Trigg Mining

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Trigg Mining’s ambitions lie in securing Australia’s sustainable agriculture future through the exploration of the essential potassium fertiliser, sulphate of potash (SOP).

Trigg is looking to establish a domestic source of SOP, given that currently Australia imports all its potassium fertiliser needs, often from as far away as Canada and Germany, despite potassium-rich brines being known to exist in the desert regions of Western Australia.

“This is mining in name more than anything else, because it is an evaporation-style mineralisation,” Trigg Mining managing director Keren Paterson said.

“It’s about agricultural mineralisation and food supply…we have been out speaking with farmers in Western Australia, because our projects are very close to the WA agricultural sector, so it’s important to understand the needs of our farmers and the people who produce our food.

“We have resources here in Australia and we can’t wait to define what potentially will be ours and to engage with the farmers of Western Australia and Australia as a whole.”

Trigg Mining has built a competitive footprint across two SOP Projects in the Goldfields of WA: the Laverton Links and Lake Throssell potash projects.

The company stated aim is the exploration for naturally occurring SOP, found in potassium-rich hypersaline brine water, which provides two essential elements for plant growth and human nutrition – potassium and sulphur.

Beside from its ability to provide these two important macro nutrients, the other important characteristic of SOP is that it contains very little chloride which is detrimental to many crops such as fruit and vegetables including avocados, cocoa, coffee beans, grapes, berries and tree nuts, as well as arid and acidic soils.

The sustainability factor stretches to the production of SOP, which can be achieved through the solar evaporation of potassium-rich hypersaline brine water, without the need for large open pits or waste-rock dumps.

“it’s very simple exploration,” Paterson continued.

“It’s aircore drilling that is shallow as we are exploring for the water – the minerals are already dissolved in the water.”

Trigg Mining’s SOP projects do just this and extend the company’s ambitions by being located approximately 200 kilometres east of Laverton in Western Australia close to established energy and transport infrastructure for access to Australian and international agricultural markets.

The projects cover more than 3,000 square kilometres and contain over 400sqkm of salt lake playa and 375km of interpreted palaeochannels (ancient underground rivers), all of which are considered by the company to be highly prospective for brine hosted SOP.

Just as 2019 was coming to a close, Trigg Mining announced a new discovery of high-grade SOP at its Lake Throssell SOP project.

The discovery came via hand-auger brine samples that returned high-grades of up to 6,660 milligrams per litre (mg/L) potassium or 14.8 kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3) SOP equivalent.

An average grade of 5,296mg/L potassium, or 11.8kg/m3 SOP equivalent was achieved from 18 samples.

The results set Trigg to the drawing board to immediately plan activities to target the basal sand aquifer of the palaeochannel in 2020, including geophysical surveys and exploration drilling.

The company plans an initial air core drilling program in 2020 to map and sample the underlying palaeochannel in conjunction with additional near-surface sampling, with the aim of establishing an initial JORC Mineral Resource.

The early indication of potential mineralisation led the company to apply for two new tenements to the north and the south of Lake Throssell along the interpreted underlying palaeochannel, securing the Lake Throssell system, taking the project area to 752sqkm, all of which it considers prospective for SOP mineralisation with a 106km trend.

“The Lake Throssell Sulphate of Potash project is shaping up to be a significant SOP project,” Paterson said.

“These high-grade results across the playa and the potential scale of the underlying palaeochannel makes this discovery one of the most important for Australia’s emerging SOP industry and our nation’s food security.”

Trigg struck an agreement to purchase a tenement covering the western portion of Lake Rason, paying $20,000 for exploration licence E38/3437.

The tenement is not expected to be granted until Q3 FY20, however Trigg believes the additional ground in the Lake Rason area has the potential to enhance the anticipated Mineral Resource estimate following completion of sampling and drilling programs with 10km of direct lake trend to be added to the existing 42km lake trend.

Early exploration work carried out by the company has established a JORC Code-compliant Exploration Target at the Lake Rason prospect and identified the palaeochannel and SOP mineralisation at the Lake Hope Campbell prospect.

 

Email: info@triggmining.com.au
Web: www.triggmining.com.au
Directors: Keren Paterson, Mike Ralston, Bill Bent

 

 

Lithium Australia

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Pyrometallurgical processing of spent Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can efficiently recover nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese from LIBs, but not the lithium or graphite.

Research and development into the science by Western Australia-based battery recycling company, Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) recognised that a potential alternative to the downsides associated with pyrometallurgical processing is to take a hydrometallurgical approach.

