Announcements

Everest Metals Corporation has identified 10 big uranium and base metal geophysical anomalies within its 100 per cent-owned Georgina and Amadeus projects centred on Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Management has moved swiftly since securing its Top End exploration package last year and has engaged a speciality geophysical company to model and interpret existing geophysical data over the Georgina and Amadeus operations.

Askari Metals has tabled a maiden resource of 1.32 million tonnes running at 1.52 grams per tonne gold at its flagship Burracoppin project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, some 20km to the east of Merredin. The defined resource includes mineralised zones across multiple deposits and Askari notes that there is potential for significant resource expansion between the lodes, with additional possible down-dip extension.

Terrain Minerals is preparing to stare directly into a Nova-style “eye” magnetic feature at its Lort River project, with a detailed airborne electromagnetic survey slated to kick off early next month. The company identified the intriguing feature just eight weeks ago and is wasting no time in refining the target, which displays stark similarities to IGO’s Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper-cobalt deposit in Western Australia’s prospective Albany-Fraser Belt.

Lycaon Resources has secured a crucial tick of approval from WA’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister to kick off exploration at its Stansmore project in the West Arunta region – near WA1 Resources' notable niobium discovery. The highly-coveted mining entry permit paves the way for the company to land boots on ground, with a heritage survey planned before it plunges the drill bit into alluring magnetic anomalies.

Aurumin is looking to join the ranks of Western Australia’s coveted million-ounce gold club after completing its latest reverse-circulation drill program at its Central Sandstone project, 520km north-east of Perth. Drilling was completed for 38 holes and tested seven new open-pit targets, as part of the company’s bold push to extend its current 946,000-ounce gold resource.

88 Energy has delivered a second light oil surface flow discovery peak of 50 barrels per day from the SMD-B reservoir within the Hickory-1 well at its Phoenix project in Alaska – importantly, with little to no measurable associated gas flow. The SMD-B discovery follows hot on the heels of a deeper reservoir in Hickory-1 that previously surface flow-tested 70 barrels per day of light oil.

Venus Metals’ hunt for lithium at its Penny East project in Western Australia’s Mid West region – within ground initially secured for gold and base metals prospectivity – has revealed encouraging soil geochemical results. The company says it identified an anomalous area measuring about 800m by 600m, while a second 800m-wide anomaly is open to the north. Further soil sampling and shallow drilling is planned.

Estrella Resources is off and running at its Lautém manganese, copper and gold project in Timor-Leste (formally East Timor), with preliminary geological reconnaissance works identifying a 27 km manganese trend with serious grades up to almost 61 per cent. The company is undergoing systematic geological mapping and sampling at its newly granted 504 square kilometre land package after managing to lock down one of the first ever exploration licences in the mineral rich province.

Empire Energy will pay down its US debt to Macquarie and put a bit over A$3m in the tin to chase gas in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin after offloading its US oil and gas assets for about A$14 million. The company is poised to take on the Australian east coast gas supply dilemma with its Beetaloo ground modelled to generate a project net present value for phase two of $2.5 billion and $14.5 billion for phase three.

The world’s largest iron ore and nickel producer, Brazilian powerhouse Vale, has contracted Perth based ASX-listed company K2fly to supply its unique mining software across 69 of its sites for at least three years. The deal will add almost half a million dollars a year to K2fly’s all important “annual recuring revenue” figure that many software as a service companies are judged on.

Everest Metals is aiming to sure up the resource at its Revere gold project in WA’s Mid West with a 36,000 tonne bulk sampling campaign however the sample will be put through a mobile plant to produce gold. The program has been designed to convert the current exploration target of between 2.5 and 4.1 million tonnes grading between 1 and 2.5 grams per tonne gold into a JORC resource.

ASX-listed Toro Energy has revealed proposals to spin out its portfolio of non-core nickel, gold, and base metal assets in Western Australia to focus solely on uranium. Projects flagged for the spin out into a new IPO include Toro’s wholly owned Dusty Nickel Project 50km east of the town of Wiluna and the Yandal Gold and Base Metal Project.

Middle Island Resources is onto several new iron-oxide-copper-gold and sediment-hosted base metals targets from gravity survey data at its Barkly project close to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Modelling of detailed geophysical data collected in 2023 over eight priority targets has detected several density anomalies with shapes and sizes that may represent sizeable mineral deposits.

Lindian Resources has rolled out another round of dazzling wide, high-grade rare earth hits at its giant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi with a resource upgrade due by the end of the month. The African operation already hosts a massive 261 million tonnes at an impressive grade of 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxides, including 5.7 million tonnes of contained TREO in the inferred category.

Image Resources has taken a key step towards the development of its Atlas mineral sands project in Western Australia after no formal objections were lodged for the implementation of the company’s development proposal. The outcome could speed up the group’s return to mining by several months, with the process now moving towards final ministerial approval.

White Cliff Minerals is gearing up for a bumper 2024 as its hunt for a smorgasbord of metals builds up steam. Planned works include diamond drilling at its recently acquired Radium Point uranium, gold and copper project in Canada where rock chip results from historical works include an eye-catching 14.15 per cent uranium, 22.72 per cent copper and 8.28 grams per tonne gold.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week is dominated by biotechs, with two showing big gains for punters. Line honours go to… Regeneus Ltd. Its share price surged 220 per cent after completing a merger deal with Cambium Medical Technologies. Regeneus joins fellow biotech Acrux Ltd and Perpetual Resources, both of which also kicked the ball out of the park this week.

