Public Company News

Multi-mineral exploration company, Okapi Resources has snapped up a 100 per cent interest in the historical Sunnyside uranium mine in Utah, USA, after staking mining claims that cover 960 acres adjacent to Okapi's existing Rattler uranium project. The Sunnyside uranium mine comprises several small past-producing pits where uranium and vanadium were both mined in the early 1900's at high grades. The project has seen no modern exploration since.

Nickel exploration company, St George Mining says maiden regional drilling at two 100 per cent owned prospects near its exciting Mt Alexander nickel sulphide discovery in Western Australia's north-eastern Goldfields has intercepted broad intervals of host rocks prospective for nickel sulphide mineralisation. The company believes its Mt Alexander tenure has potential to develop into a major multi-deposit nickel camp.

Minerals technology group Neometals' joint venture partner Critical Metals has struck a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Swedish company H2 Green Steel that may open the door to a possible second vanadium recovery project for the partners. The collaboration with H2 Green Steel complements the existing agreement between Neometals and Critical Metals in relation to their proposed vanadium recovery plant in Finland.

ASX-listed Northern Minerals has progressed its potentially game changing ore sorting initiative with the successful testing of the sorter system at its Browns Range rare earths pilot operation in the north of WA. The company is now producing sorted material and converting this to a 30 percent total rare earth oxide concentrate. Processing of the ore sorted material has resulted in remarkably better recoveries.

Perth-based Wiluna Mining has wrapped up a mammoth 175km of drilling over the past 18 months to support a resource and reserve upgrade integral for its stage 2 sulphide development feasibility study. Latest drilling results from the East Lode and Happy Jack lodes continue to impress with intercepts grading up to 53.4 g/t gold confirming Wiluna as a high-grade mineralised system.

Bardoc Gold's hopes of increasing the forecast mine life of its namesake multi-deposit gold project near Kalgoorlie in WA have been buoyed by recent encouraging extensional and infill drilling results. Best numbers from the latest diamond drill hits from gold-bearing lodes in the key Zoroastrian deposit area are 4.5m grading 3.53 g/t gold from 102m, 1m at 11.7 g/t from 466m and 6m at 2.44 g/t from 460m.

Kingwest Resources has produced an exceptional set of first pass drill results that appear to show a significant gold discovery lurking under the mineralised cover at Lake Goongarrie north of Kalgoorlie. Twelve holes intersected significant gold values across a 500 metre extent of the first drill line within Target A10 of the newly named Sir Laurence prospect under the lake at Goongarrie.

The first leach-test results from Abx Group's rare earth elements mineralisation at its Tasmanian bauxite project have confirmed the rare earths can be leached by cold water, with enhanced reaction times and recoveries if ammonium sulphate is added to the mix. Importantly, the heavy rare earth elements are enriched in the precipitate and deleterious elements are depleted and only very low radioactive elements remain in the concentrate.

ASX-listed Terrain Minerals looks set to get the rods spinning again at its Smokebush project in Western Australia's Murchison goldfield. A 3,600-metre reverse circulation drill program is slated to follow up recent “exciting” new gold zones. An additional 3,000 metres of air core drilling is also earmarked to test promising regional coincident gold-arsenic anomalies.

ASX-listed junior gold explorer Superior Resources has passed the hat around for $1.26 million to fund exploration at its fast-moving Steam Engine gold project and Bottletree copper deposit in Queensland. New drilling for 2,300 metres of diamond core is imminent on the Bottletree deposit whilst Steam Engine probably represents Superior's best pathway to early production.

Hot Chili's exploration success continues with more high-grade copper-gold intercepts across the northern flank of its Cortadera deposit in Chile. The new intercepts have effectively increased the width of the main porphyry, Cuerpo 3, by approximately 100m, demonstrating a strong continuity of high-grade mineralisation.

ASX-listed 3D metal printing group Aurora Labs has entered a pivotal point in its well flagged technology development pathway strategy as it prepares to take the next step towards commercialisation of its 3D printing technology. The Perth-based company says it is now on the verge of reaching the final technical milestone of the technology development pathway that signals commercial readiness of its suite of products.