Author: admin

As the shortest day for the Southern Hemisphere passes, Victoria COVID cases spark second wave fears and big miners back a decarbonising future.

A manganese project has reached the final milestone for the granting of a mining lease for Element 25 for its Butcherbird project. An access agreement has been signed between Element 25 and and the owner of the Bulloo Downs Pastoral Lease, Ms Chandra Ridley. The Agreement allows Ms Ridley appropriate contracting opportunities, contains certain milestone cash payments as well as setting up a cooperative framework to foster a strong working relationship going forward. Managing Director Justin Brown said “E25 is very pleased to be able to report this important milestone in what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Importantly, it paves the way for the grant of a Mining Lease over the planned production area and is a critical development step for E25”. The Butcherbird Project has a reported current JORC resource in excess of 263 Mt of manganese ore.

A record quarter is on the cards for Ramelius Resources with current production figures of 74,371oz and a production guidance upgrade for the financial year. Production for the quarter will still include two gold pours and is expected to reach over 80,000oz. While for the annual figures, previous guidance showed around 210,000 to 220,000oz will likely reach over 225,000oz. Mark Zeptner has said “We are obviously delighted by the operational performance in achieving records in both quarterly and annual gold production, particularly against the backdrop of COVID-19 and the additional administrative requirements the pandemic has necessitated. We remain confident that Ramelius, with its high-performing team, excellent cash generation and enviable balance sheet, is very well positioned for the next stage of growth.”

RC Drilling is set to commence in three weeks for Marmota at its Aurora Tank Gold project. Recent test results have show mineralised lodes can be expected to geologically continue to depth below the zone currently drilled. Around 85 holes for 7,500m is earmarked for the RC program which is fully funded and expected to take around 3 – 4 weeks. Marmota Chairman Dr Colin Rose said “This is Marmota’s largest ever RC drill program at Aurora Tank and with a special focus on primary mineralisation extensions. It is shaping up as one of our most interesting, varied and exciting drill programs to date.”

Another announcement of RC drilling has occurred today with Legend Mining commencing RC drilling at the Mawson prospect at Fraser Range. Legend Mining Managing Director Mark Wilson said “This RC programme is an important step in the development of the Mawson story.  “The new aircore assays show a developing eastern geochemical footprint. There is now a cluster of holes around holes 823 and 825 with assay results equal to or better than the best ones in the western footprint. These assays have upgraded the prospectivity of the Mawson eastern footprint.” Around 3000m of RC drilling will occur at Mawson.

A Queensland project has revealed high grade copper and gold for Zenith Minerals. Flanagans results include – gold to 5.3 g/t Au, silver to 100 g/t Ag and copper to 8.0% Cu. Flanagans is around 100km from Cracow. While another prospect – Great Blackall, revealed– gold to 3.4 g/t Au, silver to 273 g/t Ag and copper to 13.9% Cu. CEO Mark Clifford said “These are very early stage soil and rock-based results at the Flanagans Project. We are however encouraged by them particularly given that we were following up on some historical positive third-party results. This work follows on from some more advanced positive drill results at our nearby 100% owned Red Mountain Project. This geological region in Queensland has a history of commercial gold and base metal discoveries and we feel that we have given ourselves a good shot at success. Both Projects (Flanagans and Red Mountain) require a significant amount of follow up work to test and validate.”

Australia is being targeted by a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor” “This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure.” According to PM Scott Morrison this morning.

A board led review of its heritage management has been announced by Rio Tinto. This follows on from events recently at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia. The review will be conducted by Michael L’Estrange AO, with the board, employees and the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people involved and with consultation of a number of groups. Simon Thompson, Chair of Rio Tinto said ” On behalf of the Rio Tinto board, I would like to apologise to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people. The decision to conduct a board-led review of events at Juukan Gorge reflects our determination to learn lessons from what happened and to make any necessary improvements to our heritage processes and governance. I am very grateful to Michael for agreeing to conduct the review on behalf of the board.”

