Meteoric Resources Encounters Visible Gold from First Drillhole

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) opened the end of the week by announcing the maiden drill hole JUDD001 at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Juruena gold project intersected visible gold within a broad alteration halo at target depth.

Meteoric Resources said that DDH JUDD001 had been drill confirm previous grades encountered by historic holes:

J‐07
1.8 metres at 20.9 grams per tonne gold;

MR‐10/2015
8m at 62.4g/t gold; and

MD 10‐2016
4.8m at 11.9g/t gold.

The company declared the recent drilling represents an initial confirmation of the high‐grade zone at Dona Maria.

Two holes have been completed by Meteoric, which are currently being logged and sampled before being dispatched for assay with results expected in approximately four weeks.

The second hole, diamond hole JUDD002 was drilled to 104.54 metres returning similar observations to JUDD001 with the host rock being a coarse‐grained, k‐ feldspar altered (pink) granite.

Multiple zones of alteration were intersected; however, no free gold has been observed:

40.5m‐42.8m: strong to moderate sericite‐quartz‐pyrite alteration;
46.6m‐48.2m: moderate chlorite‐carbonate alteration;
67m‐87m: Coarse granite with chlorite veinlets and minor k‐feldspar alteration; and
still awaiting completion of summary log EOH 104.5m.

“It is fantastic to see visible gold in our very first hole and an early vindication of our decision to commit to drilling the project immediately after acquisition,” Meteoric Resources managing director Andrew Tunks said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The exploration team in Brazil were excited to report visible gold in our first hole and this provides management with additional confidence in our program and the prospectivity of our Brazilian assets.

“Importantly, after the recent capital raise, we do not have to compromise the planned Juruena program to commence drilling at Novo Astro which we now anticipate commencing in Mid‐September.

“We are hard at work on both projects and look forward to updating the market when we have received some assays and interpreted the results.”

 

Website: www.meteoric.com.au

 

Calima Energy Ltd Presenting at Good Oil 2019

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Calima Energy (ASX: CE1) is in a farm‐in agreement involving oil and gas licences prospective for the Montney Formation in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

The Farm-in Agreement allows Calima to acquire a working interest of up to 55 per cent in the Montney project and operatorship of the project.

The company recently completed a three-well drilling campaign on its Calima Lands in BC, the results of which validated its early geoscience work, which predicted that the Calima Lands would be rich in gas, condensate (or light oil) and natural gas liquids.

“Our target was to match the results achieved by our regional neighbours who are established producers,” Calima Energy managing director Dr Alan Stein said.

“We believe our results show the potential to match or exceed the results of our immediate peer group.”

Results from the drilling campaign demonstrated a 35 per cent Well Recovery Increase taking the estimated ultimate recover of each well to 8.4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per well.

Based on limited test results, the company conservatively estimated gas-to-liquids ratio conservatively estimated at 45 barrels per million cubic feet of gas (bbl/mmcf) with 65 per cent of the liquids being high-value condensate (priced at WTI).

Calima expects the liquids ratio to increase once the wells are cleaned up and on steady production.

Canada, and the Montney region, is a good place for an aspiring producer as it a global top five gas producer.

The Montney accounts for almost half of Canada’ gas and is one of North America’s most productive and lowest cost resource plays.

Production rates have been increasing in the region by 20 per cent per annum over the last three years.

 

Emperor Energy Ltd Presenting at Good Oil 2019

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Emperor Energy’s (ASX: EMP) major asset is the company’s 100 per cent-owned Vic/P47 exploration permit in the Gippsland Basin next to the BHP/ExxonMobil Kipper field in Victoria.

Emperor Energy recently announced an Independent Resource Statement for the Judith Gas Field within the VIC/P47 Exploration Permit, compiled by consultants 3D-GEO Pty Ltd.

3D-GEO assessed the gas-in-place and recoverable gas volumes in the Judith-1 gas discovery and Greater Judith Structure following the merging and reprocessing of the Northern Fields and 3D seismic surveys in VIC/P47 conducted in 2016/17.

