Public Company News

Si6 Metals has added further impetus to its highly-prospective Botswana precious and base metals play, with its latest drill program striking high-grade silver and copper and exciting visual nickel sulphides. The company’s three projects in the southern African country provide a compelling mix of in-demand metals that are all expected to play a big role in the future clean-energy transition.

Lithium Universe says a study into its lithium carbonate refinery at its burgeoning Québec processing hub suggests it should produce a final lithium carbonate product grading between 99.5 and 99.9 per cent. The refinery is rated to 16,000 tonnes per annum, with an assumed feed grade of 5.5 per cent lithium oxide. Hatch has completed the study and a construction site has been selected.

Novo Resources will join forces with SQM Australia after the latter agreed to pay $10 million for a 75 per cent interest in five of the former’s lithium-nickel tenements in Western Australia’s West Pilbara region. The two companies will create the “Harding Battery Metals” joint venture, with the deal also including an option over additional tenements held by Novo in the Pilbara.

ASX-listed Larvotto Resources is looking at a major transitional change from mineral explorer to producer after confirming it had picked up the Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW for a song. The company acquired the 1.4-million-ounce gold equivalent operation after entering into a binding term sheet with the administrators of former owner Red River Resources for a purchase price of less than $6 per ounce.

Meeka Metals says it has gathered high-grade gold results from 10 infill air-core drillholes at its St Anne’s resource target about 30km north-east of Meekatharra, including a 7m hit at a grade of 3.51g/t gold with 2m going 9.84g/t. The company says the results are supported by other high-grade intercepts in adjacent holes, including 1m at 13.45g/t gold.

King River Resources is set for a big 2024, with 20,000m of drilling planned for 12 priority targets at its Tennant Creek gold project in the Northern Territory after running an extensive geophysics campaign this year. The company has set aside $2.5 million for the program, which includes 17 reverse-circulation (RC) holes already completed for 2790m at its Providence prospect.

A Strickland Metals decision to lock its full focus on its Marwari target at Yandal in Western Australia is paying almost immediate dividends, with new high-grade gold hits including 24m at 7.4g/t from 29m and a second hole yielding 3m at 8.9g/t gold from 71m. The company says the 24m intersection also contained a 5m slice going 28g/t gold.

Aruma Resources has produced its best rare earths grades to date from its Saltwater project near Newman in Western Australia, with rock-chip assays as high as 1777.5ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO) and soils as high as 1092.5ppm. The company says the area continues to reveal a major volcanogenic massive sulphide system hosting multi-commodity enrichment that will be tested by drilling next year.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears profiled ASX runner is … Arrow Minerals. Its shares tripled this week to join fellow movers and shakers Battery Minerals, West Cobar Metals and Sigma Healthcare.

88 Energy has expanded its footprint in Texas after agreeing to pick up an interest in Permian Basin production and development assets with best-estimate reserves of 0.68 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). The ground has nine producing wells that pumped out 6200BOE gross in 2022 – with an estimated net profit for the project of about $300,000.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has grabbed 38.5 square kilometres of highly-prospective new gold ground east of Kalgoorlie in WA – and it sits just 1800m away from shallow gold hits at its Kirgella Gift and Providence targets. The new permit has not been subjected to in-depth historic exploration, but is on a major tectonic feature that also hosts Ramelius Resources’ 1.4-million-ounce Rebecca gold project.

Everest Metals has determined a JORC-compliant rubidium-lithium exploration target at its Mt Edon project in WA’s South Murchison region, but says more work is required to quantify the geological system. The company has today outlined a resource target range of between 3.2 and 4.5 million tonnes, with potential grades going 0.23 to 0.35 per cent rubidium oxide and 0.08 to 0.12 per cent lithium oxide.