Public Company News

Northern Minerals are looking at the potential for a bigger, longer life project at Browns Range after new exploration insights suggested the company had barely scratched the surface of their heavy rare earth resource near Halls Creek. Management has more confidence about mineralisation at depth and a host of new targets that have returned samples with grades well above the existing average.

ASX-listed Kalia Ltd have sourced and dusted off a number of historical geological reports related to Bougainville where the company has secured the first exploration licenses in decades.The company said that the combination of all reports secured represented the equivalent of a first pass exploration program that has effectively identified targets for Kalia to pursue.

Blackham Resources are cashed up and well positioned to complete planning work on their stage 2 expansion of the Wiluna gold project after securing a $60 million funding package and a new quality cornerstone shareholder in Pacific Road Capital. The package includes a $7.3 million placement to Pacific Road, a $12.3 million entitlement issue and a refinancing of the company’s debt facility.

Hammer Metals have commenced drill activity on another front on their vast Mt Isa tenement holdings, this time at their highly prospective Mt Frosty Copper-Gold joint venture with Glencore. Hammer is hoping to repeat recent successes that built on drill results of previous explorers and aims to establish a resource at the Jubilee prospect with minimal drilling.

MGC Pharmaceuticals have executed another major new medical marijuana deal, this time with a European medicinal cannabis product manufacturer and distributor that has signed on for annual sales worth at least $1m. New customer Mabsut Life says the deal is just the first in a series of agreements it expects with MGC Pharmaceuticals under a strategic partnership.

PharmAust’s acquisition last month of a library of compounds from a major Japanese pharmaceutical company is looking like a shrewd move. Initial tests show some of the newly acquired compounds can kill cancer cells grown in-vitro up to six times more effectively than the parent compound, Monepantel, which is Pharmaust's flagship anti-cancer drug.

CVCheck, has bolted down its second partnership in a week for the company’s unique software platform that alerts HR managers to the credibility or otherwise of a job seekers resume. In an announcement this morning, the junior tech company said that major New Zealand human resources software provider SnapHire, had agreed to integrate CVCheck’s resume verification system into their platform.

It seems that almost everyone is looking for a smarter, faster and cheaper way to do things these days. Aerial drones represent an irresistible and abundant opportunity for the technically minded to achieve these goals for us. But what of underwater drones ? Recently ASX listed company Aquabotix say the underwater drone business will eventually catch up to the aerial drone market.

Calidus Resources are unleashing a barrage of hi-tech exploration techniques on their newly expanded ground at Warrawoona near Marble Bar. They have already been rewarded with multiple, high-grade gold targets. The CSIRO are being brought to the task and will work with Calidus over the next six months to unlock the secrets to further gold discoveries in the region.

Auroch Minerals have topped up their healthy cash balance by banking another $1.1m from from Xtract Resources last year’s sale of the Manica gold project and expect a final $0.5m instalment within weeks. The company has now added to their already impressive $4.2m bank balance and will use the funds to continue with their clean-tech metals exploration plays in Europe.

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.