Matt Birney

ASX-listed explorer Zuleika Gold has hit the go button on a 73-hole, 4490m air-core drilling program across a trio of target areas within its larger Zuleika and Credo projects near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The company is chasing gold across a raft of structural targets and says the probe could be completed by November with results due by the end of the year.

Strickland Metals is looking to demerge its non-core assets and deliver a standalone ASX base metals explorer as the company works to stack on gold ounces at its flagship project on WA’s well-endowed Yandal greenstone belt north-east of Wiluna. The proposed spin-out will see the company’s Iroquois zinc-lead and Bryah Basin assets packaged into a new wholly owned subsidiary that will seek to list on the ASX in the first quarter of 2023.

Strickland Metals has continued its hot-streak with more high-grade gold drill hits at the company’s newly discovered Wanamaker deposit just north of its Millrose gold resource, 85km north-east of Wiluna in WA. The latest results from its ongoing drill program at the project include a standout strike of 5m going 14.5 grams per tonne gold from 67m downhole.

Battery metals explorer Askari Metals is looking to beef up the development of its Australian lithium assets after signing a strategic agreement with Shanghai-listed lithium-heavyweight Zhejiang Kanglongda Special Protection Technology. The new partner has a market cap of nearly US$1 billion and also holds a controlling interest of 51 per cent in Jiangxi Tiancheng Lithium Industry that specialises in extracting lithium sulphate solution.

WA gold explorer Brightstar Resources is now debt-free after just over $6 million in debt was scrubbed from its balance sheet through two cash-less settlements. A larger burden of $5.4 million owed to private company, Stone Resources was lifted from the explorer’s shoulders in exchange for a net smelter royalty over selected tenements held by the company. A smaller debt of $630,000 owed to another private company, Great Cortex International was also extinguished from Brightstar’s books in exchange for a proportionate slice of shares.

Joint venture partners Venus Metals Corporation and Rox Resources have released a scoping study for their Youanmi gold project near Mt Magnet in WA which includes a projected production of 71,000 gold ounces per year. The study predicts the site will be capable of producing about 569,000 gold ounces over an eight-year mine life at an average head grade of 5 grams per tonne gold.

Ora Banda Mining has recorded high-grade hits from extensional drilling at its Main Lode prospect under the Riverina open pit that has increased mineralisation at the deposit to more than 350m below surface. The company has completed 12 holes of a planned 30-hole campaign at the project north-west of Kalgoorlie with assay highlights including a 1.2m hit at an impressive 29.3 grams per tonne gold from 359m in addition to 2.8m going 6 g/t gold from 357m.

Estrella Resources has announced an upgrade of the nickel resource estimate at its Spargoville project’s 5A deposit, 20km south-west of Kambalda, with most of the resource now in the more confident “measured” category. Estrella is pressing ahead with optimisation work for a definitive feasibility study and is focused on 16 000 tonnes of massive sulphide grading 7.8 per cent nickel below 5A’s existing open pit.

Final assay results from phase 3 drilling at Askari Metals’ Burracoppin project show continuity of high-grade mineralisation at its Easter Gift prospect with a 1m hit coming in at an impressive 45.5 grams per tonne gold. The 45.5 gram hit was contained within a wider 3m section grading 17.41 g/t gold from 73m that also included 1m at 2.18 g/t from 74m and 1m recording 4.54 g/t gold from 75m.