Public Company News

ASX-listed Okapi Resources has uncovered a 2-kilometre-long lithium target from a recently completed soil program at its newly acquired Lake Johnston project 450km east of Perth in Western Australia. Lithium in soil results have graded up to 86 parts per million and bear strong similarities with nearby results recently announced by joint venture partner Charger Metals at the adjoining Mount Day project.

St George Mining has kicked off a swag of drilling at its flagship Mt Alexander project in Western Australia. Early-stage targets will be tested with a seven-hole program at the newly minted Carnac prospect and 20 high-priority infill holes will also be ploughed into St George’s Cathedrals JV with an eye to a potential resource estimate being produced.

Australian Bauxite is building on the intriguing recent discovery of rare earth element accumulations within its Tasmanian bauxite project. New assay results have significantly increased the extent and thickness of rare earths enrichment with new mineralised zones trending to the north and south. The drill rig is rapidly being upgraded in readiness for drilling the possible source rock that lies to the northeast of the high-grade zone.

ASX-listed junior explorer Askari Metals has completed its inaugural reverse circulation drilling program as it seeks to determine the prospectivity of its Burracoppin gold project in historically worked fields about 20km east of Merredin in Western Australia’s eastern Wheatbelt. The company is now waiting with anticipation on the assay results due in four to six weeks.

Things just got interesting in 88 Energy’s oil hunt at its Project Peregrine in the revered North Slope of Alaska with post-well evaluation of the Merlin-1 well demonstrating the presence of oil in three reservoirs. Results from the well have led to a targeted mean total prospective resource at the project of a whopping 1.6 billion barrels of oil. An appraisal well is now on the cards.

Superior Resources has delivered a 10m gold intercept going 2.8 g/t gold from the first hole at the Steam Engine lode, located at its Greenvale project 210km west of Townsville in Queensland. The result, in conjunction with visual observations of thick mineralised zones in other holes, has prompted the company to launch into another 5,000m of drilling aiming to grow the 122,000-ounce deposit at the Steam Engine prospect.

Perth-based miner Calidus Resources is on track to become Australia’s next gold producer. Construction at the company’s Warrawoona gold operation in the Pilbara region is now more than 50 per cent complete and Calidus is on target to deliver its first gold pour in the first half of next year, defying the challenges of labour shortages and supply disruptions.

ASX-listed Eclipse Metals is casting an eye over nearly 20 kilometres of historic drill core from its Ivittuut project in southwest Greenland as it follows up rock chip sample assays of up to 34,400 parts per million total rare earth elements.

ASX-listed central African lithium developer AVZ Minerals has completed four diamond drill holes on the Carriere de l’Este prospect at its flagship Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Intercepts grading up to 2.49 per cent lithium oxide have extended the known lithium and tin mineralisation over an impressive strike length of 1.2km.

St George Mining has opened up exploration on a second front and is now hunting giant copper deposits in one of WA’s most enigmatic mineral terranes – the Paterson province, home to a number of elephant sized mineral deposits. The company’s maiden drill program over its extensive tenure in the region has jagged copper sulphides in several drill holes triggering a move to deeper diamond drilling.

Lithium Australia is looking to patent the proprietary lithium battery recycling technology developed by its subsidiary, Envirostream. One of the two Australian patent applications relates to its process for recovering battery electrode material from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. The second application encompasses the process for the selective recovery of mixed metal sulphates from a metal sulphate process liquor following leaching of mixed metal material recovered from lithium-ion batteries.

Galan Lithium is set to grow its bank balance by whopping A$50m after receiving firm commitments from institutional and sophisticated investors for a placement that will see the company fast-track exploration and development works across its Hombre Muerto West and Candales lithium brine projects in Argentina’s Salar del Hombre Muerto.