Latest news with #ExplorationIncentiveScheme
West Australian
04-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Kula granted critical minerals niobium project in Malawi
Kula Gold has taken a major step into the booming critical minerals sector after securing its exploration licence for the Wozi niobium project in Malawi, marking a strategic pivot towards a commodity class crucial to green technologies while maintaining a strong gold exploration footing in Western Australia. The company today announced it had received formal approval from Malawi's Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority for its Wozi niobium project, with historical trenching at the project returning remarkable intercepts, such as 145 metres grading 0.55 per cent niobium pentoxide with associated tantalum and another 192m at 0.49 per cent niobium pentoxide. Kula says the mineralisation starts at surface and coincides with wide zones of niobium and tantalum enrichment over an 800m by 300m soil anomaly, providing large-scale potential for a critical mineral widely used in advanced alloys and electric vehicle components. Managing director Ric Dawson described the grant as a pivotal milestone, highlighting the low-cost, high-impact nature of the opportunity and its strategic fit with global supply chains increasingly hungry for secure niobium supply. The company plans to commence mapping, soil and rock chip sampling before launching a first drill campaign targeting a maiden resource by late this year. Kula notes its Wozi project sits within the geologically fertile Mozambique Orogenic Belt, part of the greater East African Rift Valley System. Despite the project's compelling historical trench results, it has seen no historical drilling, placing Kula in the rare position of having a first mover advantage in a region with excellent road infrastructure for low-cost exploration and development. While niobium steals the spotlight today, Kula's flagship asset remains its Mt Palmer gold project near Southern Cross in WA's Western Goldfields, where successive drilling programs have delivered multiple high-grade hits. Results from recent drilling include standout intercepts such as 20m at 7.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 22m, including 6m going an imposing 23.8g/t, and 9m grading 13.6g/t from 33m, including 3m at 38.4g/t. The company says these shallow, high-grade zones point to early potential for low-cost open-pit mining. Additional stage two reverse circulation drilling at Mt Palmer has produced further impressive assays, including 18m at 4.7g/t gold with an individual 2m interval running up to 31.3g/t, effectively an ounce per tonne. These high-grade zones are distributed across multiple new mineralised structures, including the New Lode and Busey Shoot, with ongoing drilling designed to convert these discoveries into a resource estimate. Kula has also been busy advancing its Mustang gold prospect at its Kirup project in WA's South West, where it made the first drill hole into a previously untested soil anomaly supported by the WA Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme. That hole intersected 2m at 2.3g/t gold from 34m, while rock chips along strike have returned up to 4.8g/t, adding weight to the potential of a new gold system. The company plans additional closely spaced magnetics and reverse circulation drilling to build on this emerging discovery. Adding to its impressive WA portfolio, Kula's Boomerang kaolin deposit near Southern Cross hosts a 93.3-million-tonne maiden resource of kaolin clay announced in mid-2022, which is now advancing through economic studies and moving towards potential joint venture or private equity funding. The company's quarterly activities report also highlighted Kula's strengthened balance sheet after raising $1.39 million through an entitlement offer, ensuring it remains well-funded to continue advancing both its WA and Malawi assets. Further, Kula has met its expenditure requirements to earn an 80 per cent interest in Mt Palmer, confirming its control over this high-grade gold belt. As the gold price continues to hover above $5000 an ounce, Kula's dual-pronged strategy of pursuing both traditional precious metal exploration and exposure to critical minerals, such as niobium, puts the company in a rare position to capitalise on both ends of the resource sector spectrum. With aggressive exploration plans across multiple projects in WA and now Malawi, Kula is setting a cracking pace in its quest to unearth the next big discovery - whether it be sparkling gold or metals critical to a low-carbon future. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
30-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Western Mines targets further growth at huge Goldfields nickel deposit
