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Channel sampling from the 6th underground level – defined by a quartz vein system – identified assays such as 28 metres at 45.2 grams per tonne of gold (Au) and 3.2% copper (Cu); and 9.5m at 14.1g/t Au and 3.2% Cu – in underground crosscut and along-strike crosscut respectively.

One drill result – intersected 12m below the sixth level – showed 0.97m at 56.2g/t Au, including 0.15m at 233.9g/t Au; visible gold was also picked up in two holes which had been drilled between 40m and 60m above the sixth level.

“With a large and robust shallow copper resource and clear exploration pathway in hand at Horden Lake, we are broadening our program to our BAGB projects; where bonanza Cu, Ni, and Au grades are guiding us towards the next discovery,” managing director Ivan Fairhall said after sharing the news.

Excitingly, the review has allowed Pivotal to delineate a broad prospective corridor measuring 600m in strike with numerous signature Cu-Au quartz veining.

The overall BAGB project is focused on copper, nickel and PGE (platinum group metals) mineralisation, and the Lorraine gold targets form only one part of this, being connected to the Lorraine Mine.

The Lorraine Mine is a Cu-Ni magmatic system which had first operated in the 1960s, producing 661,000 tonnes at 0.90% Cu, 0.38% Ni, and 0.6 g/t Au.

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“These gold targets at Lorraine are an exciting addition to our already attractive Cu-Niprojects at BAGB,” Mr Fairhall explained.

“The bonanza Au grades, and their correlation over a significantly broad area, provides very strong encouragement for discovery in this area which has largely unexplored for Au, with the historical focus on Cu-Ni previously mined.”

PVT has been trading at 0.6 cents heading into Wednesday open.

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The company today told its investors it would aim to optimise expenses and lower overheads, from a starting point of $15 million cash in hand.

This would mean prioritising drilling exploration like its second-phase program at the Vuzel gold project in Bulgaria and an approach to non-core projects, which could range from divestment to entering joint-venture agreements.

Based on its solid balance sheet, the company is also engaging with several public and private companies – having screened more than 800 of them.

While Andover would remain a core asset for Raiden, its development will remain on hold for the time being given the state of lithium and the need for additional Native Title agreements to be completed for further drilling.

“With current market conditions presenting both challenges and new opportunities, we have refined Raiden’s strategy to focus on disciplined capital deployment, portfolio optimisation, and proactive growth,” Dusko Ljubojevic, Raiden’s managing director, explained to shareholders.

“Our around $15 million cash position provides us with the flexibility to advance key projects like the Vuzel gold drilling program while evaluating new opportunities with near-term value potential.”

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On the same day, Raiden reported on its activities for the March quarter, saying it had received assays from maiden drilling at Andover, RC (reverse circulation) at Mt Sholl -a nickel-copper-PGE project, and aircore drilling at the Arrow gold project. All are located in Western Australia.

RDN has been 0.5cps – a rise of 25% since the market opened.

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The prospect was discovered in late 2019 and is connected to a multi-element (gold-copper-zinc-nickel) east-west trending geochemical anomaly.

Its extension was confirmed as part of Empire’s 15-hole, 1,236-metre reverse circulation drilling program from January, from which all assays have now been received.

Among other achievements of the program were intersections of high-grade copper at another prospect, YT12, which included six metres at 8,821 parts per million copper and 0.26 grams per tonne gold from 82 metres, including one metre at 3.69% copper and 0.77g/t Au from 83 metres.

The drilling sought to test mineralisation in five different copper-gold target areas across the project, which is located 470 kilometres northeast of Perth.

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Other results – from three different holes – included 16 metres at 4,140ppm Cu and 0.11g/t Au from 96 metres; 12 metres at 4,549ppm Cu from 76 metres; and 12 metres at 4,633ppm Cu & 0.10 g/t Au from 32 metres.

Empire followed this work up with more RC drilling in March; results are pending.

ERL shares have been trading at 0.3 cents this morning.

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The total resource is estimated at 1,968 million tonnes at 0.27% nickel, 131 parts per million cobalt, 82ppm copper, 17 parts per billion platinium+ palladium, and S:Ni 0.9.

Within this, WMG has reported an indicated resource of 565M tonnes grading 0.28% Ni, 134ppm Co, 104ppm Cu, and 18ppb Pt+Pd S:Ni 1.0; and an inferred resource of 1,403 million tonnes grading 0.27% Ni, 129ppm Co, 73ppm Cu, 17ppb Pt+Pd S:Ni 0.9.

“This is a very significant milestone for both the project and the Company and my thanks and congratulations go to the entire exploration team for the progress achieved over the last three years,” managing director Dr Caedmon Marriott said.

“Our exploration results from Mulga Tank have been continuously building as we unlockknowledge of the complex and this mineral resource marks a culmination of that.”

