Public Company News

ASX-listed heavy rare earth explorer and producer Northern Minerals has kicked off vital resource drilling at its advanced Browns Range project in WA’s north. The planned 12,000m of reverse circulation drilling is aimed at defining new resources and reserves ahead of next year’s project bankable feasibility study and final investment decision on a commercial-scale operation.

Estrella Resources has served up several nickel-copper sulphide hits at its exciting T5 discovery near the historical Carr Boyd Rocks mine north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Results include 13.4 metres at 1.3 per cent nickel and 0.4 per cent copper from 392m. The company plans to test the extent of the T5 basal contact which hosts the mineralisation at T5 and Carr Boyd Rocks.

Extensional RC drilling by ASX-listed Kingwest Resources has delivered a slew of cracking high-grade gold hits in auriferous shoots outside the existing mineral resource at its multi-deposit Menzies gold project in WA. The pick of the new intersections from the recently completed program was 26m at an average grade of 4.56 grams per tonne gold from 158m including 2m at 49.49 g/t from 169m.

ASX-listed aspiring central Africa lithium developer AVZ Minerals has poured $40 million into its coffers via a “heavily oversubscribed” capital raise, paving the way for the company to increase its ownership stake in its flagship Manono lithium and tin project in the DRC to 75 per cent. Funds from the share placement will also help advance early project capital works.

Kula Gold says it has achieved a “major technical breakthrough” in its hunt for significant new Archean lode-style gold deposits in unexplored terrane next to gold mines between Southern Cross and Nevoria in WA that have underpinned regional production of 15 million ounces of gold at grades between 3 and 5 grams per tonne. Drilling has picked up Archean greenstones where none were previously mapped.

As it closes in on a fresh mineral resource estimate for its flagship Parks Reef project in WA, PGMs explorer Podium Minerals has served up a cluster of high-grade assays from a recent resource extension reverse circulation drilling program. The pick of the drill intersections from the first batch of results received for the “stage seven” round of 27 holes totalling 4,157m came from one hole.

ASX-listed Buru Energy has spudded the onshore Currajong 1 exploration oil well targeting 28 million barrels of conventional oil in the Canning Basin in the north of Western Australia. A second well, Rafael 1, targeting 69 million barrels of oil is set to follow with a seismic program to define new prospects for future drilling also on the horizon.

Native Mineral Resources is to focus exploration on its core Music Well gold project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia and its Palmerville copper project in North Queensland after divesting its non-core Mt Morgan copper-gold project south of Rockhampton in Queensland to ASX-listed GBM Resources. The two core projects have been delivering bumper grade samples including 129 grams per tonne gold at Music Well.

Aldoro Resources is poised to kick-off drilling at its Narndee project, east of Paynes Find in Western Australia. The company owns a strategic ground holding over the underexplored terrane, with recent work outlining two high-priority nickel-copper-PGE targets that have now been flagged for drill testing in addition to the recent discovery of a potential lithium-bearing pegmatite swarm on the company’s nearby Windimurra tenure.

Technology Metals Australia’s two-step strategy to bring its Yarrabubba magnetite iron ore and vanadium project south of Meekatharra in Western Australia to life ahead of developing its nearby Gabanintha vanadium project, said to be one of the highest-grade undeveloped vanadium deposits in the world, is motoring along. The company has progressed a suite of activities as a definitive feasibility study on Yarrabubba nears completion.

ASX-listed Troy Resources has attracted global gold major Barrick Gold Corp into its large Karouni gold project in Guyana. A new joint venture agreement will see Barrick target tier-one gold finds in the southern part of Troy’s ground, including around the exciting Potaro prospect, while the Australian company continues to explore and develop in the north.

Alaskan oil and gas explorer/developer 88 Energy now has a full treasury and no debt after closing the recently flagged early sale of state oil and gas tax credits worth US$18.7 million to a US company. 88 Energy now has about A$15m in the tin to accelerate exploration in Alaska where it is targeting more than one billion barrels of gross mean prospective oil resources.