Category: Industry Link Media

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Morning News Bite – July 21

Job support for Australians extended at a reduced rate, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan says mining companies need to stop relying on FIFO and face mask purchases restricted at major supermarket chains.

  • Downer EDI is starting trade in July 21 in a trading halt as an acquisition is on the cards. The company made the announcement about the acquisition and fully underwritten accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer of ordinary shares on a pro-rata basis to existing eligible shareholders of the Company. The trading halt is expected to last until the earlier of either the Company making an announcement to the ASX in relation to completion of the institutional component of the Entitlement Offer or the commencement of trading on Wednesday, 22 July 2020.
  • BHP has released is quarterly report with Iron Ore in Western Australia achieving record production. Increased petroleum production at Bass Strait due to higher seasonal demand, partially offset by lower volumes at Atlantis due to planned maintenance and preparation work for Phase 3 project commissioning, and lower demand in Trinidad and Tobago was the difference in Mar – Jun Qtr reports. Other highlights included Olympic Dam completing a quarter of higher production due to improved operating sustainability, Higher volumes at Queensland Coal including record production at Poitrel mine and higher nickel volumes due to the ramping of full capacity at the Kwinana refinery and Kalgoorlie smelter during the prior quarter. BHP Chief Executive Officer, Mike Henry also commentated on the impact of COVID19 in its operations  “BHP safely delivered a strong operational performance in the 2020 financial year, achieving record production in a number of our operations, and an improved cost base. This performance, achieved in the face of COVID-19 and other challenges, is a result of the outstanding effort of our people and the support of our communities, governments, customers and suppliers. We have sought to support those who rely on BHP through the pandemic with increased hiring, shorter payment terms for small, local and indigenous suppliers, support for contract workers and community funding for health and social services” He said. “We expect to continue to generate solid cash flow through the cycle and we remain confident in the outlook for demand for our products over the medium to long-term. We continue to focus on becoming even safer, delivering exceptional operational performance, maintaining disciplined capital allocation, creating and securing more options in future facing commodities and building social value. We have learned new ways of working, both internally and with others, through the COVID-19 pandemic. We will seek to embed these in a way that helps to reinforce these priorities.” according to Mr Henry.
  • An expanded drilling program for Gateway Mining is set to be undertaken after a $7m capital raising. Gateway are set to embark on a program of 5,000m of Reverse Circulation (RC) and 10,000m of air-core (AC) drilling to be completed at priority targets around the Montague Dome. CEO at Gateway Mining Peter Langworthy commented on the drill program by saying “We have positioned the Company to the point we can effectively accelerate our drilling programs to unlock the true potential of what we believe to be an emerging large-scale gold system. Having sufficient funding in place means that we can maintain a fast pace of drilling activity, with drill programs set to be maintained continuously right through to the end of the year and into 2021.” “The current program of RC drilling is making excellent progress and already approaching the halfway point of the expanded 4,500m of drilling. This will be followed by one of our biggest programs of air-core drilling to date, before we embark on what will be a crucial program of RC and diamond drilling through to the end of the year.” he said

 

Silver Lake Resources – Rothsay Mine (pic via Silver Lake Resources LinkedIn)

  • Quarterly group production was a record 71,291 ounces gold and 494 tonnes copper with sales of 64,593 ounces gold and 416 tones copper at a sales price of A$2,300/oz and AISC of A$1,344/oz for SilverLake Resources. Mount Monger mining camp produced 45,333 ounces and 42,331 ounces recovered, of this 38,017 ounces were sold at an AISC of A$1,471/oz with record annual sales from Randalls of 154,900 ounces at an AISC of A$1,414/oz. Deflector has a record quarterly gold production of 28,960 ounces and 494 tonnes of copper with record annual gold production of 104,376 ounces gold and 2,356 tonnes copper. Average mill grades at Deflector were also higher for the quarter. Meanwhile the Box Cut for Rothsay has commenced this month as significant approvals progress has taken place with mining camp and occupation taking place on July 1.
  • Image Resources has reported a strong quarter at its high-grade, zircon-rich Boonanarring mineral sands project, located 80km north of Perth. Image has increase to production  in the June quarter of 83kt, on pace with guidance Heavy Minerals Concentrate sales increased substantially quarter on quarter to 65kt and sales volumes are expected to further increase in the second half to achieve guidance. Managing Director and CEO of Image Resources Patrick Mutz said “In the first half of 2020 Image has demonstrated strong operational performance with production of 167kt Heavy Mineral Concentrate, despite the significant adjustments to daily work practices aimed at minimising the potential spread of COVID-19. The June quarter represents a turning point for our sales volumes which were up sharply from the prior quarter. It was therefore particularly pleasing, subsequent to period end, to receive a sales agreement with our off-take partners for 100kt of HMC to be delivered over the next 3-5 months to monetise our HMC inventory, while keeping open the opportunity to sell additional material to others outside of the off-take agreements. The Company remains in a very strong position to achieve our original guidance and we have a strong balance sheet, solid underlying assets and exciting opportunities for future growth.” he said.
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Morning News Bites – July 20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s popularity has increased to its highest level in 12 months in the latest Newspoll, COVID-19 spread in New South Wales attracting more concerns and interest around Newmont and Northern Star Resources as NSR let lapse its exclusive purchase rights according to the AFR.

