Matt Birney

Home and hygiene products business Pental Ltd has delivered a bumper $5.27 million net profit after tax driven in part by last year’s acquisition of online hamper and gifting specialist, Hampers with Bite. Revenue from Hampers in the four months since its August acquisition was higher than the unit’s entire FY21 sales, pushing the bottom line up 82.5 per cent.

DiscovEx Resources and joint venture partner Carnaby Resources have identified multiple, strong, undrilled chargeability targets in an ongoing induced polarisation geophysical survey at its Lady Fanny prospect, part of its Greater Duchess project in Mt Isa, Queensland. The company says the anomalous targets correlate very well with outcropping mineralisation, almost certainly identifying strong copper sulphides at surface and at depth.

Polymetallic mineral explorer Aldoro Resources has encountered its thickest pegmatite intersections to date. A third phase of drilling continues to churn out solid pegmatite intervals at the company’s Niobe lithium project 40 kilometres south of Leinster in WA. The campaign consisted of 13 RC holes with each one intersecting multiple pegmatite intervals. A total of 45 holes have been drilled to date over the three phases at Niobe.

Classic Minerals has entered into a joint venture treaty with Tribitrage Holdings that will see the company offload 80 per cent of its lithium interest rights at two Kat Gap mining tenements in WA. Under the agreement, Tribitrage will cough up $300,000 to claim a majority stake and will be required to spend $500,000 on exploration within the first 2 years.

Oil and gas producer and explorer Empire Energy has booked its maiden contingent resource and significantly lifted all other estimates for its Beetaloo Basin assets in the Northern Territory after its successful 2021 drilling and testing operations on the Carpentaria project area. An independent consultant reported an 866 per cent upgrade to its mid-range estimates figure as 396 billion cubic feet, or “bcf” up from the previously modest 41bcf.

AVZ Minerals has announced the expeditated completion of a US$240m cornerstone investment from Chinese operator Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies for its Manono lithium-tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the company the agreement provides certainty of funding to progress the venture, pending the award of a mining licence and collaboration development agreement from the local government.

ASX-listed Wiluna Mining is ticking off milestones after confirming the first shipment of gold concentrate to its two off-take partners, Polymetal International and Trafigura. The company says the maiden supply forms part of an ongoing delivery that could significantly spike its revenue and assist in financing its transition towards becoming a top tier gold producer.

Image Resources’ major shareholder, Chinese backed Murray Zircon is looking to show the existing board and management the door despite three solid and profitable years at the mineral sands miner. Murray Zircon has lobbed a section 249D notice over the wall seeking to remove the directors and its largest beneficial shareholder, LB Group is working the phones looking for support for the 249D – the key question however is why?

Kairos Minerals has eked out an extensive lithium-in-soil anomaly at its Roe Hills project some 120km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. With the white metal running red hot and the emerging discovery of Breaker Resources’ Manna Lithium deposit only 10km up the road, the company cast its eye back over the results of a 2020 soil sampling program and discovered the intriguing anomaly stretching over 2.7km.