Pinnacle Minerals Ltd (ASX: PIM) has announced the approval and scheduling of a significant drilling program at the Capel Mineral Sands Project in Western Australia. The program, comprising 93 air core drilling holes over approximately 2,000 metres, is set to begin on 20 May 2024. The Capel project, a brownfield heavy mineral (HM) exploration site, has already shown promising shallow mineralisation in previous drilling efforts by Iluka Resources. Noteworthy results include a mineralisation of 21 metres at 3.3 per cent HM from the surface, including 9 metres at 6.1 per cent HM from 11 metres depth. The project is strategically…
Alliance Nickel Limited (ASX:AXN) has announced that its NiWest Nickel Cobalt Project has been granted Major Project Status (MPS) by the Australian federal government. The project, located near Leonora, WA, is 100 per cent owned by Alliance and is considered strategically significant, with the potential to significantly contribute to Australia's economic growth and employment opportunities. The NiWest Project, boasting one of Australia's highest-grade undeveloped nickel laterite mineral resources, is targeting annual production of 90,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 7,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate. The project is expected to create approximately 600 jobs during the construction phase and an additional…
Victory Metals Limited (ASX: VTM) has announced a significant milestone in Australia's mining sector with groundbreaking metallurgical recoveries of critical magnet metals at its North Stanmore Project in Western Australia. Achieving an exceptional recovery rate of 93 per cent, the results set a new benchmark in the rare earth sector and position North Stanmore as a leader in Australia’s critical minerals landscape. The recent leach tests conducted on beneficiated samples showcased remarkable recoveries of Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Terbium (Tb), and Dysprosium (Dy). These high-purity elements are integral to advanced technological applications, including renewable energy solutions and electronic devices. Utilising…
St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has unveiled promising new targets at its wholly-owned Destiny project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields region. The exploration efforts have identified potential carbonatites and mafic intrusions, raising the prospect of hosting niobium (Nb), rare earth elements (REE), or nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation. A gravity survey program conducted by St George over six prominent magnetic features at the Destiny project has yielded significant results. Four of the six magnetic features have shown a high-gravity signature, suggesting they could be intrusions such as carbonatites or mafic intrusions, both known globally for hosting valuable mineralisation. These features, ranging from 0.9km…
The Queensland government has granted mining leases for a significant phosphate mine in northwest Queensland, marking a major step forward for the region's economy. North West Phosphate's Paradise South complex, located 130 kilometres northwest of Mount Isa, has been given approval, with expectations to create substantial employment opportunities and boost the local economy. The project is anticipated to generate 200 jobs during the construction phase and employ 245 workers once operational. North West Phosphate has committed to utilising local services, providing a further economic boost to northwest Queensland. Phosphorous, a key product of the mine, is essential for fertiliser production…
Rincon Resources Limited (ASX: RCR) has reported a significant breakthrough in its exploration activities at the West Arunta Project, with recent diamond drilling confirming the presence of Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG)-style mineralisation. The company's second diamond drill hole at the Pokali prospect, labelled '24WADD002,' has intersected multiple zones with moderate to intense magnetite alteration, along with quartz and sulphide veining containing copper sulphides such as chalcopyrite, bornite, and traces of native copper and rare visible gold. These findings suggest the potential for a major IOCG deposit within the Pokali area. The drill core is currently being transported to Perth…
Iron ore continues to be a significant part of Tasmania’s mineral landscape, with the state’s leading operation undergoing some expansion works to ensure it maintains its annual production of two million-plus tonnes of magnetite concentrate. Meanwhile, a short-lived project to the south is ready to recommence mining once economic conditions improve. Located 60 kilometres southwest of Burnie, Grange Resources Ltd’s (ASX:GRR) Savage River has been subjected to a definitive feasibility study (DFS) into underground extraction below the north pit and its integration with the company’s current open-cut operation. According to the miner this document has revealed some robust financial outcomes.…
Rio Tinto has announced it will explore the deployment of Heliogen’s breakthrough solar technology at the miner’s borates mine in Boron, California. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, Heliogen will deploy its proprietary, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology at the Boron operation, where it will use heat from the sun to generate and store carbon-free energy to power the mine’s industrial processes. The two companies will begin detailed planning and securing government permits for the project, with the aim of starting operations from 2022. The companies will also use the Boron installation to begin exploring the potential for deployments of Heliogen’s technology…
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited and its partner, the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (GoL), have announced that the Mothae kimberlite mine expansion project in Lesotho in Southern Africa has been completed. The project is designed to increase nameplate capacity by 45 per cent from approximately 1.1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 1.6Mtpa. The processing plant was handed back to the production team after completion of the installation of the new scrubber bypass conveyor, the new primary jaw crusher and other associated upgrades. The project was completed on-time, within budget and with no safety incidents recorded. Lucapa advised that…
Rafaella Resources Limited has announced that Geotech Limited has completed Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM Max) airborne EM surveying across the Midrim and Laforce nickel-copper-platinum-group elements (PGE) mineralised projects in Quebec, Canada. The VTEM Max, combined with Groundfloor Electromagnetic (GFEM), is an excellent system for locating discrete conductive anomalies as well as mapping lateral and vertical variations in resistivity. GFEM utilises an airborne EM transmitted with a set of surface-based receivers. The larger transmitter-receiver separation in Groundfloor EM over standard airborne techniques gives the ability to compute the step-response with sufficient accuracy to study extremely high conductivity targets that are commonly…
Rio Tinto will soon commence construction on a plant that will recover tellurium, a critical mineral used in solar panels, from copper refining at its Kennecott mine near Salt Lake City, Utah. Rio Tinto is investing $2.9 million to set up the plant, which will recover tellurium as a by-product of copper smelting, extracting a valuable mineral from waste streams. The plant will have the capacity to produce approximately 20 tonnes of tellurium per year. Rio Tinto expects to begin production of tellurium in the fourth quarter of 2021, creating a new North American supply chain for this critical mineral.…
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited and partners Empresa Nacional de Diamantes E.P. and Rosas & Petalas have announced the recovery of the 19th +100 carat diamond by Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML) from the Lulo alluvial diamond mine in Angola. The 114 carat Type IIa D-colour white diamond is the third +100 carat diamond recovered from Mining Block 46 (MB46) in the last eight weeks [1]. The frequency of recovery of these stones, highlights the prospectivity of the Canguige catchment and adjacent priority kimberlites. To date, MB46 has averaged one +100 carat diamond recovered for every roughly 33,000 billion cubic metres…
Endeavour Mining has completed a positive pre-feasibility study (PFS) for both its Fetekro and Kalana gold projects in West Africa. The robust PFS results confirm that both projects justify moving forward to the definitive feasibility study (DFS) stage, which will now commence. President and CEO of Endeavour Mining, Sebastien de Montessus, said the studies confirm the compelling nature of Endeavours’ two most advanced projects and reinforce the company’s focus on organic growth. “Together with a number of earlier stage projects, Endeavour now has an attractive pipeline of opportunities, each of which will compete for capital with the goal of generating…
African lithium developer, Prospect Resources Ltd has announced a number of key developments at its flagship Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe after a detailed strategic review by management and a number of external third-party experts on the pathway to near-term production. The strategic review concluded that an initial smaller commercial-scale production facility at Arcadia utilising the existing feasibility study (FS) dense media separation (DMS) flowsheet will allow greater speed to market, higher technical certainty, significantly lower risk, and a reduced capital and operating-cost operation, when compared to inclusion of petalite flotation (in place of DMS) to increase the recovery of…
