Barton Gold Holdings hits Shallow High-Grade Mineralisation at Area 51

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Barton Gold Holdings (ASX: BGD) reported drilling results achieved from the Area 51 gold zone at the company’s Tunkillia gold project in South Australia.

Barton Gold Holdings carried out this round of drilling in late 2023 following prior programs in 2022 and early 2023 that had resulted in updating the projects Mineral Resource Estimate to 1.38 million ounces of gold.

Key new Area 51 intersections include:

TKB172D
47.6 metres at 0.48 grams per tonne gold from 48.4m;

TKB174D
21.4m at 1.06g/t gold from 41.6m, including 12.4m at 1.54g/t gold from 44.6m; and

TKB175D
44.6m at 1.81g/t gold from 64m, including 6m at 5.85g/t gold from 69m, including 1m at 19.95g/t gold from 80m.

The company declared the latest results to have confirmed and extended mineralisation at Area 51 to over 700m, with a substantive ‘core zone’ identified to contain broad gold mineralisation.

“These results further validate the expansive potential of Tunkillia’s gold mineralisation,” Barton Gold Holdings managing director Alex Scanlon said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Located approx. 4km northwest of the 223 Deposit area, Area 51 is the fifth new gold zone we have confirmed within this radius during the past two years.

“Three of these have recently been converted to JORC Resources during December 2023, and we are now reviewing Area 51 for the same potential as we continue to build out the project’s mineralised footprint.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

News Aint All Bad for Nickel

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COMMODITY CAPERS: It’s been a sad start to the year for the Australian nickel sector after a slump in prices through 2023. By Kristie Batten

Since the start of January, administrators of collapsed junior producer Panoramic Resources have shut down the Savannah mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals has suspended its Kambalda operations, First Quantum Minerals announced it would stop mining at its Ravensthorpe operation and IGO put its advanced Cosmos development project on ice.

To say January wasn’t a great month would be an understatement.

But on a global scale, the circa 40,000 tonnes of production that is being removed from the market is barely a blip, accounting for just 1.5% of global mined production, according to Benchmark Nickel Intelligence.

The reason for the 42% nickel price decline in 2023 was a surge in production from Indonesia.

Indonesia accounted for 49% of nickel production in 2023, up from less than 5% just eight years ago.

According to Benchmark project manager Harry Fisher, the 2023 nickel market deficit represented 7% of the global market, the highest since 2015.

Fisher told the Benchmark World Tour stop in Perth last week that the structure of the nickel market was changing and the importance of feedstocks for nickel sulphate for the battery market was increasing.

In 2018, battery demand accounted for just 5% of nickel demand, rising to 16% in 2023.

It is expected to rise to 22% next year, reach 34% in 2030 and 47% by 2040 – all while demand from other sectors, including stainless steel, also increases.

“There’s a huge wave of demand that is coming,” Fisher said.

Global battery capacity was just 60 gigawatt hours in 2015, which surged to 1115GWh in 2023 and is expected to reach about 4000GWh by 2030 and 8 terawatt hours by 2040.

Tesla is expanding its Nevada gigafactory to 140GWh, which alone would require 110,000-125,000 tonnes of nickel per year, representing 23.9% of 2022 global supply.

While Fisher doesn’t see the potential for a “green premium” in nickel any time soon, he said there was the chance of market bifurcation due to ESG and policy considerations.

He noted that less than 20% of nickel units would be compliant with the US’ Inflation Reduction Act in 2030.

While Benchmark forecasts the nickel surplus to increase this year, “we do start to see deficits emerging in the back end of the decade,” Fisher said.

It looks like 2028 could be the tipping point.

Benchmark forecasts US$70 billion will need to be invested in the global nickel market to meet looming demand, a tough ask when existing projects aren’t making money.

So where does that leave nickel explorers?

With some of those big stats and demand forecasts in mind, it’s little wonder that explorers continue to plug away.

In fact, nickel is one of the best represented commodity groups of the 90 presenters at next week’s RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle.

BHP Xplor, the miner’s exploration accelerator, which has a bias towards nickel and copper, will also be in attendance.

The presenting companies with existing nickel resources, including Chalice Mining, Widgie Nickel, Blackstone Minerals and Lunnon Metals, continue to advance their projects, while companies like Caspin Resources, Dynamic Metals and Legend Mining haven’t given up on making the next big nickel sulphide discovery.