  • Classic Minerals has purchased a Gekko Processing Plant to use at Kat Gap 130km south east of Southern Cross. The gravity concentration processing plant has a capacity of 30 tph and is a flexible design for mobility is scaleable to a Gekko Python Plant with a processing capacity of 250tph. The Gekko plant is ideally suited to the Kat Gap ore which has a very unique high level of gravity gold concentration.
  • Kin Mining has announced a new Australian share holder who has subscribed for $1m in shares while Kin`s two largest shareholders (Delphi and Harmanis) subscribed for an additional $573,000. Kin has restricted the amount of new shares on offer after the recent rights issue. Phase 3 drilling is fully funded until the end of FY 2021 and a strong news flow from drilling is expected. Kin Mining’s Managing Director, Andrew Munckton, said “The additional funds raised through the placement of this Shortfall, together with the $6.066 million already raised from the Rights issue, gives us the capacity to complete our Phase III exploration program across the Cardinia exploration targets to the end of FY2021, as planned.”  
  • The new camp at Aurora Tank has arrived and has been installed at Marmota for it’s, Aurora Tank Gold Discovery. The camp is operational and drillers are expected on site tomorrow (July 21 2020). Marmota recently raised $6.5M and received a $225,000 grant from the South Australian Government as part of the Accelerated Discovery Initiative. 
  • South32 has achieved record production in Australia with its Australia Manganese Ore Joint Venture in the FY20, alongside record results at its Brazil Alumina and Hillside Aluminium operations. Australia Manganese saleable ore production increased by 4% as Manganese ore sales increased as market conditions were favourable. S32 saw saleable production increase by 2% at its 86% share Worsley Alumina, where improvement initiatives are expected to support a sustainable increase in production to nameplate capacity.  While Cannington in Queensland has reduced its run of mine stocks and a further improvement in underground mine performance helped push a 14% lift in ore processed. According to South32 CEO Graeme Kerr,  “Our priority remains keeping our people safe and well, maintaining reliable operations and supporting our communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the health crisis, we delivered a strong operating result, highlighted by annual production records at Brazil Alumina, Hillside Aluminium and Australia Manganese ore. We have continued to see good demand for our products, with sales exceeding production at the majority of our operations. With uncertainty remaining in global markets we continue to manage our financial position to ensure we retain the right balance of flexibility, efficiency and prudence. Looking forward we remain focussed on reducing controllable costs, managing counterparty and supply chain risk and optimising working capital to ensure the business remains resilient during a potentially extended period of volatility and lower commodity prices.”
  • Drilling for Thomson Resources at their Harry Smith gold prospect on the Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales, has been put on hold due to wet ground. However drilling is being undertaken and has commenced at Yalgogrin gold project while waiting for ground to dry at Harry Smith. Wet weather, fog and the ground conditions around Harry Smith has meant the suitability of drilling is not conducive and the time for the ground to dry will take a number of days. This has resulted in the AMWD drilling rig being mobilised to Yalgogrin. Once ground is suitable, drilling will recommence at Harry Smith.

 

 

Quick Notes –

Legend Mining has added Oliver Kiddie to its board as an Executive Director. Mr Kiddie will commence August 10 2020 as Derek Waterfield will move away from his board role and take up the role of General Manager Exploration.

Halloysite confirmed across the Eyre Pennisula for Archer Materials. Greg English, Archer Chairman said “We have directly identified halloysite, which is a high value form of the alumina-silicate clay kaolin, at Kelly Tank, Bunora and Bunora East prospects. This is an excellent result that confirms reports of the [kaolin] mineralisation by historic explorers, as well as the presence of halloysite across a large geographical area with all samples tested being close to surface.”

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Morning News Bites – July 17

Bluescope is conducting a strategic review of its New Zealand Operations, FMG hits record high and Westpac has been served with class action.

Magmatic Resources has commenced drilling at Boda North. There is the mobilisation of a second rig and commencement of RC drilling activity at Boda North as RC drilling continues at Lady Ilse, with four holes completed. Drilling at Lady Ilse has been delayed due to wet conditions and some mechanical issues. There has been a replacement rig on site to increase production rates. While the maiden drilling program at Boda North will comprise of approximately six RC holes and is designed to assess the geochemical ‘fertility’ of the anomalies (gold + pathfinder elements) prior to potential deeper drill testing. Boda North is north of Cadia Valley in Central New South Wales.

National Tyres and Wheel limited has entered a conditional Agreement to acquire Tyres 4 U’s importing, wholesale and retailing business assets in Australia and New Zealand. This will create a prescence in the truck & bus, industrial and agricultural tyre segments where NTD currently has little or no presence. The synergy between the two entities commenced some years ago.  Tyres for U CEO Les de Celis said: “Some years ago, I met with Peter Ludemann and others from NTD to discuss the prospects of a merged T4U and NTD business. We were very enthusiastic back then about the benefits we could deliver to suppliers and customers with an abundance of complementary skills in our teams and no significant overlap of products or suppliers. Changes in the industry since then have only made the case for getting together more compelling and we are extremely excited to join forces with NTD”. While Peter Ludemann NTD CEO said “The purchase of T4U is testament to the power of belief and persistence. When we first met, we were struck by the fact that, despite each being tyre wholesalers for more than 25 years, we did not bump into each other in the marketplace. Different business models, different products and different routes to market made it immediately obvious that everyone could benefit from getting together, without disturbing our core businesses or values.” The aquistion makes NTD one of the largest tyre wholesalers in Australia and New Zealand.

