Public Company News

Alumina technologist and rare earths explorer ABx Group has chosen the CEO of its subsidiary, Alcore, to run the ASX-listed parent. The move comes after long time ABx leader Ian Levy said he was stepping down from the 1st of February. Dr Mark Cooksey previously held the position of CEO of Alcore, an ABx company that has been developing an aluminium fluoride refinery in NSW.

Goldfields focused Ora Banda Mining increased gold production in the last quarter after producing 17,192 ounces of gold, the company’s best quarterly performance since the re-start of its Davyhurst operation in WA. 18,806 ounces of gold were sold for the quarter at an average price of $2,472 per ounce resulting in the operation turning cashflow positive for November and December.

WA-based Technology Metals Australia has extended an agreed Memoranda of Understanding with Japan’s LE System, a leading vanadium battery company. The agreement will see the duo launch a feasibility study into the development of Australia’s first fully integrated vanadium electrolyte plant, a material used in industrial scale electric batteries. The proposed plant will aim to utilise vanadium from the company’s Murchison Technology Metals project near Meekatharra.

Aruma Resources has racked up an intriguingly wide, shallow, albeit low grade gold intercept during first pass greenfields drilling at its Salmon Gums gold project approximately 200km south of Kalgoorlie in WA. The new target gave up 38 metres at 0.12 g/t gold from 23m downhole in a sparsely explored area just 30 kilometres along strike and in the same stratigraphy as Pantoro Limited’s high grade Scotia gold project.

ASX-listed copper developer Hot Chili has entered into negotiations for a port access and services deal at the Chilean port of Huasco. The company said it has begun the process of securing the final critical item of infrastructure for the development of its massive Costa Fuego copper project, one of the world’s largest copper discoveries.

BMG Resources is wasting little time following up on some prior spectacular gold hits at its Abercromby project near Wiluna with a dual exploration play at the site now in full swing. The program will see the explorer recommence diamond drilling at its high-grade Capital prospect and probe a series of nearby structural targets using an aircore rig.

ASX-listed Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources have tabled a whopping 1.34 million ounce resource upgrade taking their total Youanmi gold resource in WA to the magical 3m ounce mark. The resource upgrade equates to a significant 156 per cent increase following a seven month period of intensive infill and extensional diamond drilling for approximately 35,000 metres at the Youanmi Deeps deposit.

ASX-listed Altech Chemicals is pressing ahead with its development of a high-purity alumina coating plant for lithium batteries in the German state of Saxony after its 75 per cent owned subsidiary, Altech Industries Germany, exercised an option to purchase a 14-hectare industrial site. The company says its newly acquired ground is an ideal location for the 10,000 tonne per annum HPA plant.

Godolphin Resources is punching 700m of diamond drilling into its 100 per cent owned Gundagai South gold project in NSW where it is targeting sheeted quartz veins and porphyry dykes at its Surprise Hill North and Big Ben prospects. The company is restarting operations at the Gundagai North and Gundagai South projects after unseasonable adverse weather events across NSW called a halt to exploration in late 2021.

Nickel explorer Estrella Resources has decided to sell its nickel rights over its Spargoville project located approximately 25km west of Kambalda in WA. After receiving several unsolicited offers the company has engaged Geolithic Geological Services to handle the sale process and it is now planning to concentrate its exploration efforts on the company’s flagship Carr Boyd nickel project.

Torian Resources has clocked up a string of shallow gold intercepts adding to a burgeoning arsenal of strikes at its flagship Mt Stirling project, some 40 kilometres north-west of Leonora in WA. The latest set of results include a 24 metre intersection grading 2.02 grams per tonne gold from 10m downhole with an internal 3m section going 7.09 g/t gold from 17m.

WA-based explorer St George Mining has announced new high-grade targets at its flagship Mt Alexander project after a seismic survey turned up large intrusion structures prospective for nickel sulphide. The company says the area has the potential to host significant volumes of mineralisation and has taken no time to fire up the rig with drilling already underway on the first of five fresh targets.