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![West Cobar Metals Limited](https://investingnews.com/media-library/west-cobar-metals-limited.png?id=52069794&width=1200&height=800)
Large Copper - Antimony System at Bulla Park
West Cobar’s (ASX:WC1) 100%-owned Bulla Park Copper Project 110km west of Cobar in New South Wales, contains a large copper – antimony system as indicated by previous drill intersections.
Highlights
- Previous diamond drilling shows broad intervals of disseminated copper - antimony mineralisation
- Previous intercepts have contained significant sulphidic copper and antimony mineralisation, such as:
- 89m at 0.30% Cu and 0.10% Sb, including 33m at 0.47% Cu and 0.15% Sb (19CA002, 176m to 265m)
- Copper grades up to 1.46% Cu (19CA002, 246m to 247m)*
- Antimony grades up to 0.5% Sb (19CA002, 246m to 247m)*
- Copper and antimony grades increase towards a broad zone of faulting targeted by recently drilled diamond hole BPD09 (assays awaited)
Mineralisation is dominantly tetrahedrite (copper - antimony sulphide) and minor chalcopyrite and stibnite (antimony sulphide). Antimony grades in previously assayed drill hole intercepts are approximately 30% to 35% of the copper grade, reflecting the theoretical composition of tetrahedrite (Cu12Sb4S13).
Recently drilled BPD09 (see ASX release of 13 August 2024) was designed to test an interpreted fault zone where higher copper – antimony grades were anticipated. The hole successfully intersected a broad zone from 120m to 338m (218m) of faulting, fracturing, disseminated copper- antimony sulphides, siderite alteration, veining and stockworks, and tectonic and hydrothermal breccias. The core samples from BPD09 are currently in a laboratory undergoing preparation. Assay results are expected to be received during September.
* See Appendix 1 for complete Cu and Sb assays for drill hole 19CA002
Antimony grades at Bulla Park follow the copper distribution. High grades of copper are found with better antimony grades. Apart from the dominant antimony mineral tetrahedrite, stibnite occurs as radiating needles in fractures and makes up about 10% of the antimony content.
Further drilling is planned to extend the major fault zone containing broad intervals of disseminated copper-antimony mineralisation.
Antimony
Antimony (Sb) is a designated critical mineral in many countries and is used in military applications, solar cells, fire retardants and as a strengthening agent in alloy production.
China supplies 56% of the global antimony production and has decided to restrict exports of antimony from 15 September 2024, claiming that its strategic reserves are too low to allow further exports. This has caused the price of antimony to increase significantly to approximately US$23,000/t as USA and European users seek to secure supply. (source: www.reuters.com)
Previous Results at Bulla Park
A characteristic of the Bulla Park deposit is consistency of copper and antimony grades over wide intervals (historical drilling intersected stratabound zones outside of the fault zone, where better grades are anticipated).
Table 1: Summary of historical assay results of copper-antimony mineralisationResults reported using 0.2%Cu cut-off
In previous drilling, both the copper and the antimony grades increase towards the newly intersected fault zone recently targeted by BPD09 (assays awaited). The nearest previously drilled historical hole to the fault zone is 19CA002, which includes 7m of 0.27%Sb and 0.71% Cu from 245m.*
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from West Cobar Metals 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.
Allup Appoints IHC Mining Consultants for McLaren PFS
Allup Silica Limited (ASX: APS) (“Allup” or “Company”) is pleased to announce it has appointed IHC Mining (IHC) to undertake a Pre- Feasibility Study( PFS) for the McLaren Mineral Sands Project in Western Australia.
Allup announced its acquisition of the advanced-stage McLaren Project earlier this month, which has an Indicated and Inferred JORC (2012) resource of 280Mt at 4.8% Heavy Mineral1 near surface. Allup is examining its potential to produce ilmenite, a key titanium mineral, which currently trades at more than US$300/t due to increasing titanium shortages. Strong ilmenite market demand expected to continue due to supply deficits and mine closures in Africa.
Whilst process optimisation of the McLaren plant will continue following the completion of test work, flow sheet development and basic engineering have already commenced. At this conceptual stage, the Company’s PFS is progressing with a focus on a medium sized, 10Mtpa spiral concentration plant, which could produce up to 400,000tpa of ilmenite in concentrate annually.
