley was General Manager Geology for Sundance Resources in Africa from 2007 to 2015 and CEO and MD of Helios Gold. His most recent position was CEO and MD of minerals explorer Ardiden and he is also a non-executive director of Green Technology Metals.

Shares in mineral explorer Tambourah Metals shot up over 83 per cent this morning after multiple prospective pegmatites were confirmed across a strike length of 500m at the company’s Russian Jack lithium project in WA’s Pilbara region. The explorer also excited the market by claiming a small yet highly prospective tenement in the Pilbara’s latest lithium hotspot.

The Cliff Head joint venture between Triangle and Pilot Energy continues to deliver the goods with the duo completing its fourth tanker load of 26,500 barrels of oil onto the AB Paloma vessel at the Port of Geraldton in WA. Triangle Energy holds a 78.75 per cent share in the partnership and says the ship is now stocked with 53,000 barrels of oil and is on its way to a refinery in Asia where it will be sold.

The recently released Federal Budget has highlighted the importance of the mining and resources industry to the Australian economy with a particular focus on the critical minerals sector. One of the most important commodities to the current market is lithium due to the importance of the metal to the electric vehicle and battery sector.

Shares in Venture Minerals vaulted over 30 per cent in intraday trading after the company doubled its rare earths portfolio through a new discovery at its Golden Grove North zinc-copper-gold project in WA’s Mid-West. Results from a surface sampling campaign at the operation’s Vulcan prospect graded up to 12.5 per cent total rare earth oxides and follow the recent detection at the company’s Mount Lindsay project in Tasmania.

As it looks to table an updated mineral resource, Australian explorer Godolphin Resources has confirmed rare earths mineralisation in a four-hole diamond drill program completed in July at the company’s Narraburra rare earths project in NSW. All holes in the 285.6m-long campaign intercepted rare earths across the project in both weathered surficial material and in underlying fresh rock with a peak grade of 1027ppm TREO.

Askari Metals has expanded its lithium foothold in WA’s Pilbara region by entering a binding agreement to acquire all of the shares in private company, Greenstone Lithium, in exchange for an upfront consideration of $250,000 in cash and shares. The 65-square-kilometre project is considered prospective for lithium, tin and tantalum mineralisation and is comprised of one granted tenement and one tenement application.

Captivate Energy Alaska, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed oil and gas explorer 88 Energy could soon pick up ten leases spanning over 25,000 acres in Alaska's North Slope. The acquisition follows a formal bidding process in that saw the company win the rights to acquire the tenure that boasts historical hydrocarbon shows and an existing 3D dataset which could expedite future work.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has completed a heritage survey at its Perrinvale gold project about 80km west of Leonora in WA that paves the way for boots on the ground exploration work. Historical campaigns unveiled a suite of anomalous target zones that were not fully examined and the company now plans to double-back and assess the potentially gold-bearing prospects.

Newly listed lithium and gold explorer Octava Minerals has lit up a number of priority targets at the company’s Talga lithium project in WA’s Pilbara region after a preliminary portable XRF machine analysis of over 2000 soil samples. Whilst the company awaits its full laboratory results it already has identified multiple additional pegmatites and marked seven priority target areas for further field assessment.

Toro Energy has unearthed high-grade gold results from geochemical assays of rock chip samples collected to the south of the company’s Golden Ways target that forms part of its Yandal gold project. The company collected a total of 85 specimens in the recently identified New England target area about 2km south of Golden Ways with results returning impressive grades including one sample at 70.4 grams per tonne gold.

Infinity Lithium has sealed a binding memorandum of understanding with Spanish energy firm Enalter to assess a renewable energy project that could drive down costs associated with the explorer’s in-development San José lithium project. As part of the deal the company through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Extremadura New Energies, will seek to capitalise on the region’s sprawling alternative power prospects through solar, methane and green hydrogen operations.