An impairment to Evolution Mining at Mt Carlton is how Executive Chairman Jake Klein describes a decrease in the ounces from the operation. Mt Carlton is set to produce 60,000oz for the 20FY (down from the 70,000 – 75,000 ounces reported for January 10 announcement) and around 50,000oz for the 21 FY.  “We are disappointed to be recording an impairment at Mt Carlton. We will be working hard over the next six months to optimise the future of the operation and to further understand the size and quality of the Crush Creek project.” Drilling at Crush Creek continues to bring exciting results for Evolution with highlights such as 31.7m (27.5m etw) grading 5.68 g/t Au from 61m including 9.0m (8m etw) grading 11.78g/t Au from 63m. Two diamond drill rigs are currently on site and an RC drill will be on location during the September quarter.

Drilling at Anglo Australian Resources Mandilla discovery has more than doubled the potential scale of mineralisation. Results at Mandilla East has revealed 26m @ 8.29g/t Au from 76m, 21m @ 3.7g/t Au from 35m, 17m @ 3.71g/t Au from 59m, plus 19m @ 0.55g/t Au from 83m. Mandilla South around 1km from Mandilla East brought results of 27m @ 1.79g/t Au from 168m and 10m @ 1.76g/t Au from 123m. A 3,000m diamond drilling program is underway and a 10,000m RC drilling program commencing in July. Managing Director Marc Ducler said: “This is the most significant drill program undertaken at the Mandilla Gold Project targeting mineralisation within the Mandilla Syenite. With over 9,000m of drilling already completed and another 13,000m to come, the mineralised footprint of the discovery from only three months ago1 has already more than doubled in size and remains open to the north and south. “The strong results support our view that there is a significant low strip ratio open pit opportunity. The recently completed DroneMag survey is also providing excitement with a number of anomalies yet to be followed up.”

Travel and airlines have been one of the most affected COVID-19 industries. Passenger Numbers at Sydney Airport have been revealed with 62,000 domestic passengers during May 2020 and 29,000 international passengers for a total of 92,000. Reverse to May 2019 and numbers for Domestic were 2,217,000 and International 1,294,000 for a total of 3,511,000. Around 2,000 domestic passengers per day passed through Sydney Airport in 2020 compared to 71,516 in 2019. While around 41,741 international passengers passed through Sydney airport in 2019, but for May 2020 it was merely around 935 per day.

Production runs for Australian Mines at its Perth demonstration plant using processed ore from it’s Queensland Sconi source has been completed. The aim of which is to supply battery-grade cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate to potential offtake partners. Australian Mines Managing Director, Benjamin Bell, commented: “Our recent successful production runs further demonstrate our ability to consistently deliver battery-grade precursor chemicals of cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate that can be applied directly into the manufacturing process of electric vehicle batteries, and support our negotiations with potential offtake and financing partners. Mr Bell also outlined the continued operation of the demonstration plant to seek a partner. “We will continue to operate the demonstration plant to produce premium-grade scandium oxide for a potential R&D partner that is working on new uses for scandium, which is now recognised as a critical commodity.”

 

 

ASX Early trade has fallen and Australia’s population growth could be heading to zero.

