A West Australian-based lithium explorer looks well-positioned to capture significant upside when the alkali metal’s market moves into its anticipated recovery mode. In 2023, Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX:GL1) spent a great deal of its corporate time sizing up its wholly-owned outcropping Manna pegmatite project in its home state of WA, completing a large-scale 60,000 metre reverse circulation and diamond drilling campaign which covered infill and extensional targets. The junior also started metallurgical and geotechnical programs that have since carried over into 2024. Located around 100 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the state’s Goldfields, Manna currently enjoys an indicated and…
Hillgrove Resources has commenced production of its first copper concentrate from the Kanmantoo mine in South Australia, following the successful completion of the processing facility; both milestones were met within the company's target timeframe of Q1 2024. The transition from explorer to producer makes Hillgrove Resources one of only a few copper producers on the ASX. Hillgrove Resources CEO and Managing Director Lachlan Wallace said: “Operations will be bedded down at Kanmantoo as we ramp up to steady stage production and our attention will turn to growing the business by converting future exploration and development opportunities.” “The project is well-positioned…
In mid-February a Perth-based dual-listed resources house took a major step towards establishing a sovereign national graphite project which entailed a ‘mine to market’ capability and integrated operations located within its home state of Western Australia. In doing so, it moved further towards its goal of becoming a significant player in the global processed graphite market. International Graphite Ltd (ASX: IG6) has just completed the successful wet commissioning of its new $1.5 million, 200 tonnes per annum graphite micronising plant in the coal mining town of Collie in WA using imported graphite concentrates. To be known as the Collie BAM…
An ASX-listed junior is looking to expeditiously dual-track its two lithium projects during the coming year, with the Perth-based Future Battery Minerals Ltd (FBM) targeting deposits in both Western Australia and the US state Nevada. In WA, the prize is its wholly-owned Kangaroo Hills, located just 17 kilometres south of the historic gold town of Coolgardie, where a high grade lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite discovery has so far returned an assay of 29 metres at 1.36 per cent lithium. Meanwhile, in southern Nevada, the aptly-named Nevada Lithium Project (NLP), in which the junior has an 80 per cent interest, is a large-scale…
Ora Gold Limited has announced a significant update to the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Crown Prince Prospect at its flagship Garden Gully Gold Project, located in the heart of the prolific Murchison gold district near Meekatharra, Western Australia. The total resource at Crown Prince has now reached 240,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 4.1g/t Au, a considerable growth from its 2019 estimate. Notably, 68 per cent of these ounces fall within the Indicated JORC category, highlighting the enhanced drill density and improved geological understanding of the prospect. This advancement underscores the prospect's strong open pit mining potential,…
Intra Energy Corporation Limited has begun a comprehensive soil geochemical survey at its Maggie Hays Hill Project in Western Australia's Lake Johnston Province. It marks a significant step in the exploration of historical gold and lithium targets within the project area. Following the acquisition of the Maggie Hays Hill (MHH) lithium and gold project, preliminary rock sampling conducted in December unveiled highly anomalous levels of tantalum, with a maximum of 390 ppm, and niobium, with a maximum of 482 ppm. These findings, reported in an ASX release on 17 January 2024, underscore the potential of the area and necessitate a comprehensive…
Victory Metals Limited has today announced the results of its recent metallurgical test work conducted on the North Stanmore Rare Earth Element (REE)Project — situated 10 kilometres north of Cue, Western Australia. The optimised mixed rare earth carbonate metallurgy concentrate from North Stanmore has shown great proportions of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), with Dy constituting 73.6 per cent and Tb 10 per cent of the concentrate. This composition contrasts with the figures from the commissioning Serra Verde, Pela Ema Project mixed REE concentrate product — which contains 9.4 per cent Dy and 1.6 per cent Tb. Victory Metals said…
USA-focused gold and lithium explorer, Hawkstone Mining Limited has appointed Hazen Research Inc to perform metallurgical test-work on the lithium-mineralised sedimentary material from the Big Sandy Lithium Project, with the goal of producing battery-grade 99 per cent lithium carbonate (Li2CO3). The environmentally-compliant hydrometallurgical process that Hazen will evaluate involves sulphuric acid leaching, purification and production of 99.8 per cent Li2CO3 for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and generation-scale storage to back up renewable energy production. Initial outcomes are expected to be available within two to three months. Hawkstone notes that Joe Biden has a 'Plan for a Clean Energy…
UK-based exploration and development company, Adriatic Metals PLC has received an Urban Planning Permit for its Veovaca project area (Open Pit, Plant and Tailings areas) from the Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning. Adriatic is focused on the development of its 100 per cent owned Vareš high-grade silver project, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project comprises two high-grade polymetallic deposits, located at Rupice and Veovaca. According to the company, the application process for the Urban Planning Permit involved seeking and receiving positive opinions on the project from all significant government stakeholders (forestry, water, zoning, cantonal ministries, cadastral and all neighbouring…
Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) has confirmed the commercial scalability of its metallisation process with the production of 120kg of titanium copper alloy (99.5 per cent purity) at its facility in Korea. ASM’s Ziron Tech team produced two 60kg runs of the titanium copper alloy at a rate equivalent to approximately 1,000kg per day. This result is well above the targeted 250kg per day production rate, outlined in the agreement between ASM and Dongkuk Refractories and Steel Co Ltd (DK R&S), announced on 2 November 2020. ASM detailed that the key to the successful demonstration of the commercial scalability was due…
A selection of the finest rough diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Australian and Canadian mines will be tendered to diamond specialists from around the world in October and November. Headlining Rio Tinto’s forthcoming ‘Specials’ Tender, which showcases rough diamonds greater than 10.8 carats, is Lot number 1, Diavik Helios, a 74.48-carat Fancy yellow diamond. The Diavik Helios takes its name from the pure yellow sunlight emitted by the mythical Greek God of the Sun. Fancy yellow diamonds are rare finds from the Diavik diamond mine in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada which primarily produces high-quality white diamonds. Patrick Coppens, General Manager,…
Pan Asia Metals Limited (PAM) has held positive discussions with the Phang Nga Provincial Government regarding its exploration, mining and mineral processing aspirations in Thailand. PAM was recently invited by the Chief Executive Offer of the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), a Phang Nga Provincial Government coordinating body, to present the Reung Kiet Lithium Projec, located approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Phuket in the Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand. In brief, the PAO wants to ensure that the requirements of the project are incorporated into the Phang Nga New Town Planning Committee’s zoning plans to ensure it can…
Eagle Mountain Limited intends to develop a low-cost mining operation which means increasing the resource base both within its 80 per cent owned Oracle Ridge Mine Project in Arizona, USA and in the near-mine vicinity. Diamond drilling commenced at Oracle Ridge in early September and was designed primarily to target extensions of the high-grade portions of the existing Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). Five of the six drill holes completed intersected skarn-hosted copper mineralisation. Additionally, mineralisation has been encountered in the Leatherwood granite, which opens up the prospectivity of this rock unit. Samples have been submitted to the laboratory and assay…
Barrick Gold Corporation has advised that plans to extend the life of the Hemlo gold mine in Canada by transitioning it to a modernised Tier Two [1] asset with a purely underground operation are 'well underway' as open-pit mining at the mine starts winding down. The Hemlo open pit has been mined since 1989 and has produced over 2.8 million ounces of gold. It was originally used to produce blasted rock for the backfilling of the mine’s underground stopes but in 2002 a truck fleet and key personnel were seconded from Barrick’s Nevada mines to establish the pit as a…
