Around 1 in 5 in the UK – according to a survey by Visa, are reluctant to head into bricks and mortar until there is a vaccine for COVID-19 While 56 per cent of small business owners are concerned for their future and the damage from COVID-19. While in Australia 1 in 5 home loan deferrals appear to be in financial strife according to the banks. This equates to around 96,000 loan borrowers.
- Viva Energy has released its unaudited financial guidance for the 1st half of 2020.Total sales volume is expected to be around 6,100 to 6,200 million litres. Aviation consumption and services have dropped, however regional and cargo operations have been strong. A major maintenance plan for the Residual Catalytlic Cracking Unit will continue at a reduced cost and extended timeframe. The previously announced buy back will commence this month while the first half 2020 Group Underlying EBITDA is expected to be approximately $257.5 – 287.5 million with underlying NPAT (RC) approximately $20.0 – $50.0 million.
- Diamond Drilling is expected to commence at Golden Camel Gold Zone and RC drilling at Toolleen Gold Zone is earmarked to commence by the end of June 2020 for Catalyst Metals. A previous drill hole for Golden Camel revealed 13 metres @ 4.0g/t. The Golden Camel Zone is located 20km east of the Fosterville gold mine in Victoria – Australia. The RC drilling at Tooleen will look to test down plunge and strike extensions of the high-grade gold zones intersected in historic drilling. Following from the completion of the diamond drilling at Golden Camel, Catalyst is expected to have earned a 50.1% interest in the Golden Camel Joint Venture with Golden Camel Mining Pty Ltd, via its wholly owned subsidiary Nomad Metals Pty Ltd.
- Rox Resources has announced impressive gold grades at Youanmi in the OYG JV area including 25m @ 34.79g/t Au. Rox Resources is in a Joint Venture with Venus Metals at Youanmi. Rox has paid $2 million and in due course will receive a further $1m either by the issue of RXL shares at 2.4 cents each, subject to shareholder approval at a proposed General Meeting scheduled to be held in August, or if approval is not given by 9 August 2020, in cash. Rox Resources Managing Director Alex Passmore said “These very impressive results are the best we’ve seen and significantly, are from the deepest drilling at Grace to date. The exploration model we are applying at Grace is continuing to work well, delivering what is shaping up to be a substantial high-grade deposit. We look forward to updating the market on further assays as they become available.”
- OK Underground Mine drill results have given the Norseman community a glimmer of the recommencement of mining activity. The results have been announced for Pantoro Limited at Norseman. Drilling has been underway on the 22 development level of the high grade OK Underground Mine and achieved highlights such as 6.05 m @ 22.90 g/t Au, 6.85 m @ 8.07 g/t Au, 1.56 m @ 59.62 g/t Au and 2.75 m @ 9.09 g/t Au. Managing Director Paul Cmrlec has given some indication that mining at OK will be back and gave some confidence to the area. “These additional results from the OK Underground Mine demonstrate the consistent high grade nature of the deposit beneath the historic workings. The outstanding results that the drill program has delivered gives us confidence that the OK Underground Mine is likely to be one of the first developments when we Pantoro restarts operations at Norseman.”
- An updated mineral resource for PNX Metals in the Pine Creek region in Northern Territory has been announced. The update gives a resource of 2.94 Mt at 1.7 g/t Au for 156,000 oz Au. PNX Managing Director James Fox said: “This updated Mineral Resource estimate will be used to inform existing pit optimisation and proposed mine schedules to support mining at Fountain Head. The Company is currently assessing a number of proposals to assist with the project capital required for development.” The resource upgrade has provided a 13% increase in resource and 18koz Au.There are also signs of a future growth in resources along the strike.