Public Company News

ASX-listed Buru Energy says wireline logging at its Currajong 1 exploration oil well in the Canning Basin in the north of WA has revealed porous zones with interpreted oil saturations in one section of the well and a second section that has potential oil-bearing zones. Natural hydrogen gas has also been detected in the well that is targeting 28 million barrels of conventional oil.

Valor Resources looks to be on a roll in Canada with the budding explorer identifying a wealth of new uranium anomalies across the company’s burgeoning ground holdings in Canada’s famed Athabasca Basin. A recent radiometric survey at Hook Lake has highlighted several target zones in the northwest of the company’s tenure, alongside various new targets outside the recognised historical prospects.

ASX listed Aldoro Resources has hit paydirt with its maiden drill hole at its VC1 geophysical target within the company’s flagship Narndee Igneous Complex project. Approximately 2m of complex nickel-copper massive sulphides have been recovered and significantly, the maiden hole is also the first hole drilled in the area in nearly a decade.

ASX-listed junior explorer Oar Resources says it now has boots on the ground at its Crown nickel-copper-PGE project in the emerging Julimar province about 70km north-east of Perth in WA. The Perth-based company wasted no time kicking off its first-pass exploration phase at Crown after being granted an exploration licence covering the project area in the previous quarter.

ASX newcomer Askari Metals hopes to get cracking on a reconnaissance exploration program at its “heavily under-explored” Springdale copper-gold project in NSW during the current quarter after receiving formal approval of its exploration licence application. The Perth-based company is looking to start mapping and sampling soon and shortly get an induced polarisation survey under way that is aimed at pinpointing potential copper-gold drill targets.

Against a backdrop of increasing prices and market appetite for rare earth elements, Australian Bauxite is looking to build on a recent discovery of rare earth elements accumulations within its DL130 bauxite project in Tasmania. The company says the discovery appears to increase in grade in an arc from west to north-east with the latest hole drilled in the arc yielding an eye-catching grade of 301ppm neodymium oxide.

Aldoro Resources continues to expand its strategic ground-holding across the Windimurra-Narndee terrane east of Paynes Find after the company put its foot on additional prospective lithium tenure adjacent to its existing permits in the region. Aldoro has signed a heads of agreement with privateer Mining Equities to acquire exploration licence E 58/571 which sits next to the company’s Wyemandoo and Windimurra permits.

ASX-listed 88 Energy appears to have detected additional upside at its Umiat oil field on the North Slope of Alaska, immediately south of its Project Peregrine where it recently spudded the Merlin-1 well. The company says that analysis of Umiat 3D seismic data, together with post-well testing of Merlin-1, has revealed potential for additional reservoir sands at Umiat.

Zuleika Gold has continued its high-grade run of drill hits north-west of Kalgoorlie, with exploration at its Credo project notching up a string of eye-catching drill intercepts. Reverse circulation drilling over the Credo gold structure has returned results as high as 7 metres at 5.22 grams per tonne gold including 2m at an impressive 14.92 g/t gold from 89m down-hole.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia’s wholly owned subsidiary VSPC has been granted an Australian patent for its proprietary nanotechnology process of manufacturing phosphate-based battery cathode materials for use in lithium-ion batteries. Perth-based Lithium Australia says the cost of producing nickel-free and cobalt-free battery cathode powders can potentially be significantly reduced by using VSPC’s technology.

Barton Gold has landed a $300,000 grant from the South Australian government to ramp up exploration at the company’s Tarcoola gold project. The funding further validates Barton’s strategic position in the Gawler craton where the state government is looking to reinvigorate exploration across the fertile mineral terrane. The company says the funding will be used to expedite additional geophysical surveying and drilling.

Strickland Metals is set to kick off reverse circulation and aircore drilling programs this month at a keystone deposit and an emerging prospect at its Horse Well gold project in WA. The company says its recently launched gravity geophysical surveying work has turned up several “look-alike” targets near the anchor Dusk Til Dawn deposit that it intends probing with a round of RC drilling.