Venture Minerals Kicks Off 300 Drillhole Program at Jupiter

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) informed the market of the commencement of a Stage Two Resource definition drill program at the company’s clay hosted Jupiter Rare Earths prospect, located in the Mid-West region of Western Australia.

Venture Minerals said the 300 drillhole program will bring the drill density across the 40 square kilometre target to a 500 metres by 250 metres spacing that will provide the necessary data for a Maiden Resource estimate at Jupiter.

The campaign is following up on assay results Venture received from drilling completed late last year that delivered further consistent high-grade zones (+2,000ppm TREO) over 20-30m widths, within broader zones up to 72m grading well over 1,000ppm TREO with thorium and uranium levels remaining consistently extremely low.

This program included an impressive intersection of:

BRRC061
9 metres at 5020ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 22m, including 4m at 9550ppm TREO from 24m.

“With the recent record drill results delivered by the first two batches of assays from the Stage One Resource definition drill program at Jupiter, the company has committed to an extensive 300 drillhole Stage Two program to accelerate towards delivering the much-anticipated Maiden Resource,” Venture Minerals managing director Andrew Radonjic said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The highlights to date clearly demonstrate that Jupiter is emerging as a Major, Rare Earths discovery in the Tier One jurisdiction of Western Australia, located between Lynas’s existing plant and Iluka’s planned Rare Earth processing facilities.

“Shareholders should expect plenty of news flow in the following weeks with assays from the final batch of the Stage One program due shortly and assays from the several batches of samples that will be submitted over the course of this current drill program.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

ACDC Metals Drills Satisfying HMS Results at Goschen Central

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: ACDC Metals (ASX: ADC) released results from aircore drilling recently undertaken at the company’s Goschen Central heavy mineral sand (HMS) and rare earth element (REE) project in the Murray Basin of western Victoria.

ACDC Metals carried out the extension drilling to step out from the estimated indicated resource it had calculated last year.

The program was designed to explore for extensions of the high-grade zone and increase geological confidence to enable upgrading to the resource.

The company is encouraged by the number of holes that intersected greater maximum HM percentage intervals than drill results reported in 2023.

ACDC said the results all support that the high-grade zone remains open to the east, where it considers potential remains for further extensions.

Latest intercepts include:

24GC018
16.5 metres at 2.33 per cent heavy minerals (HM) from 21m, including 1.5m at 9.15 per cent HM from 28.5m;

24GC015
28.5m at 1.4 per cent HM from 13.5m, including 1.5m at 8.53 per cent HM from 27m;

24GC021
10.5m at 2.7 per cent HM from 27m, including 1.5m at 7.53 per cent HM from 28.5m; and

24GC063
12m at 2.99 per cent HM from 24m, including 1.5m at 7.52 per cent HM from 33m.

“We are very pleased with these drill results which have potential to significantly increase the size and grade of the Goschen Central heavy mineral sand resource,” ACDC Metals CEO Tom Davidson said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This drilling along with further mineralogical studies highlights the potential of the Goschen Central project to be a long lived supplier of rare earth elements, zircon and titanium.

“We look forward to integrating these results in the second quarter when we update the Goschen central resource estimate.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Mt Malcolm Mines Confirms High-Grade Near Surface Gold at Golden Crown

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Mt Malcolm Mines (ASX: M2M) declared recent drilling results had greatly progressed exploration at the company’s Golden Crown prospect near Leonora in Western Australia.

Mt Malcolm Mines received assay results for recently carried out Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling focused on a target corridor, specifically targeting areas the company had identified through geological modelling as potential hosts for plunging ore shoots.

The drilling returned the highest ever recorded intersection from Golden Crown of:

24GCRC060
6 metres at 24.45 grams per tonne gold (12-18m) within a broader mineralised high-grade zone of 10m at 15.4g/t gold (10-20m), including 2m at 51.07g/t gold (16-18m), which included 1m at 60.55g/t gold (17-18m) and 2m at 5.05g/t gold (5-7m), including 1m at 8.07g/t gold (6-7m).

The drilling returned 16 Intercepts of greater than 5g/t gold, including seven greater than 10g/t gold, including five greater than 15g/t gold and including three greater than 3g/t gold, which Mt Malcolm said showcased the high-grade nature of the mineralisation.

“Golden Crown Prospect Resource Definition drilling results have returned the highest ever assay results within shallow mineralisation providing an ideal environment for cost effective mining operations,” Mt Malcolm Mines managing director Trevor Dixon said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Focused work from our geological team has delivered a breath of new life into this classic old producer from a bygone era.

“We are committed to achieving critical milestones whilst advancing Golden Crown towards development.”

