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Morning News Bites – September 9

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 9. BHP conforms to hard borders and aims to hire from WA only and Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial on hold over ‘potentially unexplained illness’. 

Western Australian nickel company St George Mining Limited is pleased to announce further strong drill results at its flagship Mt Alexander Project, located in the north-eastern Goldfields. Multiple intersections of mineralised mafic-ultramafic units across a 4km-long east-west strike of the Cathedrals Belt with a target horizon open to the east and west. Outstanding potential for the discovery of further nickel-copper sulphide deposits along strike to the east and west of these drill holes as well as up-dip and down-dip of the mineralised intercepts.

Lithium Australia announces its Share Purchase Plan, which launched on 12 August 2020, closed on 7 September 2020 with applications for $4.5 million. Managing Director Adrian Griffin commented, saying “We are very pleased that our shareholders backed the Company’s vision of sustainability in the energy metals space. The additional funds raised will allow all debt to be retired, improving the Company’s balance sheet and accelerating the expansion of Envirostream, our battery recycling subsidiary.”

Mincor Resources NL report highgrade massive and matrix nickel sulphide mineralisation at its Cassini North prospect, located 700m to the north of its cornerstone Cassini Main deposit at Kambalda, Western Australia. This is the first diamond hole drilled at Cassini North following a recent reassessment and geological re-modelling of the area completed by Mincor’s exploration team. MDD350 returned a significant intercept of 2.5m @ 6.6% Ni (including a higher-grade core of 2.0m @ 7.7% Ni), comprising a mix of high tenor massive and matrix nickel sulphides. Mincor’s Managing Director David Southam said, “This is a really exciting development which stems directly from the systematic approach which the geology team has adopted to nickel sulphide exploration.”

The Hamilton Copper Project in north-west Queensland has been successfully completed with a total of seven holes for 2,098m drilled under AusQuest Limited Strategic Alliance Agreement with South32. The drilling program has provided an approximate 500m spatial coverage around earlier drillholes, which provided strong indications of alteration
and the potential for nearby copper mineralisation. Managing Director, Graeme Drew, said the successful completion of the Hamilton drilling program was pleasing, particularly given that travel restrictions are still in
place due to COVID-19. “We are now eagerly awaiting assay results so we can identify potential ‘vectors to ore’, given that the holes were drilled so far apart to cover the large scale of the prospect,” he said.

Cyprium Metals Limited has provided an update, announcing granting of the mining lease at the Cue Copper Project, which replaces the Hollandaire exploration tenement and a portion of the Rapier exploration tenement. Cyprium has applied for exploration tenements to the west and east of the Nanadie Well CopperGold Project, to expand our regional presence in the area and increase the projects exploration prospectivity. The Nanadie Well Copper-Gold Project also has the Stark Cu-Ni-PGE prospect along with a number of drill ready targets that offer excellent exploration upside. Executive Director Barry Cahill commented, saying “We are pleased that the mining lease has been granted to remove any uncertainty over the timing of when mining operations could potentially commence, following the successful completion of favourable Cue Copper Project scoping and feasibility studies.

 

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Morning News Bites – September 8

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 8. NSW, VIC and TAS brace for severe winds and dust storms, Victoria hires Salesforce for contact tracing, WA still with below average home builds despite housing grants. 

Legend Mining Limited reported an update from diamond drillhole RKDD023, which was designed to test the 25,000-30,000S conductor at the Mawson Prospect within the Rockford Project, Fraser Range, Western Australia. Legend Managing Director Mr Mark Wilson said: “The discovery of another 12.95m of massive nickelcopper sulphide in diamond drillhole 23, circa 200m from the previously announced massive sulphides, is a quantum boost for the potential of the Mawson Prospect. The nature of the mineralisation suggests we are closer to the intrusive source but we are not there yet. Downhole EM from this hole, which is now underway, is designed to provide data to assist in planning future diamond holes in this immediate vicinity.”

Shree Minerals Ltd has completed an initial desktop review of historical reports relating to Shree’s tenement application in the East Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales. The Turondale Project covers an area of 129.9 km² and is located 15km north of Bathurst. It is prospective for orogenic, porphyry and skarn related gold mineralisation. Commencement of exploration fieldwork is awaiting granting of the exploration licence, expected over coming few months. The East Lachlan Fold Belt has a long history of mineral production including gold (80 Mozs), copper (13 Mt), lead, zinc, silver and tin. It contains several large operating copper and gold mines including Evolution Mining’s Lake Cowal Gold Mine, Newcrest Mining Ltd’s Cadia Mine and Alkane Resources Tomingley Gold Mine. Also located within the East Lachlan Fold Belt is Alkane Resources’ 2019 Boda discovery with a reported drill intersection of 502 metres at 0.2% copper and 0.48 g/t gold from 211 metres.

