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The growing demand for high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) used in lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) batteries positions Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB) to become significant player in the manganese market for LMFP batteries and EV manufacturers, according to an analyst report published by Terra Studio.
“Compared to its peers, Firebird Metals and its Hunan high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate project accumulate a number of enviable characteristics: lowest capital expenditure; lowest capital intensity; life of project not limited by a mineral resource; lowest operating cost; highest profitability index (NPV/capex) with the lowest HPMSM price assumption; best expertise in lithium-ion batteries and in particular LFP and
LMFP batteries; and largest market at its doorstep,” stated the report prepared by JF Bertincourt, director of Terra Studio.
Firebird Metals is focused on developing its Oakover high-purity manganese project in Western Australia and integrating a downstream processing facility in China to produce battery-grade HPMSM for the LMFP battery market.
Hunan Chemical Engineering Design Institute (PFS engineering group) and Hunan Firebird Battery Technology staff
“Firebird Metals is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the booming market for LMFP batteries,” Bertincourt wrote, citing the significant market outlook for LMFP batteries, which is expected to replace 50 percent of lithium-ion phosphate batteries (LFP) by 2030.
Highlights of the report:
- Firebird Metals is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the booming market for LMFP batteries, given its strategy to develop a processing facility in China, which will be fed by concentrate from its Oakover project
- If successful, Firebird is poised to become a significant player in the manganese market for LMFP batteries and EVs, and also become a supplier for the silica-manganese alloy market.
- LMFP is expected to dominate the cathode market for EV batteries, due to the manganese’s ability to make LFP batteries safer, cheaper and have more range.
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FRB:AU
Drilling Preparations at Abercromby Gold Project
BMG Resources Limited (ASX: BMG) (BMG or the Company) is pleased to announce that preparations to resume drilling at its 100%-owned Abercromby Gold Project are well advanced with the start of drilling scheduled for this month.
- Diamond drill programme focused on resource growth is scheduled to commence this month at the Abercromby Gold Project
- Extensional drilling of high-grade zones is planned with potential to add significantly to BMG's maiden resource of 518,000 oz Au at 1.45 g/t Au
- Infill drilling planned to convert inferred resources to the indicated category to support development studies
- Programme of Work approval in place
- Programme of Work approval in place
John Prineas, BMG's Non-Executive Chairman, said:
"Following the support shown by investors in the recent capital raising, the team at BMG have moved quickly to finalise arrangements to resume drilling at the Abercromby Gold Project.
"The drill programme will focus on expanding high-grade gold zones beyond the existing resource shell, as well as increasing resource confidence by upgrading inferred resources to indicated status.
"The results of the drilling have potential to contribute significantly to resource growth at Abercromby, and to ..iaterially boost the potential project economics."
Drilling for growth in gold resources:
BMG delivered the large maiden Mineral Resource at Abercromby after completion of only three drill campaigns and at a discovery cost of just $8.35 per ounce. This achievement highlights the extensive gold endowment at Abercromby, as well as the efficient exploration planning by our technical team.
This excellent track record of results at Abercromby provides confidence in the potential for continued drilling success at Abercromby that could increase the size of the gold resource.
The Abercromby Gold Project is owned 100% by BMG and comprised within two granted Mining Leases. The Project is located in an established mining region with access to infrastructure (roads, power) and proximal to a number pf producing gold mines.
The favourable metallurgical properties of the Abercromby ore were confirmed by metallurgical testwork completed by Extreme Metallurgy and reviewed by GR Engineering Services. That testwork concluded that the Abercromby gold mineralisation was free milling in nature and amenable to traditional carbon-in-leach processing. High gold recoveries were achieved in the range 93% to 95%.
Maiden Resource is just the beginning:
The maiden MRE for Abercromby is comprised in the Capital Deposit and is defined as 11.12Mt @ 1.45 g/t Au for 518,000 oz Au. This resource is a subset of a global resource estimate containing about 670,000 oz Au at a Og/t Au lower cut-off.
The Capital Deposit remains open at depth and along strike — both to the north and south. A diamond drilling program is planned to commence this month to test for extensions of the mineralisation as well as to convert inferred resources to the indicated category.
