Public Company News

Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources have drilled high-grade gold some 80m outside of the existing resource base at their Youanmi gold project in the Murchison district of Western Australia with a 6.8m intercept returning a stellar 11.98 grams per tonne gold from 264m. Drilling continues as the partners seek to grow the 1.66-million-ounce resource at the project.

Lithium Australia has gained admission to the coveted Global Battery Alliance, an international collaboration between public and private organisations dedicated to ensuring sustainability in the battery value chain. The company will now have direct access to experts and key participants in the global battery recycling industry, enhancing its aspirations to vertically integrate lithium extraction, production of battery materials and battery recycling.

Wiluna Mining has pumped out a solid 12 months of gold production at its Wiluna operation in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields with the performance complemented by a cracking average price on gold sales. The company reported June quarter production of 12,524oz from Wiluna at all-in sustaining costs averaging an impressive $1,371/oz, taking the full financial year production total to 51,552oz at average all-in sustaining costs of $1,794/oz.

Todd River Resources has divested 100 per cent of the Manbarrum zinc-lead-silver in the Northern Territory to Boab Metals. Under the agreement Todd River will be issued with A$500,000 of Boab shares and retains a 1.25 per cent net smelter return royalty. The strategic sale paves the way for Todd River to focus on developing other key assets including the Berkshire Valley nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia.

Central Africa lithium developer AVZ Minerals hopes to secure an all-important mining licence for its advancing flagship Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the DRC in the not-too-distant future as it builds relationships with the newly formed Congolese Government. The company says some timelines for regulatory approvals have been prolonged due to the change in the country’s government earlier this year.

Oar Resources has launched field exploration at its Crown nickel-copper-PGE and gold project just 9km west of Chalice Mining’s heralded Julimar discovery in Western Australia. Geological mapping and outcrop sampling will look to assess about 20 identified target areas, with systematic soil sampling set to follow. A maiden drilling program is planned for later in the year.

ASX-listed Wiluna Mining continues to deliver impressive drilling results in areas targeted for expanding underground production at its namesake operations in Western Australia. Ongoing diamond drilling across the East and Happy Jack lodes has turned out a welter of new high-grade intercepts grading up to 773 g/t gold in the Happy Jack area.

ASX-listed Galan Lithium has hit the go-button on a scoping study into the potential development of its Candelas lithium brine project in the Catamarca, Argentina, sector of South America’s “lithium triangle”. Candelas lies south-east of and in the same fertile salt flat terrane as the Perth-based company’s flagship Hombre Muerto West brine project, which was the subject of an impressive scoping study last year.

ASX-listed Image Resources is on track to beat its 2021 heavy mineral concentrate production guidance after reporting record June quarter output from the wholly-owned Boonanarring operation, 80km north of Perth in Western Australia. The company says surging ilmenite, rutile and now zircon prices are set to boost its full-year heavy mineral concentrate sales and strengthen its pursuit of growth options.

Neometals is edging closer to demerging its significant Mt Edwards nickel sulphide project near Kambalda in Western Australia into a new company, Widgie Nickel, which is targeting a September listing on the ASX. Existing Neometals shareholders are set to get a free piece of Widgie proportionate to their current shareholdings. A new board of directors has now been appointed for Widgie.

Junior explorer Latitude Consolidated has scored a high-grade gold hit at the St Anne’s prospect just 3km south of its existing 610,000-ounce Turnberry open-pit deposit, which forms part of its Murchison gold project in WA’s Murchison Goldfields. The latest drilling highlight from the company’s recently completed reverse circulation program was an intersection of 5m grading an average 6.77 grams per tonne gold from 103m depth.

Venus Metals has pounced on a hefty 546 square kilometres of ground prospective for nickel, copper, platinum group elements, gold and rare earths in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Two of the new licences, one granted and one under application, adjoin tenure hosting a 1km-long outcropping structure where rock chip samples have returned 1 per cent copper and 0.6 per cent nickel.