• With a Western Australia set election due within 12 months, the WA Nationals have ceased their iron ore tax policy. The policy sought to lift the 25c special iron ore lease rental to $5 per tonne and would raise a considerable amount for WA in the process.  A huge campaign was created against the policy for the 2017 election which saw the then leader Brendon Grylls lose his Pilbara seat.
• A semi permanent camp is being set up for Marmota at its Aurora Tank gold discovery in South Australia. This forms a pathway top production for Marmota which has recorded drill results previously of 120g/t from 21m, 105g/t from 38m and 93g/t from 32m. Marmota Chairman, Dr Colin Rose, said: “ I am delighted that we are setting up a semi-permanent camp at Aurora Tank to provide critical infrastructure. It is also a transition point for the Company and enables us to expedite the operations pathway at our Aurora Tank gold discovery. ”
• Drilling has commenced at Munni Munni near Karratha with a 13 hole, 1,820m RC drilling program under Artemis Resources. The program has been designed around the resource area to test depth extensions and to undertake DHEM, which will test the electromagnetic (EM) signature of the ore zone. Artemis’s Executive Director Alastair Clayton, commented: “It is terrific to be back exploring at the Munni Munni PGE Project. Drilling using an RC rig is designed to grow the footprint of the known reef-style PGE mineralisation and test for, what our technical team believes, may be a second reef below and subparallel to the primary reef.” Mr Clayton also spoke about the previous Empire Transaction and the Joint Venture nature of the project “Whilst the previously announced Empire Transaction regarding the proposed sale of 51% of the Company’s 70% beneficial interest in the Munni Munni PGE Project Joint Venture (to be effected through the sale of a 72.9% shareholding interest in the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Munni Munni Pty Ltd) has yet to close, we and our 30% partner in the Munni Munni PGE Project Joint Venture, ASX-listed Platina Resources Limited believe it is imperative to keep the Project moving forward with the stated aim of generating a JORC 2012 resource as soon as practicable. Our prospective partners in the Empire Transaction are also supportive of this programme. Artemis, through the proposed Empire Transaction, would retain both direct and indirect exposure to the Munni Munni PGE Project via becoming the single largest shareholder in Empire Metals Limited for its 58.6% in MMPL, which will continue to hold a 70% interest in the Munni Munni PGE Project, and retain a 27.1% shareholding in MMPL, free carried to completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study.”
• EMetals has completed the acquisition and settlement of the Poona project pursuant to the binding tenement sale and purchase heads of agreement from Venus Metals. The announcement of the deal includes the assumption of Venus Metals existing joint venture arrangement with Bruce Legendre in relation to E20/885, which entitles Mr Legendre to a free carried 10% interest until such time as eMetals makes a decision to mine on that tenement. Also included in the transaction is a royalty to Venus of A$0.50 per tonne of ore extracted for mining purposes.
• A $1 million capital raising has been completed for Dampier Gold to accelerate exploration programs. The development of the company projects will continue its exploration and development strategy of its significant gold project holdings located near Kalgoorlie in WA. Dampier Gold’s Executive Chairman, Mr Malcolm Carson is optimistic on what this program will bring “The strongly supported capital raising reflects the continuous market recognition and confidence in Dampier’s gold projects in the highly endowed Kalgoorlie district of Western Australia. Building on the success of our Credo drilling program, Dampier will use the proceeds of this capital raising to fast track drilling its priority targets at Zuleika, with the goal to define resources in the near term. The Zuleika Shear has historically produced more than 20 million ounces of gold and is one of the richest gold regions in Australia. The Dampier team is optimistic about discovering new gold deposits on the Zuleika tenements. The Company appreciates the support of Alto Capital in facilitating this capital raising.”

Bidders for Virgin Australia have outlined their plans, ASX had a big day for Jun 16 and recovery in the job market starts to occur.

Metals X has provided an update of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves for the Renison Tin Operation, which it holds a 50% stake. An annual update has provided a Total Renison Proved & Probable Ore Reserve of 8.61 Mt at 1.40% Sn for 120,300 tonnes of contained tin. Mike Spreadborough CEO of Metals X indicated its been another good year post some significant exploration “Renison is a world class tin deposit and Australia’s largest primary tin producer. The results from the 2020 Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve update represent yet another outstanding year for the operation and will support a mine life in excess of 10 years. After our significant exploration success during 2018 and 2019, I am excited to report a maiden Ore Reserve for Area 5 hosting some 61,900 tonnes of contained tin at a grade of 1.87% Sn, with further resources still available at depth. As we ramp-up production in this area we will see the expected increase in mined tin grades flowing through the operation”.

Bombora has proven to be a very fruitful project for Breaker Resources. Several new high grade lodes have been discovered from deeper drilling at the Lake Roe project east of Kalgoorlie. Four drill holes produced significant gold mineralisation with visible gold, including 4.6m @ 12.5g/t Au including 1.3m @ 42.7g/t within a broader zone of 19.6m @ 3.13g/t. These results highlight the potential for growth at depth for Bombora. Breaker Resources Executive Chairman Tom Sander said “The success we have achieved through the recent shallow discovery 3km to the north, and now directly below the northern part of the 1Moz Bombora open pit Resource, shows the multiple options we have to grow the project – something that differentiates it from many of its peers. The new drilling has confirmed a 2km strike length of high-grade gold mineralisation situated directly below an extensively de-risked open pit Resource, 80% of which is in the Indicated category. The results highlight strong potential for a significant increase in the Resource at grades typically amenable to underground mining”.

