Collie Renewable Battery Up and Running Ahead of Schedule

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THE CLEAN ENERGY CAFÉ: Renewable energy company Neoen provided the renewable energy space a big jump on the plans of Federal opposition Leader Peter Dutton this week with the big green button pressed at the company’s Collie Battery Stage 1 in Western Australia.

Neoen has taken less than 18 months to build and start operating its 219 MW / 877 MWh Collie Battery Stage 1, which is located near the town of Collie, one of Mr Dutton’s chosen nuclear power plant site.

Constructed on the country of the Wilman people of the Bibbulmun nation, in the South West region of WA the Collie Battery Stage 1 is the largest battery in WA to date.

It is the first Neoen asset to connect into South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) and, in collaboration with Tesla, UGL and network service provider Western Power, it was delivered ahead of schedule.

“We are extremely proud to have delivered the largest battery in Western Australia in record time,” Neoen Australia CEO Jean-Christophe Cheylus said at the launch.

“I would like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to make this happen: Western Power, Tesla and UGL as well as AEMO and the Western Australian Government.

“We are delighted to be contributing a storage project of this scale and duration. With over 2 GW of projects in our pipeline in WA, we are committed to continuing to play our part in the State’s energy transition.”

On 1st October, Collie Battery Stage 1 began delivering its 197 MW / 4-hour grid capacity service to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) as part of a ‘Non-Co-optimised Essential System Services’ (NCESS) contract that is set to run for a period of two years.

The battery provides 197 MW of storage capacity for 4 hours, charging during the day and then discharging across the evening peak.

This service is designed to address the risks AEMO identified relating to the phased retirement of WA Government owned coal-fired power plants and increasingly high penetration of rooftop solar in Western Australia.

The battery is Neoen’s first major project in WA and its first 4-hour long duration battery globally. Collie Battery Stage 2 (341 MW / 1,363 MWh), which is currently under construction, was awarded a similar 300 MW / 4-hour NCESS contract by AEMO in April 2024.

Altogether, the Collie Battery (560 MW / 2,240 MWh) will have the ability to charge and discharge 20 per cent of average demand in the SWIS.

Neoen stated it meets its strategy of deepening its investment in storage through extended duration, enabling it to unlock greater value as long duration storage becomes increasingly vital to electricity networks transition to higher penetrations of renewable energy.

Neoen has other Australian operating batteries and its storage portfolio in operation or under construction in the country currently sits at 1,925 MW / 4,709 MWh.

This includes the 300 MW / 450 MWh Victorian Big Battery in Geelong and the 150 MW / 193.5 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, both in operation, as well as several batteries currently under construction: 238.5 MW / 477 MWh Blyth Battery in South Australia, two stages of Western Downs Battery in Queensland (both sized at 270 MW / 540 MWh) and the 100 MW / 200 MWh Capital Battery in the Australian Capital Territory.

 

 

Miramar Resources Gets Exploration Underway at Chain Pool Project

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Miramar Resources (ASX: M2R) has kicked off exploration activities at the company’s Chain Pool project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

Miramar Resources has mobilised a field crew to the Chain Pool project to:
• determine the potential strike length of the Joy Helen Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag occurrence; and
• carry out reconnaissance rock chip sampling of Mundine Well Dolerite dykes for nickel-copper-cobalt-PGEs.

The Chain Pool project is located approximately 275 kilometres northeast of Carnarvon and straddles the boundary between a Durlacher Supersuite granite, which hosts the Yangibana and YIN REE deposits, and sedimentary rocks and dolerite sills of the Edmund Basin, including the high-grade Joy Helen copper lead-silver-zinc occurrence.

“The company is looking forward to determining the potential scale of the opportunity at Chain Pool,” Miramar Resources executive chairman Allan Kelly said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“There has not been any systematic exploration at Chain Pool despite the historic high-grade results at Joy Helen, so the potential upside with modern exploration techniques is significant.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Critical Resources Identifies Mineralised Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatite Stacked System at Tot

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Critical Resources (ASX: CRR) is progressing an inaugural exploration drill program at the Tot Pegmatite target, part of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Mavis Lake project in Ontario, Canada.

Critical Resources reported the drilling has thus far led to new discoveries by way of intersecting spodumene-bearing pegmatite stacks within the Northern Tot Prospects, which it has identified as offering opportunities for resource growth.

The company said the early drilling results have revealed a multiple-stack pegmatite system, further strengthening the lithium potential of the Mavis Lake project.

At the Tot target, the discovery of multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatite stacks has enhanced the Northern Prospects, marking a key step toward expanding the project’s Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and achieving exploration targets.

