St George Mining Limited (ASX:SGQ) has announced significant developments in its exploration efforts at the Myuna Rocks Project in Western Australia's Ravensthorpe region. The project, owned by Lithium Star Pty Ltd (a joint venture between St George Mining and Amperex Technology Limited), has seen its tenure double in scale, now spanning 546 square kilometres. The newly granted Exploration Licences E74/789 and E74/790 have expanded the project's area, with the land package extending over 50 kilometres north-west along a regional greenstone corridor, starting just five kilometres north of the Mt Cattlin Lithium Mine. This corridor hosts active explorers such as Fortescue,…
The Australian government has recently announced a significant investment of up to $840 million in the Arafura rare earths project and a $230 million loan for Liontown Resources. These investments are part of the government's efforts to boost critical minerals projects and strengthen Australia's position in ethical and sustainable manufacturing of rare earths. The investment in the Arafura rare earths project aims to support the development of the Nolans Project, a rare earth mine located north of Alice Springs. The funding package includes $495 million from the Critical Minerals Facility, $200 million from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), $115…
It’s possible that a domestically-listed gold explorer, which boasts a not-too-shabby evolving flagship project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, may be looking to lithium to help boost its languishing market valuation. No doubt the WA-based junior is also hoping that a farm-in agreement it made back in 2022 with a fellow exploration house will garner some much-needed shareholder interest sometime in the future. When Austgold Ltd (ASX: AUC) presented at Vertical Events’ RIU Explorers Conference in February last year, its share price was around the 0.05 cents mark, giving it a market capitalisation of $105 million. By the same time this…
A West Australian junior involved in a number of exploration projects is confident it has come across an iron oxide-gold-copper (IOCG) deposit in its home state. Late last year, Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) said that a review of historical drilling data had “potentially” revealed very significant magnetite iron opportunities at its wholly-owned Whaleshark project, which sits within the Carnarvon Basin in WA’s Ashburton region. Field work conducted in the area by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the 1990s whilst exploring for an IOCG intersected significant widths of magnetite-rich banded iron formation (BIF) averaging above 25 per cent iron beneath younger…
Joint venture partners Covalent Lithium, Wesfarmers and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) have opened of the Mt Holland lithium mine and concentrator project. The Mt Holland lithium project consists of an open-cut mine and concentrator, located 110km southeast of Southern Cross in the Wheatbelt region, and a refinery currently being constructed in the Kwinana Industrial Area. With an expected cost of $2.6 billion, the project is supporting 1,000 jobs during construction and 350 jobs during operations. Mt Holland will produce 380,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year, which will be refined into 50,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide.…
BMG Resources Limited has announced promising results from its ongoing exploration review of the Dragon project neighbouring WA1 Resources’ site in the West Arunta region of Western Australia. Multiple targets showing structural and magnetic features have been identified at the Dragon Project — features similar to those that represent mineralised carbonatites at WA1 Resources’ ground and the nearby Aileron Project of Encounter Resources. BMG’s Dragon Niobium-REE Project is immediately adjacent to and shares a 30-kilometre-long border with the West Arunta Project of WA1 Resources. BMG Non-Executive Chairman John Prineas said: “Our ongoing review of exploration data for the West Arunta…
Pantera Minerals Limited has announced a substantial expansion of its Smackover Brine Project in North America, with the acquisition of 3,553 acres, representing a 26 per cent increase in leased acreage. The company's total net leased acreage now surpasses 17,000 acres. The bulk of the new acreage comes from a key lease with a mineral owner covering 2,194 acres, placing Pantera in a unique position of strength. This expansion not only enhances the project's scalability but also consolidates Pantera's control, with 100 per cent ownership of the project now under its purview. Pantera, the sole junior company listed in the…
Endeavour Mining (Endeavour or the Company), has announced that mining operations have successfully restarted at its Boungou open-pit gold mine in Burkina Faso, following the mobilisation of the West African mining contractor and completion of infrastructure and operating improvements. Endeavour has also confirmed potential annual synergies of $35 to $40 million during its SEMAFO integration process. The identified synergies are in the areas of procurement and supply chain optimisation, corporate and in-country G&A savings, centralisation of technical services and functions across the group. It is estimated that 60 per cent of these synergies will be progressively unlocked by year end…
Rio Tinto and China Baowu Steel Group have celebrated a significant milestone reached by its landmark Bao-HI Ranges iron ore joint venture (JV) with more than 200 million tonnes of iron ore now shipped from the Pilbara to mills in China. The 200 millionth tonne of iron ore sold under the partnership was mined at Eastern Range, located approximately 10 kilometres south of Paraburdoo. It departed Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert port on board the Baosteel Li Da last month before arriving at Majishan, China, on 19 September. The shipment followed a broader milestone for Rio Tinto with the company shipping…
Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), through its partner Ziron Technology Corporation (Ziron Tech), has successfully produced 8.6kg of a high purity zirconium metal at its commercial pilot plant in South Korea. The planned flowsheet for ASM’s 100 per cent owned Dubbo Project, located in central-western NSW, incorporates the production of both industrial-grade zirconia and dehafniated zirconia (ZrO2) and hafnium oxide (HfO2) using a process patented by Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) with ASM having an exclusive global licence. Successful production of this high purity zirconium metal from commercial-grade zirconia is an important milestone for ASM. ZironTech has received confirmation…
ASX-listed mineral exploration and development company, Strandline Resources, has revealed the results of the Engineering Scoping Study on its 100 per cent owned Tajiri Mineral Sands Project in Tanzania. Tajiri’s deposit is a large northerly trending zone comprising a series of titanium-dominated mineral sands deposits stretching along 30 kilometres of Tanzanian coastline. The Engineering Scoping Study indicates that Tajiri will generate strong financial returns over a long mine life, underpinning Strandline’s long-term production outlook in Tanzania. Some highlights from the Study include: Project pre-tax NPV of US$205 million (pre-debt, real, 10 per cent discount rate); Project pre-tax IRR of 36…
Montem Resources Limited has completed a preliminary geological field mapping program at its Isola Project in the Crowsnest Pass of southwest Alberta, Canada. Montem’s Isola Project totals 4,832 hectares (ha) and is bordered to the south by Atrum Coal Ltd.’s Isolation South Project and to the west by the Cabin Ridge Project. In July 2020, Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. estimated a coal Exploration Target for the project based on historical drilling, trenching and mapped surface outcrops ranging from 275Mt to 900 Million tonne (Mt) [1] [2]. The program also located historical coal seam trenches and multiple access routes into the…
Last week, Adelaide-based company, Thor Mining PLC, announced the acquisition of American Vanadium Pty Ltd and its two US mining projects. The projects add to Thor’s diverse portfolio of mining interests, which include copper, gold, molybdenum and tungsten. The company already has stakes in South Australian copper and gold projects in Kapunda and Moonta, but this acquisition is Thor’s first venture into the uranium and vanadium markets. Thor Mining Executive Chairman Mick Billing said the project represents an exciting opportunity for the company. “We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of 100 per cent of American Vanadium and its…
Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (Fortescue) has entered into a Deed of Agreement with Indonesia. The Deed of Agreement provides first priority to Fortescue Future Industries to conduct development studies into the feasibility of projects utilising Indonesia’s hydropower and geothermal resources to support green industrial operations, principally for export to global markets. Subject to the completion of feasibility studies and approvals, individual projects will be developed by Fortescue Future Industriese. The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Fortescue’s Chairman Dr Andrew Forrest…