White Cliff Minerals has completed a full data review of its Midas Cu-Au Projects. The review of Table Top and Coolbro Creek has identified 21 targets for further review. White Cliff have recently named the projects Midas and continues to investigate the area according to Technical Director, Edward Mead “The more work we do on the project, the more opportunities we see for potential structural fluid pathways, and geological units that have potential as traps for mineralised fluids. White Cliff needs to get on the ground and the recent rain that has delayed the geochemical sampling program is frustrating. The Company was aiming to utilise a crew already in the area as a way of minimising the costs of the program. “The Patersons Province has seen a lot of activity over the last 12 to 24 months, including the great success of Greatland Gold/Newcrest Mining at Haverion”.

CarSales has given a market update and shows an improvement since April 22 – June 16 on lead and traffic volumes. The total inventory of Carsales.com has decreased based on a significant reduction in time to sell due to increased demand from car buyers following the easing of social distancing restrictions. Also dealers have been facing challenges obtaining used and new car stock in the current environment and carsales research indicating an increase in first-time car buyers and people adding an additional car to their household as consumers look to avoid public transport. A total support package provided to dealers in FY20 will be approximately $26m.

Independence Group subsidiary IGO Newsearch Pty Ltd, has taken an opportunity to enter a 70% interest in Matsa Resources Symons Hill at Fraser Range. The deal worth around $7 million in total is set to take place over a three year period. Symons Hill is approximately 70sqkm in area, with the Nova haul road running directly through the project. Matsa has completed exploration work and identified mineralisation in the area. Executive Chairman at Matsa Paul Poli said the focus of Matsa wasn’t Symons Hill recently, but maintained it was of value “The Symons Hill nickel project has been on the backburner for some time with Matsa’s focus on the Lake Carey gold project, but we always maintained it held considerable value. To partner with someone of IGO’s calibre demonstrates that value. I look forward to IGO using their vast knowledge and experience to exploit Symons Hill, while allowing Matsa shareholders to keep an exposure by retaining a 30% joint venture interest. It’s worth noting that Matsa controls some 170sqkm in its own right within the Fraser Range that is also of high value.

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.

 

Infrastructure programs across Australia are set to be fast tracked to kick start the economy. The projects include the inland Brisbane to Melbourne Railway, Iron Ore projects in WA and an electricity interconnector from Tasmania to the mainland.  Altogether these projects are worth around $72 billion!

Recently Boral has had some interest in its shareholding from Seven Group Holdings and now Boral has announced a new CEO – Zlatko Todorcevski. Mr Todorcevski has had a vast amount of experience in oil and gas, logistics and steel building products sectors. Boral’s Chairman of the Board, Kathryn Fagg, said “With exceptional commercial acumen, strategic insight and a focus on return on capital, Zlatko has a strong track record as a senior executive in a number of large industrial and energy companies, with international operations. His experience in leading major transformations, including business turnarounds, as well as in capital allocation and strategic portfolio management, are critically important for Boral. He will then deliver a strategy to strengthen the financial performance of the Company and to improve returns for our shareholders.” Mr Todorcevski takes over the reigns from Boral’s current CEO & Managing Director, Mike Kane.

South 32 has signed a contract to engage K2fly with its Resource Governance solution RCubed for its mineral inventory reporting for five years. Chief Commercial Officer Nic Pollock said “It is a great honour to be working with South32. This adds to our growing list of diversified customers like Rio Tinto, Teck Resources and Nexa Resources.” K2Fly also provides a natural resource governance – Infoscope, an Enterprise Land Management, Natural Resource Governance and Stakeholder Relations solution for the Energy and Resources market.

