Public Company News

ASX-listed Lindian Resources has followed up its shift into rare earths exploration by appointing commodities specialist Alistair Stephens as its new Chief Executive Officer as the company awaits shareholders to approve its takeover of the globally significant Kangankunde project in Malawi. Non-Executive Chairman Asimwe Kabunga will move to the role of Executive Chairman. Lindian is aiming to take full control of Kangankunde through a 100-per cent share acquisition of Rift Valley Resource Developments.

Ahead of an RC drilling campaign later this month, battery metals and gold explorer Askari Metals has uncovered up to 31.9 g/t gold in stream sediment from a loaming campaign at its Horry copper and gold project in WA's Kimberley region. The company's exploration campaign included panning creeks and tributaries, metal detecting and collecting rock chip samples. The rock chips revealed grades of up to 3.82 g/t gold and 4.3 per cent copper.

Panther Metals is working the drill bit at its Ironstone prospect, part of the company's larger Merolia project near Laverton in Western Australia. The explorer says its 1200m diamond drilling program is aimed at testing historic mineralisation and modelling the target's main lode. Earlier work in the area delivered a peak intercept of 9m at 22.27 grams per tonne gold from 112m.

TSX-listed Novo Resources has launched an RC drilling campaign aimed at testing gold and nickel targets at its Purdy's North project near Karratha in WA's Pilbara region. The campaign will initially focus on Novo's Milburn nickel-copper-gold and Morto Lago orogenic gold targets before moving to several identified areas within the district. The initial targets are next to Azure Minerals' Andover nickel-copper-cobalt discovery and Artemis Resources' Carlow Castle gold-copper-cobalt prospect.

Perth-based Infinity Lithium has wrapped up its commitments to a successful test work program for its San José lithium project in western Spain by delivering the final tranche of share options to the program's backer. The company has also announced a new battery industry training program for locals in the Extramadura region, the site of its proposed mine.

ASX-listed biotech and cancer fighter Chimeric Therapeutics has been granted patent protection in Japan for some of its novel cell therapy treatments – including one in a phase one trial and another at the pre-clinical stage. Chimeric management says the patents will expand the company's intellectual property portfolio underpinning important assets in its development pipeline. Japan is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical market.

Classic Minerals has returned high-grade gold intercepts from the first 10 holes of an RC drilling campaign at its flagship Kat Gap project near Southern Cross in WA's Goldfields region. Assays include a 3m intercept going 13.23 g/t gold from 32m including 1m reading a substantial 17 g/t gold from 34m. The 109-hole infill program was designed following Classic's recent bulk sample operation that mined 1011 ounces of gold.

After nailing down a brace of new targets at Venture Minerals' South West nickel-copper-PGE project about 240km south of Perth, Chalice Mining has decided to commit to the second phase of the duo's joint venture agreement. As part of the deal, Chalice will spend an additional $2.5 million on exploration over the next two years to claim a 70 per cent stake in the operation.

Buru Energy and Sipa Resources are continuing their foray into base metals, kicking off diamond drilling at the joint venture's Barbwire Terrace project south-east of Broome in Western Australia. The 50/50 split operation plans to sink up to four holes at nominal depths of up to 500m as they look to test targets along the south-western margin of the Fitzroy Trough.

Calidus Resources has identified strong gold-in-soil anomalies in samples taken across a 3km strike length in historically mined sections of its Blue Spec project near Nullagine in WA's Pilbara region. The program targeted the untested western end of the Blue Spec fault zone associated with gold mineralisation. Preliminary fieldwork is underway to identify drill targets in addition to areas for program of work applications and heritage surveys.

Podium Minerals has officially added rhodium and iridium to its mineral resource estimate at the company's Parks Reef project in WA — creating what it says is Australia's first defined 5E PGM resource. 5E PGM represents a combination of platinum, palladium, gold, rhodium and iridium. Podium says its updated inferred resource is now 52.2 million tonnes at 1.64 grams per tonne for three million ounces of 5E PGM.

Xanadu Mines has completed metallurgical recoveries of up to 91 per cent gold and 46 per cent copper from preliminary glycine and cyanide leach testing at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia. The tests were performed on partially oxidised material from surface to 30m depth and returned head grades between 0.52 and 2.25 grams per tonne gold and from 0.12 up to 0.67 per cent copper.