This recently completed resource estimate shows Western Mines Group’s resource revolves around a large-scale nickel sulphide deposit which is amendable to open pit mining; in addition, the parameters of contained metal within the deposit are: 5.3Mt Ni, 257Kt Co, 161Kt Cu, and 1.1Moz Pt + Pd.

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“It demonstrates what we have long stated: The main body of the Complex hosts a globally significant nickel sulphide deposit, we believe the largest nickel sulphide deposit in Australia and top 10 in the world,” Dr Marriott explained.

WMG shares have been trading at 11.5 cents on Thursday.

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The drilling program by First Quantum Minerals comprised 10 RC holes for 2,466 metres, testing potential extensions to known nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group elements (PGE) mineralisation.

In 24SHLRC005, this revealed 63 metres at 0.43% Ni+Cu (nickel and copper) and 148.45 ppm (parts per million) cobalt (Co). In another hole – 24SHLRC010 – mineralisation included 47 metres at 0.48% Ni+Cu, 174.11 ppm Co. Analysis of PGE and gold (Au) in both holes will be forthcoming.

In a third hole, the drilling program picked up a new discovery dubbed the ‘Keel Target’. This comprised 43 metres at 0.35% Ni+Cu, 136.35 ppm Co.

Managing director Dusko Ljubojevic said the holes drilled in this program had been targeting mineralisation outside the mineral resource areas defined thus far.

“Compellingly, half of the drill holes have intercepted mineralisation which suggests potential to increase the existing resource,” he said.

“This drilling has also identified new targets in the ‘Keel’ area, which had not been recognised to date. With PGE and Au assays still pending, we are hopeful these results may add further value to the current drill intervals.”

Raiden hares fell after the news, and at 15:56 AEDT, the company was trading at 0.5 cents – a drop of 16.67% since the market opened.

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In the wake of the invasion, uncertainty and tension saw the latter push up to a price of $120 per barrel, and this period was followed by a spate of sanctions against Russia – chiefly targeting oil, gas and coal – from the United States, Canada, the European Union and other Western entities.

(This tendency has continued too, with the EU this week signing off on its 16th sanction package, which includes bans on the provision of services and technology that could facilitate completion of Russian LNG or crude oil products.)

In a general sense, the war prompted conversations about the need for countries to ensure their supply chains are both strong and diversified.

This is then augmented by the headwinds from recent U.S. tariff policies.

But Donald Trump’s recent interventions in international diplomacy concerning the war have introduced another topic into the chat: Ukraine’s richness in critical minerals, which the U.S. President wants to get his hands on.

The idea echoes early pronouncements from Trump that the States could acquire Greenland, an autonomous territory in the kingdom of Denmark rich in uranium, rare earth minerals, and iron ore.

After that, he moved his sights to the benefits that could be yielded from Ukraine in return for U.S. military aid. Initially, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected a proposal that would have handed over half of the country’s critical mineral assets to the United States.

But after meetings which began over the weekend, it appears that Ukraine’s leaders have agreed to a deal which would enable the joint development of the country’s assets in return for strengthened relations with, and military support from, the United States.

According to media reports, the deal is set to be formalised on Friday, with Zelenskyy planning to fly to Washington for this purpose.

For much of its history, Ukraine was known for its contribution to agriculture: Unsurprisingly, given it accounts for a third of the globe’s most fertile land, with wheat, maize, and sunflower oil being some of its main exports in this sector.

But the country also holds 5% of the world’s mineral resources, including 20,000 deposits of 116 different types, of which only 15% (or 3,055) were active. Of the active deposits, 147 were metallic; 4,676 non-metallic.

More specifically, Ukraine has been noted for its supply of rare earth metals, titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel.

Titanium – a metal essential for the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries – is a particularly attractive commodity for the U.S., and Ukraine holds the world’s largest reserves and was a key supplier to the military sector before the invasion began.

Alongside this is lithium – a commodity whose fortune has fluctuated in recent years, as oversupply in China led to a price plunge, although this is a situation expected to correct itself in the next year or so, as supply wanes again.

Ukraine is home to one of Europe’s biggest confirmed reserves of the metal (at an estimate of 500,000 tonnes), including the Shevchenkivske field and the Kruta Balka block.

Since these are in regions close to the conflict – Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia respectively – their exploitation has not been possible for several years.

The country is also the fifth largest producer of gallium – an increasingly sought-after metal, whose price rose significantly last December due to Chinese export restrictions – in addition to supplying 90% of neon gas which is essential to the U.S. chip industry.

As nations vie to secure the materials critical for the ‘electrification of the globe’ and clean energy transition, Trump’s intentions in Eastern Europe may be ethically questionable, but not surprising.

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This includes a Cu-PGE-Au concentrate grading 22-26% Cu, 45-60 grams per tonne (g/t) of 3E, and a Ni-Co-PGE concentrate grading 7.5-8.7% Ni, 0.8% Co, 18-20g/t 3E.