High-grade gold mineralisation at shallow depths in its maiden Reverse Circulation (RC) drill program at the Kashmir prospect, has been reported by Gateway Mining Limited. The reports form part of its Gidgee Gold Project in Western Australia. Grades of up to 8.8g/t Au returned from initial reconnaissance Reverse Circulation drilling within the extensive Kashmir gold-in-soil anomaly, providing an outstanding target for follow-up work. Significant intersections have been returned from structures within both mafic volcanics and veining within the granodiorite. These mineralisation styles are consistent with those observed on the northwestern contact zone of the Montague Dome, which is the focus of Gateway’s exploration activities. Managing Director, Mr Peter Langworthy, said: “Intersecting these sorts of grades 1km apart in our very first drill program within a 1.8km long gold anomaly is an extraordinary result! This shows the scale of the opportunity at Gidgee and highlights the vast range of targets we have across the project – from resource-growth opportunities at Whistler and Montague to vast new gold anomalies such as Kashmir which are wide open for new discoveries.”

ScandiVanadium Limited announced an update on the progress of the Gnama Nickel Project in the Fraser Range of Western Australia. Review of existing geophysical database including 15.1 line kilometres of MLEM and FLEM ground based electro-magnetic (EM) survey data identifies key area for follow up. Planning underway for ground EM survey to test up to 550m depth over historic nickel and copper anomalous drilling. Executive Chairman, David Frances, said “The Gnama Project has significant elevated nickel and copper in previous drilling analogous to Nova and Mawson pre-discovery. The ability to run a higher-powered ground EM over our project compared to previous surveys completed in 2005 allows us to investigate deeper parts of the system that have not previously been tested. We are planning a SQUID survey to test up to 550m depth and potentially identify the source of the 20m thick Ni-Cu-Co anomaly in historic drilling.”

Bardoc Gold Limited announced that recent Reverse Circulation drilling at the Excelsior Deposit, part of the company’s 3.02Moz Bardoc Gold Project located 40km north of Kalgoorlie in WA, has intersected broad zones of gold mineralisation which confirm the existing resource model and highlight strong potential for future growth and upside at the cornerstone deposit. The latest assay results from the 320koz Au Excelsior Deposit are from areas of lower confidence material outside the current Ore Reserves. The results demonstrate the mineralisation remains open down-plunge at depth below the current open pit design, highlighting future growth opportunities at this large-tonnage, low strip ratio deposit.

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Morning News Bites – September 7

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 7. Victoria announced its road map out of their COVID19 second wave, Hancock Prospecting leads the field of top 500 private companies taking over from Visy and Novak Djokovic out of US Open after hitting a linesperson in a non deliberate but serious manner.

Dreadnought Resources Limited announces that a 36 hole, ~3,500m RC drill program has commenced at the Illaara Gold-VMS-Iron Ore Project, located 160km northwest of Kalgoorlie. Drilling will commence at Metzke’s Find (19 holes and ~2,300m) which has previously returned high grade gold intercepts including; 2m @ 12.8 g/t Au from 51m including 1m @ 24.8 g/t Au from 51m. Rig will then move to the recently defined Longmore’s Find (17 holes and ~1,200m) and is expected to be completed in 3-4 weeks with assays expected throughout October 2020.

The National Battery Stewardship Scheme to boost spent battery collection and recycling according to Lithium Australia. The ACCC has authorised the Battery Stewardship Council to establish and operate a national stewardship scheme for managing end-of-life (‘EOL’) batteries. The Scheme will impose a levy on batteries at their point of sale, with the funds generated used to subsidise their collection and recycling. The value imputed by the levy will provide a commercial incentive to divert batteries from landfill, a positive environmental outcome of the Scheme. Diverting EOL batteries from landfill will provide more material for processing at the Melbourne, Victoria-based mixed-battery recycling facility of Envirostream Australia Pty Ltd (a 90% subsidiary of the Company).