Western Mines Group is returning to the fray at its 5.3-million-tonne contained nickel project at Mulga Tank, 190 kilometres east-northeast of Kalgoorlie, to begin its next round of exploration drilling. The program will include reverse circulation drilling to infill and potentially extend the company's remarkable nickel-cobalt-copper-platinum-palladium resource, as well as further diamond drilling to test high-impact targets. Western Mines believes its April mineral resource estimate represents the biggest nickel sulphide deposit in Australia and could easily find itself among the top 10 nickel sulphide resources in the world. The total combined inferred and indicated mineral resource at a 0.2 per cent nickel cutoff grade amounts to 1.97 billion tonnes at 0.27 per cent nickel, 131 parts per million (ppm) cobalt, 82ppm copper and 17 parts per billion combined platinum plus palladium group elements (PGE). Translated to metals, the total combined resource contains 5.3Mt of nickel, 257,000t cobalt, 161,000t copper and 1.1 million ounces of combined platinum and palladium. The delivery of this inaugural combined mineral resource estimate about 2.5 months ago was a transformational milestone for the project and the company. While its scale is eye-popping at this stage, more remarkably, the results represent only a modest proportion of the total apparent prospective volume swept by drilling to date, which has mostly focussed on the central zone of the Mulga Tank ultramafic complex. Drilling planned for the second half of the year will involve a combination of new reverse circulation and diamond drill holes, funded by the company's recent capital raise in May and three state government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grants for the Mulga Tank project. The upcoming work will be the company's fourth reverse circulation program and is designed primarily to test south of the previous central area of drilling. WMG will also put in some infill holes within the current resource estimate in the main body of the Mulga Tank ultramafic complex. Western Mines has already pre-collared four of the reverse circulation holes, which are about 300 metres south of the previous block of drilling undertaken in a phase three program. More holes are planned to infill between the two areas of indicated mineral resource to increase the company's resource confidence. Subject to the results, another fence of seven or more holes might be drilled immediately south of the current resource to extend the mineral resource. The company says the step-out drilling will target new areas to identify higher grade nickel which could offer shallow zones of about 0.40 per cent nickel as 'starter pits'. Further diamond drilling will follow-up on high-grade results from a previous hole in September that hit 5m at 1.92 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent cobalt. These additional holes will target the western margin of the Mulga Tank complex to follow-up results of the company's prospectivity review of the basal architecture and its mapping of high-grade and high-tenor massive sulphide globules Marriott says the company's exciting results from its review of the basal architecture and frequent occurrences of massive sulphide globules has led it back to the western margin of the complex. Two diamond holes will chase up results from two regional reverse circulation holes. WMG's first regional-scale belt-wide drilling program, northwest of the main area of resource drilling, set out to test the interpreted komatiite channel system, which radiates mainly north and northwest from the main body of the ultramafic. The two holes will test the 1.3km-long body interpreted from aeromagnetic imagery and will attempt to capture the stratigraphy of the komatiite system and target basal contact that wasn't reached with the shallower reverse circulation holes. The company also plans to put a diamond tail onto a previous reverse circulation hole that ended in mineralisation. A further deep diamond hole will be drilled via the EIS scheme to test the basal contact of the complex and target the far eastern portion of a conductive MobileMT anomaly 'grazed' by a previous diamond drill hole. That hole returned 96m at 0.40 per cent nickel and 0.016 per cent cobalt 1208m downhole, including 38m at 0.56 per cent nickel and 0.016 per cent cobalt from 1262m. Within the hit, an 8m section went 1.11 per cent nickel and 0.018 per cent cobalt from 1270m at a corresponding depth to the anomaly. Those results, from heavily disseminated sulphide mineralisation, may represent Perseverance-style 'cloud' nickel sulphides named after those seen at Leinster, 330km north of Kalgoorlie and which could be close to a basal massive sulphide accumulation. Diamond drilling at Mulga Tank has also revealed textures characteristic of Type-2 disseminated nickel sulphide systems, which are exemplified by Western Australia's Mount Keith nickel deposit, 80km south of Wiluna in WA. These dual styles suggest that Mulga Tank could be a hybrid system, where different settling mechanisms of the sulphides took place, and that greatly increases the system's prospectivity. It could also point to possible significant basal accumulations of massive and matrix-type sulphide. The company has arranged for a down-hole electro-magnetic (DHEM) survey team to mobilise to site shortly to run the probe down some of its phase three reverse circulation holes, including the high-grade hole that yielded 5m at 1.92 