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…
Galan Lithium Limited has today announced the commencement of full Phase 1 pond construction at the Hombre Muerto West (HMV) lithium brine project in Argentina — with the first fleet of earthmoving equipment mobilised and active on-site. This marks the company’s pivotal step towards achieving a production capabity of 5.4 kilo-tonnes per annum lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by the first half of 2025. The company aims to complete the construction, lining and filling of the first 205,000 square metre pond by the first quarter of 2024 in order to initiate the evaporation path to production during the summer months. Other…
Summit Minerals Limited’s recently conducted comprehensive satellite and radar survey at the Castor Lithium Project in Canada has identified lithium-bearing minerals at over 100 potential targets for exploration activities. Following this, subsequent field investigations will be conducted through rock fragmentation and mapping at the Quebec, Canada site. Summit Minerals Limited has employed Sentinel and Radar imagery for the analysis in order to accelerate and hone exploration targeting while the company waits for fire restrictions to lift on the site. The new lithium targets showcase the presence of Sentinel and ALOS-1 footprints, historical rock geochemistry and unique geological features at the…
Summit Minerals Limited (ASX:SUM) has begun a maiden field program at the prospective Ahmed Antimony Project in Morocco. The maiden field program includes stream sediment sampling, geological mapping, and rock chip sampling. It is designed to map the primary structural control on, and determine the prospective extents of mineralisation at Ahmed, helping to refine the company’s drill targets and provide the framework within which more expansive exploration will develop. The field teams’ immediate focus is on the known mineralisation identified through the historical trenches and workings within the Project area. The company’s Moroccan partner, Ashgill Morocco, will manage the field…
Leo Lithium Limited (ASX:LLL) has executed a strategic placement and entered a transformational cooperation agreement with China’s largest lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium. The cooperation agreement encompasses a range of key strategic benefits to Leo Lithium, including a commitment to expand the capacity at Goulamina to a million tonnes per annum, a framework for further cooperation on a downstream conversion facility and other beneficial business opportunities. The strategic placemen to Ganfeng will raise $106.1 million from the issue of 131 million new shares, representing 9.9 per cent of Leo Lithium’s total pro-forma shares on issue. The placement offer price of 81…
Lindian Resources Limited (ASX:LIN) has delivered the highest grade rare earths assays to date in the phase one drilling program at its Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi, showing continuity of high-grade mineralisation in multiple thick intercepts. Assay results from 13 reverse circulation and four aircore drill holes revealed extensive rare earths mineralisation of up to 15.8 per cent total rare earths oxide (TREO), with all drill holes ending in mineralisation. Lindian Chief Executive Officer Alistair Stephens said the assays being reported were nothing short of spectacular. Stephens said: “They provide further evidence that Kangankunde has substantial rare earths grade,…
QX Resources Limited (ASX:QXR) has fully underwritten a rights issue lodged by Bayrock Resources Limited to raise $1.8 million before costs at $0.03 a share. Bayrock is an Australian unlisted public company with a portfolio of highly prospective battery minerals assets in Sweden, primarily in nickel. cobalt and copper. QX previously provided secured loans of $585,000 to Bayrock to help complete the acquisition of the Lainejaur and Northern Nickel Line projects in northern Sweden. The projects are considered highly prospective for key battery metals, nickel, copper and cobalt, presenting as high grade quality “Class 1” nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide projects. The funds…
IperionX Limited (ASX:IPX) has completed detailed engineering design for the planned 125-tonnes-per-annum Titanium Demonstration Facility (TDF), and a Techno-Economic Assessment for an expansion into the company's first Titanium Commercial Facility (TCF-1) of 1,125 tonnes per annum at the Southern Virginia Technology Park in Virginia, USA. The TDF and TCF-1 will utilize the breakthrough Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction technologies to produce titanium metal powder. Development of the TCF-1 to 1,125 tonnes per annum of production capacity would furnish IperionX with the largest recycled titanium metal powder production capacity globally, and the only titanium production facility using 100 per cent titanium metal…