Auroch Minerals Limited is pleased to announce RC drilling has commenced at its Valdez Prospect, part of the Leinster Nickel Project (Leinster) in Western Australia. 1,000m Reverse Circulation (RC) drill programme is underway at the Valdez Prospect targeting a recently-defined nickeliferous basal channel coincident with both magnetic and surface electromagnetic (EM) anomalies. All drill-holes will be surveyed with downhole electromagnetics (DHEM) to better define the surface EM conductor and provide targeting for potential massive nickel sulphidesfor the next round of exploration.

Hammer Metals Ltd provides results from its diamond drilling program undertaken on the Shadow and Toby prospects located within the Mt Isa East Joint Venture area and on the Koppany prospect located within Hammer’s JV with Mount Isa Mines. Two holes were drilled at the Shadow prospect, for a total of 372m and a further hole was drilled at Toby (252m). The drilling at Shadow confirms that the Shadow trend is mineralised and has the potential to host a significant Copper Deposit. With the presence of a wide zone of copper mineralisation in the first two holes the JV has committed to expanding the work program along the remainder of the 4km magnetic trend and the surrounding Mt Philp areas. This work program will consist of soil sampling and field mapping with the aim of identifying targets for follow up drilling.

WA-focused gold exploration and development company Classic Minerals Limited announce that it has received assays results from its maiden auger soil program at its Forrestania Gold Project in Western Australia. The Company completed a total of 310 auger holes at the Kat Gap project. The auger drilling has delivered a substantial gold anomaly located in the granite west of the main granitegreenstone contact where Classic has identified an inferred gold resource of 975,722t at 2.96g/t for 92,856 ounces. Kat Gap is strategically located approximately 70km south-south east of the Company’s Forrestania Gold project containing the Lady Magdalene and Lady Ada gold resources.

 

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Morning News Bites – September 3

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 3. Tax relief on the cards for employees and businesses as Australia records a recession. 92 per cent of West Australians backing Mark McGowan on his hard border policy. BHP will pay investors around a 76.6c dividend on Sep 22.

Gold and base metals explorer Carawine Resources Limited today announced the acquisition of a major new gold exploration project in the world-class Tropicana region of Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields. Managing Director Mr David Boyd said the acquisitions will create a dominant landholding in the northern Tropicana region of Western Australia, marking the start of a new and exciting stage in the Company’s history. “On completion of these two acquisitions and assuming all Phantom and Carawine tenement applications are granted, Carawine will have secured a large, highly prospective ground position in one of Australia’s premier gold exploration addresses and further strengthened its position in the emerging
Fraser Range nickel province,” Mr Boyd said.

Macarthur Minerals Limited is pleased to provide an update on its continued progress towards completing its route to market for the flagship Moonshine magnetite deposits at Lake Giles. Macarthur and RCR Mining Technologies have completed a site visit to the Port of Esperance in conjunction with representatives from Southern Ports Authority and Arc Infrastructure. Subject to approval by Southern Ports Authority, RCR MT’s cutting edge ‘Helix Dumper Wagon’ (“Helix Dumper”) transport solution for Lake Giles Iron Project can be developed within the Port envelope at Esperance. Macarthur’s market-lead proposal for the development of the Helix Dumper solution will allow optimisation of existing Berth 3 ship-loader capacity at the Port of Esperance, enhancing its current performance from the current 2,220tph throughput to over 4,500tph capacity.

An update on RC drilling activities at the Bulong and Fingals Gold Projects has been provided by Black Cat Syndicate Limited. The first 18 holes (~1,904m) at Fingals Fortune have been completed, targeting shallow extensions to the Fingals Fortune open pit. Results were encouraging with almost every hole intersecting multiple mineralised veins, with highlights including; 3m @ 17.81 g/t Au from 69m (extensional) and 3m @ 40.99 g/t Au from 79m (extensional). Managing Director, Gareth Solly said: “Early results from Fingals Fortune are looking good and provide confidence in the potential for rapid growth of the existing Resource and extensions to the Fingals Fortune open pit.”

Marmota is pleased to provide an update on the current drilling program at Aurora Tank. The first batch of drilling assays from the July/August drilling has yielded an excellent 4m intersection averaging over 25 g/t gold (from 52m downhole). Marmota is expanding this program from approximately 7500m to over 11000m
(still being finalised), with extra holes added at a number of locations including the NW flank and eastern
extensions. Drilling is expected to be completed next week.

