Gold Road Resources Limited (ASX: GOR), a gold production and exploration company, has issued a production update in response to significant rainfall affecting operations at the Gruyere gold mine — located in Western Australia's north-eastern Goldfields. The Gruyere gold mine is a joint venture (JV) between Gold Road Resources and Gold Fields (JSE: GFI), with each holding a 50 per cent interest. Gold Fields manages and operates the mine, while Gold Road Resources maintains a significant investment portfolio. Following substantial and prolonged rainfall in early March, the region experienced further significant and atypical rainfall in the second half of the…
Litchfield Minerals Limited (ASX: LMS), a critical mineral explorer, has discovered new copper-tungsten targets at its Wolfram Hill Prospect within the Mount Doreen Exploration Licence (EL 31305) in the Northern Territory. This discovery, resulting from comprehensive Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys conducted in March 2024, marks a major milestone in the exploration of this site. The recent IP survey has identified two large and highly promising chargeability targets located to the north and south of the existing mineralised zones. These findings suggest the potential for substantial extensions of the known mineralised reef at depth and along the strike to both the…
Intra Energy Corporation Limited (ASX: IEC) has announced the discovery of significant lithium anomalies at its Maggie Hays Hill (MHH) project in Western Australia's Lake Johnston Greenstone Belt. This discovery places the company at the forefront of lithium exploration, with the potential to impact the global lithium supply chain. A recent soil sampling program revealed two major lithium anomalies, with the primary anomaly stretching over 2,500 metres in length and 300 metres in width. The secondary anomaly measures 1,300 metres by 300 metres. These anomalies are notable for their high lithium values, reaching up to 248ppm Li2O, and are associated with tantalum and caesium, elements indicative of highly prospective…
Ora Gold Limited (ASX: OAU) has announced promising initial assay results from its 2024 RC drilling program at the Crown Prince Prospect within the Garden Gully Gold Project in Western Australia. The results, particularly from the Southeastern Zone (SEZ), highlight significant high-grade gold mineralisation, marking a significant step forward in the exploration of this key growth area. The drilling campaign, initiated in early February 2024, has yielded encouraging results, including an exceptional intercept from drill hole OGGRC662 — 15 metres at 9.91g/t Au from 88 metres, with a higher-grade section of two metres at 54.17g/t Au from 100 metres. Other…
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…
Eni, a leading Egyptian Oil Company, has just announced a second light oil discovery on the b1-X exploration prospect, which is located in the South West Meleiha license, in the Egyptian Western Desert, located approximately 130 km North of the oasis of Siwa. The well in question is the second drilled well by Eni, who had plans to explore the deep geological sequences of the Faghur Basin. Approximately 7 km away from their first discovery (SWM A2-X), SWM B1-X has been drilled to a total depth of 4,523 meters. Down there Eni announced that they encountered 35 meters net of…
In partnership with Shah Deniz, BP has just announced the start-up of the new $28-billion project Shah Deniz 2, a landmark new gas development in Azerbaijan which will enable the first commercial gas delivery to Turkey. The project is set to start on time and on-budget. Shah Deniz 2 is set to be the first subsea development in the Caspian Sea, also forming the largest subsea infrastructure operated by BP worldwide. The project forms the beginning of the Southern Gas Corridor series of pipelines, delivering natural gas to the Caspian Sea and directly to European markets for the first time.…
Australian Oil and Gas company Calima Energy Limited has undertaken a strategic review of current and near-term investments in gas pipeline capacity relevant to the Montney Formation in Western Canada. “Calima is fast approaching the point where it will be drilling its first wells on the Calima Lands and it was therefore considered prudent to review the factors affecting the market both in terms of price and ease of access to infrastructure,” commented Calima Energy Managing Director, Alan Stein. The review identified over C$70 billion (approximately A$72 billion) of proposed infrastructure investments which have the potential to add over…
Nautilis Minerals Inc. has just announced the commencement of their wet-testing program for a new seafloor diamond drill rig. Nautilus’ rig, which is nicknamed the ‘Hobbit’ has met preliminary targets in a series of land-based trials, of which were largely focusing on rod handling, functional drilling and stability testing. Nautilus’ wet-test program is set to occur over a two-week period, expanding the testing parameters to include submerged operations and mechanical endurance. The Canadian registered company was the first to explore the ocean floor for polymetallic seafloor massive sulphide deposit (the sulphide deposit prospect is in Papua New Guinea and…
Global engineering firm, DRA, has successfully secured a contract with Sierra Rutile Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iluka Resources Limited, for the expansion of its mineral sands operations in the Bonthe District of Sierra Leone. Sierra Rutile’s Gangama plant, which was originally constructed by DRA in 2016, will double its capacity to 1000-1200tph at the project’s completion. The project also includes the expansion of the Lanti front end circuit; and the refurbishment of the Lanti floating concentrator. “We are excited to continue our longstanding partnership with Sierra Rutile, which has included three feasibility studies and two engineering, procurement, and…
Lithium Power International Limited’s 50% owned Chilean joint venture company Minera Salar Blanco (MSB), responsible for developing the Maricunga Lithium Brine Project, has been awarded a key regulatory export licence by the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission (CCHEN) to produce, market and export lithium products from Chile that are extracted from the Maricunga salar. MSB was granted a significant extraction quota on 9 March 2018 to export lithium from Chile. The quota has a term of 30 years and covers brine extracted from Maricunga, containing 88,885 metric tonnes of metallic lithium in brine or 472,868 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).…
Construction at the US$80-million Epanko project in Tanzania is expected to commence next year. Following mining and processing, Epanko will produce a high-grade graphite concentrate. The proponent, the Australian company Kibaran Resources, is also looking at a further processing step, to produce graphite suitable for lithium-ion batteries. Because of their use in electric vehicles, such batteries present a strongly-growing market for graphite. Australia is the largest foreign investor in mining in Africa. Epanko is one of several dozen Australian projects that have progressed beyond an early exploration stage. There are many more at an early stage. According to one estimate,…