This means a complex and expensive hydrometallurgical process for this ore can be avoided for the Gonneville project.

Specifically, this will be unnecessary for the nickel concentrate; it significantly lessens technical risk, process complexity, and overall costs.

Chalice also found conventional CIL leaching could recover additional palladium and gold from the flotation tails, with recent optimisations resulting in significantly lower reagent consumption and operating costs relative to the 2023 Scoping Study.

The work is being done as part of the prefeasibility for Gonneville, which is expected to be complete by mid-2025.

Managing director and CEO Alex Dorsch said this was a major score for the company.

“The ability to produce a saleable nickel concentrate across the grade spectrum of the entire Gonneville Resource is a major breakthrough and fundamentally simplifies the world-class Gonneville Project,” he said.

“This is the step change we have been hoping for over the last two years.

“Removing the need for a hydrometallurgical process materially reduces both the capital and operating costs and, together with the optimisations being introduced to the flowsheet, is expected to deliver a significant improvement in project margins across all high-grade and low-grade phases of a bulk open-pit mine plan.

“The simplified flowsheet also has much lower risk profile and gives the Project a smoother and more rapid pathway to development.”

Chalice has been trading at $1.20.

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Samples taken from reverse circulation (RC) drilling) done at Mt Vernon were subjected to mineralogical analysis of samples, with these confirming the presence of disseminated nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) sulphides (pentlandite and chalcopyrite respectively) in numerous drill holes.

‘Micro-XRF’ analysis was first trialled on a small number of samples from the August 2024 drilling program – which had been funded by EIS (Exploration Incentive Scheme) – before systematic analysis was run on 159 samples of mafic cumulate rocks across 7 out of 9 holes drilled at the site.

This – according to Miramar executive chairman Allan Kelly – shows Bangemall to be a major province for nickel and copper, potentially hosting large mafic-hosted magmatic Ni-Cu-Co-PGE sulphide deposits.

Crucially, Miramar has first-mover status and a dominant land position, through its 100% control of granted Exploration Licences and Applications over 2,190 square kilometres of territory comprising the Bangemall Project.

“We targeted the Bangemall region on the basis of several regional-scale data sets which indicated the potential for Norilsk-style mafic intrusion hosted magmatic Ni-Cu-Co-PGE mineralisation,” Mr Kelly said.

“We now have proof that an extensive volume of mafic magma carrying nickel and copper has assimilated sulphate minerals and then undergone differentiation to produce mafic cumulate rocks containing disseminated nickel and copper sulphides.

“Now that we have proven our initial concepts, the aim is to find out where those sulphides have accumulated to form an economic mineral deposit.”

Miramar has been trading at 0.4 cents.

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The ground’s being aggressively explored following a recent ‘bargain basement’ acquisition by WIN Metals Ltd (ASX:WIN) – and the company’s not disappointed, as it’s quickly adding up the ounces. Last count, 357,000 ounces, in fact.

Now before we tell you more about that, let’s look at what led WIN on a gold project treasure hunt – why it set out to find such an opportunity, when it already had promising projects primed for development.

It’s all about that often unpredictable commodity game. Shifts in demand and pricing can be difficult to foresee.

In recent years, commodity prices have seemed particularly volatile – it’s hard for companies to set a course, and there’s a whole lot of risk for investors.

What it means is that as commodities fall in and out of favour, mining and exploration companies need to quickly manoeuvre and adapt, always having one eye open for new opportunities as macro tailwinds pass and headwinds hit.  

Looking at right now: No one seems quite sure about the iron ore price, for example. And some of the big miners’ share prices have dampened as a result.

The copper price spiked last May but has pulled back over factors including Chile supplies, and uncertainty around what Trump’s mooted tariffs will mean for trade.

Of course, the lithium price is now miles below its highs of late 2022 – its boom/bust has been nothing short of dramatic.

Nickel had a fall from grace that’s hit companies including former market darling Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) – hard. Plummeting from near USD$50,000 a tonne in May 2022, on news Indonesia had quickly grown its nickel sector breeding significant over-supply. This month it touched a four-year low of USD$15,000 a tonne.

Chalice had a share price above $8 on the Gonneville platinum group element (PGE), nickel, copper and cobalt discovery a couple of years back and the WA Government deemed it a ‘Strategic Project.’

Despite that validation, the share price is at $1.20. The Gonneville project, just 70km from Perth, remains at the pre-feasibility stage.

Before that dramatic crash, WIN had also built a solid nickel resource at its Mt Edwards project near Kalgoorlie in WA’s Southeastern Goldfields region. While that’s clearly not so exciting to investors right now, much like Chalice, the company’s management is confidently banking on a nickel resurgence one day. And it’s good to note the asset amid WIN’s overall project portfolio.