Rio Tinto has released its second quarter results with iron ore and bauxite the stronger performers. Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said “We delivered a strong performance, particularly in iron ore and bauxite, demonstrating the underlying resilience of our business and ability to adapt in difficult conditions. Our iron ore assets are performing well in a strong pricing environment and we are on track to meet our 2020 iron ore guidance. Despite various COVID-19 related challenges, all our assets have continued to operate, with our first priority to protect the health and safety of all our employees and communities. “Our focus is to maintain a business as usual approach with many safeguards at a very unusual time. Our operational teams are continuing to run our assets safely so we can continue to contribute to local and national economies and serve our customers.” Mr Jacques also remained committed to the Rio Tinto relationships with local communities. “We remain even more committed to our relationship with communities, following the Juukan Gorge events in the Pilbara, and we are engaging extensively with Traditional Owners around our operations and across Australia.” He said. Rio Pilbara iron ore shipments of 86.7 million tonnes (100% basis) were 1% higher than the second quarter of 2019 despite the impact of COVID-19 related operational controls. This is a 3% increase for the same time 2019.

A desktop analysis by Torian Resources has uncovered a large area of interest at the Mt Monger – Wombola Gold  Projects, with significant discovery potential. Up to 50,000m of historical drilling results to be reviewed and reinterpreted.  Torian Chairman Mr Louie Simens said, “As previously announced we have had fresh eyes digging into the extensive datasets across TNR’s projects and early indications from desktop analysis have yielded significant indicators of potential for further discoveries at the Mt Monger – Wombola projects. We are embarking on a property-wide systematic exploration effort at the Mt Monger – Wombola Project which enfolds much of Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) flagship Mt Monger Mine.” Torian’s Joint Venture partner Dampier have announced a major drilling  program at the jointly held Zuleika Gold Project with an aim of rapidly defining JORC compliant  resources.

The first milling campaign has commenced at Lakewood Mill with the first gold pour due next week for Horizon Minerals. According to Managing Director Jon Price “We are extremely pleased with progress at Boorara and now commencing the first milling campaign at Lakewood producing first gold next week and revenue shortly thereafter. Along with capitalising on the strong current gold price, the Stage One development of Boorara will provide mine to mill reconciliation outcomes to de-risk the larger scale development plan.” Total material movement to date of 357,000 BCM, 30% above plan with ore mined to date of 80,000t at a fully diluted grade of 1.5g/t Au, in line with reserve model estimates.

 

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Morning News Bites – July 16

News for tradies today, the AFR reporting the federal government will today announce $2 billion to subsidise the jobs of an extra 100,000 apprentice and train or reskill 340,000 school leavers, The end of Jobkeeper and Job seeker in September could have an impact on hard state border closures according to the Grattan Institute senior associate Matt Cowgill – he told the ABC and twitter accounts have beeb hacked of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Bill Gates and Apple.

