Matt Birney

PolarX has attracted the attention of a prominent new shareholder after mega miner Northern Star Resources snapped up a 10 per cent holding in the Perth-based company following a $1.48 million investment in the operation. Polar X has now raised $3.63 million since November as it eyes future developments at its Humboldt Range project in Nevada, USA.

Lithium Australia has chalked up another milestone on its journey to commercialising a rival to traditional EV batteries with completion of an engineering study for an expanded pilot plant to make lithium ferro phosphate. The company says it eventually wants a plant producing at least 10,000 tonnes a year which it believes will make it one of the few significant LFP producers outside China.

WA oil producer Triangle Energy has farmed out a 25 per cent stake in two onshore gas permits in the Perth Basin to Talon Energy in exchange for a $9.26 million pay day. The company believes the zones host significant gas resources and plans to unlock its potential through a trio of new exploration holes in 2024.

Meeka Metals has confirmed gold recoveries up to 99.4 per cent from metallurgical test work on ore from the company’s St Anne’s deposit that forms part of its greater Murchison gold project. The program assessed conventional carbon-in-leach gold recovery for St Anne’s mineralisation at 150 micrometre grind size with results ranging from 97 per cent to 99.4 per cent for an average of 97.9 per cent.

TSX-listed Novo Resources has gained a prominent new shareholder following a C$5 million strategic investment by private explorer Liatam Mining. The funding package will be principally used to vector in on battery metals across the company’s Quartz Hill tenements in the Nullagine district of Western Australia and will lean on Liatam’s experience in the sector.

ASX-listed explorer Aurumin has entered into a drill for equity agreement with contractor Topdrill ahead of the company’s planned campaign at its Central Sandstone project about 520km north-east of Perth. According to the agreement, Aurumin can pay up to 50 per cent of its drilling costs invoiced by Topdrill by issuing ordinary shares from its placement capacity up to a maximum of $1 million.

WA mineral sands company Image Resources has refined its Atlas deposit in resource to 17.3 million tonnes at 5.7 per cent heavy minerals.

RC drilling at Surefire Resources' Victory Bore deposit in WA’s Mid West region has returned a host of broad vanadium intercepts with widths of up to 92m at 0.41 per cent vanadium pentoxide. The company says the probe has led to the discovery of three parallel mineralised lodes which it believes could bolster its already massive 151 million tonnes mineral resource once additional drilling and modelling is complete.

Aruma Resources has more than quadrupled the greenstone belt width at its Salmon Guns gold project near Esperance to more than three kilometres and will vector in on new drill targets with an aerial s