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…
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…
ASX-listed technology minerals company Pinnacle Minerals Ltd has mobilised the field team from Quebec-based geological consultants, IOS, to Mirage Outfitters for the execution of fieldwork. This move marks the preparation for the inaugural exploration program at the Adina East Project located in James Bay, Quebec. Pinnacle Minerals Managing Director Nic Matich said: “Pinnacle has secured the services of respected Geological Group IOS Services Géoscientifiques to conduct first pass exploration at the recently acquired Adina East Lithium Project. Having the crew mobilised on site one day after announcing the acquisition highlights the company’s intent to maximise shareholder value through prompt and…
Producer of high-performance titanium products Iperion X Limited has received a Letter of Interest (LOI) from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) — offering a provisional equipment finance of US$11.5 million. This finance is intended for the development of IperionX’s Titanium Production Facility located in Halifax County, Virginia, and is repayable over a tenure of seven years. This promising development follows EXIM’s evaluation of IperionX’s project for eligibility under both its ‘China and Transformational Exports Program’ and the ‘Make More in America Initiative’. These schemes are crafted to diminish Chinese dominance in critical sectors while amplifying export-focused…
Intra Energy Corporation Limited has completed the first phase of exploration on its Llama Lithium Project located in the prolific James Bay region in Québec, Canada. Multiple large-scale pegmatite dykes have been identified with Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) affinities including the presence of the minerals beryl and columbite. The first stage program was undertaken by Dahrouge Geological Consulting (DGC) who has mapped approximately 52 kilometres of ground traverses and collected a total of 83 rock samples with the objective of identifying drill targets. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="922"] Map of the Llama project, illustrating the location of the 83 rock samples collected, including…
Argentinian high-grade lithium brine developer, Galan Lithium Limited has announced the results of the Phase 2 definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) Project in Catamarca Province, Argentina. The initial phase DFS was based on a production level of 5.37 ktpa lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the form of lithium chloride concentrate. The second phase has increased the overall annual production rate to 20,851 recoverable tonnes LCE, contained in a concentrated lithium chloride product for a period of 40 years. The results and analysis confirm Galan’s belief that the HMW Project is a tier one project in…
Blue Star Helium Limited’s on-site preparation for the Voyager development processing facility is making progress, with the company’s earth works contractor currently working on the site preparation necessary for the IACX helium recovery unit to be deployed at Voyager in Colorado. The site requires a substantial pad and part of the site will also serve as a base of operations for ongoing helium exploration and development. We are pleased to have partnered with a nearby mineral leaseholder and surface owner for the needed base gravel. Additionally, road access work including heavy vehicle upgrades is progressing well. In November 2021, the…
Fortune Minerals Limited and Rio Tinto are collaborating to develop technology that will improve recovery of the critical minerals cobalt and bismuth. Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the companies, testing will be done at Rio Tinto Kennecott’s integrated copper mining and smelting operations in Utah and at Fortune’s planned Alberta Refinery. The partnership aims to maximise the value of critical mineral supply chain investments and increase Fortune’s planned cobalt and bismuth refining operations to process co-product streams of the minerals recovered from the Kennecott smelter. In 2020, the Canadian and U.S. governments signed a Joint Action Plan on…
Basin Energy Limited successfully completed a 3D inversion of historical geophysical datasets at its Marshall Uranium Project, situated in the southeastern region of the globally renowned Athabasca Basin in Canada. The analysis has led to the identification of multiple priority anomalies, located both above and below the Athabasca unconformity, present in both the sandstone and basement stratigraphy at Marshall. The company says the recent geophysical analysis has been particularly enlightening, especially considering the limited exploration previously conducted on these tenements. Basin’s Managing Director, Pete Moorhouse, commented: “Basin has continued advancing the Marshall Project through the reprocessing of historic geophysical data…