  • Moho Resources has completed phase 1 of its RC Drilling at East Sampson Dam. 16 RC holes were drilled for total of 1,426m, with these samples now sent for fire assays. Results should be known in August, with the commencement of  phase 2 and diamond drilling expected to start in the 2nd quarter 20/21. According to Moho Managing Director Shane Sadlier “Moho is expediting the gold exploration programs and mining studies around East Sampson Dam as they are important steps for the Company’s future development and growth” East Sampson Dam is north of Northern Star Resources Kanowna Belle operation and adjacent to the Silver Swan mine.
  • Quarterly production of 20,707oz has been recorded for Red 5 as its looks to scaled down its underground mining at King of the Hills and transition into a new production strategy. Managing Director Mark Williams said “The transitional production strategy articulated towards the end of the June 2020 Quarter will see underground mining at KOTH progressively scaled-down in the second half of this year. The strategy provides a roadmap for our operations over the next 12-18 months while we complete the KOTH Final Feasibility Study and move towards the proposed construction and development of a significant new Australian gold mine at King of the Hills. We believe that the operational measures implemented and the new transitional production strategy will put us in a strong position to deliver on our production and cost targets.” Red 5 had one LTI from a rolled and fractured ankle from an underground operator during this time, but still maintains a Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate of 6.49. Also to note for production figures was a 50% reduction in production due to the failed drive shaft on the tertiary crusher, which lasted several days. This had an impact due to time spent sourcing parts and having them transported to site. This reduction had an impact on around 3,200oz during this time. With lower than expected gold production a review has taken place and has seen production at Darlot increase back to guidance once guidelines had been implemented.
  • Roswell and San Antonio has delivered significant infill results for Alkane Resources south of its Tomingley Gold Operations in Central New South Wales. Roswell highlights includes 22.0 metres grading 5.41g/t Au from 208 metres; incl 2.0 metres grading 19.8g/t Au from 226 metres and 11.0 metres grading 1.14g/t Au from 355 metres and 9.0 metres grading 1.93g/t Au from 374 metres. While San Antonio has delivered  41.0 metres grading 2.51g/t Au from 57 metres. This drilling has confirmed the continuity to the defined resources as earlier released by Alkane Roswell Deposit: 7.02 Mt @ 1.97 g/t Au for 445 koz and San Antonio 7.92 Mt @ 1.78 g/t Au for 453 koz. Drilling at Roswell is nearing completion and an updated resource calculation for Roswell is anticipated to be released along with preliminary mine plans for Roswell and San Antonio in Q4 2020.
  • Alumina Limited has announced its 2nd quarter results with results at record production despite COVID-19. Alumina prices have risen in recent times and global demand is having an impact on stockpiles with market sentiment improving and economic recovery. Alumina Limited’s CEO, Mike Ferraro, said “AWAC has achieved record quarterly daily alumina production for the current system despite the challenges from the COVID 19 pandemic. The joint venture continues to focus on the safety of AWAC employees and the wider communities. The strong production performance and lower caustic soda input costs and energy prices resulted in the cash costs of alumina production falling by $11 per tonne. External market factors drove the overall Alumina Segment result lower with the lagged alumina index price falling 10% from the previous quarter. Alumina Limited received $58.6 million of net cash distributions in the second quarter, up from $31.3 million for the previous quarter. AWAC continues to focus on cash saving strategies as it seeks to navigate the challenging market conditions. Alumina prices have risen from their lows of $225/t in April following increased importing of alumina by China and are now at $284/t. Global demand for smelter-grade alumina so far in 2020 is slightly higher than 2019 volumes. Market sentiment globally has improved and there are signs of a promising economic recovery in China. However, it is still to be seen how the economic impact of the pandemic will pan out.”
  • King River Resources will commence it’s 2020 gold exploration program next month following delays with COVID-19. King River Resources has two high grade gold projects – Mount Remarkable in WA and Tennant Creek in the NT. A 2,500m RC drill program is slated for Mount Remarkable which has shown results of 4m @ 113.29g/t Au including 1m @ 346g/t Au and 6m @ 60g/t Au including 2.8m @ 108g/t Au previously will be actioned with a look at further regional drilling. While at Tennant Creek, a 2,000m RC drill programme to follow up on positive geophysical results from its 2019 ground magnetics and gravity surveys will take place. According to a directors statement “At Mt Remarkable, the drilling will initially target potential high-grade extensions of the Trudi vein, where our previous drilling had intersected gold mineralisation of up to 4 metres at 113 grams/tonne. Numerous other shallow gold targets in the general vicinity of the main Mt Remarkable area are also targeted based on anomalous surface sampling and structural mapping. At Tennant Creek our drilling will be targeting copper-gold mineralisation at two well defined co-incident magnetic-gravity anomalies, the first being the Lonestar target (which is ~700 metres along strike from the Emmerson Resources Mauretania deposit where 20m @ 38.5g/t Au was returned in 2019), and the other being the Commitment prospect.” 
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Morning News Bites – July 15

Woodside has posted a record production, Afterpay launches in store in the US and artist Banksy has been a rat…. painting rats on the London Underground with a COVID-19 flavour.

A worker has died after being involved in an incident at Saracen Minerals Dervish mine at Carosue Dam. Saracen Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson expressed the Company’s deepest sympathy to the worker’s family, friends and colleagues. “This is an extremely tragic accident and all our thoughts are with his family at this very difficult time”, Mr Finlayson said. “The health and safety of our people is always our first priority. Saracen is currently working closely with the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety on the continuing investigation, while working with our contract partners to ensure full support is provided to the family and all Saracen employees and contractors.” Processing operations have recommenced with underground  and open pit to commence imminently. Saracen has announced the Company’s other operations are continuing as normal. Saracen’s FY21 production guidance remains unchanged.

Lynas Corporation’s Kalgoorlie facility is on the way to construction with Metso Outotec awarded the contract for Kiln construction. The 110 metre long, 1500 tonne kiln is the largest and longest lead time piece of equipment required for the plant’s operation. Lynas Corporation Managing Director Amanda Lacaze said “The kiln is the longest lead time item for our Kalgoorlie project and placing this order is an important milestone in the development of our new processing plant in Kalgoorlie. We are making good progress on the project, and we look forward to working with Metso Outotec on the engineering and supply of the kiln.” Construction will begin immediately with components from Australia and Europe. The contract is valued at approximately USD 15 million (AUD 21.6 million), including the discharge housing, combustion chamber and burner, motor control stations and delivery to Kalgoorlie.

GR Engineering Services has been awarded a contract for engineering, procurement and construction for the restart at the Ora Banda Mining Davyhurst Mine. The contract price worth $10.8 million includes refurbishment, optimisation and recommissioning of the existing 1.2 Mtpa Davyhurst Gold Processing Plant, borefields and associated infrastructure. Work will start immediately and Managing Director of GR Engineering Geoff Jones, said the company is excited to be working on the project. “GR Engineering is pleased to have been awarded the EPC contract for the Davyhurst Restart Project. We are excited to be working with Ora Banda’s management team and look forward to Ora Banda becoming Australia’s newest gold producer.” he said.