At the end of January, directors of Lunnon showed their faith in the company by spending more than $200,000 on shares via on-market purchases. The cashed-up company is continuing the prefeasibility study on its Baker and Foster projects in Kambalda, despite recent bad news in the region, and is still drilling, albeit at a slightly reduced rate.

Nearby, Widgie has been rolling out the resource updates for its Mt Edwards project as it looks to demonstrate the project could support a standalone operation.

Delegates will also hear from IGO, which has been an aggressive explorer for nickel.

 

Burley Minerals Intercepts Additional Spodumene Bearing Dykes at Chubb

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Burley Minerals Intercepts Additional Spodumene Bearing Dykes at Chubb

 

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Burley Minerals (ASX: BUR) will be up for a chat at the RIU Explorers Conference next week after receiving new assay data from drilling at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Chubb lithium project in Quebec, Canada.

Prior to receiving the assay results, Burley had provisionally identified intersections of spodumene from drill logs and core photos from recently discovered pegmatite dykes to the East and West of Chubb’s Main Dyke.

The company has now interpreted these to be “members of a parallel ‘stacked dyke’ system”.

Spodumene being pegmatite was intersected in holes CLP-057 and CLP-058 drilled at the newly identified Eastern Dyke.

Hole CLP-065 intersected 6.1 metres at 1.2 per cent lithium oxide (Li20) and 6.1m at 1 per cent Li20, in the southernmost hole in Western Dyke, suggesting that spodumene mineralisation is broadening and is still open.

Holes CLP-063 and CLP-066, the southernmost holes in the Main Dyke, intersected 2.6m at 1.2 per cent Li20 and 11m at 1.7 per cent Li20, confirming that spodumene mineralisation exceeds a strike length of 600m, and is still open at depth.

“We are thrilled to discover additional spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes within the Chubb Central Mineralised Zone,” Burley Minerals managing director and CEO Stewart McCallion said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“As our exploration program advances, more mineralised dykes have been identified and the extent of mineralisation has grown materially since drilling commenced in April 2023.

“We are also very pleased that the assay results from CLP-063 have confirmed the presence of the caesium bearing mineral pollucite in the Main Dyke, indicating an extremely evolved LCT pegmatite system, and which has the potential to add significant value to the project.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Antipa Minerals Confirms High-Grade Minyari Dome Mineralisation

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Antipa Minerals (ASX: AZY) reported assay results for follow-up drilling at the GEO-01 gold discovery the company’s 100 per cent-owned Minyari Dome gold-copper project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.

Antipa Minerals drilled two Western Australian Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funded diamond core drill holes that intersected near-surface high-grade gold mineralisation at GEO-01.

Multiple zones of mineralisation remain open across the broader 600m by 370m prospect footprint, which is located just 1.3 kilometres from Antipa’s 1.5Moz Minyari gold-copper deposit

Assay results for the second of the two GEO-01 diamond core drill holes returned:

23MYD0532
27 metres at 0.7 grams per tonne gold from 34m down hole, including 8m at 1.4g/t gold from 53m, including 1m at 4.8g/t gold from 56m; and

23m at 0.8g/t gold and 0.02 per cent copper from 109m down hole, including 4m at 2.9g/t gold and 0.05 per cent copper from 121m, and;

1m at 2.1g/t gold from 131m.

“Results from the second diamond hole into our GEO-01 discovery confirmed the intersection of high-grade gold mineralisation and continue to demonstrate the quality of this resource opportunity,” Antipa Minerals managing director Roger Mason said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Importantly, multiple zones of gold mineralisation remain open, which we intend to target for strike and depth extensions during our CY2024 drill programs.

“We’ve hit the ground running to start the year and there is a significant amount of activity ongoing as we complete planning for our upcoming programs.

“We look forward to updating shareholders shortly with results of our expanded regional air core program expected late this month, and with the commencement of maiden drilling at our three exciting Pacman targets.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Explorers Conference Set to Ignite 2024

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: The market for junior explorers may have been a touch gloomy so far in 2024 but if there’s one thing the sector has demonstrated time and time again, it’s resilience. By Kristie Batten

In the final months of 2023, gains in the junior sector were driven by frenzied interest in the lithium market, which has since cooled as the lithium rout hits operating mines.

“The good performance in December, when we seemed to have turned the corner, has been met with a baseball bat in January,” Far East Capital’s Warwick Grigor noted recently.

