Public Company News

Element 25’s maiden shipment of manganese concentrate from its Butcherbird operation in WA has left Port Hedland, marking a stunning development pathway to production time frame of a little over a year from an initial PFS to exporting first commercial ore. The company’s first load of about 27,000 tonnes of manganese concentrate aboard a Handymax-size vessel departed Utah Point bulk handling facility yesterday.

Venus Metals and joint venture partner Rox Resources appear to have confirmed significant open-pit mining cost savings for the proposed shallow, high-grade Grace gold deposit near Mount Magnet in Western Australia’s Murchison district. Grace forms a part of the duo’s 1.66-million-ounce Youanmi gold resources that the partners are looking to bring into production.

AVZ Minerals has unveiled a 41.6 per cent increase in the proved and probable ore reserves for the centrepiece Roche Dure deposit at its monster Manono hard-rock lithium and tin project in the DRC. Reserves now stand at 131.7Mt at average grades of 1.63 per cent lithium oxide and 990 g/t tin, up from 93Mt at 1.58 per cent lithium oxide and 988 g/t tin.

ASX-listed Infinity Lithium says the Spanish government has approved a “historical funding package” of €4.3 billion through to 2023 aiming to transform the nation into a European electric vehicle production hub. Infinity is looking to provide critical raw materials for production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles from its 75 per cent owned San Jose lithium project in Spain.

ASX-listed Alaska oil and gas explorer 88 Energy says it is on track to present the market with a full appraisal of results from Merlin-1 well testing at its Peregrine project early next month after being “highly encouraged” by latest preliminary hydrocarbon indications. The company is targeting more than one billion barrels of oil resources in the Peregrine field.

ASX-listed Horizon Minerals has tabled an updated mineral resource for the joint-ventured Penny’s Find gold project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields as it eyes a start to toll ore processing from the high-grade gold asset in the March quarter next year. The satellite underground deposit hosts an indicated and inferred resource of 250,000t at 5.22 g/t for 42,000 ounces of contained gold.

Geophysical surveying that accurately mapped known sulphide mineralisation at Si6 Metals’ Maibele North project in eastern Botswana has also defined several new nickel-copper sulphide targets along strike from, and below, the project’s 2.38 million tonne resource grading 0.72 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent copper. Si6 is considering a drill campaign to test the new targets.

New ASX listing Askari Metals has secured a drilling contractor to undertake a maiden reverse circulation drilling program at its Burracoppin gold project in Western Australia. Planned drilling is designed to test several high-grade historical results and artisanal workings. The company is cashed up after recently raising close to $6 million as part of its initial public offering.

Kairos Minerals has intercepted shallow gold zones with drilling at its Roe Hills project some 120km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Hits at the Caliburn prospect include 8m at 1.32 grams per tonne gold from just 32m, with a 4m interval going at 2.29 g/t gold. Infill drilling is now on the cards as Kairos looks to work Roe Hills toward a maiden resource estimate.

Indiana Resources has served up numerous “stunning” gold hits at the exciting Minos discovery at its 100 per cent owned Central Gawler Craton project in South Australia. One broad 21m intercept returned 8.43 grams per tonne gold from 176m, including a bumper grade 1m interval going 159 g/t gold. The company is looking to table a maiden resource estimate for Minos.

Todd River Resources plans to get busy on the ground this quarter at its Nerramyne project in WA’s Murchison region after applying for further ground next to its large, granted exploration licence covering a 40km-by-6km copper soil anomaly. The company says a newly defined mafic intrusive will be one target worth investigating further in the expanded Nerramyne project area.

Kula Gold has dished up thick, shallow hits of bright white kaolin from a maiden drilling program at its 100 per cent owned Airfield project near Southern Cross in Western Australia. All three holes hit kaolin clay zones averaging 42m thickness from just 5m below surface, sending the company’s share price soaring by over 50 per cent in morning trading.