Public Company News

Empire Energy has massively boosted its Beetaloo Sub-basin oil and gas resources in the Northern Territory following a strategic takeover of Pangaea Ltd and EMG Northern Territory’s acreage in the basin. Empire trebled its gas resource and increased its liquids resource by 3,000 per cent when it pounced on Pangaea and EMG’s ground. The Beetaloo is believed to hold the largest undeveloped gas resource in Australia.

Kairos Minerals has followed up recent stellar gold hits in drilling at its Mt York project in the Pilbara, including a cracking 32m at 3.79 g/t gold. A suite of high priority greenfield targets have also been identified from a geochemistry sampling program. Assays up to 5.38 g/t were returned in soil samples, with drill testing due to commence next month.

Multi-metals exploration company, Conico Limited has wrapped up the field season at its Ryberg base and precious metals project on the east coast of Greenland with yet another sulphide intercept. The new hit at the recently discovered Cascata prospect follows several other exciting sulphide intercepts at the Miki prospect some 30 kilometres to the south-west and the Sortekap prospect about 30km to the north-west.

Venus Metals is collecting a lot of smoke as it searches for the fire under its Nickel-Copper-Platinum “Julimar look-a-like” targets at its Bridgetown East Project in WA’s fertile South West mineral terrane. The company reported polymetallic anomalies that are closely associated with a suite of prospective mafic-ultramafic rocks, some of which even coincide with an aeromagnetic high and a HEM anomaly.

Technology Metals Australia has secured well known private equity fund RCF as a corner stone backer as part of a two-stage $20m placement that will see Technology Metals fast-track the development of its Yarrabubba and Gabanintha high purity vanadium projects in WA. The projects are just south of Meekathara and will seek to capitalise on the resurgent vanadium price.

Gold explorer Great Southern Mining has picked up some solid gold hits from a regional drilling program that tested a quartet of prospects within its Duketon gold project about 45km north of Laverton in WA. The most notable of the latest drill intersections were 5m going 3.3 g/t from 49m including 1m at 12.3 g/t and 8m at 2.1 g/t gold from 32m including 4m at 3.7 g/t.

Podium Minerals has unveiled a substantial increase in the inferred mineral resource estimate for its flagship Parks Reef multi-metals project in WA following a recently completed reverse circulation drilling campaign. The revised resource for Parks Reef’s platinum group metals horizon now stands at 40.2 million tonnes weighing in at 1.54 grams per tonne 3E PGM for 1.98 million ounces of contained platinum, palladium and gold.

Mineral exploration company, Twenty Seven Co has launched a geochemical sampling program to follow up on recently identified high-grade lithium occurrences at its 100 per cent owned Trident project near Broken Hill in New South Wales. A review of historical geochemical and sample data recently returned multiple lithium pegmatite showings at the project, including a cracking 7.63 per cent lithium oxide sample.

A maiden diamond drilling campaign by junior gold explorer, Native Mineral Resources has intercepted a new quartz vein below a gold rich outcropping vein at its 100 per cent owned Music Well project, north of Leonora in WA. Recent sampling of the outcropping vein returned an average 3.16 g/t gold from 128 samples, with one sample delivering an eye-catching 147 g/t gold.

Hot Chili has wrapped up a deal to acquire 100 per cent interest in the company’s world-class Cortadera copper-gold discovery in Chile. Hot Chili and the original project owner, SCM Carola, have now consummated to transfer 100 per cent ownership in the project to Hot Chili after the final instalment of US$15 million was paid by Hot Chili to SCM.

Sihayo Gold has produced encouraging metallurgical test work results that point to a potential increase in the all-important gold recovery rates at its developing namesake Sihayo “starter” gold project in North Sumatra in Indonesia. The company says average recoveries in its latest test work show an improvement of up to 25 per cent via the use of caustic pre-leaching on various refractory ore types from the project.

Okapi Resources has pressed ahead with its acquisition of the Enmore gold project about 30km south-east of Armidale in the New England fold belt in NSW after satisfying minimum expenditure and drilling requirements under the terms of the original purchase agreement. The company has elected to make the first milestone payment of $300,000 to the Enmore vendor through the issue of Okapi shares, subject to shareholder approval.