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…
Anglo American's has announced that its Unki platinum mine in Zimbabwe has been assessed against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance’s (IRMA) comprehensive mining standard, achieving the IRMA 75 level of performance. The Unki underground mine was the first in the world to publicly commit to be independently audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining in 2019 and is both the first mine in Africa and the first producing platinum group metals operation to complete the audit. Chief Executive of Anglo American’s Platinum Group Metals business, Natasha Viljoen, said Anglo American has a longstanding commitment as a leader in…
Rio Tinto has reached an agreement with Landsvirkjun on an amended power contract that will allow the ISAL aluminium smelter in Iceland to continue operating with an improved competitive position. The agreement will deliver a more competitive power price and energy flexibility that is mutually beneficial for both ISAL and Landsvirkjun. Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive, Alf Barrios, said the company is pleased to have reached an agreement on a power price that, coupled with improved efficiencies the company has delivered at the site, makes ISAL more competitive. “This provides a stronger footing to continue operations at the smelter and…
Lepidico Ltd’s proposed Phase 1 Project involves the development of an integrated lithium mine and concentrator in Namibia along with the development of a chemical conversion plant to be built within the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). Today, the company announced the Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) for the Phase 1 Chemical Plant site within the KIZAD has been approved by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). The Phase 1 Chemical Plant is designed to process 56,700 tonnes per annum (tpa) (dry basis) of lithium mica/amblygonite concentrate at a feed grade of up to 4 per cent Li2O for…
Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASM) has advised that the Korean Institute of Rare Metals (KIRAM) has successfully produced and tested two kilograms of pre-sintered permanent magnets from ASM’s high-purity neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) powder from its pilot plant in Korea. KIRAM’s testing provides a strong indication that ASM’s NdFeB alloy is suitable to produce rare earth permanent magnets that are commercially in demand. This certification is further validation of ASM’s strategy to become an independent, fully integrated 'mine to manufacturer' producer of critical metals. ASM’s Managing Director, David Woodall said the excellent support and collaborative work between the Ziron Tech and KIRAM…
USA-focused diversified explorer, Hawkstone Mining Limited has announced spectacular high-grade results from the Devil’s Canyon Gold Project in Nevada, USA. The results follow the completion of further rock sampling, structural mapping and airborne UAV (drone) magnetics at the project, which is located in the highly prolific Carlin trend that has produced in excess of 195 million ounces of gold. A total of 37 rocks samples (DC015-52) were collected as both outcrop and float, focused on extending areas of known mineralisation together with reconnaissance prospecting along prospective trends and targets identified from previous sampling and geological interpretations. Anomalous rock samples were…
DeepGreen Metals, which is exploring for deep-ocean polymetallic nodules as a lower impact and more cost-effective alternative to terrestrial mining, has announced an upward revision to the nodule resource reported within the NORI-D exploration contract area held by its subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources, Inc. The nodule resource is now estimated as 4 megatonnes (Mt) measured, 341Mt indicated and 11Mt inferred mineral resources. As countries invest in large-scale clean energy transition programmes and begin to phase out internal combustion engines, securing the minerals required to build batteries for storing renewable energy and powering electric vehicles is vital. According to some academic…
Rafaella Resources Limited has commenced a drilling campaign for up to 4,500 metres, through its Spanish subsidiary and 100 per cent owner of the Santa Comba tungsten and tin project, Galicia Tin and Tungsten SL (GTT). The drilling campaign will initially focus on converting existing Inferred Resources located within the current pit shells to Measured and Indicated status amounting to seven holes, totalling approximately 1,500 metres. Four of the initial holes are positioned within the existing aggregate quarry and all the targeted resource upgrade will fall within Stage 1 of the mine plan, which is to be undertaken through a…