Kaiser Reef Limited announce that it has commenced the company’s inaugural drilling programme at the Stuart Town gold project. The drilling will initially test several targets, including the Rockdale mine and the Specimen Hill mine and will commence with RC drilling with some diamond drilling later in the programme. The programme has been targeted with the assistance of geophysical investigation and will initially investigate a few of the prospects within the prolific numbers of historic gold workings in the region. The project has enjoyed very little modern investigation since the main gold mining periods commenced in the mid 1850’s, with the geological model and source of the gold remaining a subject of conjecture.

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Morning News Bites – September 2

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 2. Former Facebook CEO says new ban on news ‘threatens all Australians’. China announces suspension of Barley imports from Australian CBH Grain. De Grey Mining Limited reports an update at the Hemi Gold Discovery. 

De Grey Mining Limited reported the following drilling update at the Hemi Gold Discovery, located approximately 60km south of Port Hedland in Western Australia. Recent drilling has delineated a highly brecciated and extensively sulphide altered subvertical intrusion. This new intrusion has been named Falcon, which has been intersected for over 1.8km in strike, up to 80m thick and to 200m below surface. The intrusion remains open along strike and at depth. Gold mineralisation defined over 1.5km in aircore drill assays with additional assays from drilling along strike is pending. Initial aircore results include a highlight of 21m @ 3.4g/t Au from 40m and 19m @ 2.1g/t Au from 68m.

Metalicity Limited announced the return of the drone magnetic geophysical interpretation for the DCC and Altona Trends from the Kookynie Gold Project in the Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia, approximately 60 kilometres south southwest of Leonora. The company has received all data and interpretations from the ultra-high-resolution drone magnetic survey. The results indicate 21 targets that have similar geophysical and structural settings to known mineralised areas. Furthermore, drilling is still being conducted, there are 24  drill holes remaining at the laboratory pending analysis, which is due imminently with further samples being dispatched periodically, for the Kookynie Gold Project. Commenting on the target generation, Metalicity Managing Director, Jason Livingstone said: “The Footprint of the Kookynie Gold project continues to grow with a further 21 targets across granted tenure being generated from this exercise, this is incredibly exciting.”

Wiluna Mining reports high‐grade results from a further 68 holes and 18,584m of resource development infill drilling at the Wiluna Mining Centre, WA. The Company continues to drill with six rigs currently on site. Infill drilling at Golden Age produces ultra‐high grades up to 880g/t. Milan Jerkovic, Executive Chair commented: The outstanding results provide confidence in our Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates as we release them on a rolling basis from September 2020 through to December 2020 and into next year.”

Strong new drilling results confirm potential to expand existing 4.1Moz Resource at King of the Hills for RED 5 Limited. Latest assays continue to emphasise the scale and quality of the King of the Hills Mineral Resource and opportunities for future Resource extensions, with results including 5.1m @ 56.4g/t Au and 19.2m @ 5.4g/t Au. Managing Director Mark Williams, said recent drilling at King of the Hills (KOTH) had delivered a host of excellent results. “This has been a highly successful drilling program that has both increased our confidence in the existing 4.1 million ounce KOTH bulk Mineral Resource model as well as identifying targets for future Resource growth.”

Further strong assay results from recent aircore (AC) drilling at the East Lynne prospect for Kin Mining, located 3km north-east of the proposed plant site at its Cardinia Gold Project, located near Leonora in Western Australia. The latest East Lynne results confirm mineralisation over 1.3km of strike length. Highlights include, 20m at 0.96g/t Au from 20m, 4m at 2.21g/t Au from 20m and 12m at 1.28g/t Au from 12m. Commenting on the latest drill results, Managing Director Andrew Munckton said:  We are eagerly awaiting results from the remaining eight lines of this broad-spaced AC program to get a clearer sense of the potential scale of this target ahead of follow-up RC drilling.

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Morning News Bites – September 1

In Today’s Morning News Bites for September 1. WA motorists face toughest penalties in Australia if caught using mobile phones while driving. Telstra profits slide 15% for FY20, sighting disruption from the pandemic and bush fire crisis. Lefroy report results from Hang Glider Hill and Lucky Strike Gold exploration hubs 50km South-East of Kalgoorlie. 

Lefroy Exploration Limited provided results from an 279-hole aircore (AC) drilling program completed at the Hang Glider Hill (HGH) and Lucky Strike exploration hubs within the Eastern Lefroy project 50km to the South-East of Kalgoorlie, WA. A total of 12,436m were drilled in a 279- hole program covering the Hang Glider Hill, Lucky Strike and Havelock areas. Results include: Hang Glider Hill – enhanced gold prospectivity of the target area that has highlighted a 3.5km corridor adjacent to the Hang Glider Hill fault to focus additional exploration. Lucky Strike confirms highly oxidised BIF over 700m of strike with gold anomalies. Enhanced potential for further discoveries along the remaining 1.3km strike of the trend.

