Public Company News

Ora Banda Mining has continued its smooth transition to become a high-grade underground miner, with its Sand King underground ramping up production and over-delivering on gold returns from its Davyhurst project in Western Australia. The company says it has successfully processed its first batch of Sand King ore, with both the reconciled gold grade and metal recovery exceeding expectations at the recently opened underground mine.

Thunderbird Resources has completed a review of historical exploration data uncovering high-grade assay samples up to 49.8 grams per tonne gold and 4.1 per cent antimony at its newly acquired Rockvale and Kookabookra projects near Armidale in New South Wales. Four of the tenements, covering 358 square kilometres, form the Rockvale project and are strategically positioned near Larvotto Resources’ exciting Hillgrove gold-antimony project.

Novo Resources is pushing ahead on multiple exploration fronts across Australia ahead of drilling at its John Bull and Tibooburra gold projects in NSW, while ex-tropical cyclone Zelia throws a temporary spanner in the works with flooding at its Karratha and Balla Balla gold projects in WA. Drilling across all projects is slated for next quarter as the gold price continues to push all-time highs.

Strickland Metals has identified two new compelling targets near its 108,900-ounce Dusk ‘til Dawn gold camp with the potential for the targets to represent the core of a much larger gold system. The company is also planning to soon reveal an updated mineral resource at its Horse Well gold camp, both part of the wider Yandal project in WA.

Aurum Resources has uncovered more high-grade gold outside the 1.59-million-ounce resource boundary at its Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, intercepting 12m of gold running at a staggering 22g/t. The intercept from 145m downhole was the first assay of four holes drilled at the company’s BD Target 3 for 678m and features bonanza grade sections of 2m at 35.59g/t and 7m of 27.5g/t gold.

Estrella Resources has jagged a rich deposit of transported alluvial manganese at its Soru prospect within the company’s Lautém manganese project in Timor-Leste, with visual grades running as high as 95pc. The manganese may have leached from the surrounding hills due to erosion to form a supergene deposit before breaking up and creating a tertiary deposit of boulders and rock fragments across the hillside and in the local creek systems.

Ora Banda Mining has posted a blistering half-year result, raking in record revenues of $186.4 million, up 94 per cent on last year, from its Davyhurst gold project in Western Australia. The company, which is sitting on a $57.8m cash pile, saw surging production and cash flows last year. It sold 47,824 ounces of gold in the six months to December.

Suvo Strategic Minerals’ low-carbon concrete joint venture with PERMAcast has scored its first binding MOU with a WA-based wind farm developer. It plans to construct and install 3GW onshore and 2GW offshore capacity, deploying up to 500 turbines that each require more than 1000 cubic metres of concrete. The JV partners have a right to first refusal on the supply deal subject to a successful pilot program.

Horizon Minerals has poured its first gold bar from ore mined at the company’s Phillips Find project amid a strong gold price environment, which has seen the precious yellow metal rise by 11pc this year. The ore was hauled to the nearby Greenfields mill from its project that sits 45km west of Coolgardie, near the famous gold mining town of Kalgoorlie.

Assays from metallurgical drilling at Octava Minerals’ Byro rare earth elements and lithium project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region have backed up previously defined high-grade mineralisation. A hit from two 100-metre holes reached as high as 500ppm total rare earth oxides, 375ppm lithium oxide and 523ppm vanadium pentoxide over a 50m intercept.

Aguia Resources has nailed down a 10-year binding lease agreement to process organic phosphate from its Três Estradas project near Caçapava do Sul in southern Brazil’s agricultural heartland. Aguia will operate the plant at a monthly cost of BRL$163,000 (A$43,000) and a BRL$5m (A$1.4m) one-off payment to the owners. Aguia has an option to extend the lease for a further 10 years. First production is slated for later this year.

Aurum Resources has struck more high-grade gold at its Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire, with hits of up to 8m at 8.23g/t gold outside the known resource. Results from 3079m of drilling across 12 holes at Target 3 have extended mineralisation by 380m, pushing the strike to 1.9km - well beyond the 950m already included in the 1.59-million-ounce global resource.