Andrew Todd

Octava Minerals has wound-up drilling at its Yallalong antimony project in WA’s Gascoyne region, confirming visual signs of antimony mineralisation and unlocking the next phase drilling of 14 high-priority targets, to follow assay results expected early next year. Octava completed 41 reverse circulation drill holes for a total of 2748m across its Discovery and Central antimony targets.

Triangle Energy’s well pad for its upcoming Becos-1 exploration well in WA’s Perth Basin is in the final stages of construction. The pad’s completion is set for the end of December, ahead of a March spud of the highly anticipated onshore Becos-1 wildcat well, which is targeting a resource of between 1 million and 21m barrels of oil.

American West Metals has unveiled an impressive 117% increase in indicated copper resources at its flagship Storm project in Nunavut, Canada, noting multiple recent discoveries remain to be included in the substantial resource inventory. The upgrade propels the total resource to 20.6 million tonnes at 1.1% copper and 3.3 grams per tonne silver, representing some 229,000t of copper.

GreenTech Metals has launched high-powered electromagnetic surveys at its flagship Whundo project in WA’s Pilbara region to uncover deep copper-zinc-rich targets ahead of a major 4000m drilling campaign that kicks off this month. The fixed loop electromagnetic survey will cover 1.14 square kilometres and examine the northern down-plunge extensions of key known mineralised zones, including Whundo, Austin, Shelby, and Yannery.

Chariot Corporation is pummelling its near-surface lithium spodumene targets with drilling at its flagship Black Mountain project in Wyoming, USA. Armed with a cutting-edge Boart Longyear reverse circulation drill rig, the company is targeting high-grade spodumene resources to fast-track its small-scale lithium mining strategy to service the burgeoning US electric vehicle market.

Terrain Minerals’ recent drill success at its Wildflower gold project in WA’s Midwest has caused it to create a new geological model which it will put to the test with the drill bit in a planned December drilling blitz. The company says it will plough another 2150m of drilling into the Wildflower discovery next month that is located 150km east of Dongara in WA.

American West Metals has unveiled a wave of new copper targets at its Storm project in Nunavut, Canada. The latest slew of greenfield copper prospects underscores what the company says is the “vast greenfield potential” of its 110km-long copper belt at Storm. New prospects, including Seabreeze and Hailstorm, include lab busting copper rock sampling grades of more than 50 per cent copper, the upper limit for the lab testing technique.

Pilot Energy has big plans to liquify and then store carbon emissions from WA industrial emitters in its depleted sub-sea oil well near Dongara in WA. It is also looking to lever its oil and gas assets to build a world class clean hydrogen and ammonia facility in WA’s Mid-West. The remarkable project has received a shot in the arm after a Korean energy consortium raised $2.2m to conduct a study on the project.

With antimony prices hitting an all time high and the Chinese government banning exports of the valuable military metal, Octava Minerals is cranking up the drill rig at its Yallalong antimony project 200km east of Kalbarri in Western Australia. The drill bit is set to touch down this weekend for a highly anticipated 3000m reverse circulation drill program just as the silvery metal hits an all-time high of $33,000 a tonne.

Estrella Resources has uncovered not one but two supergene manganese discoveries at its Lautém project in Timor-Leste. The reportedly high-grade manganese assets were uncovered using the company’s predictive modelling of its prospective Noni rock formations. Estrella says its Ira Miri and Sica discoveries are around 4.5km apart just outside the town of Lautém and feature some of the highest-grade rock chips sampled to date.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … NoviqTech. The blockchain powered ledger technology and carbon footprint monitoring company shot up 172% on Friday following a “strategic placement” to cryptocurrency heavyweights including blockchain investor, European politician and High Stakes Poker TV-personality ‘Tony G’.

ChemX Materials has been awarded nearly $662,000 by the Federal Government through a research and development rebate for its pioneering chemistry-focussed, patented high-purity alumina research. The cash boost is some $100,000 more than the company was originally estimated to receive under its R&D grant eligibility and will be directed to help drive its 24-tonne per annum HPA pilot plant development in WA.

Horizon Minerals has kicked off mining activities at its Phillips Find gold project outside Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Pre-strip mining operations are underway at the joint venture with first gold ore expected to be mined from the Newhaven and Newminster open pits at the project by next month.

Dateline Resources has revealed a potential ace up its sleeve at its 1.1-million-ounce Colosseum gold project outside of Las Vegas in California, suggesting mine waste at the gold project could provide a crucial second revenue stream by converting it into construction materials to serve the bustling southern Nevada concrete market.

Javelin Minerals has intensified its focus on the company’s two flagship Kalgoorlie gold projects by placing a for sale sign on its Bonaparte copper-silver-lead-zinc project in WA’s Kimberley. The strategic doubling down on gold by the company follows its recent acquisition of the Eureka gold project north of Kalgoorlie, which adds to its Coogee gold project near Kambalda, both of which have historic pits that Javelin believes are harbouring more gold.