Legacy Iron Ore Limited announced the completion of the first round of PQ size (85mm) diamond drilling for metallurgical studies at the Mt Celia project in Laverton, WA. The drilling was undertaken to generate cores for metallurgical test works. A total of 4 drill holes have been completed, with 1 more hole to be drilled in September 1st week to generate a few more composite samples. Geological logging of the PQ cores resulted in the visual confirmation of expected mineralised zones providing increased confidence for the upcoming metallurgical test works. 4 diamond PQ drill holes for metallurgical studies completed at the Kangaroo Bore and Blue Peter gold deposits.

RC Drilling is nearing completion at New Bendigo, part of the Tibooburra Gold Project in New South Wales. Manhattan Corporation has completed 34 RC holes for 4,175 metres. Approximately 900 metres remains to be drilled and is expected to be completed by Saturday 5th September. The first batch of samples (approximately 2,000 samples) are undergoing sample preparation at ALS Global Laboratories in Adelaide. Results are expected late September 2020. A second batch of samples (~1,800 samples) has been dispatched from site and are expected to arrive at the laboratory this week.

Results from early stage metallurgical test work for Chalice Gold Mines has been completed on a range of mineralisation styles from the Gonneville PGE-Ni-Cu-Co discovery at its Julimar Project in WA. Early stage sighter metallurgical testwork completed on limited samples of high-grade sulphide mineralisation from the G1 Zone, as well as disseminated sulphide mineralisation and oxide mineralisation (composite from four RC holes) from the Gonneville Intrusion. All sulphides in the G1 zone float readily under standard conditions at 75µm grind size – a positive indication that the sulphides appear to be amenable to conventional flotation concentration techniques. Managing Director Alex Dorsch commented, saying “The early stage metallurgical test work completed to date has returned promising results from selected samples, giving us good early encouragement that the sulphide-hosted mineralisation at Gonneville will be amenable to conventional flotation.”

Essential Metals reports that a drilling programme has commenced to test the northern extent of the Sinclair Caesium Deposit, 140km South of Kalgoorlie, WA. A mineralised corridor has been modelled using existing high grade caesium drill intersections which confirm mineralisation extends up to 80m from the northern open pit wall of the Sinclair Caesium Mine. The drill programme will target a total length of 120m as well as aim to infill and widen the mineralised zones around the existing drill intersections.

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Morning News Bites – August 31

In Today’s Morning News Bites for August 31. PM Support has slipped as states get behind their Premiers. The latest newspoll shows a 50-50 two party preferred, from August 5-8’s 52-48 TPP. Cadia Mine in NSW takes number one spot for 2019/20 production 843,338oz and IOOF set to grab NAB`s MLC.

The FY20 results are out for Swick, with its drilling business reported revenue of $149.6 million, up on FY19 ($142.9 million), and EBITDA of $24.6 million, slightly down on FY19 ($28.2 million). This is in line with the Company’s announcement on 30 July 2020, with FY20 earnings impacted by some temporary rig suspensions related to COVID-19 and ramp up costs from the Pogo contract in Alaska. Managing Director Kent Swick said, “FY20 has presented a unique and challenging set of circumstances with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The business has quickly adapted during this difficult period, ensuring we maintained continuity of operations and protected our people on site both internationally and locally. “I am pleased with the ability of our Drilling Business to deliver robust earnings in this environment and secure new work with existing clients, including our two largest contracts for Northern Star and BHP, which provide a strong platform for the business as we enter the 2021 financial year.”

Downer EDI Limited has been awarded a Unified Field Operations (Network) contract by NBN Co Limited valued at an estimated $320 million over a maximum term of eight years. The contract begins in September 2020 with an initial four year term, with two extension options of two years plus two years. Under the contract, Downer will provide services including network restoration, copper rehabilitation, alternate power system activities, network performance and capacity enhancement, urgent field service work and site maintenance across Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. CEO Grant Fenn, said Downer was very pleased to be extending its relationship with NBN. “Downer has been working closely with NBN for over a decade and we have earned a reputation as a high quality delivery partner,” Mr Fenn said. “A lot of NBN construction work is coming to completion and Downer is now transitioning to delivering NBN maintenance services. We look forward to continuing our partnership with NBN and optimising the national broadband network.”

