Welcome to our roundup of some of the most prominent investment, exploration, and development stories on Theassay.com over the last seven days. To keep up to date with all the latest headlines, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Financing news
In financing news, we heard that Arafura Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARU) has signed a binding offtake agreement with its key foundation offtake partner, South Korean based Hyundai Motor Company (KOSE: A005380).
Kia Corporation can make orders under the offtake agreement in its own right. This follows the signing of the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Hyundai earlier this year.
The offtake agreement is for the supply of NdPr from the company’s Nolans Project to Hyundai over a seven-year term (which may be extended for a further five years by mutual agreement).
Under the offtake agreement, the buyer may choose whether to be supplied with NdPr oxide or its equivalent in NdPr Metal. Contract volumes (per Contract Year) for NdPr oxide are 600tpa in year one, increasing to 1,500tpa in years four to seven to align with ramp up of the project.
Brixton Metals Corp. (TSXV: BBB | OTCQB: BBBXF) has announced a non-brokered private placement of common shares in the capital of Brixton by a wholly owned subsidiary of BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP), with the goal of advancing the company’s Thorn Project located in Northwest British Columbia, Canada.
Pursuant to the private placement, BHP will acquire the number of common shares that will represent 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, on an undiluted basis, following completion of the private placement at a price of C$0.18 per share.
Development news
There were plenty of developments over the last seven days, starting with Awalé Resources Ltd (TSXV: ARIC) identifying several potential drill targets in initial results from the ground geophysical surveys undertaken at the Sceptre East Iron Oxide Copper Gold IOCG Target on the Odienné Project in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Induced Polarization (IP) surveys have identified extensive chargeability anomalies, interpreted by the company to represent buried sulphide-bearing bodies.
The company says the chargeability highs are spatially coincident with copper-gold geochemical anomalies and represent compelling priority drill targets. Initial scout drilling of these targets is currently expected to begin in December 2022.
Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX: GAL) has discovered a new style of nickel sulphide mineralization in drill assays from regional exploration drilling north of the Callisto palladium discovery within the company’s 100% owned Norseman project in Western Australia.
Highlights form an extensive 50m drill intersection from hole NRC346 containing higher grade nickel intervals and comprise 50m @ 0.32% nickel from 95m (approximately 80m below surface), including 2.0m @ 0.50% nickel from 111m; 2.0m @ 0.59% nickel from 123m; 2.0m @ 0.56% nickel from 136m; and 3.0m @ 0.46% nickel from 142m.
“Today’s results confirm the amazing prospectivity of the ground we are exploring. In our first regional exploration program since the discovery of Callisto we have identified wide zones of disseminated nickel sulphide in a new geological setting,” said Brad Underwood, Galileo’s managing director.
Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX: KTA) confirmed rare earth elements (REEs) over 5km at the Tower prospect within its 100% owned Mt Clere project located in the north-western margins of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.
The 100-hole air core programme resulted in 12 holes being drilled at Tower West (for 412m) and 88 holes at the Tower main area (for 2,801m).
Results from the recent infill and extensional drilling programme at the Tower complement results from the discovery holes announced in April and May.
Drilling results
Drilling news started with Cannindah Resources Ltd (ASX: CAE) obtaining positive assay results from the drilling programme currently underway at Mt Cannindah, copper-gold-silver project south of Gladstone, near Monto in central Queensland, Australia.
CAE hole # 14 was drilled to the east. The main objectives were to drill from west to east in a similar fashion to historic holes at Mt Cannindah and establish whether the long intervals of high-grade copper-gold-silver drilled east to west in CAE hole 9 could be replicated when drilled from the opposite direction. “Hole 14 has been another success for Cannindah Resources Ltd. The existence of this hole going in a west to east direction provides an understanding of the thickness to the huge 399m copper intercept encountered in hole 9 CAE,” said executive chairman, Tom Pickett.