So WIN Metals (ASX:WIN) developed a first-rate nickel resource in Western Australia and it still has it. 

But WIN didn’t wait around when the nickel price fell; it knew it had to shift priorities – as fast as possible (while strictly sensible).

While knowing it had a strong nickel play (and lithium too – but that’s yet another story and another asset), WIN’s management made the call to pivot – and it has.

It has a gold resource to build up at its Butchers Creek project in WA’s far north.

We’ll talk about that opportunity amid a hot gold market in a moment, but what we emphasise in this story is that commodities are cyclical – and so by retaining out-of-favour assets and having diversity now, a company like WIN is primed to make the most of all these opportunities when everything aligns – when there’s a resurgence in demand for each. 

As MD and CEO Steve Norregaard says: There is immense “latent” value in WIN which can be quickly realised when the time is right.

WIN acquired Butchers Creek last August, and since then, has been busy moving through reconnaissance, resource definition, and exploration drilling work at the site near Halls Creek.

Of course, it’s never easy for companies that find themselves starting afresh to garner shareholder buy-in and excitement. It’s tough when you’re shedding legacy disappointments that stem largely from commodity boom and bust cycles outside a company’s control.

But Norregaard points out WIN was not going to stand still and wait for the nickel and lithium fortunes to turn around. Who knows when that will be? 

“Hope isn’t a good strategy and hoping that the nickel price would recover wasn’t on our agenda,” he says. 

“Less than two years ago the company had a market cap of over $100 million based on nickel and nickel alone. In the time that we’ve been listed, we’ve invested in that nickel resource, we’ve upgraded our resource base, we’ve completed a scoping study, and we’re primed ready for development.

“It might not be this year, it might not be next year, but there will be a day when nickel comes back into favour and for the company, it’s a huge amount of latent value. 

“I think Indonesia’s started to realise the error of their ways… that massive amount of nickel has seen the price come down so that even in Indonesia – they’re not making a substantial amount of money.

“So, we think the market will address that and we’ll see an uplift in the nickel price in the medium term.”

Here’s a good spot to mention the lithium WIN has in its portfolio too.

It’s at that same 240 square kilometre Mt Edwards project, which not only has a mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 13.04 million tonnes at 1.45% nickel for 188,160 tonnes of nickel, but also has the Faraday-Trainline lithium play; contiguous to Mt Edwards, and with an MRE of 1.96 million tonnes at 0.69% lithium oxide.

“We’re in a position where we didn’t expect to find any lithium. We made a maiden discovery and fast-tracked that to a position where we thought we had direct shipping opportunity,” he said.

“However, the lithium price beat us. Now that sits there as another asset in our portfolio.  

“Plus, there is an excellent amount of exploration upside from lithium perspective when you consider many of our neighbours in the region are very active in that space.”

Those neighbours include Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) at Bald Hill and Mt Marion, Maximus Resources (ASX:MXR) to the north, Develop Global (ASX:DVP) to the south, and Kali Metals (ASX:KM1) on WIN’s eastern tenement boundary.

Norregaard and his team have been committed to ensuring whatever pivot was made, it was going to be worthwhile, with strong short-term upside potential.

With Butchers Creek, he says they’ve landed on a “forgotten” gold region. The project has a gold deposit that produced 52,000 ounces of gold from open pit mining over two years in the 1990s. Ripe for review.

“The location hasn’t seen any significant amount of exploration in the modern era,” Norregaard says.

“We’re certainly keen to see the real potential of the area.” 

Since moving in, WIN has been able to confirm a high-grade mineral resource of around 357,000 ounces (5.6 million tonnes at two grams per tonne) from two resource targets nearby.

They’ve also identified immediate near-mine drill targets, as well as multiple high-order opportunities from which to grow the resource base.

Within three months of moving in, WIN reported strong results from the Golden Crown North deposit, with all holes drilled intersecting high-grade gold. Better still, it could confirm high-grade mineralisation extended 140 metres below the Golden Crown resource, 40 metres deeper than previously modelled.

Intercepts included six metres at 10.85g/t of gold from 253 metres (140 metres below mineral resource), including three metres at 21.07g/t, and two metres at 5.05g/t from 240 metres. 

Late last year, WIN told investors about a second tranche of infill drilling, which had yielded results such as 98 metres at 1.47g/t of gold from 251 metres, including 13 metres at 2.99g/t; and 77 metres at 1.68g/t from 251 metres, including 11 metres at 2.51g/t – both at the central hinge and eastern limb areas.

Steve Norregaard believes the company could potentially have a large-scale discovery at Butchers Creek – to the point he’s happy to announce publicly that he has his sights set on production.

“We acquired the Butchers Creek gold project at a bargain basement price, and with an already established 350,000-ounce gold resource, of which a significant proportion is in indicated status,” he said. 