Alto Metals Limited provided shareholders with an update on further drill results at the new shallow gold lode (“Orion Lode”) discovery, located 200m south of the Lord Nelson pit, within the Company’s flagship Sandstone Gold Project (Sandstone Gold Project). This announcement relates to results received for a total 2,132m of RC drilling, (11 holes), including further infill and step out at the new Orion Lode discovery and infill drilling beneath the Lord Nelson pit. A total of approximately 5,500m of RC drilling of the planned 10,000m program has now been completed, since drilling commence in early July, and another 2,000m is expected to commence in the coming weeks.

An update on recent exploration activities for the Lake Rebecca Gold Project for Apollo Consolidated Limited, located 150km east of Kalgoorlie in WA has been posted. Ongoing exploration drilling is occurring concurrently with continued infill and extensional drilling at the flagship Rebecca deposit. Highlights: Cleo joins the Rebecca family, returning best results to date and pointing to excellent potential for a new deposit to take shape: 38m @ 2.00g/t Au incl. 2m @ 20.4g/t Au and 5m @ 2.75g/t Au and 2m @ 9.39g/t Au incl. 1m @ 17.2g/t Au. Drilling will continue around the three key deposits throughout the remainder of the year. Diamond drilling will also continue to test specific high-grade step-down exploration targets at the Rebecca deposit.

Established Australian copper and gold producer and explorer, Aeris Resources Limited provided results from the recent near-surface Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program on the Roses Pride deposit at the Company’s Cracow Gold Operations (Cracow) in NSW. 48 hole near-surface drilling campaign at Roses Pride deposit completed with assay results returned for 44 holes with gold mineralisation intersected over a 400 metre strike length. Significant drill intersections include: 9.0m @ 5.45 g/t Au (true thickness 10.1m), 15.0m @ 4.10 g/t Au (true thickness 6.1m), 5.0m @ 5.33 g/t Au (true thickness 3.3m) and 10.0m @ 5.13 g/t Au (true thickness 4.7m). Executive Chairman, Andre Labuschagne, said, “During due diligence the Roses Pride deposit was identified as a priority exploration target with near-term potential to be added to the Life of Mine plan. The results from the drill program confirm this view and we will now expedite the work required to convert the drill results into a Mineral Resource.

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Morning News Bites – August 28

Morning News Bites – August 28

Specialised pilots not being allowed to fly in to WA due to the hard border closure could affect iron ore exports out of Port Hedland, Tesla hit a new high overnight and according to one leading analyst we need to rethink where our stocks are with banks not the best option according to Jefferies’ Brian Johnson

Late yesterday Caeneus Minerals has announced that it will commence detailed Aeromagnetic survey to commence first week of September on Mallina Tenements. These tenements are located in close proximity to the northern tenement boundaries of the De Grey Mining Limited’s Shaggy, Mt Berghaus, Scooby and Hemi gold discoveries. According to Caeneus there was a 10 day field orientation visit to Roberts Hill and Mt Berghaus with the aim for making vehicular access for future drilling programs and to review flight survey specifications for the Company’s upcoming airborne magnetic survey, which is as per above.

Essential Metals have identified numerous targets at its Juglah Dome gold project, situated near Silver Lake Resources Daisy complex around 60km south-east of Kalgoorlie. Recent rock chip sampling and compilation of historic exploration has confirmed that numerous drill targets are present within the Project. Managing Director Tim Spencer, said: “We are keen to commence a drill program at Juglah Dome. Multiple exciting gold and VHMS targets have been identified, some of which are considered drill-ready. The Gards Prospect is one such target, where previous drilling by Placer Dome in the late 1990s and early 2000s intersected gold mineralisation, however it was not followed up”.

GWR Group has secured approvals for its C4 Stage 1 iron ore project from DMIRS and the Federal Government Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water. GWR Chairman Gary Lyons said this represents a significant milestone and the strong prices of iron ore give a unique opportunity to GWR.  “These approvals represent a significant milestone for the Company and pave the way for the commencement of commercial iron ore production at the Wiluna West Iron Ore Project. Current strong iron ore prices provide a unique opportunity for the Company and the Wiluna West Iron Ore Project, an exceptional, DSO iron ore development project, which will produce a high grade, low impurity iron ore.” he said. C4 Stage 1 project is west of Wiluna in the northern Goldfields of WA.

