Matt Birney

In a sign that it is nearing the pointy end of development, AVZ Minerals has tested the market by calling for pre-mining tender submissions at its massive Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tenders are for infrastructure estimated to be worth USD$300m at Manono that boasts a gigantic 400 million tonne resource grading 1.65 per cent Li2O.

Infill drilling at the emerging Grace prospect near the Youanmi mill in WA’s Goldfields has thrown up more stellar gold intercepts for the ASX-listed JV partners Venus Metals and Rox Resources, including 2m at 176.03 g/t from 28m, within a total interval of 4m at 88.81 g/t gold from 27m. The latest results have extended the shallow deposit, with further, deeper results still pending.

With a combined gold ore reserve of some 1.4 million ounces grading 1.7 grams per tonne and a total resource of 93.2Mt grading a solid 2.13g/t for around 6.4m ounces, Wiluna Mining is having no trouble finding even more gold – all within the shadow of the old headframe. The company’s exceptional recent results coincide with its recent rebrand from Blackham Resources to Wiluna Mining.

Blackstone Minerals has upped the ante at its Ban Chang prospect in Vietnam with drilling intersecting 15.4 m of nickel sulphide mineralisation. The intercept extends the strike length of the target to over 1,200 metres and hints at the potential of the nickel system at depth. Exploration will continue throughout the region with results expected to flow from the ongoing drilling campaign soon.

Just a fortnight on from its $20 million capital raise, ASX-listed Legend Mining is back in the field with a 3-kilometre RC drill program. Recent aircore assays include drill hits such as 25m at 0.35% nickel, 0.17 per cent copper and 0.04 per cent cobalt from 64m along the eastern flank of a large gravity anomaly at its Mawson nickel-copper prospect.

Terrain Minerals has stepped up its hunt for gold in Western Australia with exploration at its Smokebush and Wild-Viper projects identifying new targets for drill testing including recognised gold-bearing structures and extensive old mine workings. Drilling is scheduled to kick off in the third quarter of 2020; to be funded in part by the recent $3m sale of the company’s Great Western tenure.

Unlisted Barton Gold has achieved its native title clearances for an imminent 10 to 12-kilometre drilling program on ground around its mothballed Tarcoola high-grade open pit gold mine on South Australia’s Gawler Craton. Barton is targeting mineral resource additions below Tarcoola’s existing pit floor and adjacent mineralised structures where previous drilling threw up numbers like 22m at 6.75 g/t gold from 15m.

ASX-listed automotive panel and repair shop conglomerate, AMA Group, has locked in improved pricing with key insurers, effective from July after concluding service agreement negotiations with all key players. The renegotiated prices are expected to result in meaningful growth across the company’s Australasian network of panel repair workshops that already look set to benefit from a lack of public transport use during COVID-19.

Hot Chili is back in the field at its giant Cortadera copper-gold project in Chile with the Perth company poised to extend an extraordinarily long drill intersection that has already unearthed over 300m of mineralised porphyry. The drill rig fired back up recently following a COVID-19 shutdown and Hot Chili looks to be primed and ready to again test its drilling prowess.