“We’ve hit the ground running; we’ve confirmed the resource in terms of drilling announcements that we’ve made to date. 

“Exploration upside in terms of seeing those resources grow is abundantly clear for us. 

“We can see those resources growing. From a greenfields perspective there are over 60 occurrences of gold on our tenure, so an abundance of exploration upside.

“Finding Butcher’s Creek has been a real positive for the company, but, I’ll say it again, the latent value within the company is second to none.”

Balancing these multiple projects certainly sets WIN up for a busy few years, but the company’s shifting strategy is what makes its story an exciting one, according to Norregaard.

“That’s the opportunity: From where we’ve been, we had to re-engineer the company moving in a new direction,” he said.

“The real opportunity is to see a large gold resource – we know it is one that has the capacity to grow – along with that latent value in our nickel assets.  

“All-in-all that really makes it an opportunity that if the time’s right, and if nickel was to make a slight resurgence, there’s a huge amount of value in this organisation.” 

WIN’s ability to make this transition will be supported by a solid executive team, which brings together multiple areas of experience within mining and corporate spheres. 

“Many of the individuals behind the organization come from a production background,” Mr Norregaard said.

“We’ve got a strong diverse array of skills at board level, with a chairman that has a corporate background, an exploration geologist and a processing engineer, so we cover all the spectrums.” 

Make no mistake, Norregaard is determined to WIN amid this gold rush, this time around. 

WIN has been trading at 1.9 cents.

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The flowsheet refinement work is being done as part of the company’s wider Jaguar Value Engineering Process (JVEP), which aims to optimise the project – defining it specifically as one dedicated to producing concentrate, and building on the feasibility study published in July 2024.

Achieving a concentrate comprising high-grade nickel and low impurities is key to the JVEP since it would mean a reduction in the volume of concentrate to be shipped from the project, therefore reducing freight costs and boosting project economics.

The concentrate result was taken from a recent pilot plant trial at Jaguar – based on the new concentrate design – which delivered more than 30 kilograms of exceptionally high-grade concentrate, grading 34%.

The latter grade was possible due to Jaguar’s ore being millerite rich, one of the top forms of nickel sulphides.

This goes well beyond what is currently on the market, with traditional nickel concentrate normally grading between 12% and 14%. The one produced by Jaguar appears closer to the more lucrative Mixed Sulphide Precipitate (MSP).

However, Centaurus believes the 34% recoveries could push up to 70% once mine planning and geometallurgical test work are complete as part of JVEP. Samples of the current concentrate are being prepared to assist with off-take and strategic partnering discussions.

Centaurus has been trading at 36 cents.

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The results build on a copper-nickel discovery – reported in October 2024 – which entailed high-grade massive sulphides in one drilled hole, OVD021.

One of the holes whose assays were reported today – OVD027 – proved the continuation of this mineralisation, with an intercept of 6.1 metres of 4.16% Cu, 3.51% Ni, 0.93g/t E3, and 0.13% Co from 98.2 metres.

This was encountered between broader high-grade zones of a dense disseminated intercept whose dimensions included 26.2 metres of 0.44% Cu, 0.52% Ni, 0.12g/t E3, and 0.03% Co from 72.0 metres, plus a net textured intercept – 15.3 metres of 1.15% Cu, 0.79% Ni, 0.35g/t E3, and 0.04% Co from 104.3 metres.

Additionally, hole OVD026 confirmed a high-grade broad intersection in Oval’s central area, including 1.8 metres of 3.21% Cu, 3.32% Ni, 0.69g/t E3, and 0.14% Co from 105.0 metres.

This occurred within a broader mineralisation of 19.8 metres of 1.23% Cu, 0.98% Ni, 0.36g/t E3, and 0.05% Co from 91.2 metres.

This hole is 100 metres northwest of the mineralisation found in OVD021.

Managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said these results continued AZ9’s positive exploration story in this region.

“The 2024 phase one and two drilling and exploration programs have confirmed the broad presence of high-grade mineralisation in the Oval gabbroic intrusion,” he said.

“The grades intercepted in some of the drillholes are exceptional and may be indicative of broader potential over a larger area, given Oval is a greenfields discovery.

“The 2025 exploration program will focus on obtaining information on the size/metal content potential of the Oval Cu-Ni-PGE mineral system as well as targeting the possible deeper magmatic sources at Oval.”

AZ9 shares dropped after the news was reported, and at 14:13 AEDT, they were trading at 4.8 cents – a fall of 11.11% since the market opened.

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A program of geochemical aircore drilling has found notable copper intersections combined with anomalous gold, cobalt, and nickel in a corridor extending 800 metres southwest of earlier gold and Ni-Cu-Co bearing sulphide intersections.

The sulphide intersections are themselves associated with a strong EM anomaly at Discovery West, southwest of Sherlock Bay’s existing Ni-Cu-Co sulphide mineral resource.