Stavley Minerals has divested its interests Mathinna/Alberton and Lefroy Goldfields tenements. as well as its Fosterville East tenement in Victoria to Nubian Resources Ltd for A$2.5 million in Nubian shares and cash. Executive Chairman Chris Cairns gave some insight into the divestment “The Fosterville East tenement is located just 10km to the east of the Fosterville mine, while the geology of the Mathinna/Alberton and Lefroy goldfields is the same sequence of sediments as those in central Victoria extending under Bass Strait into north-eastern Tasmania,” he said. “We are fully focused on defining the extents of the exciting Cayley Lode high-grade copper-gold-silver discovery at the Stavely Project, while also unlocking the full potential of this highly prospective, multilayered exploration opportunity for our shareholders,” While Mr Cairns also discussed the upside Stavely will retain significant exposure to the future upside from any exploration success via a significant shareholding in Nubian at a time of significant investor interest in the Victorian gold exploration industry in the North American market.”

Focus Minerals has revealed recent shallow drilling campaigns, which will deliver a 213% increase in total Mineral Resource at Beasley Creek South. The best intersect being 17m at 9.28g/t Au from 168m. This recent campaign has adjusted the total Mineral Resource to  1.014MT at  3.55g/t for a total of 115,761oz. The target for Beasley Creek has now also been adjusted to 1.8Mt to 2.0Mt at 2.6 g/t to 3.6 g/t Au for 150Koz to 243Koz. Focus Minerals’ CEO, Mr Zhaoya Wang said “The combination of Beasley Creek South and Beasley Creek could potentially deliver Focus a low CAPEX and OPEX operation in Laverton, which could accelerate the progress of achieving the Stage 2 production plan in Laverton. With the Stage 1 Laverton pre-feasibility study underway, we are looking forward to seeing what Laverton bring to our stakeholders for the near term.”

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Morning News Bites – July 14

Westpac have appointed a new Chief Financial Officer – Michael Rowland, joining Westpac from KPMG. New South Wales tightens some restrictions at licensed venues and former Channel 9 honcho David Gyngell suffers a heart attack.

  • Bardoc Gold has received broad high grade intercepts from drilling at Omega Lode. The highlights included 37m @ 6.21g/t Au from 90m including 13m @ 10.94g/t Au from 90m and were outside of the current Ore Reserves. These results show that the untested areas of the Aphrodite Deposit could deliver more mineralisation to the project. The lodes associated with Aphrodite includes Alpha, Phi, Epsilon, Sigma and the reported above, Omega. These intersects will result in further drilling with the impact set to be positive to the DFS. Follow up drilling will be sought and will be undertaken in coming months. According to Rob Ryan, CEO of Bardoc Gold “These breakthrough results clearly demonstrate the potential for significant Reserve growth at our cornerstone Aphrodite Deposit. Once again, a systematic and scientific approach to exploration has paid dividends with in-fill resource drilling delivering grades and widths well above expectation, further increasing our confidence in the geological models and identifying significant new areas of growth.” Mr Ryan also pointed out the recent cap raise attracted some interest from top level institutions “The recently completed capital raising has brought on board a number of Tier-1 Australian and Global Institutions who will support the company through the completion of the DFS and into production. We can now look forward with confidence and to begin early pre-production works in order to achieve our vision of becoming a mid-tier gold producer as expeditiously as possible.” he said.
  • Three new targets have been identified for Dreadnought Resources adjacent to its Metzke Find corridor north west of Menzies in Western Australia. The targets identified include Longmore’s Find: ~2.6km long gold in soil anomaly with historic workings and rock chips up to 18 g/t Au; Black Oak: 2km long gold in soil anomaly with peak gold in soil value of 0.25 g/t Au and Bald Hill: 1km long gold in soil anomaly with rock chips to 2 g/t Au, 5 g/t Ag and 2.6% Cu. Dreadnought Managing Director Dean Tuck said “These results are in or adjacent to the Metzke’s corridor, location of our recently successful drilling program. The Metzke’s corridor is 12km long and remains a vastly underexplored as does the whole Illaara Greenstone Belt. We are awaiting results from two further holes at Metzke’s Find in order to finalise our immediate drilling plans along this corridor.”
  • A joint venture at Frasers Range between Constellation Resources and Enterprise Metals has delivered anomalous nickel, copper and cobalt. Results included 21m @ 0.21% Ni, 0.08% Cu and 0.03% Co from 93m to BOH and includes: 4m @ 0.26% Ni, 0.13% Cu and 0.05% Co from 93m; and 4m @ 0.31% Ni, 0.08% Cu and 0.02% Co from 109m. The drilling at Orpheus Project has instigated further opportunities for systematically progressing all targets.
  • Recent drilling results for Bryah Resources at its Windalah Prospect has shown visible gold. A recent drill result of 12 m @ 4.32 g/t Au from surface, including 2 m @ 17.19g/t Au contained visible gold. An RC drilling update has also been given and Bryah has announced it is over half way through its current program which is targeting the high priority Windalah Prospect and a significant electromagnetic (EM) conductor target located 7km north of the Peak Hill Gold Mine and 65km west of Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa Mine. The first samples are due for assay in Perth this week.
  • Whitehaven Coal has recorded its best ever safety result with a total recordable injury frequency rate of 4.13, while also having achieved run of mine coal and managed sales guidance.The June quarter, Whitehaven Coal managed ROM coal production of 8.2Mt, up 17% and managed saleable coal production of 6.2Mt, up 29% on previous corresponding period and a strong June quarter managed sales of produced coal 5.3Mt, up 13% on previous corresponding period. MD and CEO Paul Flynn said the result is a credit to the team and the company is now focused on optimisation “Despite drought, bushfires and COVID-19 it was great to finish the year so strongly and achieve our ROM and managed sales guidance.We recorded our best ever safety result – 4.13 TRIFR – which is a credit to the team and the strong safety culture we are building across all sites. “Our Vickery Project is now in the final stages of the NSW Government’s evaluation process and we expect a decision within weeks. “Against an uncertain global economic backdrop Whitehaven is focused on optimising existing operations and observing disciplined capital management”
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Saracen In Trading Halt Due To Incident

