Public Company News

Heavy rare earth explorer and developer Northern Minerals is gearing up to hunt for Dazzler lookalikes having set aside $5 million for exploration and development drilling at the company’s Browns Range project in the Kimberley. Drill rigs are expected onsite in October and results will feed into an updated feasibility study. The resulting document could well be the precursor to Northern Minerals emerging as the first supplier of heavy rare earths outside China.

Lithium Australia could be near to closing another loop in the battery economy, producing a slow release micronutrient fertiliser from recycling alkaline batteries. The fertiliser is tailor-made for broad-acre farming in WA and early indications suggest the crops have responded well to the treatment.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has just received formal accreditation for its three-phase lithium battery-based solar energy storage devices from the Clean Energy Council. The devices will be marketed by Soluna Australia, which is 50 per cent owned by Lithium Australia and 50 per cent owned by manufacturer DLG Energy (Shanghai) Co. Soluna’s three-phase 15K Pack HV will now be added to the CEC’s Battery Assurance Program guide.

ASX-listed gold explorer, Anglo Australian Resources, has bought out a couple of legacy third-party royalties that had been hanging over its historic Mandilla gold project 20km south-east of Kambalda in WA. The Perth-based company has now cleared the decks for a potential mine development as it advances towards a maiden resource estimate for Mandilla in the December quarter.

Element 25 continues to pick off mine development milestones as the company fast-tracks its way towards first manganese concentrate production at its incredibly low proposed CAPEX Butcherbird operation in the Pilbara. The company has set itself a rapid project development schedule, which it says is tracking on time and on budget, with first manganese concentrate production expected in the first quarter of calendar 2021.

Legend Mining looks to be zeroing in on the ‘sweet spot’ at the Mawson nickel discovery in WA’s Fraser Range. Downhole electromagnetics has lit up a strong conductor adjacent to existing drilling and mineralisation with the target interpreted to potentially represent the elusive undiscovered primary nickel sulphide lode which ongoing drilling is hoping to reveal.

St George Mining’s deep drilling program at Mt Alexander in WA has fattened up its Investigators target with the latest intersection in drill hole MAD181 hitting 48.7m of the nickel-copper sulphide-bearing mafic-ultramafic host rock unit below 503m downhole. The hole also hit a second 6m interval of mineralised ultramafics from 282.6m downhole.

Eclipse Metals has launched into its maiden exploration program at the smoking hot Devil’s Elbow uranium prospect in the Northern Territory. First pass exploration included the field checking of key targets with radioactivity levels all but confirming the presence of the lucrative but controversial energy metal. The company has now begun planning for a first pass drilling program for the 2021 dry season.

Comet Resources has spiced up its portfolio with the acquisition of the high-grade Santa Teresa gold project in Mexico. Drilling at Santa Teresa has already returned a bevy of eye-catching gold hits including 3.9m at 39 g/t gold and 1m at a whopping 958.4 g/t gold. The company is updating the resource over the project with exploration expected to kick-off in the coming months.

Middle Island Resources looks to have a new near-surface gold resource in the making at its historic Sandstone gold project in WA following more high-grade drill hits from the Plum Pudding satellite deposit. Notable latest RC drill intersections included 7m at 24.1 g/t gold from 36m, 7m at 19.0 g/t from 36m, 12m at 7.22 g/t from 40m, 3m at 24.7 g/t from surface and 3m at 10.0 g/t from 30m.

Lithium Australia is set to claim ‘first mover’ status after Envirostream signed two additional suppliers to provide spent EV battery packs for recycling through the company’s innovative facility in Melbourne. These new contracts complete the company’s supply chain with Envirostream claiming ‘first mover’ status in Australia and set to expand the business through the Asia-Pacific region.

ASX-listed gold explorer Kairos Minerals has ratcheted up its multi-prospect exploration blitz across its flagship Pilbara gold project hub in WA. The company has now kicked off a follow-up RC drilling program totalling 5,000m, with the large greenfields Fuego prospect within the Croydon tenements first in its sights followed by the historic Mt York deposit.