Public Company News

The Grace prospect has come up with the numbers again for Venus Metals and its managing JV partner Rox Resources at their Youanmi South project in the Goldfields, with new results over 30 gold gram metres clearly defining a high-grade mineralised zone that sits within a wider overall series of repeating gold bearing structures that plunge to the north.

The Australian Government Foreign Investment Review Board’s rejections of Chinese investments into ASX-listed mining and exploration companies is confounding and building a looming dark cloud over a sector that often lives or dies on the back of Chinese investment. Northern Minerals lost $20m Chinese investment is a good case in point after FIRB, who looks to be captured by anti-Chinese sentiment right now, rejected that application.

The results are in for the initial laboratory test work from Lindian Resources’ maiden drilling program at its Gaoual bauxite project in Guinea, with the company declaring that it has a high-grade conglomerate bauxite play on its hands at the Bouba plateau. Lindian said the average grades from the primary Bouba plateau samples were 56% alumina and the “total available alumina” was in excess of 51% when measured at low temperatures.

Adriatic Metals has extended its Rupice high-grade poly metallic deposit in Bosnia another 20 metres at depth with a stellar intercept over nearly 9 metres running at 2.4g/t gold, 398g/t silver, 1.79% zinc, 3.16% lead, 0.35% copper and 45% barite from 368.5m down hole. The company said that this is the deepest massive sulphide intercept at the southern end of Rupice.

Chinese lithium giant Yibin Tianyi will take up a 9 per cent stake in AVZ Minerals by ploughing AUD$10.6M into a 4.5c a share placement. AVZ has also entered into an underwriting agreement to exercise listed options, potentially raising another AUD$5.3M after it tabled a stellar DFS on its giant Manono lithium project in the DRC.

Legend Mining’s Fraser Range play is getting a life of its own now with the company’s newest drill hole punching through another impressive zone of nickel-copper massive sulphides over a combined 13.5 metres, extending the emerging discovery at Mawson to nearly 400 metres in strike. Legend said the mineralisation is open to the south, northeast and east with further drill testing already underway.

Quantify Technology will supply its smart home power-points, light switches and other smart devices via distributor, Fokused, for ten new apartments in Cannington within the Velocity development that is being built under the Australian Government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme. Fokused and the design company have chosen to fit several devices to the new apartments that will effectively automate each apartment.

Private equity backed Barton Gold has emerged with WPG Resources’ South Australian assets after WPG fell over in 2018. They include the Challenger underground gold mine and plant, the Tarcoola Project containing the Perseverance open pit and the Tunkillia gold deposit. Barton says the Challenger underground mine, that was so central to WPG’s story, is not a current focus and the real prize is Tarcoola and Tunkillia.

Middle Island Resources continues to return outstanding results with the drill bit as it aggressively pursues a pathway to production at its Sandstone gold project in WA. The company’s extensive drilling program has uncovered three new discoveries in as many weeks and the Perth-based ASX-listed company has now laid out a strategy to fire up the old mothballed Sandstone plant.

ASX-listed mineral sands miner, Image Resources, is not resting on its laurels, having successfully commissioned its Boonanarring mine north of Perth in December 2018. The ASX-listed company has been systematically banking more ore horizons within a 10km radius on the mine with a view to underpinning and turbo-charging its longevity. 15,825 drill metres have now confirmed northerly and southerly extensions.

ASX-listed agricultural investment and management company, Alterra, has placed a major piece of its strategic puzzle into place after the Perth-based company inked a deal with Sydney-based family office investment platform, CapRaise, to source capital for its ongoing agricultural projects from a pool of up to 114 family offices that CapRaise provides investment opportunities for.

With an estimated A$600m a year in annual EBITDA, the economics at AVZ Minerals’ giant Manono lithium project in the DRC don’t need much turbo-charging, but that is exactly what the Perth-based, ASX-listed company is planning to do after it managed to produce separate, very high grade tin and tantalum concentrates in test work using traditional low cost processing equipment.