Announcements

Buru Energy is $5 million richer after selling the remaining share of its Carnarvon Basin acreage to Energy Resources and will now move towards developing its Rafael gas-condensate field in the Canning Basin. The company plans to develop its field with a two-phased approach and will supply gas to the Kimberley, in addition to blue-methane and ammonia.

Lithium Universe has made a roaring start to listing on the ASX, with its share price touching 6.3 cents during intraday trading after it raised its maximum subscription of $4.5 million and opened at just 2c. Nearly two-thirds of the money the company raised in its IPO changed hands throughout the day with a volume of almost 57 million shares being moved.

Just a week into its pivotal deal with global IVF provider Vitrolife, reproductive biotechnology company Memphasys has already received its first order to put its patented Felix system into clinics in Japan. Last week, Memphasys revealed it had opened a new door by signing an exclusive five-year distribution deal with Vitrolife Japan KK – a subsidiary of the world-renowned Vitrolife Group.

On the back of a strong scoping study last year, Perth-based company Toro Energy has commissioned a pilot processing plant design and added vanadium to its Wiluna uranium project in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. The study into a standalone operation at its Lake Maitland deposit holds a pre-tax net present value of $610 million and a total capital cost of $270 million.

Reach Resources’ maiden drill campaign for lithium has begun at its Bonzer pegmatite field in WA’s Gascoyne region, with some 2500m of reverse-circulation drilling and about 2000m of diamond drillhole work. The campaign has been designed to target soil sampling and rock chip lithium anomalies, the lithium grade, the size of the mapped surface pegmatites and any others that may occur in the sub-surface.

Terrain Minerals has been given the all clear for a maiden drill campaign this month to target clay-hosted rare earths at its Lort River project near Esperance, after receiving heritage clearance. Last year, a review of soil samples from historical gold exploration at the site returned positive results, including 580ppm TREO, with 25 per cent of the total grade magnet rare earths.

From the sometimes dark and dingy bedroom corners that play home to online gaming, to the searingly bright lights of one of the world’s hottest commodities, Lithium Universe has orchestrated a remarkable ASX transformation. Lithium Universe confirmed last Friday it had raised its maximum subscription of $4.5 million at a share price of 2 cents each, announcing itself a new lithium industry player.

Askari Metals has completed a follow-up probe to test the copper-nickel potential indicated by rock sampling results at its promising Callawa project in Western Australia, about 90km north-east of Marble Bar. After running an 18-square-kilometre drone magnetics survey last year, it has now finished an 864-sample auger program to test rock-sample geochemistry that included anomalous copper, silver, nickel and chromium.

Everest Metals believes it is hot on the trail of another DeGrussa-style deposit as it launches a new campaign of three deep diamond holes for 1000m of drilling at its Revere project in Western Australia’s Murchison region. The program will follow up highly-encouraging geological indications and geophysical targets from its recent phase-one deep diamond drilling work at the volcanic-hosted massive sulphide play.

Strickland Metals has officially kicked off a new 40,000m air-core (AC) drill campaign, with a primary focus on its Horse Well gold project about 85km north-east of the Western Australian town of Wiluna. The aim of the program is to define new shear zones and extend known shear zones further north where regional magnetic surveys suggest the structures may extend for more than 20km.

Octava Minerals’ recent geochemical soil-sampling program has identified extensive nickel, copper and cobalt anomalism at the company’s Yallalong project, about 220km north-east of the Western Australian regional city of Geraldton. Management believes the early signs show it may be a precursor to unearthing another significant nickel-copper-PGE discovery in the virgin and mostly unexplored West Yilgarn mineral province.

ABx Group has pocketed a cool $1.25 million in research-and-development tax rebates after receiving more than $503,000 from the Australian Tax Office for rare earths activities in Tasmania throughout last year. Earlier this month, the company’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary Alcore took home a similar tax offset of $522,715 for work undertaken last year on its world-first process to recover hydrogen fluoride.

Xanadu Mines is on track to produce a prefeasibility study resource update for its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia before the end of the year after completing phase-one infill drilling at the site. Management says the infill program has defined and expanded the volume of higher-grade mineralisation within its Stockwork pit, indicating both grade uplift and resource expansion potential.

Hard on the heels of a recently-completed prefeasibility study, Image Resources has reported positive results from beneficiation testwork involving the conversion of ilmenite from its Bidaminna mineral sands project to synthetic rutile. The company believes it could offer an opportunity to enhance the processing, economic, marketing and ore utilisation considerations of its project in Western Australia’s North Perth Basin.

Reach Resources’ imminent maiden drill campaign at its Bonzer pegmatite field in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region now has new intrigue attached after the company unveiled soil samples going as high as 759ppm lithium oxide. Assays came in at an average of 128ppm lithium oxide, suggesting a strong, coherent lithium anomaly extending more than 1.5km along strike and 700m in width and remaining open.

DiscovEx Resources has continued to build the prospectivity of its Sylvania project near the Western Australian town of Newman after its maiden soil-sampling program returned anomalies of up to 78ppb gold and 1315ppm lead, close to the mineralised Prairie Downs fault zone. The company says it is the first time the zone has been investigated for gold.

