Author: Alya Malik Faisal

Lightning Minerals (ASX: L1M) has commenced a 1,300m drilling program at its Mt Turner gold project in North Queensland. Phase one of the diamond drilling campaign will target multiple gold and silver deposits beneath existing pits along the Drummer Fault at Mt Turner. Geo Drill Australia has been contracted to complete drilling works at Mt Turner and bring significant experience and expertise to the program. Lightning Minerals managing director Alex Biggs says multiple targets exist across the Mt Turner tenements and this initial program focuses on high priority gold and silver targets. “It’s great to get started with our drilling at Mt Turner. With the current gold and silver markets and multiple targets this is the start of what the…

QCoal will close one of two underground units at the Cook Colliery in the Bowen Basin, citing increased production costs and royalties. A QCoal spokesman commented on the closure. “Unfortunately, Cook Colliery has been affected by high production costs, high taxes and royalties and low coal prices and its ongoing operation at its current levels is unsustainable,” the spokesperson said. Core Crew, the operator of Cook Colliery, announced that consultation would begin with the workforce today on the future which may result in redundancies and changes to existing positions and roles. Consultation with workers is expected to take about two weeks. Cook Colliery has contributed $25m in royalties to the Queensland Government since its March 2022 reopening despite never making…

Mitsui and Itochu will acquire an indirect 7% and 8% interest respectively in BHP’s (ASX: BHP) 100%-owned Ministers North iron ore deposit. Following the fulfillment of the condition’s precedent, the shareholding interest of Ministers North between Mitsui, BHP and Itochu will become 7%, 85% and 8% respectively, aligned with the interest of the existing WA iron ore business owned by the three companies. Ministers North is located in the Pilbara region of WA, where Mitsui has been engaged in iron ore projects since the 1960s. It is close to iron ore mines and infrastructure owned jointly by Mitsui, BHP and Itochu. In addition to low operating costs as an open-cut mine, Ministers North is expected to offer cooperative benefits through…

The Queensland Government is establishing Australia’s first vanadium battery supply chain, delivering a fresh start for North Queensland. The government is investing $10m in Vecco Group’s mine and commercial-scale electrolyte facility. Using vanadium sourced from Julia Creek, the Townsville facility will anchor a pit-to-port product manufacturing chain, supplying vanadium flow batteries for global energy storage markets. The end-to-end vanadium battery supply chain will help reinforce Queensland’s leadership in critical minerals and advanced manufacturing. Queensland Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Minister Ros Bates says the investment demonstrates the government’s determination to turn the state’s mineral abundance into jobs and export opportunities. “After a decade of decline, in the last ten months, we’ve got on with the job of delivering greater opportunities…

An automated laboratory at Mineral Resources’ Ken’s Bore site is providing accurate, real-time data to help the Mining and Technical Services (MTS) team make mine planning decisions to efficiently develop the project’s deposits. The Automated Modular Solution (AMS) Prep Line technology was developed and installed by industry-leader Rocklabs, a New Zealand-based business part of the international robotics and automation company, Scott Technology. The technology uses a series of collaborative robots to easily take samples from the field, reduce their size and efficiently provide information to the project’s MTS team. The technology has introduced immediate benefits into the project, doubling sampling capacity to 500 per day and reducing several repetitive and manual processes. Additionally, by completing the sampling process onsite, MinRes retains…

The WA Government is introducing a new State Development Bill 2025 aimed at establishing a framework for improved interagency coordination and the ability to mandate assessment timeframes for projects and areas of strategic significance. The bill builds upon the WA Government’s recent commitment to establish a WA Productivity Commission, as well as the planning and environmental approvals reforms delivered during the last term of government. The new laws are aimed at future-proofing WA’s regulatory system, ensuring high standards of protection are maintained while streamlining complex and time-sensitive processes. It will allow the WA Premier to declare State Development Areas and Priority Projects, supported by the WA Coordinator General who will be delegated statutory powers to coordinate across agencies and facilitate…

A WA man has been sentenced to 7 years and 10 months imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.13m in GST refunds. According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Adam John Waterman, the sole director of mining companies Fortuna SL Mining and Advent Exploration WA, submitted 27 false Business Activity Statements (BAS). ATO assistant commissioner Jade Hawkins says the outcome sends a clear message to anyone thinking of defrauding the tax system. “This was not an honest mistake; it was a deliberate and calculated attempt to steal from the Australian community,” she said. “People who cheat the tax system will be caught and can expect to face serious consequences, including jail time.” Despite numerous warnings that his claims were being…

North Stawell Minerals (ASX: NSM) has secured a Victorian diamond drilling company’s service to commence drilling to investigate the high-grade gold results intersected at the Darlington prospect in Victoria.  A diamond rig is scheduled to commence drilling in the second half of September with the company scheduled to commence 600-900m of planned drilling.  Drilling will target extensions of a recently drilled brecciated, quartz-sulphide vein with multiple occurrences of visible gold that returned 2.3m at 29.2g/t gold from 108.2m from drill hole NSD057, including 0.8m at 82.3g/t gold from 108.2m.   Historic production from the Darlington mine, 200m north of the target, includes 2347oz gold at 18.2g/t gold.  Other recent drilling intercepts on the Darlington mine include 4m at 10.77 g/t gold from 60m…

Anglo American Dawson Mine workers and contractors have raised more than $40,000 to help regional families while they access vital cancer treatment.  The funds raised will sponsor three accommodation rooms for 12 months at the Cancer Council Queensland’s Rockhampton lodge where some of the mine’s current and former employees have stayed during their own treatment journey.   In the past year, Cancer Council Queensland provided more than 25,000 nights of accommodation – 1700 at the Rockhampton hub – for rural and regional Queenslanders who needed to travel for treatment.   Dawson Mine general manager Matt Stevens says the site conducts skin checks every year and is working on other early prevention activities to ensure teams stay on top of their health.  He…

NRW Holdings (ASX: NWH) has executed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Fredon Industries for an enterprise value of up to $200m on a debt free cash free basis. The acquisition provides core capabilities, with a proven delivery platform with scale to access opportunities driven by energy transition, electrification, automation and digital innovation, according to NRW. NRW chief executive and managing director Jules Pemberton comments on the acquisition. “Fredon represents a strategically and financially compelling acquisition for NRW, with the potential to drive further growth across the business and create long-term shareholder value,” he said. “Fredon hold strong market positions across its divisions, supported by longstanding tier-one client relationships and an experienced management team providing a full spectrum of…

Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) is progressing its ongoing exploration drilling program at the Eleanora and Golden Gate prospects within the Hillgrove antimony-gold project in NSW. The diamond drilling at Eleanora continues to provide thick high-grade gold-antimony downhole intercepts with best results such as ELG225 with 28.1m at 5.68 g/t gold from 186m. Other results include ELG225 3.3m at 11.49g/t gold from 167.2m, ELG228 18.4m at 6.26 g/t gold from 86.6m and ELG228 2.0m at 23.61g/t gold from 117m. The company says this demonstrates the potential of other high-grade shoots that remain underexplored. For Golden Gate, the results are defining multiple lodes with continuity building between GGL009 and new intercepts in GGL010 and the western Golden Gate North Reef. The results…