Aurum Resources has again hit paydirt in its expanded drilling campaign at the company’s Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire with a 1m hit coming in at 35.86g/t, more than an ounce to the tonne gold. The company continues to furiously expand its already identified 2.5km of gold mineralisation which is still open along strike and at depth. Another 17m intersection in the latest campaign landed 1.6 g/t gold from 230m and included a 4m section grading 2.02 g/t gold.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Merino & Co. The Perth-based branded lifestyle clothing and accessories business caused a stir following its ASX debut just last week. Hitting the boards for the first time at 20c per share the company surged to $1.50 this week, some 650 per cent, prompting some please explains from the ASX overlords.

With “hematite” iron ore discoveries slowing to a trickle, billionaires and others are turning to the once-maligned poor cousin of the iron ore industry “magnetite” that comes with almost biblical scale.

Neometals Ltd has successfully rolled out its patented lithium battery recycling technology with the opening of a Europe’s first automotive battery recycling plant by Mercedes-Benz in Kuppenheim, Germany. Neometals and its 50% technology JV partner, SMS Group, have licensed the ground-breaking technology to Mercedes who will harvest end of life batteries for valuable lithium, nickel and other metals.

Triangle Energy has cashed its first payment for the sale of its share in the Cliff Head oil joint venture in Western Australia. The $2.4 million payment from JV partner Pilot Energy represents the first of multiple payments totalling up to $18 million for Triangle who will pivot into serious exploration as it prepares to drill further wells in the Perth Basin.

St George Mining has bolstered development plans for its high-grade Araxá niobium-rare earths project in Minais Gerais, Brazil, signing a strategic development and offtake partnership with leading global metals trader SKI HongKong. The memorandum of understanding endeavours to drive development of Araxá through both technical and financial assistance from SKI.

American West Metals has delivered more thick, juicy Canadian copper hits at its flagship Storm project in Nunavut, with high-grade assays continuing to flow from both its Chinook and Cyclone deposits. The company says its latest drilling has further bolstered the Chinook deposit’s potential as an open-pit starter mine, with high-grade copper mineralisation starting from surface at the site.

Buxton Resources has unveiled high-grade iron rock chips from its Narryer project in WA’s Gascoyne region after reconnaissance sampling at its Stonehut magnetite prospect returned iron samples grading more than 41 per cent across a 2km strike. Assays included samples of up to 47.2 per cent iron, considered high-grade for magnetite, and the company will now launch follow-up programs to establish the prospect’s potential scale.

Xanadu Mines has unveiled a prefeasibility study of biblical proportions at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia’s South Gobi Desert, including a pre-tax US$1.4 billion NPV, an IRR of 31 per cent at spot commodity prices and a mine life of nearly three decades. The study confirms the project’s potential as a globally-significant, low-cost, long-life mining operation.

With burgeoning expectations for a new lithium wave to soon appear on the horizon, Chariot Corporation – the biggest lithium landowner in the US – has made a strategy shift at its Black Mountain project in Wyoming to get ready for the ride. The plan is to take advantage of Wyoming’s unique mining regulations in order to scale a future mine in line with the lithium market.

Askari Metals has further bolstered its uranium foothold in the world-class exploration jurisdiction of Tanzania by acquiring the prospective Eyasi project in the nation’s north. The 292-square-kilometre project – which the company pounced on following detailed in-house geotechnical reviews in collaboration with its Tanzanian partners – strengthens its position in the white-hot Tanzanian uranium sector, complementing its recently-staked Matemanga project in the south.

Triangle Energy has secured the crucial environmental plan approval to drill its Becos-1 well in WA’s Perth Basin and expects to launch the campaign before year’s end in its quest for onshore oil and gas. Rig tenders are now underway to test the shallow target where a best estimate of 5 MMbbl has been identified, with the potential to reach as much as 21 MMbbl.

Red Metal is gearing up for an intense period of exploration across north-west Queensland, with separate drilling programs set to kick off at three of its projects in the coming month. Initial investigative drill campaigns at the company’s Gidyea copper-gold and Lawn Hill silver-lead-zinc projects will be launched to test their significant base metals potential, followed by infill drilling at its Sybella rare earths play.

The European Union has delivered ASX-listed Neometals a crucial endorsement for its vanadium recovery project in Finland, co-funding part of the company’s bid to become Europe’s first vanadium producer. The funding deal for the project that refines waste from steelmaking into the valuable vanadium battery metal was executed with Germany’s EU-backed EIT RawMaterials and could be worth up to some AU$42.3 million.

Xanadu Mines has launched into maiden field programs at its Sant Tolgoi copper-nickel project in northern Mongolia. The company says detailed mapping and sampling programs are well underway at the site, with early indications of multiple shallow copper-nickel sulphide targets. Management believes it has multiple copper-nickel targets at Sant Tolgoi, with the potential for new district-scale copper discovery.

A world-first survey using the effects of lightning strikes to test electrical conductivity in rocks at Estrella Resources’ Carr Boyd project in WA has earned the company a Federal Government grant. The cutting-edge heliborne survey initially conducted by Expert Geophysics in August last year, harnesses traditional electromagnetic pulse data in conjunction with lightning strike pulses triggered by storms constantly raging over the Equator.

Significant copper-antimony assays from Aruma Resources’ Fiery Creek project near Mount Isa in Queensland have sent the company’s share price flying on the back of its biggest-ever intraday trading volumes. A surface sampling program at the project has revealed high-grade copper assays alongside significant grades of up to 1 per cent antimony, which is currently a hot commodity on the ASX.