The company indicated the assay results from this drilling campaign will lay the basis for preparing the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the prospect.

Golden Crown is the first of several key prospects within the company’s portfolio undergoing detailed exploration and project development.

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

ABx Group Expands High-grade REE Zone at Rubble Mound

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: ABx Group (ASX: ABX) informed punters of announce high-grade rare-earth elements (REE) results from the company’s Deep Leads / Rubble Mound project in Tasmania.

Abx Group recently completed a drilling campaign at Rubble Mound, which enlarged the extent of the Rubble Mound high-grade REE zone within the extensive 52 million tonne Deep Leads-Rubble Mound resource the company released in November last year.

The drilling has also expanded the real extent of the REE mineralisation with the latest drill results again displaying the two rare earths with the most critical supply risk, being dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) exceeding 4.5 per cent of total rare earth oxides (TREO). Grades of thorium and uranium are also very low.

The company boasted the remains the highest proportion of Dy and Tb of any clay-hosted rare earths resource in Australia, and is very high in global terms.

“It is exciting to see that our exploration program continues to produce outstanding results,” ABx Group managing director and CEO Mark Cooksey said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“A focus of the recent drilling campaign was to expand the Rubble Mound high-grade zone within the existing resource, and this has been achieved.

“A distinctive feature of the ABx deposits is the high proportion of Dy and Tb, and the recent results confirm this pattern.

“We look forward to providing the remainer of the assay results from this drilling campaign, and a resource update, which will include Wind Break for the first time.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Tennant Minerals Drilling to Test Expanded Bluebird Footprint

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Tennant Minerals (ASX: TMS) has preparations underway for its next drilling phase at the high-grade Bluebird copper-gold discovery within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Barkly project on the outskirts of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

Tennant Minerals plans testing of multiple targets within an expanded 2.5 kilometres strike-length mineralised footprint, including the Perseverance target – 2km west of Bluebird.

Bluebird is one of multiple copper-gold targets within a five kilometres footprint at the Barkly project.

The new drilling phase will aim to extend the Bluebird discovery and define high-grade copper-gold mineralisation from near surface to over 400m depth and more than 800m strike-length, with the aim of defining a maiden Mineral Resource that will be sufficient to support a stand-alone mining and processing operation at Bluebird.

“After the significant progress made at the Bluebird copper-gold discovery in 2023, our geological team is looking forward to launching our next drilling campaign as soon as the rainy season ends in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory,” Tennant Minerals CEO Vincent Algar said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The Tennant Creek Mineral Field, which historically produced more than 5.5 million ounces of gold and 700,000 tonnes of copper, is enjoying a resurgence of interest with multiple companies active in the area, primarily due to renewed investor interest in copper and gold and the high potential for new discoveries.

“Our recent exceptional intersection of copper with gold in hole BBDD0045 of 61.8 metres at 2.3 per cent copper and 0.4 grams per tonne gold, has extended and confirmed the continuity of the high-grade massive copper sulphide zone at Bluebird.

“The new drilling program will continue to extend the existing high-grade mineralised footprint and work towards defining a maiden Mineral Resource.

“We will also be testing new targets within the expanded 2.5 kilometres ironstone corridor which now extends from Bluebird East to Perseverance, some two kilometres west of the Bluebird discovery.

“A review of historical results at Perseverance has identified high-grade gold drilling intersections of up to 50 grams per tonne gold and 43.2 grams per tonne gold over three metres, and 42 metres of mineralised ironstone with grades of up to 8.5 grams per tonne gold.

“This has reinforced our confidence that the Perseverance-Bluebird corridor could host multiple high-grade copper and gold discoveries.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Sunshine Metals to Commence Drilling at Liontown Gap Zone Feeder

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sunshine Metals (ASX: SHN) is back out drilling at the Liontown prospect near Charters Towers and part of the company’s Ravenswood Consolidated project in North Queensland.

Sunshine Metals is conducting the program targeting footwall extensions of the pumice breccia horizon east of the Main Feeder Zone and into the approx. 400 metres long Gap Zone.

Previous drilling by Sunshine Metals confirmed high-grade gold in the 1.6 kilometres Liontown footwall proximal to interpreted feeder fault zones.

The current program is to consist of nine RC/diamond holes covering approx. 250m of strike in the long Gap Zone, including around the Gap Zone Feeder.

“This exciting program steps east into the prospective approx. 400 metres long, under-drilled Gap Zone,” Sunshine Metals managing director Dr Damien Keys said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This program will assess extensions to the high-grade, pumice breccia horizon that hosts intersections including 17m at 22.1 grams per tonne gold (23LTRC002), 8.1m at 10.7 grams per tonne gold (LTDD22055) and 8m at 11.7 grams per tonne gold (LLRC184).