Aircore results included 18 metres at 0.25% Cu (copper), 0.03 g/t Au (gold), 133ppm (parts per million) Co (cobalt), and 178 ppm Ni (nickel) from six metres in one hole; 15 metres at 0.18% Cu, 0.06 g/t Au, 136ppm Co from nine metres in another; and eight metres at 0.21% Cu, 0.03 g/t Au, 116ppm Co, 113ppm Ni from 15 metres in a third.

Altogether, Sabre drilled 52 vertical, 40-metre spaced, aircore holes for 1,318 metres across 7 traverses, with the aim of testing previously identified electromagnetic sulphide targets within the Sholl Shear-mafic intrusive corridor.

In 2023, diamond drilling intersected gold with Ni-Cu-Co bearing sulphide mineralisation on the sheared contact between mafic intrusive and felsic rocks, and the significant copper results noted this time around were taken from three aircore traverses southwest along strike from the same site.

The discovered copper trend seems to be increasing in grade and remains open to the southwest, where it extends towards Sabre’s E47/4777 application.

Sabre has been trading at one cent.

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The company ran a VTEM Max Survey across two key sites at the Gascoyne region project, finding three conductive targets at the Money Intrusion (which is focused on copper, nickel and platinum grade elements, or PGE), and one strong conductive response at the Munyaballya Well uranium target.

One of the targets at the Money Intrusion – MI_103 – is believed to be a bedrock source measuring 1,000 metres in strike by 250 metres down dip and 10 metres wide dipping vertically, with modelling supporting this.

Based on the same modelling, Augustus believes there is potential for the conductor to be the result of separate conductor plates dipping at a shallower angle.

The conductive response at Munyaballya Well was found to be close to the surface, measuring 10 kilometres along strike, and between 250 metres and 1.5 kilometres wide.

It was interpreted to correspond to uranium prospective clay zones within the dolomitic marl (mudstone) horizons.

Augustus aims to kick off a suite of exploration work at Ti-Tree in 2025, including heritage surveys, ground geophysics and aircore drilling to advance the Money Intrusion Cu-Ni-PGE.

General manager of exploration Andrew Ford said the company would have much material to work on based on these survey results.

“The interpretation and subsequent modelling by SGC have defined strong conductors onthe Money Intrusion with further ground-based EM recommended as a follow-up to definethe plates for drill testing,” he said.

“At Munaballya Well the near-surface zone of conductive clay is shown to be extensive andprospective for uranium mineralisation as demonstrated by radiometric anomaly. This zonewould be best tested by shallow aircore drilling.”

Augustus has been selling at 4.2 cents through Thursday’s trade.

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One drill hole at the North Oval area of the play intersected 3.6 metres of massive sulphide from 48.2 metres down hole within 12.4 metres of broad, disseminated or net textured mineralisation from 44.6 metres.

The location of this mineralisation is also prescient, as the shallow intercept found in this hole is 500 metres northwest of a previously reported massive sulphide intercept, which had comprised 8.8 metres at 6.08% copper, 3.19% nickel, 1.63 grams per tonne E3, 0.11% cobalt.

Given the identification of two massive sulphide intercepts within Oval’s Cu-Ni-PGE mineralsystem, AZ9 is anticipating others could be found here.

Managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said the company would continue to explore this potential through its drilling work next year at the project, which is located in Mongolia’s Gobi-Altai region.

“I am excited to share that massive sulphide mineralisation is confirmed at the North Oval area, a further 500 metres northwest of the previously intercepted and reported massive sulphide in drillhole OVD021, which is located at the central part of the Oval gabbroic intrusion,” he said.

“It supports that the mineralisation system at the Oval has the potential to accumulate high-grade ores in multiple parts of the system, including the magmatic source that may be at depth, and which will be the key focus of 2025 exploration.”

AZ9 shares moved up on the news, and at 10:25 AEDT, they were trading at 6.6 cents – a rise of 11.86% since the market opened.

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Copper grades of more than 1% have been present in all four holes in this campaign – including the fourth and deepest one – indicating Nimy is on the money with its interpretation of a high-grade copper lens with a downhole depth of 126 metres to 298 metres.

The company completed its fourth and final hole at Masson, picking up intercepts such as:

The drilling program also revealed copper – in addition to nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and silver – was present within sulphide mineralisation at Masson, extending along a strike of 240 metres, and relatively thick, with a downhole width of 62 metres.

This mineralisation has been intersected from 102m to 312m downhole and remains open down dip and along strike.

Even more promising, Nimy has found copper pathfinder molybdenum of up to 804 parts per million present and above the copper lens, with soil sampling showing a 1.4 kilometre molybdenum in soil anomaly located from 700 metres south along strike of Masson.

Executive chairman Luke Hampson said the results were promising in relation to predictions for the copper lens.