The prospective stratigraphy at Abercromby extends for more than 6km with only a strike of 1.2km systematically drilled to date. This provides potential for substantial discovery opportunities with further exploration drilling.
Drilling is also planned for early next year to test regional targets to the south of the Capital Deposit.
Reconnaissance aircore drilling at the Capital South, Archer and Barrack Prospects — located along a 1km corridor of prospective stratigraphy to the south of the Capital Deposit — has confirmed the presence of a large high-grade gold system and supports the potential for a repetition of significant mineralisation like the Capital Deposit.
Table 1: JORC-compliant Mineral Resource for Abercromby.
A further announcement will be issued by BMG once drilling commences at Abercromby.
For further information on the Abercromby resource, see our ASX announcement dated 6 February 2023 'High Gold Recoveries — Abercromby Met Testwork' and 17 April 2023 '518,000oz Au Maiden Mineral Resource for Abercromby Gold Project'.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from BMG Resources Limited (ASX: BMG), licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Octava Secures Drilling Contractor for the High-Grade Antimony Project at Yallalong
Highlights
- Octava has now completed the selection process for a drilling contractor to conduct exploration at its 100% owned high-grade Yallalong antimony project in the Midwest of Western Australia.
- A 3000m drilling program is expected to commence by the end of this month and will focus on the Discovery target, where previous high-grade intercepts have been recorded including:
- YRC16: 7m @ 3.27% Sb from 12m including 1m @ 11.5% from 18m
- YRC06: 3m @ 6.83% Sb from 21m including 1m @ 13.6% Sb from 22m
- Maiden drill holes will also be completed on the Central antimony target, where no previous drilling has been done.
- Detailed geophysical survey over the identified antimony corridor at Yallalong is progressing well, now 40% complete.
- The geophysical survey will assist in defining additional antimony targets within the corridor, that may be transported cover.
Octava’s Managing Director Bevan Wakelam stated, "We are really pleased to have secured our drillers to undertake the exploration drill program to outline further high-grade antimony at Yallalong. We will target lateral extensions of existing, known high grade antimony mineralisation and also the underlying bedrock contacts. We also look forward to completing the geophysical survey that will provide us with better geological understanding of what’s below the surface along the antimony corridor.”
Figure 1. Cross-section through the Discovery antimony target showing mineralisation occurring parallel to the sedimentary and mafic rock contact and in the fault zone. (refer ASX announcement 17 September 2024)The antimony (Sb) mineralisation identified at Yallalong appears to occur within a 10km north-south striking mineralised corridor that is interpreted to be related to a structural corridor between the Darling and Woodrarung faults. The fault zones act as conduits for mineralising fluids into the sedimentary rocks that are peripheral to mafic intrusive dykes, a well-known geological setting for antimony deposits worldwide.
Octava is planning to drill two of the priority antimony targets at the Yallalong antimony Project, Discovery and Central. Previous exploration identified four principal antimony targets where antimony mineralisation was exposed at surface at all target locations. Only the Discovery Prospect has any drilling and remains open. Antimony ingot prices at that time were ~$8000/tonne compared to over $30,000/tonne now1. Drilling is expected to commence at the end of this month.
The detailed geophysical surveys are progressing well, now at 40% and on track to be completed in the next 7-10 days. The survey will provide clearer understanding on these key structures, such as shears & faults and provide better definition of controlling lithological boundaries.
Figure 2. Progress map of Detailed Geophysical Survey at Yallalong antimony Project.
Figure 3. Geophysical Survey in progress at the Yallalong antimony project.