“Even with sparse non-gold focussed historic drilling, the Gap Zone has already demonstrated its likely potential with intersections including 1.75m at 16.4 grams per tonne gold and 6.3 per cent copper (LLTD18012) and 6.4m at 3.2 grams per tonne gold (LLTD18012).

“The 1.6 kilometres gold-copper rich footwall at Liontown was last a focus when it was mined in the early 1900s.

“We are rapidly increasing our understanding of the footwall with every hole and are excited about this long overdue extensional program.”

Downhole EM surveys will follow drilling, guiding future deeper Gap Zone drilling.

The company is still awaiting assays for it Liontown RC drilling program completed in February 2024.

 

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Codrus Minerals Completes Loupe EM Survey at Karloning REE Project

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Codrus Minerals (ASX CDR) recently completed an extensive Loupe Electromagnetic (EM) survey across a healthy portion of the company’s highly prospective Karloning clay-hosted rare earth elements (REE) project in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.

Codrus Minerals concentrated the survey on areas where previous drilling at Karloning had intersected mineralisation in both clays and saprock, including a standout intercept of:

KGAC054
29 metres at 5,915ppm total rare earths yttrium oxides (TREYO) from 12m, including 4m at 12,366pmm (1.2%) TREYO from 24m.

The company said it is using the information obtained from the geophysical survey to identify areas with a potentially well-developed clay profile over the underlying crystalline granite basement – which it considers represent priority areas for targeting further high-grade REE mineralisation.

Codrus highlighted these areas to represent key targets for zones of enriched REEs and low-cost air-core drilling (AC) will be planned to target these horizons.

It anticipates this will assist to substantially expand the scale and potential of what it sees as an emerging new clay-hosted REE discovery at Karloning.

“The data from this extensive Loupe EM survey has vindicated our decision to substantially increase our exploration footprint at the Karloning REE project,” Codrus Minerals managing director Shannan Bamforth said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The survey was specifically designed to improve our ability to identify areas with a well-developed clay profile over the underlying granite basement, narrowing down the search space to areas that offer the best potential for more high-grade discoveries.

“Initial interpretation of the data indicates multiple areas where there is potential for high-grade mineralisation.

“The data will help to refine drill targeting, reduce the overall amount of drilling we need to do, and focus our efforts on areas where we expect to generate the best possible return for our shareholders.

“One of the key takeaways for investors is that our drilling to date covers just six per cent of our recently expanded landholding and the mineralisation to the north remains completely open.

“The next phase of exploration will help us to expand our exploration horizons significantly and unlock the full potential of this exciting discovery for our shareholders.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Antipa Minerals Confirms GEO-01 Mineralisation and Identifies New Minyari Dome Targets

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Antipa Minerals (ASX: AZY) reported results from a Phase 2 CY2023 air core drill program completed at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Minyari Dome gold-copper project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.

Antipa Minerals’ Phase 2 exploration drilling program at Minyari Dome encompassed a total of 178 holes of reverse circulation (RC), diamond core and air core drilling.

The expanded Phase 2 air core drill program consisted of 150 drill holes, which increased the company’s systematic coverage to a 1.6 square kilometres area surrounding the GEO-01 discovery and extended to within 300m of the Minyari deposit.

Results confirm a GEO-01 gold mineralisation footprint increase from 600 to 700m.

Air core gold anomaly extended a further 100m to the southeast:

23MYA0205
1 metre at 4.3 grams per tonne gold from 10m down hole to end-of-hole; and

Infill air core holes intersected significant mineralisation in the southeast, including:

23MYA0161
5m at 1.2g/t gold and 0.08 per cent copper from 12m down hole to end of hole.

Three new gold targets were also identified from very broad spaced air core drill holes.

The Rizzo target, located 370m southwest of the GEO-01 deposit, the T12 target, located 10km northwest of the Minyari deposit, and the WACA East target, located 230m east of WACA and 300m south of Minyari South.

“Our expanded Phase 2 CY2023 air core drill program was designed with the dual purpose of further interrogating the GEO-01 discovery area whilst simultaneously targeting new greenfield discoveries,” Antipa Minerals managing director Roger Mason said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“We are pleased to report that the air core results released today demonstrate the GEO-01 gold mineralised footprint has increased to 700m, with a number of significant, very near surface, gold intersections returned.

“At the same time, results from air core drilling into anomalies near to the Minyari Deposit have successfully produced three new gold targets, which in many cases have returned mineralisation down to the end-of-hole.

