Announcements

King River Resources has intersected significant geochemical anomalies from recent drilling at its Langrenus and Providence prospects that sit within the company’s Tennant Creek East project in Australia’s Top End. The drill campaign is part of a $2 million spend to follow up geophysical targets generated from last year’s program and encountered anomalous gold, copper, silver, antimony, bismuth and cobalt.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Aruma Resources. The exploration company hit high-grade copper-antimony samples at its Fiery Creek project in Queensland, with its share price jumping on massive volume. Also, Petratherm’s stock soared after it discovered titanium-rich heavy mineral sands in South Australia, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Locksley Resources and Enova Mining.

Altech Batteries has inked a letter of intent to supply 30 of its 1MWh Cerenergy GridPack sodium chloride batteries annually to be used at a major German industrial park for energy storage as part of a five-year deal starting in 2027. The agreement has been struck with consultancy firm Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe, which oversees the park in the Lusatia region of south-east Germany.

Horizon Minerals has signed a significant new joint venture deal aimed at developing and mining two open pits at its Phillips Find gold project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region in a bid to cash in on record high prices for the precious yellow metal. The deal with BML Ventures is underpinned by a plan to produce 15,000 ounces of gold from the site.

Novo Resources has joined the global hunt for antimony across its grounds in Western Australia’s Pilbara region on the back of widespread growing interest in the metal after China’s recent decision to implement export bans has reshaped the global supply chain. The company says it has identified two early-stage exploration sites – Sherlock Crossing and Southeast Wyloo – that are showing promising prospects.

Red Metal says its latest step-out drill program has confirmed two huge, parallel magnet rare earths zones at its Sybella project near Mount Isa in Queensland, highlighting the impressive resource potential at the site. The company’s latest assays featured strong shows for all four magnet rare earths –neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – and infill drilling is now a key priority.

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.

Galan Lithium has rung the till for AU$25 million from a placement and a rights issue to support the completion of the first phase of lithium production from its Hombre Muerto West project in Argentina in 2025. The capital raise includes a firm commitment for AU$12 million through a placement at 10.5c per share and a non-renounceable entitlement offer aimed at raising an additional AU$13.3 million.

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.

ABx Group’s innovative work in exploring, drilling and processing ionic-adsorption clay rare earths deposits in Tasmania last year has been rewarded with a Federal Government rebate of more than $437,000. The timely cash injection comes less than a month after the company’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary ALCORE received a similarly-sized rebate for its work on a process to recover and recycle waste aluminium fluoride.

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.

Empire Energy Group has locked in contractors to start drilling its Carpentaria-5H well next month, with an aim of supplying 25 terajoules a day for 10 years under a new agreement with the NT Government. The company has confirmed it has signed deals with Ensign Australia for drilling services and Halliburton Australia for fracture stimulation at the pilot project that sits 650km south-east of Darwin.

A gravity survey by Sipa Resources at the Barbwire Terrace project it shares with Buru Energy east of Broome in WA has unearthed a big anomaly and telltale structures to boost its chances of a lead-zinc find. Sitting on the southern margins of the Fitzroy Trough, the findings show geological similarities to the Lennard Shelf on the northern side of the trough.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including WIA Gold’s 4m at 87.43g/t gold from 79m at its Bouaflé project in Côte d’Ivoire. We also take a look at other interesting drill hits by Turaco Gold from its Côte d’Ivoire deposit and PolarX from its copper project in Alaska.

Aurum Resources has cemented a 51 per cent foothold on the BM joint venture within its Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire after completing more than 8000m of diamond drilling at the West African site. The company can now secure up to 80 per cent of the BM operation it shares with Minex West Africa by hitting further exploration milestones.

ChemX Materials has received a $250,000 boost to help drive the commissioning of its high-purity alumina pilot plant in WA and plans to use the first part of its expected Federal Government research and development (R&D) rebate as security for the funding. A further $191,000 is also due in the coming weeks as the company ramps up the commissioning of its high-tech development.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week is … Golden Deeps. The exploration company struck high-grade copper-zinc at its Havilah project in NSW. Osmond Resources’ shares also bounded higher after the Melbourne-based company acquired a rare earths and heavy minerals project in Spain, while other movers-and-shakers this week were Energy Metals and Killi Resources.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has completed follow-up air-core drilling on thick gold intercepts from its Pinjin project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region as part of a mission to expand its promising Wessex target, just 650m south-west of Hawthorn Resources’ Anglo-Saxon pit. In a further extension to its latest campaign, the company also put 25 holes into its Kirgella Gift North and Providence West zones.