“The presence of high-grade copper within the deepest hole at Masson extends the copper mineralized lens to an interpreted 186m downhole interval of greater than 1% copper,” he said.

“The copper lens remains open at depth and beyond the 240m established strike.

“A molybdenum anomaly halos the copper lens and our recent soil sampling program has highlighted a 1.4 km molybdenum in soil trend south along strike of the Massondiscovery.

“Electromagnetic anomalies run consistent with the molybdenum trend and conductor plate modelling is underway.

“Given the success at Masson we are very optimistic that the mineralisation continues south along strike and with a 3.1 km electromagnetic trend continuing north along strike to be soil sampled, Masson is shaping as a very exciting find.”

Nimy shares were trending lower after the news, and at 12:59 AEDT, they were trading at 6.8 cents – a fall of 6.85% since the market opened.

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At 13:52 AEDT, shares in AZ9 were trading at 8.8 cents – a rise of 87.23% since open.

Drilling results taken from only one hole (OVD021) revealed an intercept of 8.8 metres at 6.08% copper (Cu), 3.19% nickel (Ni), 1.63g/t E3 (gold, platinum and palladium), and 0.11% cobalt (copper equivalent 12.57%) from 107.2 metres.

This was found between high-grade zones including a dense disseminated intercept – comprising 7.85 metres at 0.75% Cu, 0.78% Ni, 0.15g/t E3, 0.04% Co (CuEq2 2.25%) from 99.35 metres – and a net textured intercept, comprising 15.8 metres at 1.36% Cu, 1.00% Ni, 0.44g/t E3, 0.04% Co (CuEq2 3.4%) from 116 metres.

The hole OVD021 is also found within 800 metres of strike, and remains open at depth and in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest directions.

Of particular interest is the fact the copper-nickel sulphide mineralisation represents a new style of deposit for the region of southwestern Mongolia.

AZ9 is awaiting results from downhole electromagnetics, with drilling planned to recommence immediately afterwards.

Managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said this result was the culmination of a long-term effort from the company.

“After 4 years of systematic exploration in Mongolia, with the help of the BHP Xplor program in 2023, it is exciting to be a part of an outstanding Copper-Nickel discovery,” he said.

“It is an exceptional result that shows the mineralisation system at Oval has potential for hosting a substantial deposit with a higher-grade zone of copper and nickel.

“With the confirmation of high-grade massive sulphide intercepts, future exploration work at the Oval Cu-Ni discovery will primarily focus on the extension of the high-grade zone and understanding its size, true dip, and orientation.

“We will recommence drilling within two weeks and look forward to continuing the journey of discovery with our shareholders.”

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Indonesia has built itself as a leading force in nickel globally in the 2020s, tripling its already significant output to 175.6 million tonnes last year.

It’s been so big that Indonesia held half the global market share in nickel in 2023.

Now the next step is for the country to lean into the entire nickel value chain, Meidy Lengkey, secretary-general of the Indonesia Nickel Mining Association (APNI), told HotCopper’s Sonia Madigan at the Critical Minerals and Energy Investment Conference this week.

Lengkey has come to Australia looking for end products involved in battery production, ranging from stainless steel to lithium – and most crucially, graphite.

“We’re asking how to make a battery,” Ms Lengkey explained. “[In] Indonesia, we don’t have lithium, we don’t have graphite, we only have nickel manganese and cobalt. So when we say how to make a battery cell, we’re looking at graphite.”

The interest has been spurred on by Indonesia’s new elected ministry, which is expected to follow a recent energy and mining policy that banned bauxite, cobalt, and tin exports to “draw more economic benefits” from its rich natural resources. That’s put lithium and in particular graphite on Indonesia’s radar.

Ms Lengkey agreed graphite producers in Australia should “for sure” be worried.

“We have a new ministry and we hope they’ll continue the program of the downstream minerals in Indonesia, not only for nickel, but other minerals also,” she continued.

“So, [we’re here to find out] what kind of interest [there is] to invite investors, find new technologies, and [to learn] how to make good mining practices, especially for ESG. You know, we – Indonesia – we’re new players and we’re looking for a professor to make something in Indonesia.”

One big question that will always hang over any Indonesian expansion is, of course, concerns about worker safety – a question mark Ms Lengkey was quick to wave away when it was raised by HotCopper’s Sonia Madigan on Monday.

“Like I said, we’re new players,” Ms Lengkey said. “We just started, right? We’re combining our situation with our conditions. We’re trying to [ask] what is the best situation in Indonesia regarding the ESG. You are not only talking about the processing of the upstream side and downstream side including the labour, including the safety, including the environment, but we’re asking about governance.

“This is talking about geopolitics. We have a new minister and we’re waiting for him to make something better for Indonesia and how to collaborate with agencies around the world.

“You have to check with Indonesia’s situation because we are totally different.”