ASX-listed gold explorer and producer Calidus Resources has enjoyed success with the drill bit in a maiden RC program at Spear Hill in the Pilbara – for lithium, not gold. The discovery was made by Calidus’ part-owned Pirra Lithium. Significant intercepts included 2 metres at 1.11 per cent lithium oxide from 19m and 2m at 1.09 per cent from 5m.

Valor Resources has extended the surface uranium mineralisation of its Surprise Creek project in Canada to a strike length of almost 400m after receiving results from field work conducted last month. The program completed in October revealed five targets with a maximum scintillometer reading of 65,535 counts per second whilst a number of additional areas tested showed results of more than 10,000 cps.

Kairos Minerals has identified significant new lithium soil anomalies at its Roe Hills project in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. The lithium hits are near Kairos’s 2.6km long Black Cat lithium soil anomaly where preparations for drilling are well advanced. The company says Black Cat appears to have the same geology as the nearby Manna deposit, 20 per cent of which sold for $60 million in October.

Meeka Metals has reported strong oxide gold mineralisation from shallow drilling of a new area of its St Anne’s deposit of the company’s Murchison gold project, north-east of Meekatharra in WA. The campaign’s highlights include 16 metres at 3.48 grams per tonne from 48m, including 8m going 6.17 g/t gold and 12m at 2.48 g/t gold from 76m including 8m grading 3.55 g/t gold.

The US federal government has provided the Utah Geological Survey with a US$300,000 grant to study American West Metals' West Desert project near Salt Lake City. The project boasts large resources of commodities critical to the new energy push including zinc and copper and indium and the work is aimed at providing the necessary know-how to sniff out similar deposits.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has completed a first-pass sampling campaign across its Pianto project near Menzies in WA’s Goldfields region that will be tested for multi-elements including gold and lithium. The reconnaissance geochemistry program saw the company collect 315 auger samples that will test the company’s “gold-in-granite” exploration model and identify targets for follow up exploration.

Aruma Resources has intersected multiple pegmatites over a 1500m strike length in its latest drilling at the Mt Deans lithium-rubidium project. RC drilling was conducted over the pegmatite swarm where previous drilling returned grades up to 1.14 per cent lithium and 1.05 per cent rubidium. The company says current drilling intersected visual lithium mineralisation identified as the mineral lepidolite.

Aurum Resources is one step closer to beginning exploration on its Ryans Find gold project north-east of Southern Cross after signing a heritage agreement with the Marlinyu Ghoorlie Native Title Claimant Group. The agreement is the first step in gaining heritage clearance for the site that will allow the company’s planned air-core drilling program to commence. The programme of works for the campaign has already been approved by the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Northern Minerals has secured a $3.9 million refund from the ATO as part of the Federal Government’s research and development tax offset scheme for a suite of activities completed at its Browns Range pilot plant project in the Pilbara. The reimbursement follows ongoing trial beneficiation and hydrometallurgical work that is aiming to further the company’s expertise in the processing of its heavy rare earths.

Mineral Explorer Si6 Metals has wrapped up a 119-hole, 5636m air-core drilling program at its Monument gold project in WA’s Goldfields region where the company is already sitting on a 3.3 million t

Askari Metals has kicked off a soil auger drilling and rock sampling program at the company’s freshly acquired Myrnas Hill lithium project in WA’s Pilbara region to define priority target areas for follow-up exploration. The campaign will collect more than 600 samples in areas of interest marked by a hyperspectral survey and Askari’s own geological target generation.

St George Mining has moved quickly to top up its landholding at its Mt Alexander project near Leonora following the discovery of lithium mineralisation during its maiden drill program adding an exploration licence to its portfolio and lodging an application for a prospecting licence. Both tenements are neighbouring St George’s Jailbreak prospect where the company currently has an aggressive drilling program underway.

Altech Chemicals has unveiled a 60KWh battery that uses garden variety table salt instead of lithium and other critical metals typically found in a lithium battery. The company is looking to muscle into the multi-billion-dollar renewable energy and grid storage market that is currently dominated by the lithium players. The battery is designed to fill the need for middle and long-duration power sources that provide sustained power over long periods.