Announcing their FY details, Boral has reported sales revenue of $5,728 million down 2% on FY2019 and sales revenue from continuing operations of $5,671 million down 1%. EDITDA was down 30% to $710 million and NPAT before significant items of $181 million, down 57% on the prior year. Boral’s new CEO & Managing Director, Zlatko Todorcevski, said: “Boral’s FY2020 results reflect a particularly challenging year. Following the lower than expected first half result from Boral North America, Boral had a difficult start to the second half of FY2020. Boral Australia was impacted by bushfire and flood-related events in Australia, resulting in significantly lower volumes and higher costs. This was quickly followed by COVID-19 disruptions, resulting in higher costs and production curtailments, which substantially reduced earnings for all divisions. “Overall, second half margins were substantially down, as flagged in the Company’s market update in May, due to lower sales and even lower production volumes together with an unfavourable shift in the sales mix and costs”.

Mining, Gas and Oil services provider Civmec has reported Net Profit margin of 4.5%, up from 1.4% in FY19 and also recommends a full year dividend of 1.0 Australian cents, increased by 43% . Revenue was down around 20% but EBITDA was up for the FY around $14m and NPAT was up 149% to $17.5m. According to Chairman James Fitzgerald the year was of consolidation and the order book strengthened “Following a year of consolidation in FY19, Civmec’s order book continued to strengthen in FY20, enabling the Group to grow revenue and profits throughout the year. Strong cashflow from operations allowed the Group to fund the completion of the new Assembly and Sustainment Hall in Henderson Western Australia while also reducing borrowings by $35.7 million during the year. This places the Group in a strong financial position as we enter FY21, with a A$900 million  strong order book, an extensively improved balance sheet and a significantly reduced capital investment requirement in FY21. This disciplined approach has allowed us to recommend an increased final dividend payout to 1.0 Australian cents.” he said.

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Morning News Bites – August 27

Woolworths recorded boom sales, but the impact of COVID-19 and one off costs have added up, Independence Group record a 12.5% increase to revenue and Flight Centre recorded a $510m underlying loss before tax.

Drilling services provider Boart Longyear has announced revenue of US$309M down around US$79M this morning. Net cash flow from operating activities though was up US$10M to US$30M due to Net Working Capital initiatives. Jeff Olsen CEO said “Management implemented plans in March that would ensure the Company would be able to continue to support the mining industry when normal activity levels resumed. The actions taken, including significant pay reductions across the world, ensured the business would generate positive EBITDA and cash from operations and were vital in supporting the company with having the required liquidity to support a growing business through the second half of 2020.”

Diamond drilling is now underway at Galileo`s Fraser Range prospect in Western Australia. Three diamond drill holes with planned depths from 200 to 380 metres will be directed to test an EM conductor, a structural target, and the known disseminated sulphide mineralisation. Brad Underwood, Managing Director said this is an exciting opart of teh exploration process underway and will look forward to updating the market when results are known. He also said “This is our first diamond drilling program at our northern Fraser Range project. It is also the first diamond drilling program ever to be undertaken looking for nickel in our project area. As such, this greenfields project has great potential and is also very well located within the emerging new nickel province of the Fraser Range. We have approximately 500 metres of diamond drilling planned across three separate areas with each zone showing potential for sulphide mineralisation.”

Drilling at Capricorn’s Karlawinda Gold project – Supplied

Capricorn Metals has announced MACA limited are the preferred mining contractor for its Karlawinda Gold Project. The five year deal is worth around $400m with Preproduction mining activities to commence in the December 2020 quarter. Capricorn Executive Chairman Mike Clark said “The selection of a preferred mining contractor is the culmination of a competitive process that included a number of very competent Australian mining services providers. MACA was selected as the preferred contractor after submitting a compelling bid both in terms of price and execution. We look forward to partnering with MACA in the successful operation of the Karlawinda Gold Project.”

A maiden two hold diamond drill program for Talisman Mining`s Lucknow Gold Project has been completed. The program was targeting the interpreted high-grade lode offset position of the historical Lucknow gold mine. The second drill hole of the program delivered a zone of strong foliation and quartz veining from 297m to 303m downhole. According to Talisman the recent drilling, supported by a structural and geological interpretation, suggests that the ultramafic stratigraphy and prospective contact has been offset to the north-west by a sinistral fault – indicating a potential target to the north-west of recent drilling.