“The discovery at Tot Pegmatite enhances the overall strategic value of the Mavis Lake Project Area,” Critical Resources exploration manager Troy Gallik said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Not only does it suggest the potential for larger-scale lithium mineralisation, but it also provides a clearer path for unlocking the project’s long-term value in significant potential for resource growth.

“The new exploration model, which incorporates these known spodumene bearing pegmatite stacks emplaced in NNW-SSE trending brittle faults, represents a game changing development that could lead to the rapid resource growth of the project toward its exploration targets and a future resource upgrade.”

Critical Resources is conducting its The Mavis Lake drilling program with the aim of unlocking further high-grade lithium mineralisation beyond the current MRE.

Strategic exploration within previously untested sections of the Main Zone will focus on extending known mineralisation while also identifying new zones for potential resource expansion.

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Astral Resources Hits Big Gold at Kamperman Prospect

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Astral Resources (ASX: AAR) reported a big gold hit from an extensional RC drill program underway at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Feysville gold project outside Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Astral Resources has received assay results for the first 20 holes of the 31-hole in-fill and extensional RC drill program being carried out at the Kamperman prospect.

Of these, RC hole FRC378 stood out, returning highly encouraging intercepts, including:

12 metres at 7.26 grams per tonne gold from 23m, and
25m at 24.3g/t gold from 68m, including a very high-grade zone of 3m at 177g/t gold from 74m.

Othe results included:

FRC377
12m at 1.96g/t gold from 20m and 5m at 1.25g/t gold from 58m; and

FRC372
4m at 2.95g/t gold from 61m and
11m at 0.96g/t gold from 91m.

Astral has been encouraged by the results from RC holes FRC377 and FRC378 and now has diamond drilling (DD) is planned in this area to better understand the orientation of the very high-grade zone encountered in hole FRC378.

“These latest holes at Kamperman continue to surprise to the upside – showing that there is a potentially very significant high-grade opportunity here that we are yet to unlock,” Astral Resources managing director Marc Ducler said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Previously, FRC243 returned a very high-grade zone of two metres at 188g/t gold from 77 metres, 40 metres to the north-east.

“FRC378 has now returned another very high-grade zone of three metres at 177g/t gold from 74 metres.

“Previous diamond drilling that was completed to better understand the potential orientation of this very high-grade zone was not successful; however, given the potential size of the prize, additional work is warranted.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Strickland Metals Drills Confirmation of Horsewell Gold Camp Potential

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Strickland Metals (ASX: STK) reported on recent exploration activities undertaken at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Yandal gold project in Western Australia.

Strickland Metals carried out drilling at the Horse Well Gold Camp within the Yandal project with the intention to delineate extensions to mineralisation both along strike and at depth at the Bronco and Marwari gold deposits.

Drilling a revised orientation at the Bronco deposit delineated high-grade plunging shoots within the broader mineralised while extending mineralisation at the Konik lode 100 metres along strike to the north-west.

HWDD041
18.5 metres at 1.7 grams per tonne gold from 81m, including 3.2m at 8g/t gold;

HWRC336
16m at 1.2g/t gold from 146m, including 3m at 4.6g/t gold; and

HWDD038
62.3m at 0.9g/t gold from 114m, including 3.1m at 3g/t gold.

RC drilling at Marwari intersected high-grade mineralisation, confirming the revised orientation of the mineralisation that was extended a further 260m north along strike from the deposit, returning results of:

HWRC283
12m at 5.4g/t gold from 108m, including 4m at 8.4g/t gold; and

HWRC287
28m at 1g/t gold from 16m, including 4m at 3.8g/t gold.

Gold mineralisation along the Marwari Trend now exceeds 1.6 kilometres in strike length and remains predominantly untested.

“These latest assays from our 2024 drilling campaign continue to build the picture of a camp-scale gold system with exciting growth potential at Horse Well,” Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Step-out drilling continues to intersect significant gold mineralisation at both the Bronco and Marwari deposits, with our new interpretation of the orientation of the mineralised lodes helping to refine our drilling approach.

“This provides us with an opportunity to pause drilling, step back and commence work on detailed interpretation of all the drilling data while also commencing work on an updated MRE.

“This work is now well and truly underway and will pave the way for an updated MRE in Q2 2025.