IHC has significant expertise in the design, engineering and construction of mineral sands processing plants, and has a significant laboratory, mineral processing and engineering group based in Queensland.
Its design optimisation work at McLaren will continue through the engineering and design stages.
Allup aims to deliver the PFS in Q2 2025, before moving into the Bankable Feasibility design phase.
About IHC Mining
IHC Mining, a division of Royal IHC, has more than a century of experience, providing geo-metallurgical consultancy, equipment design, and construction, aiming to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability. Its expertise covers various commodities, including mineral sands, gold, and battery minerals, with a strong emphasis on decarbonisation, tailings management, and digitalisation.Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Allup Silica 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.
More Sulphides in Step Out Holes at Bald Hill Cobalt-Copper Prospect
Rimfire Pacific Mining (ASX: RIM, “Rimfire” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that the first two diamond drill holes completed as part of a larger 6 hole (~1,000 metre) step out drilling program at the Bald Hill Cobalt Copper Prospect, have successfully intersected multiple broad zones (downhole widths) of sulphide mineralisation 100 – 200m away from previous high-grade cobalt drill intercepts.
Highlights
- The first two holes in the current diamond drilling campaign have intersected multiple broad zones (downhole widths) of sulphide mineralisation 100 – 200m away from previous high-grade cobalt drill intercepts;
- FI2612 intersected disseminated and banded sulphides (pyrite) between 70 and 110m, and semi-massive sulphides (pyrrhotite) between 110 and 129m
- FI2613 intersected disseminated and banded sulphides (pyrite) between 67 and 105m, disseminated and fracture – fill sulphides (pyrite) between 105 and 128.5m and brecciated semi – massive sulphides (pyrrhotite) between 151.9 and 185.1m
- The sulphides intersected in the current drillholes are visually similar to the high-grade mineralised intercepts obtained in Rimfire’s previous drilling at Bald Hill with assay results required for confirmation
- First assay results expected within 6 to 8 weeks as the 6-hole diamond drilling program continues
Commenting on the announcement, Rimfire’s Managing Director Mr David Hutton said: “The Bald Hill prospect continues to grow with broad zones of great - looking sulphides intersected in the latest step out holes.
The diamond drilling is helping our geologists build a detailed model for the prospect and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the program delivers.
Drilling, geological logging, and sampling is continuing, with first assays expected in 6 to 8 weeks’ time and Rimfire looks forward to providing further updates as new information comes to hand.”
Figure 1: FI2612 diamond (NQ) drill core from 112.32 to 119.45 metres showing semi- massive sulphides from 112.32 metres to 117.40 metres. The location of Figure 2 is shown by the red square.
Figure 2: Detail of semi massive sulphides around 114.40 metres in FI2612 with location shown in Figure 1 above. Brown sulphides are pyrrhotite and pale-yellow sulphides are pyrite.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Rimfire Pacific 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.
Space Mining Startup AstroForge Sets Sights on Off-Earth Mission in 2025
Asteroid-mining startup AstroForge is making waves with its plan to land on a near-Earth asteroid in 2025.
The company announced the expedition on Tuesday (August 20), also revealing that it has raised US$40 million in a Series A funding round, bringing the total capital it has accumulated to US$55 million.
The mission will use AstroForge’s Vestri probe, a 440 pound spacecraft designed to dock with a metallic asteroid. The launch is scheduled to take place as a ridealong on Intuitive Machines’ (NASDAQ:LUNR) IM-3 Moon mission.
If successful, it will be the first privately funded mission to land on a celestial body beyond the Earth-Moon system.
Founded in January 2022, AstroForge is looking to pioneer off-Earth mining and make off-world resources available for commercial use. While other space ventures are targeting water extraction from asteroids, AstroForge is concentrating on mining metals, with the goal of unlocking cost-effective and sustainable solutions to address resource depletion.
The California-based company hopes that it will be able to develop a new supply chain for critical raw materials.
The upcoming asteroid-landing mission is its third in a series of exploratory space ventures.
The company's first mission, Brokkr-1, was launched in April 2023 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Although the firm's primary goal of demonstrating refinery technology in space was not achieved — due to the AstroForge team’s inability to activate the probe’s refinery payload — the mission provided valuable experience.