Brightstar Resources has struck more gold at its Menzies project in WA’s glittering goldfields, where 18 of 19 holes hit grades of more than 2g/t at its Aspacia prospect and all holes within its “Link Zone” found pay. The company says gold mineralisation is now confirmed in more than 500m of strike at Aspacia, while the Link Zone area has potential for open-pit mining.

White Cliff Minerals’ incoming executive chairman and mining veteran Roderick McIllree has vowed to mark his new role by immediately focusing on the company’s exploration and business development programs. Technical director Ed Mead will transition to the role of executive director of exploration and business development and the pair will work together to build a global development business of critical metals in low-risk jurisdictions.

Galan Lithium’s Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina is now full steam ahead after securing all permitting required to clear the way for construction. Phase-one production of lithium chloride, at what is Argentina’s highest-grade, lowest-impurity lithium brine deposit, will deliver 5400 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent in a 40-year period starting in the first half of 2025.

St George Mining has picked up seven new hard-rock lithium projects in Western Australia through its wholly-owned subsidiary Lithium Star, including five operations in the renowned southern Yilgarn Craton area. The company has secured a total of 14 licenses covering a significant 653 square kilometres, with exploration programs already planned this year across each of its projects.

Empire Energy Group has revealed a new deal with infrastructure specialists APA Group to progress gas transport solutions for its Carpentaria gas project in the Northern Territory. The company says it is now planning two stages of development for the project, which has the potential to service the Top End and east coast of Australia with more than 500 terajoules of power per day.

Everest Metals has intercepted multiple lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites in all 12 holes of the stage-two reverse-circulation (RC) drilling program at its Mt Edon LCT project. The project sits along the Paynes Find greenstone belt in Western Australia’s South Murchison region, which hosts an extensive pegmatite field. Assays from the drilling program are expected next month.

Auric Mining has notched a major milestone with all of the gold from the first 36,000-tonne parcel of ore from its Jeffreys Find project near Norseman delivered to the Perth Mint for its final refining process. A total of seven doré bars have been transported to the Perth facility, where the semi-pure alloy will be refined into its purest form of the precious yellow metal.

American West Metals’ Storm project in Canada is raging on with two new copper zones unveiled in its third diamond drillhole this year, just 1.7km south of the major discovery that took its share price to a record high earlier this month. Management says new results feature some of the best intercepts seen at the project, with more than 76m of near-surface breccia copper sulphides.

A new deal locked away with mining heavyweight Mineral Resources has sent Lithium Australia’s share price flying this morning, MinRes has agreed to help progress Lithium Australia’s lithium extraction technology, “LieNA” by solely funding the development and operation of a pilot plant up to the value of $4.5 million, in addition to providing the raw materials.

Reproductive technology specialist Memphasys has inked an exclusive five-year distribution deal with Vitrolife Japan KK – a subsidiary of the world-renowned Vitrolife Group – to sell its patented Felix system in Japan. Vitrolife is a world-leading global provider of medical devices, consumables and genetic testing services dedicated to the human IVF and reproductive health market, with a presence in more than 125 countries.

Empire Energy is predicting an increase in gas flow from its Carpentaria-3H well following a five-month post-fracture stimulation shut-in and soak at its permit within the Top End’s giant Beetaloo Basin. The company’s planned pause was designed to allow its reservoir shales to release more gas. The same technique proved successful in a sister well that targeted the same formation within the EP187 permit.

Strickland Metals has moved quickly to make use of the $61 million it pocketed from selling its Millrose gold project, with the company set to launch an exploration blitz at its Yandal and Earaheedy operations. Management says ongoing work in the Earaheedy Basin has identified a new lookalike prospect to its Iroquois project that has been dubbed Rabbit Well.

ChemX Materials has secured a funding package worth up to $6 million from US-based investment firm Mercer Street Global Opportunity Fund. Management says the fresh funding will go towards the company’s high-purity manganese play on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and its high-purity alumina project in Perth. ChemX has also promoted Peter Lee to the role of chief executive officer.

Budding gold producer Auric Mining has delivered the first five gold doré bars from its Jeffreys Find gold project near Norseman in WA to the Perth Mint for further refining. The company has also packaged a 36,000-tonne ore parcel for delivery to the Greenfields Mill in Coolgardie for toll treatment, which is expected to be completed in the coming week.

Buru Energy says commercialisation of its Rafael gas-condensate discovery in Western Australia’s Canning Basin will service the Kimberley’s power needs at reduced capital expenditure through phased development. It says the development is viable for all contingent resource volumes as it moves ahead with de-risking subsurface uncertainties and firming up volumetric estimates, with an imminent 3D seismic survey to be followed by appraisal well drilling next year.

ABx Group’s 83 per cent-owned subsidiary Alcore has captured a research-and-development tax offset of $522,715 from the Australian Tax Office for work undertaken last year on its world-first process to recover hydrogen fluoride. Management says it also expects to receive an additional tax offset for the R&D activities it undertook at its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound rare earths project in Tasmania.