GR Engineering Services has been awarded a contract for the Lake Way Project. The project with Salt Lake Potash is to provide services for non-process engineering design and the management of procurement, construction and commissioning of the Lake Way Project processing facility and associated infrastructure.  Managing Director Geoff Jones said “We are extremely pleased to have been engaged to play a key role in the delivery of the process plant and non-process infrastructure for the Lake Way Project. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Salt Lake Potash to deliver safe and successful outcomes. GR Engineering looks forward to Salt Lake Potash emerging as a significant new Australian SOP Producer.” The Lake Way Project is a 245kt per annum Sulphate of Potash project over a life of around 20 years, south of Wiluna in Western Australia. Salt Lake Potash Tony Swiericzuk, Chief Executive Officer pointed out that GRES has been involved with Salt Lake Potash from the design stage  “We are very pleased to have executed these contracts with GRES who have been a critical contracting partner by our side throughout the design development of the Lake Way processing plant and off-lake infrastructure since early 2019. The finalisation of these major Project contracts and the substantial engineering and procurement activity to date has further de-risked the Lake Way Project execution and confidence around the capital budget.”

Core Lithium has announced a 52% increase to new Finniss Lithium Mineral Resource Estimate  to 15Mt at 1.3% Li2O. This will allow an update to the mine plan for the Finniss project. Managing Director, Stephen Biggins said the announcement validates the project and potential “Core’s announcement today is further validation of the enormous potential that our flagship Finniss Lithium Project holds. “We are very pleased to have reached a global Mineral Resource of 15Mt @ 1.3% Li2O for the Project and we are excited to see the life of mine significantly improve as a result of this, when mining studies are completed later this month,” Finniss is located in the Northern Territory and around an hour drive from Darwin.

The potential from the Cayley Lode is progressing for Stavely Minerals with a hit of 87m at 1.74% copper, 0.57g/t gold and 20g/t silver (SMD087) . The results come from the ongoing resource drilling program in a shallow high grade copper-gold discovery at the Thursday’s Gossan prospect. According to Executive Chairman, Chris Cairns,“We continue to be surprised by the incredible consistency and continuity of mineralisation in the Cayley Lode, with the results reported today including significant intervals of strong copper-gold mineralisation in the northern portion of the deposit. “Due to the large overall interval of strong copper, gold and silver mineralisation in SMD087 and the significant gold grades in the high-grade sub-intervals, we consider this intercept to be on a par with the assays from the discovery drill hole SMD050 (32m at 5.88% Cu, 1g/t Au and 58g/t Ag).”

 

AFL was back with a numbing draw, The Aussie dollar this morning is buying 68.2 US cents and markets are expected to be lower on early trade.

• Lithium Australia is progressing towards a patent grant for a revolutionary extraction technology for recovering lithium from fine and variable-grade spodumene. LieNA® can recover lithium from the fine and variable grade spodumene that may otherwise report to waste or tailings streams during current concentration processes Lithium Australia MD Adrian Griffin “Recovering material that would otherwise go to waste is a fundamental building block in Lithium Australia’s quest to enhance sustainability, reduce costs and negate environmental impacts throughout the ASX Announcement, Li chemicals Page 3 battery production cycle. If we as a society want to maintain current living standards, we cannot afford to squander resources and need to minimise out environmental footprint. Commercialisation of LieNA® will take the lithium industry one step closer to achieving that goal.”
• Beacon Minerals has given a Production update for May, with 2,246oz produced. Stage three drilling at the Panther tenement was completed on June 1. Results of which are being reviewed and an announcement made when results are known. 20 holes were RC drilled for a total of 1308m. Managing Director Graham McGarry also let the market know there was an extended trial during this period on low grade silcrete.  “The mine and mill are in “steady state” operations with record tonnage processed during the month of May. Further production increases are possible as site management eliminate minor bottlenecks. The month of May featured an extended trial on low grade silcrete stockpiles totalling 8,700 dmt at a head grade of 1.05 gpt (current stockpile assigned grade is 0.93gpt).  A long‐term tailings strategy has been developed in conjunction with our external consultants.   Sterilisation drilling of the proposed IWL area and the necessary approval processes have commenced.”
• There has been several changes to the ASX as part of the quarterly rebalance. Into the S&P ASX 20 comes Aristocrat Leisure, while Amcor heads out of the S&P ASX 20.
• Yandal Resources are seeking to raise up to approximately $3,342,399 by a pro-rata non-renounceable rights offer of up to approximately 13,369,595 shares on the basis of 1 new share for every 5 shares held at an issue price of 25 cents per New Share. The raise is expected to accelerate exploration upon the Gordon’s Project as well as the Mt McClure Project.
• Parent company of Zip Pay, Zip has posted another strong month and is looking at global growth. Zip Pay is a buy now pay later provider of services for the consumer in the retail space. Monthly revenue of $15.6 m was up 78% year on year, monthly transaction volume was up and repayment success rates are on par with the pre COVID-19 environment. Managing Director and CEO Larry Diamond said “May was another strong month for Zip – the performance of the business, both in terms of the continued strong transaction volume, and in particular the outstanding repayment performance, demonstrates the resilience of the Zip business model.  The prudent tightening of credit, both onboarding and behavioural, together with the repositioning of the business over the last few months, have us very well placed to accelerate as the economy begins to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. We remain on track to hit our FY20 target of $2.2b in annualised transaction volume set at the beginning of the year.”