Saracen Minerals has been placed into a trading halt on the ASX due to an incident at its Dervish mine as part of its Carosue Dam operations in Western Australia. According to an ASX statement “It appears the underground worker fell from a height. A full investigation into the incident has been launched. The WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has been advised of the incident and is sending representatives to site.” the statement said.

Dervish – Credit, Saracen Minerals.

The company is requesting the trading halt pending an announcement on the suspension of operations at its Carosue Dam Operations and has requested that the trading halt remain until the release of that announcement, which is anticipated by prior to market open on Wednesday, 15 July 2020.

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Morning News Bites – July 13

Senior doctors are concerned about the latest COVID-19 cases in medical staff and the rising hospital cases could have a large impact on the health system in Victoria. New South Wales is on alert after an outbreak at a south west Sydney pub.

  • A Joint Venture between Alkane Resources’ Australian Strategic Metals and ZironTech has produced a 1kg ingot of neodymium metal alloy. Assays of the ingot indicated an intermediate neodymium (87%) and a further electrorefining to produce a 99.9% Nd metal is anticipated before July 31 2020.  The Australian Strategic Materials Managing Director, David Woodall said: “This is a major milestone in ASM’s integrated strategy that includes clean metal production for all products from the development of the Dubbo Project in Central West NSW. This integration of metal production into ASM’s business is consistent with the Australian Government’s objective of adding value within Australia, while ensuring supply security and stability of these critical materials to global and domestic Australian manufacturing sectors.” The metals produced by the Dubbo project feature zirconium, rare earths, niobium and hafnium.
  • A intercept of 4m at 113g/t Au from 0m was a find by Kin Mining from drilling at Comedy King from shallow RC drilling at Cardinia Gold Project. Phase 2 drilling has confirmed potential for significant mineralisation and multiple new discoveries at Cardinia that has been part of the 19,712m drill program. Two trending zones of mineralisation have been made in a clear NW/SE trend. Two zones at Comedy King, where the surface intercepts were made – follow this trend. All assays for the Phase 2 drilling have been returned and this has opened a new phase of drilling underway now across the newly defined areas. 45,000m of Reverse Circulation (RC), diamond (DD) and air-core (AC) drilling, designed to deliver maiden Mineral Resource estimate for the Cardinia Hill target. This will also provide an initial assessment of several compelling regional targets. Also during the quarter the Dismantling and relocation of the Lawlers Gold Processing Plant completed for future development optionality, with key items of the plant safely retrieved and stored. There is the potential for the use of the plant at the Cardinia Gold Project.
  • Dacian Gold produced 31,883oz for the June quarter which was down on guidance of 33,000-36,000oz but consistent with the March quarter production of 31,695oz. The impact on Dacian for the quarter was due to a slower than planned open pit mining rates during June at the Heffernans open pit delaying access to higher grade ore until late in the month, and localised geological variations at the upper boundary of the Cornwall Shear Zone at Heffernans. A Mineral Resource update for the high-grade Phoenix Ridge deposit is due in the September quarter and a FY2021-2023 average annual production of 110,000oz has been reaffirmed at an AISC of $1,425/oz (previously $1,350/oz). Dacian Managing Director, Leigh Junk commented: “Dacian has been busy on multiple fronts, striking the right balance between investing in its operations, to managing the risk profile across deposits, to maximising cash flows over the long term, as well as unlocking the significant exploration potential we see across our tenement package. “I would like to thank all our employees and contractors for their cooperation in helping reduce the risk and minimising any impact COVID-19 has had on our business to date. “Our optimisation work at MMGO has established a solid baseline on which to deliver our three year plan and execute our exploration and growth strategy.”
  • Reverse Circulation drilling is on track for Galileo Mining to commence late July with Diamond Core drilling to follow in August. Brad Underwood, Galileo Managing Director said its time to start on the most advanced targets for the Fraser Range project. “We have built a pipeline of prospects over the past 18 months at our Fraser Range project and it is now time to start drill testing the most advanced targets. Three priority zones will be tested – the area around existing mineralisation, a structural target 200m northwest, and an EM conductor 1.5km along strike. All targets have been carefully assessed and contain features indicative of nickel mineralisation. This is an exciting part of the exploration process and we look forward to updating the market with drill results.” He said. A 1,500 metre RC program is to be followed by a 500-metre diamond drilling campaign at Fraser Range, with Assays from RC due in August and assays from diamond drilling due in September. 
  • Zenith Minerals is set to accelerate its exploration program after a $5.1 million capital raising where support was strong and the raise oversubscribed. The company now – according to Managing Director, Mick Clifford has sufficient funds to accelerate exploration. “We are very pleased that the Company now sufficient funds to evaluate its portfolio in a systematic manner. The funding allows us to accelerate exploration activities to unlock what we believe to be the potential of the Company’s project portfolio. The more rapid evaluation of the portfolio will also generate significantly more news for the Company”. He said. Zenith now has a drill rig on a full-time basis and pending positive follow-up assay results the rig will work a continuous roster at Red Mountain. While further surface geochemical sampling and associated field work has also recently been completed at the Company’s 100% owned Flanagans gold and Develin Creek copper-zinc projects in Queensland.
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Morning News Bites – July 10

China is not happy with the Australian Government’s offer to assist Hong Kong citizens with a pathway to residency. A Victorian won $80 million in Powerball Lotto, pretty ironic as they cant go anywhere to spend it and Spot Gold is at $1803US/oz Iron Ore – $107.05US/t and Nickel ended down on Wall Street trade at $5.9914us/lb.