“That has come as a surprise to most of us, including me.”

Grigor noted the large-cap mining stocks were performing well but wondered when that might trickle down to the juniors.

“The failure of many zombie stocks might clear the decks, but it will still hurt the confidence of those who have been hoping for a recovery,” he said.

“Another bout of fundraising on any recovery in share prices will divert liquidity into those issues.”
Grigor said finding the next crop of outperforming stocks would be more rewarding than waiting for a recovery.

 

RIU Explorers Conference

 

As well as being one way to find the next hidden gem, the RIU Explorers Conference, being held in Fremantle next week, will be a great measure of sentiment in the small to mid-cap arena.

The line-up includes 90 company presentations, spanning from the smallest of microcaps through to ASX 200 producers. There’s sure to be something for everyone with gold, lithium, copper, nickel, rare earths, uranium, high-purity alumina, graphite, zinc, cobalt and even helium represented.

The event will also feature keynotes from Canaccord Genuity, Hamilton Locke, ANZ, BDO, BHP Xplor, ABC Refinery, S&P Global Market Intelligence, ERM Australia Consultants, SRK Consulting and Noah’s Rule.

Day one will see the presentation of the Craig Oliver Award, which has been handed out since 2011 in honour of the late Sundance Resources finance director.

This year’s nominees are nickel-copper explorer-turned-lithium explorer and takeover target Azure Minerals, newly minted uranium producer Boss Energy, ASX 200 gold sector newcomer Genesis Minerals and high-grade New Zealand gold explorer Santana Minerals.

Despite the subdued market for juniors so far in 2024, organisers Vertical Events are expecting more than 2000 delegates in Fremantle next week, including a strong interstate and overseas contingent.

 

The state of exploration

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, global non-ferrous exploration budgets were fairly steady in 2023 after reaching a nine-year high in 2022.

Budgets last year fell by just 3% to US$12.8 billion. Gold budgets dropped by 16%, offset by a jump in exploration for green metals, including a 77% surge in lithium budgets.

Copper budgets rose by 12% to $3.12 billion, the biggest year-over-year jump since 2014, and the third consecutive year of double- digit percentage growth, while nickel budgets rose by 19%.

Budgets for grassroots exploration fell by 9.8% due to a tightening of equity markets making it harder for juniors to raise money.

S&P expects exploration budgets in 2024 to remain steady once again though if current financing conditions remain as they are, a sub-5% fall in budgets this year would be the most likely scenario.
However, it only takes one discovery to rev up a weak market.

Sirius Resources surged by more than 4000% in 2012 – during a bear market – when it announced the discovery of the Nova nickel-copper deposit.

Similarly, Chalice Mining announced the discovery of the Julimar nickel-copper-platinum group element deposit on the same day as the COVID-19 global market crash in 2020. At its peak, Chalice shares were up nearly 5000% and to this day, it remains the only pre-resource explorer ever to crack the ASX 200.

With drilling rates still at elevated levels, the next discovery could be just around the corner. And as they say, a rising tide floats all boats.

 

Future Battery Minerals Enthused by Metallurgical Results From Kangaroo Hills

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Future Battery Minerals (ASX: FBM) was keen to release results achieved from a maiden metallurgical testwork program carried out for the company’s 100 per cent-owned Kangaroo Hills lithium project (KHLP) in Western Australia.

Test work included X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), test results from which confirmed spodumene is the predominant lithium mineral (comprising ~90% of the Li2O) in the projects Big Red pegmatite.

Metallurgical results demonstrate Big Red to be amenable to conventional Dense Media Separation (DMS) and Froth Flotation separation techniques.

FBM explained the testwork results indicate a hybrid flowsheet utilising both DMS and Fines Flotation can produce a high-grade, marketable spodumene concentrate with low levels of contaminants.

The company stressed the testwork conducted was at a preliminary stage with the application of only first-principles processing methodologies and minimal optimisation work.

Although preliminary by nature, FBM said the results leave potential for further improvement in lithium recovery and concentrate product parameters with subsequent, more advanced testwork programs.

“The testwork results indicate that processing of Big Red material via a hybrid flowsheet utilising both DMS and Froth Flotation can produce a high-grade, marketable spodumene concentrate with low impurity levels at robust recoveries,” Future Battery Metals managing director and CEO Nicholas Rathjen said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Being only preliminary testing, the results also demonstrate ample opportunity for further optimisation with more refined process evaluation across subsequent metallurgical testwork phases.