LIBs enable us to cope with the technological demands of modern living, such as maintaining a charge on our mobile phones or computer-related devices, thus keeping us contacted with the rest of the world and our family members in the next room.

They are, presently, our greatest source of portable power yet are, ironically, creating an environmental nightmare.

On a global basis only around nine per cent of spent LIBs are recycled to keep them out of landfill and recover valuable metals.

In Australia, which is supposedly one of the recycling powerhouses, the recycling rate is embarrassing, some would say woeful, coming in at less than three per cent.

What this all means is that the world is missing out on a great opportunity – that being the large quantity of batteries discarded globally which actually represents a potentially significant resource.

Australia is a long way behind the countries that are presently leading the battery recycling wars.

Belgium, South Korea, China and Canada recycle the most batteries, with the metals they contain generally recovered by smelting – or as it is referred to by those in the know – pyrometallurgical processing.

Lithium Australia is developing a hydrometallurgical technique that recovers all metals, including lithium, from spent LIBs.

Lithium Australia has openly declared that its corporate intentions include shoring up an ethical and sustainable supply of energy metals to the battery industry, thus enhancing energy security in the process.

The company is eager to create a circular battery economy and has highlighted the recycling of old lithium-ion batteries to new, is intrinsic to this plan.

In October 2019, Lithium Australia announced it had increased its equity in Envirostream Australia Pty Ltd (EA) to 23.9 per cent.

Envirostream is the only company in Australia with the integrated capacity to collect, sort, shred and separate all the components of spent LIBs.

In December, Lithium Australia completed a JV for joint battery marketing operations with China-based battery and energy storage specialists the DLG Group (DLG).

The JV will trade as Soluna Australia Pty Ltd, and will sell lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and Soluna energy storage products into the rapidly expanding Australian renewables energy market.

Lithium Australia’s 100 per cent-owned subsidiary company, VSPC Ltd has developed advanced processes for manufacturing lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) cathode powders at its R&D and pilot plant facility in Brisbane, Queensland.

The cathode powders produced by VSPC possess simple nanotechnology that produces superior battery cathodes, provides control of composition and particle size in a precise manner and highly reliable quality control with low production costs.

VSPC Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Beijing Saideli Technology Incorporated Company Ltd (SDL) to commercialise VSPC cathode material.

The terms of the MoU include the low-capital establishment of a supply chain for VSPC cathode material in China, and collaboration on a feasibility study for an international cathode material project, beyond China, using VSPC technology.

The MoU was agreed following technical review and discussions based on VSPC’s Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) cathode product.

VSPC is a developer of advanced cathode materials that owns a patented process for the production of lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode materials.

SDL’s experience lies in the design and manufacture of process equipment and extensive experience in the construction, commissioning and operation of chemical process plants, including those for the production of LIB cathode powders.

The market for LFP cathode material is anticipated to enjoy a strong run in the near future with analysts forecasting to grow strongly over the next decade.

In addition to core applications for ebus and stationary storage, heightened demand is expected through substitution (existing) and displacement (expanding) in applications that have traditionally been the domain of lead acid batteries.

This includes, but is not limited to, 12V and 48V applications for micro and mild hybrid powertrains, LSEV (low speed electric vehicles), datacentre UPS and 5G tower backup.

“We see partnering with SDL – which has a demonstrated track record in process development and high-tech process plant delivery – as a great opportunity,” Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin said.

“VSPC’s MoU with SDL provides Lithium Australia with a low-capital pathway to the commercialisation of VSPC cathode powders, in order to meet targets set by our other partners in China.”

 

Email: info@lithium-au.com
Web: www.lithium-au.com
Directors: Adrian Griffin, Bryan Dixon, George Bauk

 

Carawine Resources – WA Mining Club Miner of The Month

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MINER OF THE MONTH: Carawine Resources is an exploration company with the aim of developing economic gold, copper and base metal deposits within Australia.

The company has four projects, each targeting high-grade deposits in well-established mineralised provinces throughout Australia.

 

The company’s main project is the 100 per cent-owned Jamieson project, located near the township of Jamieson in the north-eastern Victorian Goldfields.

The Jamieson project comprises granted exploration licences EL5523 and EL6622, covering an area of approximately 120 square kilometres.

Jamieson contains the Hill 800 gold-copper prospect that was discovered by New Holland Mining in 1994 and the Rhyolite Creek copper-gold and zinc-gold-silver prospect, both of which sit within Cambrian-aged felsic to intermediate volcanics.