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent copper from 283m. The survey will also test a second hole that ran 4m at 1.16 per cent nickel and 0.13 per cent copper from 182m, including 1m at 2.46 per cent nickel and 0.43 per cent copper from 183m. Results from the survey will be used to plan follow-up diamond holes looking to twin higher grade reverse circulation holes and/or target off-hole conductors, potentially indicating thicker intersections of shallow massive sulphide material. They will also help the company follow-up other diamond holes in these areas. If this new program is as successful as the company's previous campaigns, Mulga Tank will almost certainly continue to yield a host of intriguing intercepts from its lateral extensions, the regional komatiitic channels and its deeper massive sulphide zones. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
23-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
WA Budget 2025-26: Key regional spending revealed, with major investments across the Mid West
The State Government admitted its first post-election Budget was not sexy but delivered the essentials, with millions in extra funding set to be put into a range of regional infrastructure projects. But while the majority of Mid West election funding promises were kept, notably Labor's pledge to fund a Royal Flying Doctor Service base in Geraldton did not crack a mention this time around. In the lead-up to the election, the Cook Government committed $7.5 million towards establishing the long-awaited RFDS facility in the Mid West, but the funding was nowhere to be seen in this year's Budget — prompting frustration from Member for Geraldton Kirrilee Warr who said the service is critical for timely emergency care in the region's remote areas. 'I'm disappointed there appears to be no funding towards an RFDS base here in Geraldton in the State Budget,' Ms Warr said. 'Nearly 2000 patients were retrieved by the service in the Mid West over the past year — more than five people per day. 'I will continue to back important projects across the electorate and will hold this State Government to account to ensure it delivers the funding they promised at the election.' Minister for the Mid West Jackie Jarvis said she had spoken to the RFDS chief executive and said all election promises would eventually be delivered in Geraldton. 'We're working with them again to understand their timelines and to make sure that they have fully costed the project,' she said. 'It has been 105 days since the State election, that election commitment, all election commitments made in Geraldton, will be honoured as part of our four-year term.' But the Mid West did come out a winner with an additional $500m committed to the State's Strategic Industries Fund — supporting key priorities under the Made in WA plan, including fast-tracking of clean energy and major industrial projects — with the Oakajee precinct set to share in the funding. Oakajee remains part of the State Government's plan to create a renewable energy hub in the Mid West with $60m invested in the project so far. So who were the other Budget winners in the Mid West this time around? Here's the Guardian's five-minute guide to what was in it for our region. Business and development: Geraldton's port will benefit from $3.5m for detailed design of Berths 8 and 9, 'supporting future renewable energy exports like wind turbine components'. Meanwhile, $8.9m has been set aside to boost the Exploration Incentive Scheme to drive regional mining jobs. Other investments include $20m to expand the Aboriginal Ranger Program and $8.3m to progress plans to return WA's freight rail network to public ownership. Cost of living support: A second round of the WA Student Assistance Payment will allow households to apply for a $150 payment for each primary aged child or $250 payment for each secondary aged child. This comes as the first round is due to close on July 4. Eligible concession card holders will receive a one-off rebate on their water bills and $25.7m has been pledged to increase the Regional Pensioner Travel Cards by a further $100, to $775. TransWA fares will be halved, including fares for bus services connecting towns in the Mid West in an $18m promise. The reductions will begin from January 1. The Country Week Assistance Program has been given $8m to support regional participant in country week events. Housing: The Mid West is set to benefit from a major injection of funding aimed at tackling housing shortages and supporting essential workers across the region. As part of a $1.1 billion Statewide investment, $400m has been committed to building and upgrading public housing in regional areas, including Geraldton and surrounding towns. The Government will double its Government Regional Officer Housing construction program with $103.8m to build more than 100 homes and acquire land for key workers such as police and teachers. A further $25m will go into the new Regional Housing Support Fund, offering grants up to $5m to unlock housing and land supply — including subdivisions and key worker accommodation. To improve home ownership access, Keystart will