Results from Cardinia Hill RC drilling with Kin Mining have revealed the presence of two north-plunging shoots of higher-grade mineralisation within the main lode. Kin Mining Managing Director Andrew Munckton said the RC program had provided a good base for Kin “The follow-up phase of RC drilling at the northern end of Cardinia Hill has been successful in intersecting the northern shoot of mineralisation at depth, further improving our understanding of the geometry and scale of the deposit – and providing a solid foundation for planned resource drilling. The diamond drill core is also providing strong insight for our exploration team in terms of understanding the internal detail of the deposit.” he said.

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Morning News Bites – August 26

In Today’s Morning News Bites for August 26.  Kalgoorlie-Boulder wakes to a 3.1 magnitude earthquake at around 3:15am local time this morning. Seven Group Holdings report Westrac’s FY20 revenue up 15 per cent. PM raises concerns about Victoria’s state of emergency extension with Daniel Andrews.

Conglomerate Seven Group Holdings has reported a 12 per cent rise in full year revenue to $4.56 billion. This was facilitated by the Groups Caterpillar equipment business and its work associated with the mining industry. However (on a statutory basis) its net profit after tax fell 42 per cent to $115.8 million, primarily due investments associated with Seven West Media (a major shareholder) and a $117 million impairment of a US oil and gas operation. WesTrac’s FY20 revenue was up 15 per cent, with strength across both product sales and product support. This was encouraged by WesTrac’s strong product sales results supported by the delivery of equipment to major mining projects. In addition, WesTrac’s product support revenue improved 10 per cent driven by a record 6.6 million parts lines shipped in WA and NSW. Chief Executive Ryan Stokes commented, saying “In particular our Industrial Services portfolio has delivered solid growth with WesTrac executing a standout performance, reflecting the strong demand from customers who remain active in mining production and construction.”

Macmahon Holdings Limited delivered record financial results for FY20, in-line with the increased guidance provided at the half year result. Revenue grew by 25% over the prior year to $1,380.4 million, this was primarily driven by driven by increased activity across the company’s projects in Australia and Indonesia from predominantly Gold and Copper/Gold operations, the eleven-month contribution of the acquired specialist underground contractor GBF Group and successful ramp up at the Tropicana Boston Shaker contract. This growth in revenue underpinned record earnings for Macmahon in FY20. To date, there has been minimal net impact on business performance from COVID-19.

An exploration update of the Saxby Gold Project has been provided by Strategy Energy Resources. The drill rig has commenced mobilisation in northwest Queensland with drilling scheduled to commence in early September. A cultural heritage survey has cleared the area and a drill contract has been executed with DDH1 Drilling. Recent structural, alteration and geophysical work have upgraded the prospectivity of the surrounding district and Strategic Energy Resources has now pegged the entire belt. A comprehensive regional geophysical review with a view to commencing district-scale geophysical data collection in the near future.

Paterson Resources report that planning is underway for the validation diamond drilling recommended in the report on an estimate of Gold Mineral Resources at Hackneys Creek and Lucky Draw located at the Burraga Copper Gold Project in the Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt in NSW. The diamond drilling is designed to validate the existing drill assay data used in the inferred resource estimation at Hackneys Creek by twinning approximately 6 holes. A further 10 diamond drill holes recommended to validate the existing drill assay data at the remnant Lucky Draw inferred resource are also planned. Validation of this drill data along with the collection of additional geological and structural information will enable the upgrading of the current resource from inferred to a higher category. Highlights from past drilling carried out by RGC Exploration at Hackneys Creek that were included in the inferred resource estimation are: 21.3m @ 9.19 g/t Au from 89m, including 4m @ 40.38 g/t Au, 33.6m @ 2.27 g/t Au from 71.4m, including 5m @ 5.83 g/t Au, 25.0m @ 3.57 g/t Au from 20m, including 4m @ 7.48 g/t Au.

5,000m drill program commences at Pilbara Gold Project by Kairos Minerals. Reverse Circulation drilling has commenced as its 2020 exploration program continues to gather momentum. The program, comprising 5,000m of RC drilling in total, has commenced at the large Fuego gold target (located on the Croydon Project), with the initial reconnaissance program expected to be completed there over the next 2-3 weeks while drill pad preparations are completed at the Mt York Project. The rig will then relocate to Mt York to complete the balance of the program. Kairos’ Executive Chairman, Terry Topping, said, “Our 2020 exploration campaign across the Pilbara Gold Project has now stepped up a gear with drilling underway, which is a really exciting development for our team and for our shareholders. Due to logistical considerations including timing of heritage clearances and drill pad preparation, we have commenced the program at the exciting Fuego target first rather than Mt York, as previously advised.”