AstroForge's second mission, Odin, is set to launch later this year. Odin will serve as a precursor to the 2025 asteroid-landing mission by gathering crucial data about the target asteroid.
The Odin spacecraft will be a secondary payload on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission to the Moon. It will focus on imaging the asteroid, giving AstroForge critical insights for its subsequent mining efforts. Odin, a 220 pound vehicle built entirely in-house, is replacing an earlier version of the spacecraft that failed vibration testing in March 2023.
AstroForge’s third mission will play a pivotal role in characterizing the composition of the targeted asteroid. The company’s goal is to assess both the quality and quantity of the valuable elements on the asteroid.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Allup Silica Boosts Leadership Team with New MD Appointment, Report Says
The company has appointed Simon Finnis as its new managing director, bringing over 35 years of mining industry experience to the role. Finnis's expertise in the mineral sands sector, including his leadership of projects such as the Pooncarie mineral sands project in New South Wales and the Grand Cote project in Senegal, positions him well to drive Allup Silica's growth strategy.
Complementing this appointment, Peter Secker has joined the board as a non-executive director. Secker's extensive background in mineral sands operations, including his work at the Cooljarloo mineral sands mine, adds valuable industry insight to the company's leadership.
These boardroom changes align with Allup Silica's focus on capitalizing on the burgeoning demand for mineral sands, particularly in the high-value titanium minerals sector, the report said. The company's flagship McLaren project, acquired for $150,000 and a 1.5 percent royalty, boasts a substantial resource of 280 million tonnes with a 4.8 percent heavy mineral content.
Read the full report here
.
Battery materials and the growing importance of urban ore
Why existing minerals and metals in batteries will change the dynamics of the mining industry
For millennia, we’ve mined and refined materials to power our civilisations and industries, and feed consumer demand for products. This has traditionally been a linear process: dig material from the ground, purify and convert it into useful forms, manufacture products for use and then dispose of these products.
However, with electric vehicles – which are subject to technology disruption, changing regulations and uncertain geopolitical factors – driving a surge in demand for battery materials, is it time to rethink the mining value chain?
“The scale of the decarbonisation task requires a lot of new mines,” says Worley vice president, battery materials, Greg Pitt.
“But it also depends on a greater role for recycled materials already mined, which exist in batteries and other electronic devices.”
These devices – currently found within homes, warehouses, aging electrical infrastructure and more – make up the “urban orebody”. Their materials could be worth tens of billions of dollars. And if the industry can recycle these materials, it could reduce both the time to get metal to market and environmental impacts compared with traditional mining and materials processing.
So, if more minerals, metals, and battery grade materials needed for the energy transition come from recycling, rather than new mines and facilities, how will this impact established players within the mining industry?
Assessing the urban orebody
Modern technologies are capable of recycling certain commodities, such as steel, aluminium, copper and lead. As Pitt explains, when existing technologies and devices reach end of life, the materials can be economically placed back into service to create more products for consumption.
“If we consider high nickel cathode variants, the importance of recycling is emerging quickly,” he says. “This is partly because of policy settings, such as the minimum threshold for recycled content mandated by the European Battery Regulations. It’s also being driven by feedstock security needs, and some part by pure economics to maximise value streams from off spec material and production waste.
“Value chain players, particularly cathode material manufacturers, are now conceiving ‘closed loop’ systems in their investment strategies to capture and re-purpose battery waste back into their processing facilities,” says Pitt.
“This is good news for reducing the environmental impact of battery production, as it’s possible to achieve greater sustainable outcomes by using more recycled content, but there is still a hill to climb for recycling technologies to deliver efficient yield recovery economically. The battery value chain is no longer linear.”
How could the urban orebody impact the traditional mining industry?
The emergence of recycling means miners of the future can extract value from both ends of the value chain: natural resources in the earth’s crust, and the urban ore body that exists in recovered batteries, off spec cathode materials and black mass.
“This has some big implications,” says Pitt.
“Recycling materials brings an entirely new set of opportunities and challenges for miners to tackle, which could change the role miners play.”
Pitt explains why.