This announcement has been authorised for release by the Managing Director/CEO.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Octava Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Heavy REEs Terbium and Dysprosium from Korsnäs
- Further impressive assay results received from 307 samples, 25 historical drill holes
- Assays include heavy REEs (Terbium (Tb) and Dysprosium (Dy)) results up to 86 ppm and 313.4 ppm respectively
- Numerous high grade and broad REE intersections are reported, such as:
- KR-272: 11.4m @ 13,383 ppm TREO1 from 102.7 (NdPrO2 3,982 ppm)
Including4.0m @ 32,831 ppm TREO from 106.7m
(40.9 ppm Tb4O7; 227.4 ppm Dy2O3; 9,943 ppm NdPrO) - SO-187: 17.4m @ 9,798 ppm TREO from 0.0m (NdPrO 3,087 ppm)
Including3.0m @ 48,465 ppm TREO from 11.4m
(86.0 ppm Tb4O7; 313.4 ppm Dy2O3; 15,557 ppm NdPrO)
- KR-272: 11.4m @ 13,383 ppm TREO1 from 102.7 (NdPrO2 3,982 ppm)
- The tables of REE Mineralised Zones >1,000 ppm TREO (in the announcement below) detail many more results worthy of attention
Prospech Managing Director, Jason Beckon, commented:
"Korsnäs keeps delivering standout results, with recent recognition of high grade zones rich in critical Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREEs) like dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb).
While Korsnäs is primarily a carbonatite-associated deposit known for valuable magnet REEs such as neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), the presence of significant Dy and Tb mineralisation is a major advantage. These heavy REEs are crucial for producing high strength magnets which hold up under high temperatures and perform reliably in demanding applications like electric vehicles, wind turbines and high-efficiency motors.
With current supply disruptions in China, securing a stable source of these materials is more important than ever. Prospech is looking to meet this need, positioning itself as a dependable future supplier of magnet critical HREEs. Our commitment to thoroughly assessing these enriched zones at Korsnäs reflects our confidence in the project’s potential and our determination to support the growing global demand for sustainable energy technologies. By developing Korsnäs as a secure supply source, we are not just meeting immediate industry needs; we’re playing a key role in strengthening the resilience of global rare earth supply chains for the long term."
Initially developed as a lead mine, the Korsnäs project also hosts extensive rare earth element (REE) zones, which remain open both along strike and at depth. The site features a series of layered carbonatite zones, each up to 20 metres thick and separated by 50 to 100 metres along the strike. These REE enriched zones correlate with gravity anomalies, represented as orange ellipses on the included plan. So far, five such anomalies have been identified, extending over a strike length of more than 5 kilometres.
Focusing on REE mineralisation, the Company has conducted a comprehensive REE sampling program on the historic Korsnäs core stored by GTK at their data facility. Assay results have been reported in ASX announcements on 11 May 2023, 14 June 2023, 5 September 2023, 24 October 2023, 21 November 2023, 12 December 2023, 16 January 2024, 5 February 2024, 26 March 2024, 4 July 2024 and 4 November 2024.
Map showing the locations of drilling at Korsnäs. Newly reported holes are marked with red circles, previously reported holes with additional new assays are represented by blue triangles. Gravity-low anomalies are indicated by orange ellipses.
Presented below are two tables of assay intersections from the latest batch. The first table lists intersections from newly assayed holes that have not been reported before. The second table (in two parts) includes intersections from previously reported holes, now updated with additional assays from the margins of mineralised zones.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Prospech Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Ultra-High Grade Naturally Occurring Antimony at Alturas Project with Assays up to 69.98% Sb
Highlights
- Rock chip samples from the Alturas Antimony project in British Columbia, Canada, have returned outstanding ultra-high grade Antimony assays, including:
- 69.98% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R003
- 67.96% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R004
- 49.98% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R005
- 47.97% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R002
- 45.55% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R003
- 44.45% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R002
- 37.39% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R004
- 28.81% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R005
- 20.89% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R009
- 20.17% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R001
- 18.01% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R007
- 16.77% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R010
- 14.75% Sb – sample ALT24-JL-R001
- 12.42% Sb – sample ALT24-PS-R006
Pure Stibnite, Antimony Ore contains 71.4% Sb
- Additional ground totaling 3.3 km2 has been strategically staked to the east and west of the property, offering further potential to expand the mineralised footprint.
- 105 tonnes of Antimony ore, averaging 57.20% Sb has been historically sold from the Alps- Alturas Antimony Mine on this property.
- Since the execution of the option agreement for the Alturas project, the price for Antimony has reached US$36,000 per metric ton as of October 25, 2024, from approximately US$24,000 per metric ton at the time of acquisition. This significant price increase has been driven by supply constraints arising from new export controls on antimony announced by China in September 2024.
- Malachite stained rock chip from copper-bearing boulder field returned up to 0.96% Cu, offering potential for copper mineralisation beneath the surface.