“When combined with the results recently released from Phase 3 CY2023 RC and diamond drilling, we are very excited with the outcomes and look forward to upcoming growth and discovery drilling across our Minyari Dome and at our three high-potential Pacman targets.”

 

 

 

 

Venture Minerals hits High NdPR at Jupiter Deposit

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) has received the second batch of assay results from a recently completed Stage One Resource definition drill program at the company’s Brothers project, located in the Mid-West region of Western Australia.

Venture Minerals conducted the drilling at the large-scale, clay hosted Jupiter rare earths elements (REE) Jupiter prospect, which encountered the best intersection to date of the critical rare earth elements Neodymium (Nd) and Praseodymium (Pr) at the prospect.

The latest assay results from the drilling completed late last year have delivered further consistent high-grade zones (+2,000ppm TREO) over 20-30 metres widths, within broader zones up to 72m grading well over 1,000ppm TREO with thorium and uranium levels remaining consistently extremely low.

The company said the results continue to validate geophysics and cover only a small portion of the 40 square kilometres Jupiter target.

Included in this second batch of assay results is a record intersection of:

BRRC061
9 metres at 5020ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 22m, including 4m at 9550ppm TREO from 24m.

“Jupiter continues to deliver broad zones of high-grade mineralisation with standout levels of REE minerals that are in high demand,” Venture Minerals managing director Andrew Radonjic said I the company’s ASX announcement.

“The record intersection of over 5,000ppm of NdPr oxides in these results compliments the previous batch of very-high grade results.

“Neodymium and Praseodymium are vital to the manufacture of permanent magnets for decarbonisation and defence applications.

“The scale, high-grade nature of the results and prime location of the project provide all the necessary ingredients to position Jupiter as a Major, Rare Earths discovery.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Renewable Alternative to Small Modular (nuclear) Reactors

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COMMODITY CAPERS: There’s been much chat around of late concerning Small Modular (nuclear) Reactors (SMRs), but what exactly are they and is there a renewable alternative?

In a 2020 posting on the Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) web page, the government department described SMRs as “modular” simply because one unit can be assembled next to another and scaled up or down to meet local electricity needs.

SMRs are also said to be designed to “plug in” to existing power networks, which is what has given rise to their consideration as a power source as they are supposed to replace an aging power station with a “modern, reliable, and zero-emissions power source”.

Their notoriety grew when US company NuScale Power emerged as a front runner in the technology with it anticipated to be on the way of producing the first SMR to win a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction.

Things got off to a flying start for the company in 2020 when the US Department of Energy approved $1.35 billion over 10 years for the plant, known as the Carbon Free Power Project.

NuScale was on the march having planned to develop a six-reactor 462 megawatt project with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and launch it in 2030, but as time went on and costs continued to rise, several towns pulled out of the project.

In November 2023, NuScale announced termination of the small modular reactor project.

A RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATIVE EXISTS

Renewable energy storage plays a couple of fiddles down from second to renewable energy generation.

Boffins at the university of Newcastle in New South Wales decided there should be a bridging of that void and commenced working on technology that what was to become the basis for MGA Thermal.

MGA Thermal created a patented material it called ‘miscibility gaps alloys’ (MGA), using which it can build blocks that can store excess energy generated by renewable power stations.

The real smarts of the technology is that it could also be deployed in retired coal-fired power stations.

And, unlike nuclear fuelled power, there is no residual waste as the MGA blocks, when spent can be recycled to make new MGA blocks.

The MGA blocks are designed utilising two key materials.

Tiny metal alloy particles are dispersed through a matrix material that melt as the blocks are heated and energy is absorbed.

At the same time matrix material remains solid and keeps the molten particles in place.

The energy is stored in the solid-to-liquid phase change and is released as the blocks cool and the particles become solid again.

MGA Blocks are used in Thermal Energy Storage Systems (TESS) which deliver continuous high temperature heat or electricity that is safe, low cost, sustainable and high capacity.

TESS enables a scalable means of firming variable renewable generation into a highly reliable and versatile supply of process heat, heat & power (cogeneration) or steam for electricity generation.

The system has minimal need for expensive capital equipment making it a good fit for power station retrofits as the MGA Storage can seamlessly plug into existing electricity generation infrastructure allowing for ultra-low carbon energy storage.

The system can simultaneously charge and discharge, enabling a continuous 24/7 discharge of renewable energy.

MGA Thermal has received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for a demonstration plant.

MGA Thermal hopes the plant will validate the technical performance of its TES technology under a variety of end-use case simulations and demonstrate the potential role that TES technology could play in the Australian energy market including for dispatchable electricity and process heat.