“These results continue to reinforce the significant potential of the Horse Well Gold Camp, and our broader Yandal project, as an exciting growth and value creation opportunity in the heart of one WA’s premier gold mining districts, right on the doorstep of Northern Star’s Jundee gold mine.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Asra Minerals Confirms High-Grade Gold at Kookynie East

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Asra Minerals (ASX: ASR) intersected gold with three diamond drill holes recently completed at the company’s Kookynie East gold project in Western Australia.

Asra Minerals carried out the drilling as part of a confirmatory diamond drill program, which it reported to have returned considerable gold grades at depth extending mineralisation that was indicated by historical drilling.

Each of the three holes drilled across the project’s Orion and Sapphire targets intersected targeted mineralised structure in a slightly deeper than expected location helping to validate geological interpretation based on historical drilling.

Gold assay results, include:

Sapphire

NICD005
1 metre at 47.95 grams per tonne gold from 115.2m; and

NICD006
1m at 23.12g/t gold from 148.7m.

Orion

NICD003
0.8m at 23.97g/t gold from 161.2m.

“We are very encouraged by the results from this program and to see gold in the drill core,” Asra Minerals executive chairman Paul Summers said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The diamond program successfully intersected the targeted structure which not only strengthens our confidence in historical drilling, but also demonstrates the extension of mineralisation at depth.

“We now have valuable structural information with the anticipated high-grade lode positions confirming our interpretations, as well as the validity of historical drilling information at both Orion and Sapphire.

“We will continue to systematically extend these known targets including a range of additional resource growth and discovery targets that have been generated from our extensive data review.

“With multiple exploration programs underway we are pleased to provide Asra shareholders with strong news flow for the remainder of the year.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Eastern Metals Encounters Shallow High-Grade Gold Zone at Kelpie Hill

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Eastern Metals (ASX: EMS) reported shallow gold hits from a recent reconnaissance drilling program undertaken across newly identified high-priority targets at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Cobar project in New South Wales.

Eastern Metals carried out reconnaissance drilling at two new targets, Kelpie Hill and Windmill Dam, as well as at the more advanced Evergreen prospect.

The company has received assay results for three Reverse Circulation holes completed at Kelpie Hill.

KHRC001
7 metres at 4.3 grams per tonne gold, 2.7g/t silver, 0.3 per cent lead from 50m, including:
─ 1m at 8.56g/t gold from 51m
─ 1m at 4.17g/t gold, 2.7g/t silver from 82m
─ 5m at 3.45g/t silver, 0.35 per cent zinc from 103m, including 1m at 8.3g/t silver from 106m

KHRC002
26m at 0.4 per cent lead from 171m, including 6m at 0.3g/t gold, 2.4g/t silver, 0.3 per cent lead from 181m

KHRCDD003
0.5m at 1.66g/t gold from 279m ─ 3.05m at 3.9 per cent zinc, 2 per cent lead, 29.5g/t silver from 298.5m, including:
─ 0.5m at 1.5 per cent zinc from 298.5m
─ 0.5m at 7.2 per cent zinc, 2.4 per cent lead from 299m
─ 0.5m at 3.6 per cent zinc from 300.5m
─ 0.55m at 110g/t silver, 6.2 per cent lead, 0.1 per cent zinc from 301m.

Assays are pending for two holes completed at Windmill Dam and Evergreen.

“While the high-grade gold zone intersected in the first hole was somewhat of a surprise, given that this was primarily a base metals target, intersecting significant mineralisation is an exciting development for any exploration team,” Eastern Metals CEO Ley Kingdom said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“While we are still in the process of evaluating the results and working out the geological context and significance of what we have seen in the first three holes at Kelpie Hill, the key takeaway for investors is that this is a highly complex, mineralised system which offers enormous discovery potential, particularly when considering how little drilling has been done.

“With results pending from the remaining holes, and an IP survey starting shortly, it’s definitely a case of ‘watch this space!’”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Prodigy Gold Delivers Drilling Results From Hyperion Gold Deposit

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Prodigy Gold (ASX: PRX) received all results for recent Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling undertaken at the company’s Tanami North project in the Northern Territory.

Prodigy Gold completed a program of 17 RC holes on the project’s Hyperion gold deposit taking in the Hyperion, Tethys and Seuss Lodes, which delivered a series of intercepts the demonstrated a greater than 30 gram metre interval (grade times width) based on a 0.5g/t gold cut-off, including:

Hyperion Lode

HYRC24001
25 metres at 2.2 grams per tonne gold from 66m; and

HYRC24017A
33m at 2.6g/t gold from 49m.

Tethys Lode

HYRC24004
10m at 15.9g/t gold from 177m;

HYRC24006
30m at 2.9g/t gold from 31m; and

HYRC24013
13m at 4.1g/t gold from 26m.