 

The ASX ended trade on Wednesday with a gain. The market was up 3.5 points.

• Electromagnetic survey has commenced for Galileo Mining’s nickel targets Lantern North and South at Frasers Range. According to Managing Director Brad Underwood, the research over the last 18 months has helped get the company to this point. “We have spent the last 18 months developing our understanding of the nickel potential at our Fraser Range tenements. We now know we have similar host rocks to those at the operating Nova nickel mine, and our first RC drilling program in the area showed disseminated nickel-copper sulphides. The present round of EM surveying is designed to refine our targets for more advanced drill testing.” Once results are known, a drilling program will be scheduled. Shallow aircore drilling at the Lantern Prospect has been completed with 8,839 metres drilled and assays pending.
• An upcoming drill program will test the gravity and new geochemistry targets for Legend Mining at its Mawson prospect. Managing Director Mark Wilson said “The size, strength and location of these gravity highs between the two geochem anomalies makes this a very exciting feature of the Mawson story. The footprint that has now been interpreted, demonstrates the current extent of the large mineralised Mawson system. We have scheduled an RC drill programme to commence as soon as possible, which is designed to provide the geology to help identify the source of the massive sulphide mineralisation which we have already discovered.” Mawson is part of the Rockford Project east of Kalgoorlie and traverses the Trans Australian Railway.
• Havieron drill results have been announced by Newcrest Mining for its project east of Telfer in the WA Pilbara. The results revealed the best significant intercept to date with 109m @ 6.3g/t Au and 0.71% Cu from 668m. The Current drilling is now focussed towards delivering a maiden inferred resource and defining the mineralisation. This is expected in the second half of the 2020 calendar year. Newcrest Managing Director and CEO Sandeep Biswas said, “At Havieron we have returned our best drill result to date and with the step out drilling result we see real potential to further expand this orebody. Getting underground is now the priority and we continue to progress the work to commence decline development by the end of this calendar year or early 2021.”
• There is potential for a significant gold discovery at the Kopai Prospect within the Lake Roe Project, 100km east of Kalgoorlie. Breaker Resources has announced preliminary results from its first 32 drill holes. The highlights include 4m @ 4.54g/t Au from 84m within 9m @ 2.90g/t to end-of-hole in BBRC1373 (ends in mineralisation); There is still a further 28 holes results pending. The drill program by Breaker is to assess and scope the full potential of the 9.5km system.
• JB HiFi has announced a trading update and guidance for the 2020 Financial Year. On the back of an increase to Kogan gross sales, Wesfarmers and Harvey Norman results, JB HiFi has recorded total sales from its Australian, New Zealand and Good Guys operations to be around $7.86 Billion for the FY. The work of the staff during the trying COVID-19 times was pinpointed by Group CEO Richard Murray also when announcing the latest results “I would like to thank our over 12,000 team members who have done an incredible job in meeting the extraordinary challenges faced over the past few months. Our customers have continued to turn to us for their technology and home appliance needs and our team members have responded and adapted in an amazing manner to make sure we can do it safely and effectively.”