Ms Lengkey also spoke on the future of nickel in Indonesia at Perth’s Critical Minerals and Energy Investment conference at 10am on Tuesday morning.

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A previous study – reported in July – proved the scalability of the company’s recycling process using pure precursor Cathode Active Material (pCAM), excluding lithium.

In this new study, the black mass (or grounded spent batteries, with a mixture of different Li-ion battery types) was subjected to a three-stage pre-treatment process to remove impurities, and yielding the recoveries in question – an improvement from previous findings.

The study is an important milestone for the company, which is on-track to complete a prefeasibility study on its battery recycling technology by the end of October.

Once that’s complete, Iondrive will look at the development of a pilot plant for the technology, as well as opportunities for industry collaboration and non-dilutive funding in Europe and Australia.

Iondrive CEO Ebbe Dommisse said the results were a major breakthrough.

“Achieving such high recovery rates from mixed Black Mass is a significant step forward,” he said.

“Compared to our previous trials, which used pristine material, these new results demonstrate the robustness of our process, even with lower-quality, mixed material.

“Looking ahead, we expect to work with more consistent, higher-grade material through partnerships, which will further improve the efficiency and reliability of our recycling technology.”

Iondrive has been trading at 1.2 cents.

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The designation – provided by Commonwealth Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic MP – acknowledges the centrality of Gonneville to Australia’s critical minerals sector, and comes a month after the state government awarded it Strategic Project status.

Crucially, receiving the nod from the Federal government means that Gonneville – located 70 kilometres northeast of Perth – will enable Chalice to receive help from the Major Projects Facilitation Agency (MPFA) in moving through the Commonwealth approvals process.

Chalice completed a scoping study on the play in August 2023, and in July this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mitsubishi Corporation to complete prefeasibility work.

Chalice Mining CEO and managing director Alex Dorsch said the designation was a recognition of Gonneville’s potential.

“Chalice would like to thank Minister Husic and the Australian Federal Government for recognising the national significance of the Gonneville Project as the first major Platinum Group Element discovery in Australia, and an important part of Australia’s future critical minerals ambitions,” he said.

“It is particularly pleasing to receive this support from the Commonwealth in addition to the Strategic Project status recently granted by Western Australian Premier Roger Cook.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Commonwealth and Western AustralianGovernments, local communities, Traditional Owners, and Mitsubishi Corporation under our strategic MOU as we progress approvals and project studies to advance this important project towards development.”

Chalice shares rose on the news, and at 12:16 AEDT, they were trading at $1.61 – a rise of 4.55% since the market opened.

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With three holes drilled in the program, assays brought back evidence of a high-grade copper lens within a broad zone of copper, nickel, cobalt and PGE (platinum grade metals) mineralisation.

The lens is interpreted as being between 126 metres to 236 metres, and all copper grades were above 1% in all three drillholes.

More specifically, assays from one hole registered at 13 metres at 0.62% copper (Cu), 0.36% nickel (Ni), 0.04% cobalt (Co), 0.25 g/t PGE (platinum and palladium – Pt & Pd), 2.30g/t Ag (silver) (1.33% CuEq) from 126m including 2 metres at 1.05% Cu, 0.15% Ni, 0.03% Co, 0.14 g/t PGE (Pt & Pd), 5.28g/t Ag (1.38% CuEq) from 126 metres.

A second showed 5.58 metres at 1.27% Cu, 0.42% Ni, 0.06% Co, 0.32 g/t PGE (Pt & Pd), 4.32g/t Ag (2.13% CuEq) from 230.52 metres, including 1.28 metre at 0.15% Cu, 0.87% Ni, 0.06% Co, 0.63 g/t PGE (Pt & Pd), 1.14g/t Ag (1.78% CuEq) from 230.52 metres.

Additionally, this mineralised zone at Masson now extends along strike of 240 metres with a maximum downhole width of 61.5 metres, and has been encountered from 102 metres to 328 metres downhole. It remains open down-dip and along strike.

Nimy Executive Director Luke Hampson said these numbers were continuing to build the story of Masson in a positive direction.

“Confirmation of the broad intervals of copper, nickel, cobalt and PGE’s in sulphide’salong with a high grade copper trend confirms Masson as a significant discovery,” he said.

“Hosted within mafic intrusive rocks, the emergence of copper at these levels particularly as Nimy drills deeper signifies a dynamic system, part of a much larger mafic intrusion.

“Planning is underway to test further extensions to the Masson mineralisation includingtesting of coincident high magnetics and EM anomalies along the 3.1km northern strikethat begins with the Masson Discovery, and the 3.8km highly magnetic unit with coincident EM anomalies southwest of the Masson Discovery.”

Nimy shares rose on the news. At 12:15 AEDT, they were trading at 6.6 cents – a rise of 11.86% since the market opened.

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