also introduce a new low-deposit loan product to help more Mid West residents purchase modular homes. Health: Planning for an expansion of renal services and a radiation oncology service can begin, with $1m apiece put aside for that purpose within this year's Budget. While in Kalbarri a further $1m will go towards upgrading the health centre's air-conditioning system, improving comfort and safety for patients and staff. The Budget also includes $8.2m to attract and retain health workers in regional areas, with the Government touting that families will also benefit from a $12.2m investment in the Virtual Infant Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Hub for children which will provide specialist care for children and young people via telehealth. Those who need to rely on the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme will see the benefit of a $18.5m to allow the fuel subsidy to be increased from 26¢ cents to 40¢ per kilometre. Communities: Geraldton will see more CCTV installed as part of a $2.3m Statewide rollout to combat antisocial behaviour, while $1m is going to Police and Community Youth Centres to support youth diversion programs in the city. More than $480m per year is set to be spent on police services across regional WA, including 123 stations and nearly 1900 officers and staff, with $14.3m to provide free police academy accommodation for regional recruits. Regional courts will also benefit from $5m in security upgrades. Planning for a new evacuation centre in Kalbarri can begin with $250,000 pledged for the project as well as the Statewide commitment of $6.7m to support DFES's aerial fire response capability, with two strike teams to mitigate the threat of crop fires during the grain harvesting season. Sport: Geraldton's GBSC Sport Park will receive $3m for new toilets and change rooms, including facilities for women, while the Geraldton Netball Association is getting $2.8m to upgrade its Wonthella courts and amenities. The Backroads Gravel Festival will be supported with $450,000 in funding to keep the Mid West cycling event running for the next three years. The Midwest Kart Club in Geraldton will receive $100,000 to improve onsite medical facilities and the Dongara-Irwin Race Club has been allocated $92,000 for infrastructure upgrades. Education: Geraldton Senior High School is set for a $8m windfall for classroom refurbishments, LED lighting and air-conditioning upgrades, while Champion Bay High School will have a new gymnasium after a $23.5m promise. More than $20m will fund the establishment of new regional university study hubs, giving students in the Mid West and other regions greater access to tertiary education. Another $28m has been given to expand the School Breakfast Program to provide free breakfasts five days a week at more than 650 schools, including in the Mid West.
Cision Canada
18-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Cannon Resources Announces Major Resource Expansion and Significant Development Momentum at Fisher East Nickel Project
Updated Resource, High-Grade Discovery, and Accelerated De-risking Underscore Fisher East's Strategic Value in the Global Critical Materials Supply Chain TORONTO and PERTH, Australia, June 18, 2025 /CNW/ - Cannon Resources Pty Ltd ("Cannon" or "the Company"), a Western Australia-based nickel exploration and development company backed by Kinterra Capital Corp. ("Kinterra"), is pleased to announce a significant update to its flagship Fisher East Nickel Project ("Fisher East" or "the Project"). This latest milestone includes a major increase in the Project's Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), a high-grade discovery at depth, and ongoing permitting and technical progress—all of which position Fisher East as one of Australia's most actionable and strategically important undeveloped nickel sulphide assets. Fisher East offers a rare blend of high-grade, near-surface mineralisation, simple deposit geometry that supports conventional underground mining methods, and a relatively low initial capex requirement. The Project continues to demonstrate the scale, quality, and development readiness that investors and partners are increasingly prioritizing. Material Growth in Resource and Grade Since acquiring the Project in 2023, Cannon has delivered transformative growth. The updated JORC-compliant MRE now stands at 18.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.9% nickel. This represents a 250% increase in tonnage from the prior estimate, and a substantial uplift in contained nickel—from 134.1 thousand tonnes to 338.5 thousand tonnes. Importantly, the grade profile has also improved from 1.74% to 1.90%, reinforcing the Project's economic potential and resilience in a range of nickel price environments. Notes: Mineral Resources have been classified in accordance with the JORC Code. All material is classified as either Indicated or Inferred Mineral Resource. Reporting cut-off grade of 0.9% Ni has been applied. BD values were calculated using regression formulas based on BD (bulk density) measurements and interpolated. Material from oxide and transition zones was excluded