The Rhyolite Creek prospect, located about 5km south of Hill 800, was discovered in 2008, by diamond drilling intersecting a zone of strong alteration and sulphide mineralisation returning high-grade zinc, gold and silver from an interpreted seafloor Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) system.

Recent work at the Jamieson project entailed a detailed helicopter-borne magnetic and radiometric (heli-mag) geophysical survey that provided support to the company’s belief in the potential for porphyry targets beneath Hill 800 and Rhyolite Creek, by confirming existing targets and providing a number of exciting new anomalies.

Carawine intends using the results from this survey will to model the size and depth of each anomaly, which can then be prioritised for drill testing.

The study revealed a magnetic high anomaly potentially down-dip from Hill 800 the company interpreted to be characteristic of the typical geophysical response from a mineralised porphyry copper-gold stock and is therefore high on its priority list for modelling and drilling.

The remainder of the company’s portfolio is located in Western Australia, the main focus of which is the Paterson project, situated in the Paterson Province at the eastern edge of the Pilbara Craton.

Neighbourhood wise, the Paterson area hosts some well-heeled residents, including the Telfer gold-copper deposit, and the Nifty and Maroochydore strata-bound copper-(cobalt) deposits.

Carawine’s Paterson project comprises six granted exploration licences and five exploration licence applications straddling an area of around 1,500sqkm across nine regions: Lamil Hills, Trotman South, Red Dog, Baton, Sunday, Cable, Puffer, Eider and Magnus.

Carawine scored a Joint Venture double banger in regards to the Paterson project during 2019.

After adding four new exploration licence applications in the western part of the Paterson Province, Carawine announced a Farm-In and Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Limited (RTX) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO).

The Farm-In and JV will explore Carawine’s Baton (E45/4871 & E45/4955) and Red Dog (E45/4881) Tenements where it has identified more than twenty high-priority target areas, covering a range of potential deposit types in the Paterson region, all requiring follow-up exploration.

“To have one of the world’s largest resources companies committing to significant expenditure on our Baton and Red Dog tenements is a strong endorsement of the prospectivity of the Tenements,” Carawine Resources managing director David Boyd said.

“They have the technical knowledge and resources to rapidly and systematically evaluate the numerous high priority targets at Baton and Red Dog, increasing the chances of a successful discovery.”

Carawine backed this up by striking a Farm-In and JV Agreement with a subsidiary of FMG Resources (ASX: FMG) that will cover exploration of the Lamil Hills (E45/5326), Trotman South (E45/4847) and Sunday (E45/5229) tenements.

Lamil Hills is within 30km to the northwest of Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold-copper mine; Trotman South is 30km to the south of the Telfer mine; and Sunday is within 5km of Metals X’s Maroochydore copper-cobalt deposit.

Under the terms of the agreement FMG will explore Carawine’s eastern Paterson project tenements targeting copper, gold and base metals.

Fortescue is to pay $125,000 cash up front and spend $0.5 million on exploration in the first eighteen months.

Elsewhere in WA, Carawine has the 100 per cent-owned Oakover project, located in the Eastern Pilbara region, comprising fourteen granted exploration licences and one exploration licence application with a total area of about 2,500sqkm.

The Oakover project is prospective for copper, cobalt, manganese and iron.

Last of all, the Fraser Range project includes six granted exploration licences in five areas: Red Bull, Bindii, Big Bullocks, Similkameen and Big Bang.

Carawine has a JV with Independence Group (ASX: IGO) over the Red Bull, Bindii, Big Bullocks and Similkameen tenements, in which IGO currently hold a 51 per cent interest with prospect of earning an additional 19 per cent interest by spending $5 million by the end of 2021.

 

Email: info@carawine.com.au
Web: www.carawine.com.au
Directors: Will Burbury, David Boyd, David Archer

 

Metalicity Confirms Additional Gold Mineralisation at Kookynie

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Metalicity (ASX: MCT) announced intercepts from its September drilling program, claiming they confirm mineralisation extensions past previously developed and drilled areas at the company’s Kookynie project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Metalicity completed a three-hole follow up program that it said reaffirms the excellent exploration potential of the Kookynie gold project.

Results include:

At Leipold
9 metres at 7.31 grams per tonne gold from 34m, including 3m at 7.91g/t gold from 34m; and

4m at 10.4g/t gold from 39m, including 1m returning 31.2g/t gold from 40m.

McTavish
3m at 1.41g/t gold from 73m; and

Champion
1m at 1.35g/t gold from 127m.

According to Metalicity, all holes returned structural continuation of mineralisation and noteworthy intersections.