The race is still on for companies trying to crack the exploration code within Western Australia’s rugged Albany-Fraser Orogen in the ongoing mission to reproduce the area’s renowned – and only – Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper find. Despite some firms claiming to have defined the geological silver bullet they believed would shoot them to fame, the search for the elusive prize continues.

Surefire Resources’ soil sampling at its Yidby East gold project in Western Australia’s Mid West region has identified anomalous base metals similar to of the nearby Golden Grove style of volcanogenic-hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit. The company’s Phat Boy target sits about 50km south/south-east of 29Metals’ world-famous Golden Grove and other nearby VHMS deposits in the same belt.

A 14-hole step-back diamond drilling program has rewarded Aurum Resources with a gold hit of 40m at 1.03 grams per tonne from 136m at its Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire as it moves to develop a large-scale mine. The headline hit also features a 5m slice at 1.7g/t gold, with other results including 11m at 2.15g/t from 169m and 10m at 2.02g/t.

Lycaon Resources has engaged a renowned geophysical expert to help make its Stansmore project that sits in Western Australia’s West Arunta region the next cab off the niobium rank to follow other nearby recent success stories. Both WA1 Resources and Encounter Resources captured the market’s attention after identifying niobium and rare earths mineralisation associated with a carbonatite intrusive in the same region.

Local rare earths explorer ABx Group and TSX-listed Canadian firm Ucore Rare Metals have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to forge a binding offtake agreement for the supply of a mixed rare earths carbonate –enriched in the valuable dysprosium and terbium metals – sourced from the former’s Deep Leads project that sits 45km west of Launceston in northern Tasmania.

Meeka Metals has slotted in the final piece of the approvals puzzle from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS), allowing it to launch full-scale development of its Murchison gold project in Western Australia. With the green light now shining brightly, Meeka has quickly moved from planning to construction and is targeting its first gold pour by July next year.

Aurum Resources has secured the renewal of its Boundiali South exploration licence, which hosts its advanced high-grade Nyangboue gold deposit, in the centre-north of the prospective West African country of Côte d'Ivoire. Boundiali South is one of four exploration tenements comprising Aurum's Boundiali gold project and hosts three prime gold prospects – Gbemou, Nyangboue and Nyangboue South.

Ora Banda Mining has unveiled a fresh haul of strong gold drilling results from its Riverina underground mine just outside of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. More than 100 holes have returned 10-gram metres of gold, including a 2.7m hit at a juicy 65.9g/t, while the company has also launched into its second underground operation at Sand King to the south.

American West Metals has jagged a 13.5 per cent copper hit in resource upgrade drilling at the Cyclone deposit within its Storm project in Canada – and it has also identified a new target 1.4km to the south. The company identified the new copper target while drilling the first hole south of the southern graben fault to test a geophysical anomaly, 450m south-west of its Thunder prospect.

Meeka Metals has secured a $73 million funding war chest, paving the way to finalising the development and production ramp-up at its 100 per cent-owned Murchison gold project in Western Australia. The funding comprises a $26 million gold loan and a $12 million gold stream from Auramet International, in addition to a $35 million institutional placement that includes a $5 million equity investment from Auramet.

Aguia Resources is charging towards production at its Santa Barbara gold project in the Columbian State of Bolivar following key project procurements ahead of underground developments slated for later this year. The company believes that for relatively little capital expenditure, it can be producing first gold at the high-grade, low-tonnage operation by as soon as next year’s first quarter.

In this week’s edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some of the notable drill intersections revealed on the ASX, including Elevate Uranium’s 2m strike at 1482ppm uranium oxide in Namibia. We also take a close look at other drill hits reported by Dateline Resources from its Colosseum project in California and from New World Resources at its Antler play in Arizona.

A leadership restructure at Atomos and a new product suite has led to a 5.1 per cent increase in sales and lifted gross margins to 40 per cent as part of a solid financial turnaround for the video technology innovator. It comes on the back of a 22 per cent cut in fixed operating costs following a $15 million loss in the past year.

Ardea Resources has hit a major milestone in the development of its Goongarrie Hub nickel-cobalt project in Western Australia after executing a binding agreement with a giant Japanese consortium. It now locks away a 50:50 joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Corporation in a deal where the consortium has committed to funding a $98.5 million definitive feasibility study to earn into the project.