  • Legend Mining has released its quarterly to the market this morning with the first phase of diamond drilling completed at its Mawson project bringing in a highlight grade of  4.5m @ 3.05% Ni, 2.32% Cu, 0.19% Co from 103.7m and a best intercept to date – 19.8m @ 2.71% Ni, 1.79% Cu, 0.13% Co from 227.8m. A 3000m RC program is underway and is expected to be completed in 4 – 6 weeks at Mawson on targets identified in the upper Ni-Cu sulphide zone between diamond holes RKDD007 and RKDD015, the main gravity high and the eastern aircore Ni-Cu-Co geochemical anomaly. Legend also raised $20M via placement to existing major shareholders, institutional and sophisticated investors. Legend also updated its Top 20 shareholders list and after the recent placement shows the top 2 share holders being Creasy Group have a 26.66% share and IGO (Independence Group) 14.12% share. Also during the quarter Legend was added to All Ordinaries Index and nominated for Mining News “Explorer of the Year” award.
  • Exploration work at Silver Lake Resources Deflector mine is resulting in mineral resource and ore reserve growth. Ore Reserves increased to 447,000 ounces and 7,000 tonnes copper, an increase of 30% or 102% after FY20 mine depletion and ore grade increasing 15% to 6.3 g/t. While Mineral Resources increased 54% to 1.27 million ounces (80% post FY20 mine depletion) and Resource grade has increased 18% to 13.5 g/t. Since Silver Lake’s acquisition of Doray Minerals Limited in April 2019, Deflector’s Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources have grown significantly in scale and quality, with Ore Reserves now at their highest in Deflector’s history.
  • Follow up drilling has commenced for Ardea Resources at the Aphrodite North gold target within the Bardoc Tectonic Zone. Assay results from resampling at 1 metre intervals has included 43-44m 1m at 2.46g/t Au 120-127m 7m at 2.48g/t Au.  According to Managing Director Andrew Penkethman the history of the area and some encouraging startpoints is proving significant. “ The land holding was originally acquired by Ardea for nickel-cobalt laterite, which occurs on major crustal structures on a specific ultramafic rock unit termed the Walter Williams Formation. Those same structures host some 100Moz of gold to the south along structure from the GNCP (Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project). Ardea thus controls a significant “greenfields” gold portfolio in which systematic gold drill evaluation is just commencing. Although AGSA0013 with 7m at 2.48g/t gold is an encouraging start, far more significant in the Aphrodite North aircore program was the confirmation of dolerite host rock, diorite and intensity of alteration over a 2.4km strike length and width up to 320m, all totally hidden beneath transported lake clay cover”. He said.
  • Further extensions have been confirmed at Brolga for De Grey mining in the Pilbara of Western Australia. Highlights have included 26.9m @ 1.5g/t, 19m @ 2.7g/tAu – with 3m @ 14.7g/t Au from 203mAu and 16m @ 1.2g/t Au. De Grey Technical Director, Andy Beckwith, said “The potential for Brolga to expand continues to grow with an 80m x 80m RC program currently underway at Brolga (South) and Crow. At Crow, the initial program of 160m x 80m spaced RC drilling has recently been completed with results expected in the coming weeks. Diamond drilling is currently focused on depth extensions beneath Aquila. The Company’s next twelve month drilling strategy involves expanding resources at Hemi, initially on 80m x 80m drill spacing to define “Inferred Resources” and then infill drilling to define “Indicated Resources”, aircore drilling for new discoveries along the Greater Hemi corridor and testing the many structural and new intrusion targets elsewhere within the 150km long Mallina Gold Project.” Mr Beckwith also confirmed 6 rigs are on site (2 AC, 2 DD 2 RC) operating at Hemi and advancing at Scooby and Antwerp prospect areas.
  • Bryah Resources has a 2,000 metre RC drilling program currently underway in the Bryah Basin Gold Copper project after recent RC drilling May delivered a best result of 3 metres @ 4.32 g/t Au from surface. At Bryahs Joint Venture Manganese project (which it hold 80%) Potential direct shipping grade (>30% Mn) manganese was intersected after a recent RC program and follow up drilling will commence in the September quarter. While at the Gabanintha Gold-Copper Project, the progression of a lease application for Tumblegum South Mining Lease is underway and there are negotiations to monetise the Tumblegum South Prospect on-going. Managing Director Neil Marston said”  During the quarter Bryah Resources has been working up its manganese assets, funded by our joint venture partner, OM (Manganese) Limited. A 1,680 metre RC drilling program yielded some very encouraging high-grade manganese results and the intention in the next quarter is to continue drilling to extend these zones of high-grade manganese and to test new target areas. Bryah completed a short gold drilling program at the end of our manganese drilling in May, with 3 holes drilled to test for the near surface extensions of high-grade gold intersected in 2018 drilling. One of the holes hitting a 12-metre zone of gold grading 4.32 grams/tonne from surface, including 2 metres at 17.19 g/t Au, which Bryah considers an excellent result.” Mr Marston also said the strongly supported share placement will be used to fund a drill program at the Windalah prospect. “Our plan for the next 6 months is to use these funds to undertake a rolling program of drilling to test the high priority Windalah prospect as well as numerous other gold target areas. Drilling is underway on a 2,000 metre program, so we look forward to reporting the first assay results in August.” he said.
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Morning News Bites – July 9

