Public Company News

88 Energy has encountered encouraging oil shows whilst drilling its potentially high impact Winx-1 exploration well in Alaska’s famed North Slope oil province. Data observed while drilling the Nanushuk formation in the Winx-1 well appears to be comparable with a nearby third party well targeting the same formation. The company also encountered oil shows in the deeper Torok formation.

King River Resources has extracted up to 97% vanadium in heated sulphuric acid vat leaching metallurgical test work on mineral concentrates from its massive Speewah specialty metals project, located near Kununurra in the Kimberley region of WA. The company previously stated that the results support an alternative ore processing route for its flagship project that could drastically lower capital and operating costs.

Black Rock Mining’s EPC partner Yantai Jinyaun has delivered high quality, flake dominant, graphite concentrates exceeding 99% purity at 93% recovery from pilot plant test work studies in China on ores from the company’s Mahenge deposit in Tanzania. The work was aimed at optimising circuit design and process flowsheets and resulted in an improved graphite flake distribution, whilst preserving exceptional concentrate grades.

Growing PABX user numbers and strong retail growth have increased Vonex’s sales revenue to $4.3m for the half-year ending 31 December 2018, up 9% from the same period the previous financial year. The company’s wholesale division achieved a 12% increase in direct sales of “white label” hosted PABX services while its retail division posted a 9% increase in revenue.

Middle Island Resources has announced a takeover offer for Alto Metals, proposing an all-scrip off-market consideration of five of the company’s shares for every Alto share, which could consolidate the parties’ Sandstone gold assets in WA. The addition of Alto’s gold resources could provide initial mill feed and critical mass to a combined entity with synergies that may potentially benefit shareholders of both companies.

UltraCharge continues to lay the groundwork for commercialising its unique, high powered, cobalt-free lithium-ion battery technology that could substantially lower the cost of energy storage. The company is currently supplying battery packs to three-wheel electric scooter manufacturer Roadix Urban Transportation and is poised to deliver a test battery pack to electric scooter manufacturer Blitz Electric Motors.

Aspire Mining has generated outstanding results in the PFS for its Ovoot coking coal project in Mongolia. The study outlines pre-tax NPV of AUD$820m and IRR of 43.7% and produces 4 million tonnes annually for delivery into China at an exceptional margin of AUD$96 per tonne. The project has an initial mine life of just over nine years and produces an annual EBITDA of AUD$240m.

Metalicity has secured two new prospective looking nickel-copper-PGM exploration tenements that it identified from examination of historical geophysical data and diamond drill core in the sought-after Fraser Range region in southern WA. This work identified intriguing magnetic and gravity anomalies while the drill core confirmed that disseminated copper sulphide mineralisation was present in the sought after mafic intrusive rock types.

Sky and Space Global has signed a reseller MoU with Jakarta-based Cendrawasih Teknologi Nusantara for the provision of narrow-band communications services using its miniature satellites network. This has potential exposure to 260 million customers in Indonesia and opens the door towards expanding the company’s existing connectivity offering across the entire Asia Pacific region.

Image Resources has delivered high grade intersections of gold mineralisation up to 3m @ 11.5g/t gold from 92m down-hole, after re-assaying anomalous gold zones identified during last year’s RC drilling program at the Erayinia project near Kalgoorlie. The company said the new results from fire assaying were significantly higher than what been returned earlier using the aqua regia method on composited sample intervals.

Strike Energy has brought its Jaws-1 deep coal seam gas well in the Cooper Basin, South Australia, back online after completing workover operations and has restarted the depressurisation of the Vu Upper coal seam. This is aimed at returning the Jaws well to its critical desorption pressure and reinitiating gas flows. The company said the pumps would be slowly ramped up to ensure sustainability of the pumping operations.

Aurora Labs has formed a collaboration with the University of Western Australia and Royal Perth Hospital to develop designs, specifications and parameters for the 3D printing of human medical implants. The company will provide one of its 3D printers, the metallic consumable powders used for 3D printing, and the assistance of its maintenance and technical staff as its contribution to the project.