Public Company News

Surefire Resources' Victory Bore deposit in WA's Mid West, is looking like the gift that keeps on giving after a program of 62 RC holes for 5189m delivered a 56 per increase in the operation's already hefty vanadium resource. The asset now tips the scales at 235 million tonnes at 0.39 per cent vanadium pentoxide.

Mineral sands producer Image Resources has posted a productive quarter with higher ore tonnes processed than forecast at its flagship wholly owned, high-grade, zircon-rich Boonanarring mineral sands project, located 80km north of Perth in the North Perth Basin in WA. Lower ore grades were partially offset by the higher production and heavy mineral concentrate sales were in line with forecast.

ASX-listed Sydney-based reproductive biotechnology company Memphasys has received a tick of approval for its trademarked sperm separation device, Felix, in an article published by a leading medical magazine specialising in male reproductive and urological issues. Felix has been nominated by Memphasys as one of its three priorities in 2023 to deliver the highest and quickest commercial returns.

Ora Banda Mining is steadying itself for a year of strong gold production with lower costs at its mining operation in WA's Goldfields. The company's ongoing improvement strategies have boosted its key performance indicators by increasing mining productivity and ounces mined. A string of strong exploration results will feed into an updated mineral resource estimate slated for February this year.

Sydney-based Australian oil and gas company Empire Energy Group has hailed its December quarter as the most active in its history. The workstream was headlined by Empire's drilling completion of the Carpentaria-3H gas well in the Northern Territory's world-renowned Beetaloo sub-basin and included a record breaking 2632m horizontal section that was realised on time and significantly under budget.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has enjoyed a record-setting December quarter with the company increasing revenue from customers by more than $200,000 to $1.261 million in addition to a significant reduction in operating costs. The latest figures are more than double the $488,000 made in receipts from customers in the corresponding December quarter of 2021 and appears to be a record for Lithium Australia.

Perth-based Buru Energy reeled in $3.7 million over the December period after exporting about 73,000 barrels of crude oil from the company's Ungani oilfield near Broome in WA. The figure represents a 50 per cent slice of the producer's operating interest in the conventional field with the balance filling the coffers of project partner Roc Oil Company.

Minerals explorer Auric Mining has uncovered significant enrichment of rare earth elements along a 7km-long strike at its Chalice West project near Norseman with a swag of assay results indicating the widespread rare earths mineralisation including valuable magnet rare earths critical for high-tech products. Auric says a prominent magnetic feature in the project's centre is also promising and needs drilling.

DiscovEx Resources has lit up a geophysical target on a freshly granted patch of dirt along strike from Capricorn Metals 2.2-million-ounce Karlawinda gold project in WA's Pilbara goldfields. Complementing the company's extensive Sylvania land package near Newman, the company has wasted no time in getting boots-on-ground to complete a ground gravity geophysical survey in its hunt for the precious yellow metal.

With all assay results from its recent air-core drill program at its Chalice West project now back from the laboratory, Auric Mining says widespread gold and nickel mineralisation can be added to its rare earth elements discovery. The latest results include another five holes returning anomalous gold values and anomalous nickel intercepts were also returned in a further five drill holes.

Okapi Resources has engaged BRS Engineering to spearhead a technical study into its Maybell uranium project in Colorado which historically produced 5.3 million pounds of uranium. The company's recent land grab at the project comes laden with key geological data and technical reports. Okapi has entrusted the US-based consultancy to sift through the valuable data as it looks to unlock the potential of the Maybell uranium project.

Panther Metals has been buoyed by initial testing results of samples from its Coglia nickel-cobalt project in the WA Goldfields that returned final nickel extraction levels of 92.6 per cent. The test work was based on a blended sample obtained from the company's maiden drilling program. Panther says the high-pressure acid leach testing indicated the potential to further upgrade the nickel grade through beneficiation.