“While the short program encompassed three drill holes, each was successful in again extending the known mineralisation,” Metalicity managing director Jason Livingstone said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The intercept at Leipold illustrates the high-grade nature that is possible within these structures.

“I am very excited to see the completion of the current rights issue on offer and continue to develop the Kookynie gold project, which represents a significant opportunity for Metalicity.”

The Kookynie project is host to six prospects: Champion, McTavish, Leipold, Diamantina, Cosmopolitan and Cumberland.

 

Web: www.metalicity.com.au

 

Cygnus Gold (ASX: CY5)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Cygnus Gold (ASX:CY5) has extended nickel anomalism on the back of results from soil sampling over the Bencubbin North nickel and base metals prospect within the company’s wholly owned Bencubbin project in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.

Cygnus Gold has also announced a high-grade gold intersection at the company’s Stanley project in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia.

The Resources Roadhouse caught up with Cygnus Gold managing director James Merrillees at the RIU Resources Investor Roadshow in Melbourne to get the low down on proceedings.

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With the surface sampling having extended the nickel-copper and copper-lead-zinc prospectivity at Bencubbin North, outlining widespread PGE anomalism consistent with potential for magmatic nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation, Cygnus Gold has declared it intends carrying out infill sampling to refine targets for drill testing with sampling to commence on the highest priority targets.

Cygnus is also planning to commence sampling on the Bencubbin South tenement over extensions of the Bencubbin Greenstone as well as further sampling of the Mandiga Trend, located at the southern end of Bencubbin North project, which it considers highly prospective for base metals.

Drilling is planned in the second half of the year once it has received and interpreted these results.

 

Email: info@cygnusgold.com

Web: www.cygnusgold.com

 

Triton Minerals (ASX: TON)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Triton Minerals (ASX: TON) is an emerging graphite producer with three world class graphite projects in the Cabo Delgado region of Northern Mozambique that the company considers to be, arguably, one of the world’s best locations for graphite.

The Triton Board has approved development of the company’s flagship Upulo (Ancuabe) graphite project and early works activities are well underway with mining and processing scheduled commence in the first half of 2020.

Ancuabe’s large flake and high purity graphite is a key differentiator and is well positioned to be a market leader in the expandable graphite market.

The Roadhouse spent an interesting couple of minutes with Triton Minerals managing director Peter Canterbury at the RIU Resources Investor Roadshow in Melbourne.

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Ancuabe is complemented by two other assets that provide a project pipeline for development or Joint Venture partnership and include the world’s largest combined graphite and vanadium deposit, Nicanda Hill, that Triton believes to be ideally suited to the battery market.

 

Email: info@tritonminerals.com

Web: www.tritonminerals.com

 

Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Galan Lithium Limited (ASX: GLN) released the maiden JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource estimate for the Candelas lithium brine project located in Catamarca province, Argentina.

The indicated mineral resource estimate for the higher grade Candelas North zone is 684,850 tonnes of
contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) product grading at 672mg/l lithium(at 500mg/l Li cut off).

The company said the Indicated Resource forms a solid basis for an upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study and has exceeded its expectations by further validating the high-grade, low impurity nature of the Candelas project and our strategy to fast-track Candelas towards commercial development.

With further drilling, Galan is confident of delivering future upgrades to this resource.”

The Resources Roadhouse was able to catch up with Galan Lithium managing director at the recent RIU Resources Roadshow in Melbourne.

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Galan Lithium also recently announced preliminary assay results from its maiden drill hole at Pata Pila, which forms part of the company’s Western Basin projects located on the Hombre Muerto salar in Argentina.

Galan Lithium’s Pata Pila licence covers a large alluvial fan adjacent to Livent Corporation’s (NYSE: LVHM) tenure covering the western margin of the Hombre Muerto salar.

The drillhole intercepted several brine horizons varying from 25m to 258m in thickness and was completed at 718 metres after encountering basement at a depth of 713 metres.

Preliminary results from four samples returned consistent, high lithium grades greater than 900mg/l lithium with low impurity levels.

Galan Lithium is confident that Galan has the potential to increase its lithium resource inventory beyond its Candelas project.

 

Web: www.galanlithium.com.au

 

Galileo Mining (ASX: GAL)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Galileo Mining (ASX: GAL) is undertaking exploration activities at the company’s Empire Rose and Yardilla South prospects in Western Australia’s highly prospective Fraser Range Belt.

Both the Empire Rose and Yardilla South prospects are well developed targets where initial shallow drilling, geophysical surveying, and geochemistry suggests potential for economic mineralisation at depths between 150m and 250m below surface.