The statement declared a 2C Contingent Gas Resource of 150 billion cubic feet (Bcf); and a P50 Unrisked Prospective Gas Resource of 1.226 trillion cubic feet (Tcf).

Using data from the Judith1 Well along with Seismic interpretation of the Judith Structure, 3D-GEO produced Dynamic Modelling Results for the Judith Structure.

These included:

• A Four well development model indicated an 80 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) production rate can be maintained for 32 years;

• Gas production modelled at 29Bcf per year with 934Bcf of Raw Gas produced across 32 Years; and

• Simulated flow rates are of enough capacity to supply a plant of equivalent capacity to the existing onshore gas processing plant at Orbost.

Emperor Energy has appointed Ocean Reach Advisory to find a suitable Exploration and Production Partner to participate in the exploration and development of the Judith Gas Field.

The company is seeking a partner of suitable financial and technical capability to assist in the drilling of an exploration well at the offshore Judith Gas Field by February 2021.

Based on successful exploration results the partner would then proceed with development of the field in conjunction with Emperor Energy.

 

Hazer Group Limited Presenting at Good oil 2019

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Hazer Group Limited (ASX: HZR) is an ASX-listed technology development company undertaking the commercialisation of the Hazer Process, a low-emission hydrogen and graphite production process.

The Hazer Process takes natural gas and iron ore, two reasonably cheap feedstocks that are found in abundance within Australia.

The process uses these to generate hydrogen and synthetic graphite, two products that are currently high in both value and demand due to their global market applications.

“The core of our technology is the use of iron-ore as a low-cost catalyst for the gas decomposition reaction, which gives us a strong commercial advantage for accessing both hydrogen and high-quality graphite markets,” Hazer Group declares on its Web Page.

The process recently generated excitement when Hazer Group’s partner Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) produced high-quality graphite at its Paddle Tube Reactor (PTR) Pilot Plant.

Hazer Group and Mineral Resources are developing a Mineral Resources owned and operated commercial scale synthetic graphite production facility based on the Hazer Process.

This involves a three-stage development program: Stage 1 is the development of a pilot scale facility capable of producing one tonne per annum of high-quality graphite.

Construction of this facility was completed in March 2019 and initial production runs under the pilot plant test program produced high-quality graphite with graphite product purity greater than 95 per cent TGC (Total Graphitic Carbon).

“The graphite purity achieved is the highest we have recorded to date by the Hazer Process,” Hazer Group CEO Geoff Ward said.

Mineral Resources will now undertake a detailed pilot plant test program of the PTR to establish the design and performance parameters of the commercial scale plant envisaged in Stage 2 and Stage 3.

 

VRX Silica Upgrades Arrowsmith Central Resource

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: VRX Silica (ASX: VRX) completed a Resource upgrade for the Arrowsmith Central silica sand project, located north of Perth in Western Australia.

VRX Silica completed the upgrade following a drill program undertaken during March 2019.

The Mineral Resource estimate (MRE) for Arrowsmith Central has been upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource of 28.2 million tonnes at 96.6 per cent silicon dioxide (SiO2) in addition to an Inferred Mineral Resource of 48.3 million tonnes at 96.9 per cent SiO2 for a total MRE of 76.5 million tonnes at 96.8 per cent SiO2.

All Mineral Resources are reported in accordance with the JORC Code 2012.

“The Arrowsmith Central silica sand project is ideally positioned for a unique logistics solution with the project traversed by the Eneabba to Geraldton rail line with a direct connection to the Geraldton Port,” VRX Silica managing director Bruce Maluish said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This Mineral Resource estimation will now allow the company to finalise estimates of Ore Reserves which will support the impending BFS.”

The company explained that the Indicated Mineral Resource is predominately within the Mining Lease application area for Arrowsmith Central and it expects that the majority of the Indicated Mineral Resource will convert to Probable Reserves and a long-life mining project.

“This Mineral Resource is complementary to our Arrowsmith North silica sand project and adds not only to our total inventory but will also produce alternative products for the glassmaking and foundry industries in Asia,” Maluish said.

