Public Company News

After a week of market elation and ASX all-time highs, this week saw the index experience a serious pullback as banks and miners alike were left with nowhere to hide.

Image Resources has landed first production of heavy mineral concentrate at its Atlas project, 170 km north of Perth, marking a key step in the company’s plan to expand its mineral sands footprint and achieve planned revenue growth by mid-2025. The mine achieved its first production during early-stage commissioning this month. Despite bushfire evacuations last year, accelerated construction has since kept the project on schedule with initial forecasts.

Aurumin Ltd has wrapped up a 54-hole reverse circulation program at its Central Sandstone project in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The holes were designed to test a clutch of iron-rich prospects key to a proposed exclusive option agreement with private entity Newcam Minerals. A successful joint venture deal could provide Aurumin with $7m in project funding.

Reach Resources’ share price surged 29pc this morning to 1.8 cents, up some 125pc on this time last week, after the company unveiled initial drilling results from its Murchison South gold project in Western Australia. The first two reverse circulation drill holes intersected shallow high-grade gold, including an impressive 41m section grading 2.01g/t.

Chariot Corporation has secured strategic West Australian lithium and gold assets by obtaining seven tenements in the Southern Cross greenstone belt, a world-class lithium and gold address. Chariot swooped in after a series of relinquishments by other gold and lithium explorers over the past two years, taking advantage of a countercyclical opportunity. The company says it has successfully leveraged the strategy elsewhere.

Meeka Metals is keeping its golden streak alive at its flagship Murchison project in Western Australia’s Mid West region, striking 16m at 9.45 grams per tonne gold. This follows a red-hot 23m at 26.73g/t gold from the St Anne’s deposit earlier this year. With rigs spinning and the mining fleet mobilised, Meeka is on a fast track to development and is closing in on production.

Strickland Metals has boosted its Serbian Rogozna project’s mineral resource by 23pc, reaching 6.69m gold equivalent ounces. A key driver is the maiden resource at Medenovac, contributing 1.28m gold equivalent ounces from a resource of 21mt grading 1.9g/t gold equivalent. The polymetallic deposit - rich in gold, copper, zinc, lead and silver – has lifted Rogozna’s portfolio, reinforcing its status as a major gold and base metals asset.

King River Resources has wrapped up the sale of its Speewah critical minerals project in WA’s rugged Kimberley to NT resources firm Tivan Ltd. The sale was initiated two years ago for a mix of cash and shares worth $20 million. The deal was restructured in February last year, resulting in a $2.4m payment last December with no further shares to be issued.

St George Mining has bolstered its cavalry by appointing an ex-CBMM engineering manager from a neighbouring industry-leading niobium plant. Armed with a $20 million war chest and strategic alliance with global mining engineering firm Shandong Xinhai Mining, St George is assembling elite in-house expertise to fast-track the development of its Araxá niobium-rare earths project in Brazil.

Great Southern Mining and Gold Fields Limited have identified a second large-scale induced polarisation (IP) target at their Edinburgh Park gold and copper project in northern Queensland. The newly discovered Mt Dillon target follows a previous IP anomaly at Leichhardt Creek, located 10km northwest. The latest find reinforces the potential for significant mineralization within the jointly owned exploration area.

Lithium Universe has approved a final investment to progress its Bécancour lithium refinery in Canada and will now aim to secure US$549m (A$862m) in funding for the project, which has a net present value of US$718m (A$1.128b). The project is expected to generate EBITDA of US$148m from annual revenue of US$383m with a 3.9-year payback based on current price assumptions.

McLaren Minerals has launched an air core drilling campaign at the company’s flagship McLaren titanium sands project in Western Australia’s Eucla Basin. The program aims to refine resource estimates, expand high-grade titanium mineralisation and enhance confidence in the 280-million-tonne resource. A key priority will be to collect 5 tonnes of sample material for metallurgical testing at IHC Mining’s laboratory in Queensland.