“For centuries, mining has involved extracting value from variable single digit ore grades, which need a lot of capital investment and involve long payback periods to bring virgin material to market.
“However, the urban orebody of the future has an extremely high content of key minerals – Cu, Ni, Li, Co, Mn, Al, Fe – which are widely distributed but relatively easily transportable to central processing. It’s also ever increasing in volume as more products are made and then reach end of life.
“And yet we don’t currently see the mining industry actively participating in taking full advantage of this opportunity.”
So, what implications could this urban ore body have on traditional miners that follow a linear mining process?
Investing in a new mine asset is typically a long and high-risk process, mainly due to the uncertainty in the quality and quantity of the ore body involved and the cost of mining and refining it. Imagine a world where these are known, and the mine life is set to infinity.
Pitt says: “Several key questions then emerge: will the urban orebody miners of the future be an entirely new set of players, or will miners diversify their models and influence both ends of the value chain?
“Will heritage miners become pure upstream suppliers of incremental virgin materials to ‘top up’ the increasingly circular system?”
Explaining the leased mineral model for battery materials
Consider the fundamental economics influencing the commercial landscape. Cathode material is the major contributor to battery cell cost. This is primarily driven by the purchase price of the key mineral feedstocks used.
“Major producers of cathode material have seen the immediate economic benefit of producing their own feedstocks from recycled materials and reducing their reliance on upstream material supply,” says Pitt.
“This is also being driven by OEM obligations to recover end of life batteries and find a partner to take and feed them back into the value chain. It’s an obvious strategy to ask cathode companies to recycle.”
But what if you didn’t need to buy the key minerals to make a battery, and could lease them instead?
This shift in mindset opens new possibilities and commercial models to drive down product costs and incentivise even more circularity throughout the system.
“For example, nickel in a nickel manganese cobalt [NMC] battery cell could be on loan, so you pay only for the time during which you used it. This would end when you return the molecule back to its original owner,” says Pitt.
“We can, with some effort, find more minerals at reasonable grades from the traditional mining process. But it’s actually a going-out-of-business model if you take a long-term perspective and consider declining ore grades and scarcity.
“Instead, we could view the minerals themselves as a perpetual asset, within a closed or near closed system, to be recirculated infinitely. They could generate cash every time they cycle through, eventually becoming a sustainable, long term business model.”
The benefits of a mineral leasing model
Pitt says an opportunity exists to generate longer term recurring revenue streams that move away from a life-of-mine model and to a life-of end product model.
“This would typically enable around 10 years of rental income after virgin material has entered the system before an end-of-life battery returns,” he says.
“Deferred cash flows from a leasing model for the new urban miners would enable them to pass on a lower ultimate cost of product through sub-leasing arrangements, to cathode material, to battery, to EV.
“Over time, overall product costs should reduce as recycled content percentages increase, needing only to recover incremental costs to recycle. This is what the cathode players are already banking on in their closed loop system strategies.”
Pitt says this system should further incentivise increased sustainability of battery products, as the economics of returning minerals for reprocessing will drive the environmental footprint down to the bare minimum involved to reprocess.
“It also offers a different perspective on supply chain security and control,” he says.
“Bans on certain material exports – as we’ve seen recently in China and Indonesia – could be reconceived if the original resource owner remains the owner, even after material has left the border.
“This system is complex and would rely on a deep foundation of trust, to provide visibility and traceability of material flows around the world,” Pitt says. “Thankfully the technology already exists to track which materials go where today.”
Every option will play a role meeting demand for battery materials
As with energy transition being a multi-solution endeavour, Pitt believes there is no single approach to meeting growing demand for battery materials.
“We need to consider every available option,” he says. “There’s a role for greenfield mines. And there’s a role for recycling materials that are already in the system, too.
“The challenge for both traditional and emerging players supplying the battery value chain is how to participate in both greenfield and recycling opportunities in an integrated way.
“Boards should be evaluating the right balance to extract value from today’s linear economy while setting up their business to benefit from tomorrow’s circular economy.”
This article was reproduced with the permission of Worley, a lead sponsor of this year’s IMARC conference and exhibition in Sydney from October 29-31.