VRX Silica is now working towards completing the process for Mining Lease Applications and Environmental Approvals at both the Arrowsmith North and Arrowsmith Central silica sand projects.

The total Indicated and Inferred Resources at the company’s three silica sand projects is now in excess of one billion tonnes.

 

Email: info@vrxsilica.com.au

Website: www.vrxsilica.com.au

 

Pioneer Resources Intersects New Lithium and Caesium

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Pioneer Resources (ASX: PIO) has just recently completed a drilling program at the company’s 100 per cent-held Pioneer Dome project, located in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Pioneer Resources had designed the drilling to further test lithium and caesium extensions north and south of the recently completed Sinclair Caesium Mine Stage 1 Pit.

Drilling Highlights included:

Lithium

PDRC235
11 metres at 1.94 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) from 40m (petalite)

PDRC236
8m at 3.1 per cent Li2O from 42m (petalite)

PDRC252
14m at 1.68 per cent Li2O from 38m (petalite)

PDRC241
21m at 1.96 per cent Li2O from 38m (petalite and lepidolite)

PDD258
11.2m at 1.77 per cent Li2O from 50m (petalite and lepidolite)

PDRC255
10m at 2.13 per cent Li2O from 40m (lepidolite)

PDD259
11.2m at 2.17 per cent Li2O from 52.5m (lepidolite)

Caesium

PDD262
2.8m at 14.58 per cent caesium oxide (Cs2O) from 51.9m (pollucite)

PDD261
1.9m at 23.92 per cent Cs2O from 54.5m (pollucite)

PDD259
0.8m at 14.01 per cent Cs2O from 54.7m (pollucite)

Pioneer conducted the drilling during late May and June 2019, consisting 24 RC drill holes (PDRC233- PDRC256 for 2,160m) and six diamond drill holes (PDD257 – PDD262 for 400.3m of core).

The company indicated the drilling intersected some of the thickest and highest-grade lenses of lithium (petalite and lepidolite) mineralisation to date (including a high-grade petalite intersection of 8m of 3.1% Li2O), as well as potash (K) feldspar and quartz, being continuations of zones encountered in the stage 1 Sinclair Caesium Mine.

The caesium mineral pollucite was intersected where targeted in three drill holes.

The extremely differentiated pegmatite core, where pollucite may occur, extends both north and south of the Sinclair Mine, albeit in this programme pollucite was intersected only as small pods north of the stage 1 pit.

Pioneer signalled it would now be commencing drilling for spodumene at the SPOD1 and SPOD2 targets, following identification of outcrops of spodumene at the Dome North prospect.

The company has been in discussion with pollucite offtaker, Sinomine Specialty Fluids Limited, resulting in variations to sale and shipping terms to expedite the shipping of pollucite stocks.

A shipment of approximately 2,000 tonnes of pollucite has been containerised ahead of a shipping date of 27 August 2019.

The company received a pre-shipment payment of US$700,000 ($1.029 million) on 12 August 2019, with a second pre-shipment payment of US$650,000 (~$0.956 million) due before containers are loaded onto the ship.

Further discussions are continuing with potential offtake parties interested in minerals other than pollucite that were stockpiled during excavation of the Sinclair Caesium Mine Stage 1 open pit.

“Several parties have, or are, undertaking test work on samples of the stockpiled materials, with most interest received for petalite to date,” Pioneer Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“Market feedback indicates that each of the stockpiled materials in its current form (i.e. run-of-mine) will require beneficiation to increase saleability and margins.

“Ore sorting test work is in train, and the results of this drilling program will contribute to the study of the viability of a future pit expansion.”

 

Website: www.pioresources.com.au

 

Vintage Energy Progresses Albany Field Drilling

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THE BOWSER: Vintage Energy (ASX: VEN) is progressing drilling of the Albany-2 well, located in the Galilee Basin, as part of the company’s Galilee Basin Deeps JV with Comet Ridge (ASX: COI).