After yesterday announcing a 7.5c dividend due next week, Northern Star finished the day up 90c. Busiest month ever for luxury car sales and Test cricket returned overnight.

Rio Tinto has announced it will close its New Zealand Aluminium Plant – Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter. A date of August 31 2021 has been announced as the wind-down of operations. “We’re very disappointed to have played our part in delivering these savings for one of the greenest smelters in the world and to have such limited engagement from Rio Tinto. We urge Rio Tinto to seriously consider the offer for improved electricity supply and encourage them to consider what is right for Southland, for New Zealand and for their own global environmental commitments.” Said Contact Energy CEO Mike Fuge. Contract Energy are an energy supplier in New Zealand.

Black Cat Syndicate has had a busy start to the financial year with drill results from its Bulong Gold Project bringing about high grade results and approval granted for a Pit at Myhree. The results from drilling at Bulong have returned with highlights of 8m @ 26.43 g/t Au from 55m, 10m @ 5.60 g/t Au from 10m and 1m @ 12.70 g/t Au from 42m. According to MD Gareth Solly “The continued shallow, high-grade results bode well for early cashflow from potential mining operations at Myhree. These results infill the existing Resource and are among the best widths and grades to date. This is testament to the robust nature of the Myhree deposit.” While approvals for the Stage 1 Open Pit have been granted and recent drilling has seen some encouragement in the East West structure. “In addition, an important step in our objective to develop Bulong has been achieved with the full approval of the Stage 1 Open Pit at Myhree. We also saw some encouragement from an east-west structure at Myhree and 600m north of Trump north that requires follow up. RC drilling to further test and extend these areas will recommence during August 2020. In the meantime, diamond drilling of the deeper Mhyree mineralisation, is currently underway.” Mr Solly said.

New high grade gold lode has been uncovered by Classic Minerals at Kat Gap. Best results from recent drilling uncovered 4 metres grading 76.72 grams per tonne gold from 79 metres 9 metres grading 8.69 grams per tonne gold from 14 metres. CEO of Classic Minerals Dean Goodwin said “This new very high-grade intersection out into the granite is an exciting development for the Kat Gap Project. We decided to extend some of our planned drill holes west of our current drill pattern to see if further gold lodes were lurking out in the granite. We were right. Now we just have to work out what orientation this new lode is running at. We had a feeling something was out there as we had a handful of old historical drill holes along strike that had a few lower grade sniffs out in the granite. This new intersection really bodes well for our future drilling programs that will be conducted out in the granite following up the historical auger geochemical anomalies.” Kat Gap is located Kat Gap approximately 70km south-south east of the Company’s Forrestania Gold Project.

Focus Minerals has announced the new JORC 2012 Minerals Resource for the Greenfields gold deposit. A total Mineral Resource has been announced as 139,123oz (measured and indicated) That has been completed after an overhaul of the Greenfields open pit resource model and has delivered an 81% increase in Mineral Resource. Focus Minerals’ CEO, Mr Zhaoya Wang, said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to commend the team for the diligent work in reexamining historical data of Greenfields. We look forward to what the new PFS could bring to Coolgardie.  At the same time, Focus is continuing its exploration efforts at our 100%-owned Laverton Gold Project. In line with our stated commitments, the Laverton PFS study will be completed by December 2020. The Greenfields Ore Reserve in the 2017 PFS should not be relied upon as it was built on the previous resource model. The updated PFS will be completed in early August, which will provide the updated ore reserve numbers.” Greenfields is 3.8km from Coolgardie is Western Australia.

Julimar is becoming a hive of activity for Chalice Gold and recent drill results including 3.9m @ 1.7g/t Pd, 0.4g/t Pt, 0.5g/t Au, 0.1% Ni, 0.7% Cu, 0.02% Co from 314.9m to end-of-hole  including: 10.1m @ 2.9g/t Pd, 0.6g/t Pt, 1.2g/t Au, 0.1% Ni, 1.3% Cu, 0.01% Co. These results point to a new style of PGE-copper-gold mineralisation at Gonneville. Two RC and a diamond drill are on site and continuing with a drill program at the Gonneville Intrusion. The Intrusion hosts both extensive high-grade PGE-Ni-Cu-Co zones in massive/matrix/stringer sulphides and widespread PGE mineralisation in disseminated sulphides. Current and future activities include an approx 20,000m Phase 2 RC drill program is underway utilising two rigs, a diamond drill program which will continue to step-out from known high-grade zones and test new DHEM targets, Metallurgical testwork, EM Geophysics and the ability to access approvals.