Bulls N’ Bears takes a look at the listed companies that have enjoyed share price explosions on the back of 16-year high uranium prices. With lithium taking a breather, the uranium renaissance has filled a gap as demand for uranium to power a clean-energy future pushed the commodity’s fortunes and propelled it to US$106 per pound earlier this year.

ABx Group’s ambition to produce aluminium fluoride for the aluminium smelting industry have been given a shot in the arm with new testing showing 88 per cent fluorine recovery from aluminium smelter waste – the best result to date from its bath pilot batch reactor in New South Wales. The company says learnings from the latest round of testing will be incorporated into the design of its upcoming continuous pilot plant.

Ora Banda Mining continues to deliver impressive results at its Riverina underground mine near Kalgoorlie with diamond drilling returning high-grade hits including 1.6m at a whopping 105.4 grams per tonne gold. The company is making steady progress with the underground operation and its share price has been riding a wave since August last year from about 8c to 30c as it looks implement its detailed mine plan.

DiscovEx Resources will takeover a private company that has racked up a 650,000 ounce gold resource in Finland in addition to Europe’s second largest undeveloped cobalt resource. It also has some stellar exploration hits including a 22m intersection grading 98 g/t gold. The Finnish turf is currently owned by Australian company Latitude 66 Cobalt, which the DiscovEx board proposes to acquire by way of an off- market takeover.

Aurumin has kick-started its reverse-circulation drill campaign as it hunts for gold at its Sandstone project in WA. The program will consist of 40 drill-holes and test up to nine new open-pit targets. The existing resource is tantalisingly close to the magical one-million-ounce mark and the company will be looking for some solid results to help it burst through that all-important level.

As the gold price continues its meteoric rise, tipping over $3500 per ounce, Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has completed an interpretation of its Pinjin project in WA’s goldfields, revealing a clutch of compelling new targets. With the project nestled along strike from Ramelius Resources’ 1.1 million ounce Rebecca project, KalGold is set to spin the rods in a first-pass aircore program designed to test the targets.

Si6 Metals has secured a second license at its JV Caldera rare earths project in the mining region of Minas Gerais in Brazil and will charge a drill-rig into the area to kick-off its latest program. The newly granted land borders that of Meteoric Resources exciting Caldeira rare earths project, where high-grade ionic-clay rare earths have been discovered at grades that are generally considered to be amongst the best in the clay based rare earths sector.

Estrella Resources is wasting no time as it looks to explore the potential of its freshly minted 500 sq kms of tenure in Timor-Leste with a high-grade manganese rock chip sample peaking at 60.8 per cent already on the table. As the ink dries on the historical agreement with state-owned Murak Rai Timor, Estrella is making history as one of the first companies to receive exploration rights in the country.

Lindian Resources is fully permitted to begin the construction, mining and mineral processing steps at its massive Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi after receiving a permit to extract ground water at the site. The giant African operation currently holds 261 million tonnes at an impressive grade of 2.19 per cent total rare earth oxides, including 5.7 million tonnes of contained TREO in the inferred category.

Quantum Graphite has completed a detailed airborne electromagnetic survey over its Uley tenure on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The company is on a quest to boost its current Uley 2 resource of 6.3 million tonnes at 11.1 per cent total graphitic carbon for an inventory of 697,000 tonnes of the critical battery mineral.

Strickland Metals is ready to put its WA gold hunt into overdrive, as it prepares to drill a multitude of high-grade gold targets at its highly prospective Yandal project, about 85km north-east of the town of Wiluna. The company’s liquid assets are impressive, with $54 million in cash and Northern Star shares available to fund its exploration programs.

ASX-listed Gold Mountain is looking to significantly increase its rare earths holdings in the Brazilian State of Bahia after securing 41 new tenement applications covering more than 800 square kilometres. Dubbed the “Ronaldinho” project, the new applications cover ground adjacent to tenements held by the Gina Rinehart-backed Brazilian Rare Earths.

Oil and gas explorer 88 Energy has recorded the first successful oil flow to surface from its Alaskan projects with testing at the Upper Slope Fan System of its Hickory-1 well confirming the discovery of light oil. Testing produced a peak gauge flow rate of more than 70 barrels per day of light oil at the well which forms part of the company’s greater Phoenix project within the onshore oil section of Alaska’s north slope.

The Northern Territory’s onshore Beetaloo basin is thought to be harbouring almost biblical-scale gas deposits and ASX-listed Empire Energy is in the vanguard of those seeking to prove its commercial viability. The company is now teeteringly close to pushing the button on an investment decision to start flowing gas commercially out of the basin – a move that could revolutionise the Australian gas industry.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Osteopore. Its share price surged more than 1060 per cent after announcing a deal to sell its regenerative bone implant technology into Singaporean and Vietnamese markets. Osteopore joins fellow market movers and shakers this week Allup Silica and Many Peaks Minerals.