“The next stage of metallurgical testing is set to commence after completion of the upcoming Phase 4 drilling program at the KHLP.

This drill program will test the interpreted extension of the Big Red mineralisation, as well as other high-potential resistivity targets in the northern part of the project.

“This program it will also deliver additional, and broader, mineralisation samples for the further metallurgical testwork planned for Kangaroo Hills.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Gateway Mining Identifies New Montague Copper-Nickel-PGE Targets

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Gateway Mining (ASX: GML) has declared a new exploration opportunity for magmatic copper-nickel-PGE mineralisation within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Montague gold project in the Murchison Region of Western Australia.

Gateway Mining explained the discovery follows a series of project-wide strategic data compilation and targeting exercises, which are being progressed as part of the company’s focus on step-change exploration and discovery opportunities.

The company has undertaken a re-examination of all historically generated geological and structural data to identify prospective corridors as targets for future exploration work.

This reinterpretation has outlined a +7km corridor west of the Montague Granodiorite Dome comprising potential fractionated mafic/ultramafic intrusions with no previous copper-nickel-PGE exploration.

“The recent high-quality body of work undertaken by our team has clearly demonstrated the potential of the Montague project to host magmatic copper-nickel-PGE mineralisation,” Gateway Minng managing director Mark Cossom said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This is a very exciting development and represents an opportunity to crystallise significant value for Gateway shareholders from our existing high-quality tenement portfolio.

“It is important to emphasise that this work in no way detracts from our ongoing gold exploration – which remains the company’s primary focus.

“However, given the scale and potential of the base metal horizons we have identified, we intend to pursue this opportunity aggressively on behalf of our shareholders.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

New World Resources Defines Antler Deposit Drill Target Neighbour

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: New World Resources (ASX: NWC) reported delineation of a coincident IP chargeability/magnetic anomaly directly along strike from the company’s Antler copper deposit in Arizona, USA.

New World Resources identified the Bullhorn target via a drone magnetic survey and a ground Induced Polarisation (IP) survey over its 2023 acquisition of 1,000 acres of mineral rights along strike from the 11.4 million tonnes Antler copper deposit.

The company explained magnetic and IP anomalies of 400 metres length were revealed by the survey to be in the same geological sequence of metavolcanics that hosts the Antler copper deposit – which is a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit.

New World consider Bullhorn as a very-high priority target that warrants immediate drilling.

“The delineation of a 400m-long coincident magnetic/IP anomaly – our new Bullhorn Target – just 350m along strike from the Antler copper deposit, is a very exciting development,” New World Resources managing director Mike Haynes said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Bullhorn has many similarities to the Antler deposit.

“And given that VMS deposits typically occur in clusters, this undrilled target – which is located in the same geological sequence as the Antler deposit – represents an exceptional opportunity to make a new discovery in the near-mine environment.

“We are very fortunate to have so many quality exploration targets to test.

“In order to expedite our exploration efforts, we intend mobilising a second drill rig as quickly as possible – so we can continue to test our other high-priority targets while also commencing testing of the very high-priority Bullhorn target.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Carnaby Resources Claim New High-Grade Copper Discovery

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Carnaby Resources (ASX: CNB) announced new exploration results from the company’s Greater Duchess copper gold project in Mt Isa, Queensland.

Carnaby Resources declared a new high-grade discovery at Duchess based on a single RC drill hole targeting an off hole conductor from a previous downhole EM survey in the area.

The company said the new hole intersected a “high-grade discovery” on the Duchess Central Lode immediately west of the Duchess Mine Lode, which averaged 12.5 per cent copper at the turn of the century and was one of the main copper mines in the entire Mount Isa district from circa 1900-1930.

Results included:

DCRC006
10 metres at 3.3 per cent copper and 0.1 grams per tonne gold, including 4m at 7 per cent copper and 0.05g/t gold.

“At Duchess, while it is early days, the new high-grade discovery is encouraging as it lies immediately west of the extremely high-grade Duchess Mine Lode,” Carnaby Resources managing director Rob Watkins said in the company’s ASX announcement.

Carnaby Resources also completed a detailed drone magnetic survey over the project’s Mount Hope Mining Lease where no detailed magnetic surveys have previously been recorded.

