Matt Birney

Middle Island Resources' Sandstone project looks to be the gift that just keeps on giving with latest drill results showing a 4m hit going 50.5 g/t gold which includes a 1m section at a crazy 198 grams per tonne gold – and only 3 metres from surface. Additional results from the Ridge prospect are expected to flow over the coming weeks.

ASX-listed tech player, Aurora Labs’ 3D metal printing business strategy has pivoted from a manufacturing and distribution model to a less costly and lower risk partnership, licensing and royalty model. The major strategic shift follows the completion of a review of the company’s 3D metal printing technology to determine what is needed over the next 12 months to advance its fast RMP-1 printer in particular towards commercial readiness.

With the gold price piercing the US$1,800 per ounce mark and threatening to test the A$2,600/oz level, emerging gold developer, Calidus Resources, is moving quickly to get its ducks in a row in order to meet an accelerated development schedule at its planned $116 million Warrawoona gold project in WA’s East Pilbara district.

After a hiatus period that was partly caused by Government policy decisions and COVID-19, Northern Minerals is looking to start producing rare earths in WA again. The company has begun planning the logistics to restart its Browns Range pilot plant in WA’s Kimberley region which will be the only substantial heavy rare earths producer outside of China.

Legend Mining’s ascension from ‘explorer’ to the ranks of ‘discoverer’ has been an admirably fought geological crusade in Western Australia’s Fraser Range, with its Mawson prospect returning another cracking suite of nickel-copper-cobalt assays. Spectacular visible massive sulphide intersections previously pointed to the potential for some exciting grades, however, the latest numbers went beyond expectations with nearly 36 metres of combined high-grade mineralisation.

Element 25 has inked its first non-binding off-take Memorandum of Understanding with OM Materials who is looking to purchase manganese concentrate from its Butcherbird project in the Pilbara. The project is hurtling towards production and slated to churn out AUD$24.4m a year in free cash. The MoU will ultimately see between 50 and 100 per cent of the product spoken for over five years.

Calidus Resources’ updated PFS for its Warrawoona gold project in the Pilbara shows another $20m a year falling to the bottom line compared to previous estimates. The latest set of numbers which have been tabled on the back of a simplified mine plan will no doubt be helpful for Calidus who is now getting dangerously close to production at Warrawoona.

Terrain Minerals has acquired the mineral rights to a prospecting licence known as Wilsons Patch, a postage stamp sized tenement right in the middle of its Wildviper gold project, located north of Leonora in Western Australia. The ground has been in private prospecting hands for decades and Terrain has inked a simple milling royalty agreement with no upfront payment to access the prospecting license.

Middle Island Resources is hitting its straps at Sandstone with the latest drilling results from its Ridgeway discovery delivering outstanding high-grade intercepts including 4 metres at 99.5 g/t gold which hosts a 1 metre resample topping the scales at an extraordinary 390 g/t gold. This continues a run of impressive results from the company which has seen it bank five new gold deposits since the start of the year.