Suess Lode

HYRC24004
4m at 7.7g/t gold from 87m.

“The drilling completed in 2024 highlights the reason why Prodigy Gold views Hyperion as one of the key projects for the company,” Prodigy Gold managing director Mark Edwards said iin the company’s ASX announcement.

“These results support the current company strategy focusing on our Tanami North project area and remaining committed to expanding our Mineral Resource inventory through organic growth.

“These new results will also provide the company with additional technical information, such as the recovery characteristics of the mineralisation of other lodes at Hyperion through further metallurgical testwork.

“While two holes drilled targeted mineralisation down dip of the Hyperion and Tethys Lodes to provide samples for metallurgical testwork, they also provided the company with confidence in the style of mineralisation at Hyperion.

“The holes have provided information regarding the down dip continuity of mineralisation, which will be used to assist with the updating of the Hyperion resource estimate.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Larvotto Resources Drill Testing Hillgrove for Antimony and High-Grade Gold

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) has commenced its latest round of drilling at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Hillgrove project in New South Wales.

Larvotto Resources already has the first diamond drill rig turning, with a second drill rig expected to arrive soon.

The drilling kicked off at the Garibaldi target and will be followed by the second drill rig to continue with follow-up drilling at the Bakers Creek target.

Drilling is anticipated to continue at Hillgrove for the foreseeable future.

The company has recently completed a RC drill program at Clarks Gully and is currently awaiting laboratory results.

The RC rig is drilling pre-collars at Garibaldi as the diamond rig readies to drill its first hole.

“Larvotto is very excited that the next phase of our extensive drilling program has commenced at Hillgrove,” Larvotto Resources managing director Ron Heeks said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The planned drill programs will follow up on the significant drilling successes from earlier this year.

“The drilling at Garibaldi is targeting the infill and extension of the existing JORC 2012 Resource Estimate of 2,346,000 tonnes at 6.6 grams per tonne gold equivalent by focusing on high-grade gold-antimony mineralisation.

“The Bakers Creek drilling is particularly interesting with several distinct mineralised zones identified and targeted in this drilling program.

“Just one of these zones produced the remarkable drill result from BKC015 which returned 31 metres at 65.8g/t gold from 244 metres which was announced in May from the initial Bakers Creek drilling.

“We are very optimistic that these extraordinary results can be replicated from any of these seven mineralised zones.

“These targets are the first of many near mine drilling targets Larvotto will be exploring to increase the overall Mineral Resources within the Hillgrove Mineral Field.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Hillgrove Resources Reports Maiden Kanmantoo UG Reserve and 96 per cent MRE Increase

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Hillgrove Resources (ASX: HGO) has reported a healthy increase in the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) as well as a Maiden Ore Reserve at the company’s 100 per cent-owned owned Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia.

Hillgrove Resources has achieved the MRE increase and Ore Reserve via resource definition and exploration drilling.

The numbers were supported by a review of economic factors and model changes that contributed to the substantial increase in the Kanmantoo MRE when compared to that released by the company in 2022.

The tale of the tape includes:

➢ Kanmantoo 2024 Maiden Ore Reserve of 2.8 million tonnes at 0.91 per cent copper and 0.15 grams per tonne gold containing 26,000 tonnes of copper and 14,000 ounces of gold.

• Including 1.1 million tonnes Proved at 1.01 per cent copper and 0.04g/t gold.

➢ Kanmantoo 2024 Mineral Resources Estimate of 19.3 million tonnes at 0.77 per cent copper and 0.14g/t gold containing 150,000 tonnes of copper and 82,000 ounces of gold.

• A 96 per cent increase in contained copper and 138 per cent increase in contained gold compared to the 2022 MRE.
• Maiden Mineral Resource Estimates for Emily Star and North Kavanagh.
• Opportunities to grow Mineral Resources through extensional drilling.

“This update clearly demonstrates the enormous opportunity we have in front of us at Kanmantoo,” Hillgrove Resources CEO and managing director Bob Fulker said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The Maiden Ore Reserve provides a solid base for the mine plan.

“When combined with the 96 per cent increase in contained copper in the Mineral Resources, it is clear that there is strong geological potential for the conversion of Mineral Resources to Ore Reserves which will extend the mine life at Kanmantoo.

“The goal next year is to continue the drill program to convert additional Mineral Resources into Ore Reserves.

“Pleasingly, we are finding the grade improves as we improve the geological classification.

“Our focus continues to be on reliable delivery, building cash, and earning the right to grow.

“We remain on track in these areas.”