from the statements. Rows and columns may not add up exactly due to rounding. This growth reflects not only the strength of the underlying geology but also Cannon's consistent execution of a targeted and technically rigorous exploration program. High-Grade Intercepts Extend Musket System at Depth In addition to the broader resource increase, Cannon has uncovered strong new evidence of depth extension at the Musket deposit. In May 2025, drillhole MFED239—a co-funded drillhole under the Government of Western Australia's Exploration Incentive Scheme—intersected an estimated four metres of massive and disseminated sulphide mineralisation grading approximately 4.0% nickel. Final assays for MFED239 are expected in July 2025. The intercept lies 320 metres down plunge of the current Musket resource model and offers compelling indications of both continuity and grade uplift at depth. A downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey conducted on the hole identified a strong off-hole conductor both up and down plunge, suggesting even greater potential for continued growth within the deeper portions of the Musket system. DHEM has been very successful at Fisher East in identifying conductors that have mineralisation, and additional drilling is being planned. "These results point to a larger and more robust mineral system than previously defined," said Chris O'Brien, Vice President and Project Director at Cannon. "We're seeing increasing grade with depth, strong geophysical continuity, and room to grow well beyond the current model. These fundamentals will support long-term value." Mineable, Resilient, and Commercially Attractive Fisher East includes multiple zones grading above 2.0% nickel, allowing for flexible mine sequencing and margin protection in volatile nickel price cycles. Its shallow depth and straightforward mineralogy contribute to a low capital intensity profile. In a market where clean, economic, and secure nickel supply is becoming increasingly scarce, Fisher East offers distinct advantages, including jurisdiction, scalability, and potential early value generation. Strategic Outlook: Path to Development With two major resource updates completed in under two years, a high-grade extension emerging at depth, and permitting and technical studies well underway, Cannon is entering the next phase of value creation. The Company has now initiated engagement with potential offtake partners and financing partners. "Our vision is to build a modern, resilient, nickel supply chain anchored in Tier-1 jurisdictions," said Cheryl Brandon, Co-Managing Partner at Kinterra. "Fisher East embodies the kind of high-grade, technically sound, and commercially viable project the market needs—and we're excited to support Cannon as it moves forward." Cannon will continue to release updates as assays for recent drillholes are received and technical milestones are achieved. A QA/QC summary for this release will be included in the upcoming technical appendix following final laboratory confirmation of results. About Cannon Resources Cannon Resources Pty Ltd is a Western Australia-based mineral exploration company focused on the development of the Fisher East Nickel Project. The Project comprises eleven granted exploration licenses covering a total of 330.6 km² in the North-Eastern Goldfields region and hosts four known nickel sulphide deposits: Musket, Camelwood, Cannonball, and Sabre. For more information, please visit About Kinterra Capital Kinterra is a Toronto-based private equity firm investing in the people, ideas, critical materials, and infrastructure shaping the modern economy. With deep sectoral expertise and long-term investment discipline, Kinterra partners with exceptional teams to unlock the full potential of world-class assets. Learn more at Disclaimer The mineral resource estimates in this release are based on Cannon's initial exploration findings and interpretation. These estimates are subject to change as additional data becomes available through further exploration and evaluation of the Project, and Cannon undertakes no obligation to update any of the contents of this release or to correct any inaccuracies that may become apparent following the date hereof. This release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, Cannon's exploration activities, project development initiatives, and potential partnership engagement. These statements are based on an assessment of present economic, technical, and operational conditions and on several assumptions regarding future events and actions that, as of the date of this release, are considered reasonable. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are beyond the control of Cannon. Cannon cannot and does not give any assurance that the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this report will actually occur, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Cannon has no intention to update or revise forward-looking statements or to publish prospective financial information in the future, regardless of whether new information, future events or any other factors affect the information contained in this release.