The company is also conducting the first drilling program at the company’s Subzero prospect near Norseman, also in Western Australia.

The Resources Roadhouse spoke with Galileo Mining managing director Brad Underwood and technical director Noel O’Brien at the RIU Resources Investor Roadshow in Melbourne.

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Galileo Mining drilled six Reverse Circulation (RC) at the Subzero prospect, constituting the first drilling program focussed on testing beneath a zone of outcrop with anomalous surface copper assays.

Three holes (NRC241 to 243) were drilled on the same section to provide an understanding of the geometry and potential for mineralisation.

A further three holes (NRC244 to 246) were drilled beneath the outcrop 25 metres north and south of the drill section.

Galileo declared the drilling had intersected highly anomalous zinc and copper in all six drill holes.

 

Email: admin@galmining.com.au

Web: www.galmining.com.au

 

Blackstone Minerals (ASX: BSX)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Blackstone Minerals (ASX: BSX) announced PGE assays from the maiden drill results at the company’s Ta Khoa nickel project in Northern Vietnam.

The Resources Roadhouse spoke with Blackstone Minerals managing director Scott Williamson at the RIU Resources Investor Roadshow in Melbourne.

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Blackstone Minerals declared the maiden PGE assays have potential to greatly the economics of the large unmined disseminated sulphide prospect at Ban Phuc with the initial three holes delivering results of:

BP19-01
22 metres at 0.76 per cent nickel, 0.13 per cent copper, 0.01 per cent cobalt and 0.4 grams per tonne PGE from 138m;

BP19-02
17.8m at 1 per cent nickel, 0.09 per cent copper, 0.01 per cent cobalt and 0.74g/t PGE from 106.6m; and

BP19-03
45.5m at 1.2 per cent nickel, 0.17 per cent copper, 0.01 per cent cobalt and 0.35g/t PGE from 56.5m.

Blackstone explained that its assays are the first ever PGE assays for the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide zone (DSS), as previous owners focused entirely on massive sulphide veins (MSV) and only minimal PGE assays have been taken throughout the Ta Khoa nickel project.

The company’s drilling of the Ban Phuc DSS has delivered peak assays up to 3.4 per cent nickel and 2g/t PGE.

Blackstone considers the previously unrecognised PGE grades associated with the Ban Phuc DSS suggest a potential by-product credit could enhance the future economics of the Ta Khoa nickel project.

“Our maiden PGE assays from the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide are a game-changer for the Ta Khoa nickel project,” Blackstone Mineral managing director Scott Williamson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We look forward to better understanding the project’s full potential as we receive further assays from our drilling program.”

Blackstone is continuing with drilling at Ta Khoa to test high impact targets generated from a recently completed maiden induced polarisation (IP) survey.

Assays are also pending for the next four drill holes from the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide zone.
The Ta Khoa nickel project is located 160 kilometres west of Hanoi.

The project includes the existing Ban Phuc nickel mine, which was built to Australian Standards and is currently under care and maintenance.

The Ban Phuc nickel mine operated as a mechanised underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016.

 

Email: admin@blackstoneminerals.com.au

 

Web: www.blackstoneminerals.com.au

 

Kopore Metals (ASX: KMT)

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Kopore Metals (ASX: KMT) is currently conducting a program of diamond drilling at the company’s Namibian Otjari Domal prospect in Namibia.

Kopore Metals is drilling at the Otjari Domal prospect having completed a NSAMT ground geophysical survey, identifying a potentially shallow D’Kar/Ngwako Pan footwall contact position within 200 metres of surface.

The company’s technical team has interpreted the Otjari Domal prospect as a potential subsurface domal structure and the faulted south-western continuation of the identified Qembo Dome, known to host copper mineralisation.

This current drilling program is the Kopore’s first campaign into the Otjari Domal prospect.

The Resources Roadhouse spoke with Kopore Metals managing director Simon Jackson at the RIU Resources Investor Roadshow in Melbourne.

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Kopore Metals is actively exploring its copper-silver prospects on the emerging world class Kalahari Copper Belt, located in the Republic of Botswana and Namibia.

Kopore is exploring for stratabound copper-silver deposits across its sixteen 100 per cent-owned prospecting licenses in Botswana and eight prospecting licences in Namibia, for a total of 14,363 square kilometres on the world class Kalahari Copper Belt.

Kopore believes the Kalahari Copper Belt can provide the potential for large scale discovery.

 

Email: info@koporemetals.com

Web: www.koporemetals.com