 

A recent report has outlined that Port Hedland contributed $54.7 billion to the WA economy for FY 18/19.

• Targets have been identified for the upcoming drill program at Castillo Copper Arya within the Mount Oxide Pillar. Of the three bedrock conductors identified at the Arya prospect, the primary target (EG01) is interpreted to be a massive sulphide conductor with exceptional dimensions: circa 130m inferred thickness, circa 1,500m by 450m. According to Castillo Copper’s Chairman Rob Scott “Castillo Copper’s Mt Oxide pillar has emerged as a significant new exploration project in the Mt Isa copper-belt in Queensland. Historic ground & aerial electromagnetic geophysical surveys identifying substantial drill targets up to 130m thick, provides an exciting opportunity with clear upside for our stakeholders.” While Ged Hall who is a London based director of Castillo indicated the geology team are ready to move  and the target is the shining light of the Mt Oxide Pillar “The 130m thickness and dimensions of the primary massive sulphide target at the Arya prospect are off the charts compared to anything else uncovered in the Mt Oxide pillar to date.”
• Several drill results are in for Ramelius Resources across its WA sites. The highlight being deeper infill RC and diamond drill results at Penny West which gave 4m at 18.06 g/t Au from 216m, including 2m at 31.63 g/t Au  and 3m at 18.42 g/t Au from 184m, including 2m at 27.39 g/t Au. Magenta – north of Penny West also delivered good results from infill & step-out shallow oxide RC drilling. While other results from Stage 2 Eridanus open pit design at Mount Magnet and Edna May in the WA Wheatbelt. Ramelius Managing Director, Mark Zeptner was buoyed by the results saying “The latest exploration drilling results at Penny are further testament to the Project’s potential to deliver additional resources and reserves for the Company. Beyond Penny, we are buoyed by new drill results at Mount Magnet and along the Westonia/Holleton and Tampia greenstone belts. These should aid in further consolidating Mount Magnet and Edna May as significant long-term production centres for the Company.”
• A maiden Resource Estimate has been released for Canterbury Resources Briggs Copper development in Queensland. A JORC compliant Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 142.8 Mt at 0.29% copper (0.2% copper cutoff) for the Central Porphyry zone at the Briggs Copper Project (containing 414,120t copper metal has been revealed by Canterbury. Planning is now in place for the next stage which will include a significant diamond drilling component. Canterbury Managing Director Grant Craighead said “We are very pleased to announce our maiden Mineral Resource estimate for Briggs, which confirms the large-scale attributes of the deposit. To date we have only tested the Central Porphyry zone with broad spaced drilling. It is anticipated that proposed infill and extension drilling programs in 2020/21 will add to our understanding of higher-grade features that are evident in the system, as well as adding substantially to the overall scale of copper resources in the immediate region.”
• A desk top study of Golden Deeps Havilah and Tuckers Hill Gold Projects is underway. The study is in the process of identifying gold and base metal targets. Fieldwork will also get underway when travel restrictions due to COVID-19 ease. This comes after Golden Deeps acquired extract minerals in May which included these two projects in the Lachlan Folds belt in New South Wales.
• Planning for ground based electromagnetic geophysical surveys over the two current nickel sulphide prospects for Toro Energy is underway. In a statement released to the market, Toro Executive Chairman Richard Homsany said “After the significant confirmation of the discovery of nickel sulphides at Dusty, the Board is very pleased to also announce that preparations for ground based electromagnetic geophysical surveys have commenced. Gold and nickel evaluation activities and drilling are expected to commence very soon at Yandal. The acquisition of geophysical data will assist us to ensure targeted and cost effective drilling is continued in this next campaign. In addition to the outstanding Dusty nickel discovery, the prospectivity of the Yandal One Nickel Prospect remains a valuable part of the Yandal Project. Therefore, a ground based EM survey is being planned over it.” The two prospects are on the Yandal Gold Project east of the Mt Keith nickel deposit.