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Strickland expands WA gold hunt for fresh intrusive-related targets
Strickland Metals has turned up the heat at its Yandal gold project in Western Australia's northern Goldfields by expanding a key gravity survey to chase down a string of new intrusion-related gold (IRG) targets across a juicy 19-kilometre stretch of prospective ground. The move follows the company's recent discovery of IRG-style mineralisation near its 109,000-ounce Dusk 'til Dawn gold find and could set the stage for a new pipeline of high-impact drill targets. The discovery of a new style of gold-bearing structure came in March after the company spent several months looking over the data from geochemical and geophysical work. The analysis confirmed two sizeable, mineralised corridors - rich in gold, molybdenum, copper, bismuth and tellurium—stretching across a 7.5km strike previously only lightly explored. Re-logging of historical drill chips revealed key alteration minerals, such as chlorite, K-feldspar and epidote, hinting at strong hydrothermal activity. Expert interpretations by geochemist Nigel Brand and geophysicist Barry Bourne suggest the scale and chemistry of the system indicate significant fluid flow, pointing to the presence of a large gold system. Armed with the latest information, Strickland planned a new geophysical survey, with tight 50-metre line spacings, across 9km of the structural corridor immediately to the south of the Dusk 'til Dawn camp. An original high-resolution survey focused on a 10km stretch further south and running north of the company's Horse Well camp. The recent work has, therefore, filled the gap between the two camps, bringing the total strike length under investigation to a hefty 19km. The newly targeted ground sits in a prime position and bears all the hallmarks of the intrusion-related gold (IRG) system already unearthed at Dusk 'til Dawn. It features the same type of low-density gravity anomalies that led to earlier successes, plus a scattering of historic gold hits that suggest there may be much more lurking just below surface. Strickland says it is aiming to replicate the Dusk 'til Dawn discovery model across the new ground and is resampling historical 1990s drill chips and has fresh multi-element geochemical assays now underway. Alteration mapping is also being completed and the results - combined with high-resolution gravity modelling - are expected to shape the next generation of targets by June. When the modelling and analysis are wrapped up, the company plans to launch a diamond drilling campaign to test the IRG system at Dusk 'til Dawn - marking the first time the undercover prospect will have been put to the test with the drill bit. This will be a major step forward in unravelling the true potential of what's shaping up to be a compelling gold target. The company's expanded gold hunt has also caught the eye of the WA government, which is now throwing its support behind the company with a co-funded drilling grant. The backing comes under the State's Exploration Incentive Scheme and will help bankroll the first drill holes into the newly identified targets. Strickland already sits on a sizeable 400,400-ounce inferred gold resource across its broader Yandal project. Key deposits include the 129,500-ounce Palomino complex, the 126,000-ounce Warmblood prospect, and the 108,900 ounces already defined at Dusk 'til Dawn. The company's project area spans 70 square kilometres of prospective greenstone rock along the Celia shear zone. It is also just 50km north of Northern Star Resources' huge 10-million-ounce Jundee gold project. Beyond Strickland's exploration work in Australia, the company has been focusing on its Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia. A recent resource upgrade to 7.3M gold equivalent ounces, coupled with an aggressive 50,000m diamond drilling program, has piqued the interest of Chinese resource giant Zijin Mining, which lobbed $5M into the kitty for 55M shares, representing 2.4 per cent of the company's register. Not surprisingly, the move has attracted widespread interest in the company's activities, and if the gossip is true, it may have also attracted some corporate interest in one of Strickland's Serbian neighbours. Adriatic Metals, with a current ore reserve of 12.3 million tonnes at 192 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 5.7 per cent zinc, 3.6 per cent lead, 1.5 g/t gold and 0.5 per cent copper, has been subject to some heavy buying overnight. The company's share price surged 25 per cent on the back of rumours of an imminent takeover. Strickland is cashed up and ready to roll, with $34.8M in the bank at the end of March and a further $5M investment from major shareholder Zijin since then. With drilling plans nearly finalised, gravity data rolling in and assay results on the horizon, Strickland looks to be assembling a powerful playbook for cracking Yandal's undercover IRG code - and the next round of news could be golden. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