Fig Tree IP Survey Results
Australian manganese explorer, Black Canyon Limited (Black Canyon or the Company) (ASX:BCA) is pleased to announce the results of Induced Polarisation (IP) Surveys across subcropping mineralisation and structural targets at the Fig Tree Project, part of the Carawine Joint Venture with Carawine Resources Ltd (ASX: CWX).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys have been completed at Fig Tree targeting hydrothermal manganese mineralisation similar to the high-grade Woodie Woodie manganese mine.
- A Dipole-Dipole IP survey (DDIP) extended over a 1,400m long northwest extension of the HD1 prospect where previous RC drill results included:1
- 7m @ 33.2% Mn from 2m (HADRC017)
- 3m @ 17.0% Mn from surface (HADRC018)
- The DDIP survey detected a number of near surface targets coincident with outcropping manganese mineralisation (34.2% Mn1) and subsurface IP responses interpreted to represent shallow down dip extensions.
- A Gradient Array IP (GAIP) survey, located about 35 km south and along strike of the Woodie Woodie mine was designed to test for mineralisation within an interpreted “Woodie” structural corridor and identified several chargeability anomalies that warrant follow-up
- The Fig Tree IP survey was co-funded to a maximum of $57,875 under the State Government’s 2024-2025 geophysics co-funded Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).
Surface mapping, sampling and RC drilling completed by previous explorers identified and returned high-grade manganese results from multiple prospects across the Fig Tree tenement which is located 35km south of the Woodie Woodie operations. The IP results have generated a number of targets that require infill geophysical surveys prior to drill testing.
Black Canyon’s Managing Director Brendan Cummins said:
“After the success of discovering large shale-hosted manganese deposits across the Balfour Manganese Field, the Company is now turning some of its attention to exploring for near-surface high grade mineralisation at its Wandanya and Fig Tree projects. Several prospects along the Fig Tree Manganese Trend have been mapped and drilled in the past, establishing the tenement's potential to host higher-grade, hydrothermal-style mineralisation. Its geological similarities to Woodie-Woodie and previous RC drilling have confirmed the prospectivity of the tenement, which is located only 35km south of Woodie-Woodie. Manganese deposits are often associated with chargeability anomalies which can be detected using IP techniques, so we were keen to deploy IP to the area and now have several new targets that warrant follow-up.”
Black Canyon used the high-quality historic exploration datasets at Fig Tree to evaluate the known manganese prospects, and then used this information to generate new IP survey targets. The DDIP survey has confirmed chargeable responses co-incident with outcropping manganese mineralisation and extending down dip. The GAIP surveys have also yielded several large sub- surface chargeable anomalies. Further IP surveys are planned to better resolve the size and strength of these new chargeable anomalies and establish their significance prior to refining potential drill targets in addition to other prospects across the Fig Tree tenement.
Figure 1. LHS - Fig Tree Project areas tenement showing the location of Woodie Woodie and RHS - completed DDIP, GAIP geophysical surveys and historic exploration data.
HW1 Dipole-Dipole IP Survey Results
The DDIP survey was designed to test a 1,400m long zone of subcropping manganese mineralisation along strike from the historic HD1 prospect where rockchip samples and limited RC drilling encountered medium to high grade manganese. The DDIP lines were spaced between 200 and 600m apart along the target horizon providing a cross-strike coverage between 600m and 950m.
Several near-surface chargeable anomalies, coincident with outcropping manganese mineralisation (Figure 2) and subsurface chargeable anomalies were detected with the DDIP survey. The subsurface responses are interpreted to represent shallow down-dip extensions to the surface mineralisation. are estimated to range between 10 to 25m thick from surface to depths of 50m and persist across 4 sections extending over 1,000m of strike (Figure 3) (Appendix 1).
The underlying geology is dominated by ferruginous chert and Pinjian Chert inferred to overlie close to surface Carawine Dolomite. The area is also bisected by a number of northeast and northwest trending faults and fractures. The manganese lenses form isolated subcrops 50 to 100m long and manganese disperses 20 to 40m from the subcrops.
Infill DDIP lines are required to provide more detailed chargeability mapping to resolve the potential strength and continuity of the anomalies. The HW1 target has never been drill tested and subject to further evaluation a drill program can be planned.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Black Canyon, 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.
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