Welcome to a roundup of some of our financing, exploration, and development stories on Theassay.com over the last week. To keep up to date with all the latest headlines, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Financing and M&A
Over the past week, Novo Resources Corp. (ASX: NVO | TSX: NVO | OTCQX: NSRPF) has announced the sale of ~38% of the company’s holding in privately-owned San Cristobal for gross proceeds of ~A$11.5M.
The receipt of funds from the San Cristobal share sale will support Novo’s current exploration programmes across Western Australia and Victoria and the focus on identifying additional exploration opportunities. The proceeds will also be used to repay the first portion of the deferred consideration owed to IMC Holdings of A$3M due in late December 2024. Following this repayment, the outstanding amount owing to IMC will be A$12.6M which is repayable by 2026, with early repayment options.
New exploration and development
Also, Revolver Resources Holdings Limited (ASX: RRR) has announced strong initial outcomes from heap leach process test work undertaken for its Dianne Copper Mine Project located in north-west Queensland.
Managing director, Pat Williams, commented, “We are extremely pleased with the initial outcomes from the process and column leach testwork undertaken to date on various samples from the Dianne Deposit. To be on track to achieve our target recoveries and residence times in a standard leach environment, and then surpass them in an enhanced setting, is a strong validation of the technical and economic opportunity afforded to us by the Dianne Copper Mine Project.”
Key outcomes include relatively low abrasion indices delivering low plant wear dynamics, low fines content (only 5 – 10% < 150µm) sees readily amenability to heap leach, and relatively low acid consumption (10 – 15kg/t) compared to other Australian heap leach operations (typically 20 – 40kg/t.
Drilling results
Meanwhile, Aldoro Resources Ltd (ASX: ARN) has announced that the assay results for Line 4 of the pre-drill chip sampling programme have been received and confirm that Niobium mineralization extends across the entire 262m sampling line at an average grade of 0.52% Nb₂O₅.
Also, Line 4 has returned strong surface intercepts of 94m at 0.93% Nb₂O₅ including 30m at 1.2% Nb₂O₅.
The previous low density rock chip sampling programme which was conducted on a 100m x 100m grid over the Kameelburg carbonatite revealed a large Nb₂O₅ geochemical anomaly. Prior to committing to undertake a drilling programme on the carbonatite, Aldoro conducted a magnetic survey in addition to a pre-drill trenching programme to eliminate the risk of selective sampling when utilizing the results of the geotechnical surveys to identify a drilling target.
Other news
Finally for this week, Tivan Limited (ASX: TVN) announced that the Federal Minister for Industry and Science, has awarded Major Project Status (MPS) to the company’s Speewah Fluorite Project on behalf of the Australian Government. The award of MPS recognizes the project’s national significance and its alignment with the Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and National Battery Strategy.
As a result of the MPS, Tivan Limited’s Speewah Fluorite Project will receive direct support from the Major Projects Facilitation Agency, including coordination and facilitation of Australian Government approvals.
Tivan is progressing planning for a mining and processing operation at Speewah to produce acid grade fluorspar in strategic partnership with leading Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation.
Major Project Status is currently held by 16 projects nationwide, with only three located to the north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The award furthers Tivan’s mission of building a strategically important company across northern Australia.
