Public Company News

Northern Minerals continue to make rapid progress with construction of their Browns Range heavy rare earths pilot project in the East Kimberley, with fast-modular construction of the processing plant in China proving its value. Site works are racing ahead and mining of ore has already been completed. The company will stock pile 3 years worth of ore for the initial pilot stage.

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global has inked a deal with leading UK software services company SCISYS PLC to develop a simulator for its planned constellation of up to 200 nano-satellites. The “Pearls” network of nano-satellites are planned for rollout in orbit by 2020, with the build of a system simulator an important step in validating the innovative telecommunications technology ahead of launch.

MGC Pharmaceuticals have signed a distribution deal with local pharmaceutical distributor HL Pharma to launch its cannabis-based epilepsy treatment, CannEpil, in Australia. MGC wants to target the more than 70,000 Australian sufferers of the condition and sees it as a significant additional revenue stream ahead. The company says it now has a pathway to deliver the drug to patients from 2018.

CVCheck has teamed up with leading Australian HR software company PageUp in a partnership that will see major blue-chips like Telstra, Programmed and Linfox have access to the Perth-headquartered company’s online screening and verification services. PageUp will now integrate CVCheck's resume verification services into their own software platform that is used by about 25% of Australian majors.

Whilst most mining types had written Bougainville off, Perth mining entrepreneur Nik Zuks was quietly travelling back and forth to the Pacific island to assist landowners to prepare for the new mining act which opens Bouganville up for mining for the first time in decades. Zuks' ASX listed Kalia Ltd has just locked down exploration licenses in Bougainville that cover about 1/3rd of the lucrative Island.

DroneShield has secured an order for its drone-jamming device, "DroneGun" from Paraguay’s defence department, which will undertake in-field evaluations on the counter-drone device ahead of a potentially larger order. DroneShield’s first-ever South American DroneGun order comes after the Queensland opposition said it wants the state’s police force to be equipped with them too.

ASX-listed Sky and Space Global has hit another critical milestone on its march towards full commercialisation of its game-changing nano-satellite network, receiving official approval from the UK’s communications regulator. The tick of approval from the regulator, known as Ofcom, is validation of the successful operation in orbit of the Perth-listed company’s three demonstration nano-satellites.

ASX-listed biotech PharmAust continues to bolster its IP safeguards around its portfolio of anti-cancer treatments, securing a key patent in the US. The latest patent, which secures PharmAust’s IP in the major North American market, relates to the use of a library of cancer fighting compounds owned by Perth-based PharmAust after being developed by Japanese pharma Nihon Nohyaku.

Alterra has welcomed the sale of one of WA’s oldest dairy operators to China’s Shanghai Ground Food Tech. Alterra, who are pursuing a new style of dairy farming known as System 5 in WA, says the sale of the iconic Brownes Dairy will likely be a positive development for the state’s dairy sector. The sale of Brownes to the Chinese may open up export opportunities and fix local oversupply problems say Alterra.

ASX listed Connected IO has bagged an order for 1,000 of its cutting-edge wireless modem like devices from Rosco Vision Systems as the Perth-listed company cements its links with the US-based in-vehicle video market player. Connected IO has already sold thousands of its devices to Rosco and expects a flurry of new orders from the in-vehicle video company in 2018.

Elon Musk once famously said of his Lithium-ion batteries; “our cells should be called nickel-graphite because primarily the cathode is nickel and the anode side is graphite with silicon oxide”. With the steel industry undergoing a resurgence, Lithium-ion battery demand getting stratospheric and Chinese graphite plants closing due to enviro concerns, it's no wonder the graphite price has jumped 30%.

Calidus Resources are easily pulling their weight amongst the spate of recent gold hopefuls in the Pilbara with new high-grade hits at their Warrawoona gold project of up to 22 g/t Gold. Latest drill results also include 18m @ 4.35 g/t from just 46m down hole and 16 metres at 3.52 g/t. Calidus say they are now dealing with a large mineralized system that remains open along strike and at depth.