The drone survey highlighted several new untested magnetic high targets which are being evaluated prior to drill testing.

The company considers the magnetic highs to likely be a direct result of magnetite or pyrrhotite alteration and mineralisation.

“Mount Hope Central continues to impress with exceptional new drill results from outside of the existing Mineral Resource and new targets generated from a recent drone survey,” Watkins said

“Plans are afoot for a major drilling program to commence soon.”

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Uranium off to a flyer in 2024

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COMMODITY CAPERS: After years in the doldrums, uranium was surprisingly the best performer of 2023 and has already outperformed so far in the new year. By Kristie Batten

The uranium price started 2023 as it has started most years in the past decade – languishing at below US$50 a pound but reached $90/lb by the end of December, making it the best-performing mining commodity of the year.

Uranium has made a strong statement so far in 2024, rising by a further 25 per cent and cracking the $100/lb mark on January 12, the highest level since 2007.

Source: Google Finance

Australia’s only dedicated uranium fund manager, Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund’s Guy Keller, continues to be bullish on the price.

Keller said in November last year, there were uranium contracts being signed at $200/lb.

“The question is what’s going to stop it moving above $100?” he said on a recent webinar.

Keller admitted he got laughed at last year when he suggested uranium could reach $175/lb in 2024.

“Here we are in January and people are saying ‘ooh, maybe that’s conceivable after all’,” he said.

Further tailwinds

There are currently 60 new nuclear reactors being built globally.

“We are at the beginning of what we believe will be a multi-year contracting cycle,” Keller said.

“For the utilities … 2025, 2026 is tomorrow for them.”

Keller said there were three rules for utilities.

“Rule number one: don’t run out of fuel. Rule number two: don’t run out of fuel. Rule number three: refer back to rule number one and rule number two.”

There have also been positive developments on the policy front, including an agreement to triple nuclear power by 2050 at the recent COP28 summit.

On December 11, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to ban uranium imports from Russia, paving the way for a Senate vote.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Katie Lachapelle recently said the Senate was more likely to pass the bill if it contained specific funding to support new domestic fuel cycle development, based on her discussions with industry participants.

“Also, who is to say that Russia doesn’t immediately retaliate and ban exports to the US? In our view, this would result in a rapid rise in prices,” she said.

“Our belief is that there is a very high chance of a Russian ban passing, but it is still up for debate whether this will happen with or without funding (US$2.72 billion in domestic fuel cycle funding has been proposed).”

Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy issued a request for proposals for uranium enrichment services to help establish a domestic supply of fuels using high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the fuel used in small modular reactors and advanced reactors.

The US’ Inflation Reduction Act will provide up to $500 million for HALEU enrichment contracts.
Lachapelle said that while small modular reactors were still years away, they were designed to have longer refuelling cycles, which could support medium-term demand.

Supply and Demand

“Demand is durable, yet supply is as fragile as ever, and any further supply disruptions could lead to panic buying by utilities, in our view, with both US and European utilities already at low inventory levels,” Lachapelle said in January.

Keller sees a decade-long uranium deficit due to the nature of demand, which he described as long-term and inelastic.

Boss Energy’s Honeymoon restart in South Australia is commissioning but there are very few advanced projects in the pipeline globally.

“There is no wall of supply,” Keller said.

“It’s hard to bring any mine into production – it’s harder to bring a uranium mine into production.”
Keller said challenges included long lead times, permitting, financing and access to experienced people.

Complicating matters is the fact there’s several advanced assets in Western Australia that cannot proceed due to the current Labor government’s ban on new uranium mines.

“Just because we’re at $100/lb, it doesn’t mean we’re going to see a wall of supply,” Keller said.
Juniors

The buoyant market conditions have given junior uranium hopefuls a pep in their step, meaning uranium is sure to be a hot topic of conversation at this month’s RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle.

Toro Energy (ASX: TOE), which holds the 26.4Mlb Lake Maitland uranium resource in WA, is one of the handful of uranium presenters.

“Advanced assets like Toro’s are few and far between,” Toro executive director Richard Homsany said.
Toro has been “patient and thick-skinned” as it waited for the market to turn.

“You have to be resilient, you have to think of ways to keep going,” Homsany said, pointing to the company’s foray into nickel exploration.

“We’ve got to remain patient again while we convince the WA government they need to reevaluate their policy on this.”