Vintage Energy informed the market that Albany-2 is currently drilling ahead at 1848 metres toward the intermediate casing point at 2,430m.

The planned total depth of the well is 2,752m and with drilling, coring and logging, operations are expected to take a total of approximately 31 days.

“The target zone is the Lake Galilee Sandstone, which is estimated to be 280 metres thick and at a depth of 2,430 metres, with a key focus of Albany-2 being the coring of a number of representative sections of the target reservoir sands and intervening shales,” Vintage Energy said in its ASX announcement.

The company explained that the Lake Galilee Sandstone section was encountered in the Albany-1 well and flowed gas, without stimulation, at 230,000 standard cubic feet per day (scfd) from the top 10 per cent of the target reservoir.

The Albany-2 well is located approximately seven kilometres from Albany-1 and is expected to appraise the scale of the gas potential of the conventional Albany Field over its large 61 square kilometre area.

Vintage currently holds 15 per cent of the Galilee Basin Deeps Joint Venture (Comet Ridge 85%).

The company anticipates this equity level to increase to 30 per cent upon completion of Stage 2 farm-in funding obligations relating to the completed Koburra 2D seismic program and the drilling of Albany-2 and Albany-1 ST1.

 

Email: info@vintageenergy.com.au

Website: www.vintageenergy.com.au

 

Leigh Creek Energy Signs Chinese HoA

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THE BOWSER: Leigh Creek Energy (ASX: LCK) has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) to commence In-Situ Gasification (ISG) in China with China New Energy Ltd (CNE).

Leigh Creek Energy has also been invited to apply for admission as a member of the Shanghai International Energy Exchange by China Lian Cai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited, a shareholder of the exchange.

Leigh Creek Energy said the HoA originated due to the achievement of a Pre-Commercial Demonstration (PCD) and production of large amounts of gas that ultimately led to the 2P reserve designation of 1,153 petajoules by independent third parties.

The company explained that CNE was established in China to partner with overseas companies with demonstrated growth prospects, strong project and commercial management expertise, and commercial opportunities that align with its strategic investment objective.

CNE has been the major shareholder in LCK since March 2017 and from the outset has understood the opportunity that exists in taking LCK’s ISG process to China.

This means CNE is not just an investor, but a strategic partner with aspirations to produce gas in China with LCK in the future.

Now that the PCD has demonstrated the ability to produced quality gas and the project is moving towards its commercial phase, LCK has been able to move forward on its strategy to enter the Chinese energy market.

The HoA establishes a process to develop a full commercial agreement through a joint working group to formalise documentation through to the formation of a Joint Venture company.

A major focus of the LCK and CNE Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) will be the production of hydrogen and fertiliser using ISG methods for use in China and potentially abroad.

“The HoA with CNE is exciting as it presents a huge opportunity for LCK to move into such a large energy market as China and it is my pleasure to be able to share this news with our shareholders,” Leigh Creek Energy executive chairman Justyn Peters said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This HoA also gives us an opportunity for a quicker path to revenue.

“CNE is a large privately-owned company with assets in mainland China.

“CNE is also our largest shareholder and this agreement shows that, not only are they investors in the company, but have actively worked with LCK to gain a strong foundation in China and positioned LCK for considerable growth.

“This was always the strategic intention when CNE became a shareholder and we are pleased that strategy is now underway.

“China is a nation that is rich in coal with large resource of stranded coal that are suitable for ISG.

“China is also rapidly moving to a ‘Hydrogen Economy’ and is spending billions of dollars on that new energy strategy.

“Leigh Creek’s ISG process has proven that it has the potential to produce massive amounts of hydrogen as a standalone commodity or to be used in the manufacture of fertiliser.

“The development of ISG in China represents a great opportunity for LCK to be a major player in these emerging and important industries.

“We are proud of our relationship with CNE and the opportunity to join the Shanghai International Energy Exchange giving us direct access to the Chinese energy market.

“I would like to thank our two China-based directors who have worked hard on seeing our China strategy coming to fruition and look forward to even bigger and better news in the near future.”