- Drilling underway at Brazilian REE projects with assay results pending.
Equinox Resources Managing Director, Zac Komur commented:
We are thrilled to announce our latest exceptional exploration results, revealing extraordinary antimony assays that highlight the immense potential of the Alturas Project. Rock chip samples have returned grades as high as 69.98% antimony (Sb), establishing some of the world's highest reported natural stibnite (Sb2S3) grades. Considering that pure stibnite contains 71.4% antimony, these findings confirm Alturas as a truly unique and valuable asset.
By strategically expanding our footprint with additional claims to the east and west, we are positioned to explore beyond the known mineralisation. The discovered copper zone, with rock chips grading at 0.96% Cu, along with an extensive shear system, further solidifies Alturas as an outstanding opportunity. This project offers us a rare chance to unlock substantial value by systematically exploring an underexplored, ultra-high-grade asset in a mining-friendly jurisdiction.
We’re also continuing drilling at our Mata da Corda Titanium and Campo Grande Rare Earth Projects in Brazil, with assays pending.”
Reconnaissance Sampling
In September 2024, Equinox Resources conducted a maiden reconnaissance sampling campaign at the Alturas Antimony Project to evaluate the potential for high-grade antimony and associated polymetallic mineralisation along the extensive shear zone. The objectives of the reconnaissance campaign were to map and sample key structures by focusing on the 1.5 km shear zone, identified as the main mineralising structure, and to assess antimony concentrations in rock chip samples across newly identified dilation zones and extensions.
Figure 1: Location diagram of rock chip and soil samples taken with mapped shear zone identified
Figure 2: Assay results concentrated across the shear zone (Sb grades greater than 1%)
Project Overview
The Alturas Antimony Project is located in the Slocan Mining Division of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 15 kilometers northeast of New Denver. The project area is situated within a favorable geological setting, featuring a 1.5 km shear zone with polymetallic potential, including antimony, copper, and silver. The tenements cover the historic Alps-Alturas mine, an Antimony mine which operated between 1916 and 1926 selling ultra-high grade Antimony, averaging 57.2% Sb and up to 59.50% Sb. On 10 September 2024, Equinox Resources entered into a 12-month option to acquire 100% interest in all three tenements.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Equinox Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Woomera Completes Maiden Drilling Program at Bronze Fox Copper-Gold Porphyry Project
- Woomera’s first drill programme at the Bronze Fox Project in Mongolia has been completed.
- 16 Diamond drill holes were completed for a total of 2516m.
- Drilling largely focussed on shallow infill and extension drilling with a single deeper hole (F109/916.4m) testing a coincident geophysical/structural target.
- The target porphyry was intersected in all holes with assays due late December/early January.
- Woomera can earn an 80% interest in the Bronze Fox Project by spending US$4m on exploration (with an election to acquire 100%).
Assays for the program are expected to be available in late December 2024 or early January 2025. Woomera can earn an 80% interest in the Bronze Fox Project from Kincora Copper Limited (ASX: KCC) by expenditure of US$4m and has to the right to acquire a 100% interest.
Figure 1: Drilling at Bronze Fox
Figure 2: Field work at Bronze Fox
BRONZE FOX PROJECT
The Bronze Fox Project covers 175km2 and is located in the Southern Gobi porphyry belt of southern Mongolia, approximately 450km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar. It represents an opportunity to secure a 100% interest in an underexplored world-class porphyry copper project with genuine Tier-1 potential. Drilling by Kincora totalling 46,625 metres of Reverse Circulation and Diamond Core drilling has defined three shallow, large porphyry complexes, providing genuine new discovery potential, resource delineation and early-stage exploration plays.
The Bronze Fox Project contains the West Kasulu Inferred Mineral Resource of 194.1Mt at 0.26% Copper Equivalent (CuEq), at a 0.2% CuEq cut-off to a depth of approximately 325m below surface and an Exploration Target of between 100Mt and 300Mt at 0.25 to 0.35% CuEq.20221
The Bronze Fox Project is located proximal to several world class mineral deposits including Oyu Tolgoi, Kharmagtai, Tsagaan Suvarga and Tavan Tolgoi (see Figure 3).
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Woomera Mining Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