 

Email: contactus@lcke.com.au

Website: www.lcke.com.au

 

Meteoric Resources Funded to Accelerate Brazilian Exploration

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) announced it had received firm commitments for a placement to fund an accelerated and expanded drilling exploration program at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Juruena and Novo Astro gold projects in Brazil.

Meteoric Resources informed the market of the placement to a small number of institutional and sophisticated investors will raise $2.7 million through the issue of approximately 84.4 million new shares at an issue price of 3.2 cents per share.

“Recent exploration at the Juruena and Novo Astro prospects has increased the company’s confidence in the discovery potential of Meteoric’s Brazilian assets,” Meteoric Resources managing director Andrew Tunks said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Over the last few weeks, diamond drilling at Juruena commenced and two rigs are currently onsite drilling double shifts at Dona Maria (Juruena).

“Additional first pass exploration has been underway 30 kilometres to the east at Novo Astro and has recognised thick zones of alteration and mineralisation within basement rocks that have been the target of extensive artisanal mining.

“It is the company’s opinion that the targets at Novo Astro warrant a large and detailed drilling program far in excess of its early expectations.

“The new capital injection will be used to bring in additional drilling capacity to effectively run two exploration teams working in tandem, one at Juruena and one at Novo Astro to immediately grow an understanding of the geology and gold distribution at these exciting bonanza-grade gold projects.

“Crucially the Novo Astra program can now scale up without affecting the company’s strong focus on Juruena, allowing both projects to be tested over the coming months, concurrently expanding and fast tracking our initial plans.”

 

Website: www.meteoric.com.au

 

Black Rock Mining Testing Exceeds Industry Standard for Battery Anode Materials

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Black Rock Mining (ASX: BKT) completed a large-scale spheronising and purification trial at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania.

Black Rock Mining completed the testing using 400 kilograms of sub 80 mesh concentrate it had generated during its March 2019 Pilot Plant run.

The company said the trial demonstrated a yield to final product of 48 per cent and 53 per cent, and final purity of 99.98 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC) using commercial scale equipment in commercial processing and in dedicated research facilities.

The outcomes exceeded Chinese Industry Benchmark yields of 35 to 45 per cent and purity of 99.95 per cent while using standard equipment and techniques.

Black Rock has sent Spherical Purified Graphite (SPG) produced from the trials to interested parties for further testing.

“The best way to think of the bulk spheronising trial is that it is the equivalent of our pilot plant strategy, but in this case, done downstream,” Black Rock Mining CEO John de Vries said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The fundamental objectives of the pilot plant approach remain the same and that is to improve our attractiveness to financiers and investors by demonstrating and de-risking Mahenge’s superior performance in our potential customers’ business.

“In completing this round of work, we had two key objectives.

“Firstly, to ensure that the flow sheet developed for the Mahenge concentrator preserves the integrity of the flake and does not impair spheronising performance.

“Secondly, to demonstrate that offtake partners can achieve industry leading performance using our flake in their existing facilities.

“This underpins our price point and volumes in our pricing framework agreements.

“Conducting a large-scale spheronising trial using industry standard equipment allows us to assess how initial laboratory results obtained during the Pre-Feasibility Study in 2017…scale up in the industrial context that our customers operate in.

“For our customers to be able to replicate the best-in-class spheronising results, that are up to a 50 per cent improvement on current yields, while able to replicate results obtained in highly controlled laboratory conditions by skilled researchers, with no modifications to their processes, is simply stunning.

“Concentrate used for these trials was produced at the Chinese pilot plant where the design flowsheet intended for the Mahenge graphite project was demonstrated.

“The exceptional spheronising yields obtained in the trial show that the planned flowsheet does not damage our flake.

“This talks to the unique geological advantage of Mahenge graphite, and the diligence applied to design and trials to optimise and de-risk our flowsheet before construction.

“With the completion of this technical work, we can confidently focus on completing our financing discussions and documenting the shareholder agreement with the Tanzanian Government.”

 

Email: info@blackrockmining.com.au

Website: www.blackrockmining.com.au