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US electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has seen an incredible run-up in its share price over the past few days, sparking interest in the metals used in the production of its cars and vehicles. At the end of Tuesday’s US trading session on the Nasdaq exchange, Tesla’s share price rose 13pc or US$107/share to close at an all-time high of US$887/share, according to exchange data. The rally has lasted for several days, after the Tesla share price suddenly took off from US$650/share on January 31, and brings gains for the stock since then to $237/share or 36.5pc. Tesla had a stock market value of US$160b on Wednesday. In a presentation released last week, Tesla said it generated US$1b of…

HIGH grade drill results have been announced at the Rose Hill, Gunga West and Golden Ridge gold mining projects in WA. The sites, near Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, were acquired by Horizon Minerals under an asset swap with Northern Star resources in September and December last year. According to Horizon management, Rosehill has produced about 1340 oz of gold at 8.3g/t gold from 5000t since 1898. The drill results came after 12 Reverse Circulation (RC) holes at Rose Hill, which were conducted for the purpose of due diligence. Significant assays of gold, associated with stock work quartz veining and increased pyrite abundance, were found within a steep dipping, porphyry host rock. Confirmation of solid gold mineralisation was discovered beneath the pit…

AUSTRALIAN rare earths company Lynas Corporation’s (ASX: LYC) new processing plant in Kalgoorlie, WA, has been granted Major Project Status by the Australian government. Major Project Status streamlines government approvals processes for mining projects, providing a single-entry point for their assessment by the Australian government, and formally recognises a project’s significance to the Australian economy. The company’s Kalgoorlie processing plant will carry out cracking and leaching of rare earth concentrate from Lynas’s Mt Weld mine in WA’s Goldfield’s region and will support the development of new infrastructure including chemicals production for the rare earths industry. At its peak construction phase the plant is expected to create 500 jobs, and increase Lynas’s Goldfields workforce to more than 200 people. Lynas CEO…

RESOLUTION Minerals has called a trading halt, pending the release of an announcement. The trading halt will remain in place until normal trading commences on Tuesday, February 20, or otherwise announced. The company is reportedly in a bid to raise $4.55m through a placement of 91m shares priced at 5¢ a share, representing a 23pc discount to Resolution’s 6.5¢ last close. The fundraising will go toward progressing the drilling program at Resolutions 64 North Project located in Alaska’s Tintina gold province. In December last year, Millrock Resources executed a definitive Option to Joint Venture agreement with Resolution concerning the 64North gold project, previously named the Goodpaster project. The legal due diligence period was successfully completed with Resolution providing a $744,500…

PERTH’S Impact Minerals has responded to record palladium prices to extend exploration at its Broken Hill project in NSW. A new geodynamic framework for the Broken Hill area has presented evidence that a major deposit of high grade nickel-copper-platinum mineralisation has formed in the Broken Hill project bearing similarities to the Junchuan deposit in China, one of the world’s largest magmatic sulphide ore bodies. Very high-grade primary nickel-copper-PGM-gold mineralisation has been discovered along this complex by Impact at both the Red Hill Prospect and also the Platinum Springs Prospect. Exceptional grades were returned from drilling at Red Hill including a stand out intercept in vein hosted sulphide of  1.2m at 10.4 g/t platinum, 10.9 g/t gold, 254 g/t (9.5 ounces)…

PANORAMIC Resources, WA, has signed a letter of intent with Barminco, awarding it preferred underground contractor status. Barminco, subsidiary of Perenti Global Ltd, is one of the world’s largest hard rock underground mining service companies. Confidence in the long -term potential of the project is supported by a 32.7m raising in rights issues mid-January. Barminco will provide a newer mining fleet and is expected to employ the majority of the existing Panoramic underground mining and maintenance workforce. Its proven expertise and established operating system is expected to improve operational efficiencies and drive production volumes to reach targeted levels. Barminco CEO Paul Muller said the miner looked forward to working closely with Panoramic Resources in driving the development of the Savannah…

CONTINUED weak lithium prices have forced Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) and its Chilean partner SQM to delay the construction of the Mt Holland lithium project in the WA goldfields. The partners announced their decision to mothball the project in an ASX release after trading had closed on January 23, saying that the final investment decision was deferred to “enhance the long-term value of the project”. The project included the construction of the mine and co-located concentrator at Mt Holland, and a lithium hydroxide refinery in Kwinana. Wesfarmers said that while it would wait till 2021 to pull the trigger on a final investment decision, in the meantime it would conduct further work to cut capital and operating costs and explore opportunities…

GRAPHITE-focussed Australian exploration company Comet Resources plans to add a copper project in NSW to its portfolio. The Barraba copper project, named after the nearest town, is 550km north of Sydney, and its exploration licence covers 2375ha in a region known to host volcanic-style mineralisation containing copper, zinc and precious metals. Comet Resources managing director Matthew O’Kane said the Barraba project hosts several drill ready targets and is in a prospective location. “We will be working hard to be in a position to test the project’s prospectivity as soon as possible after completion,” he said. The company believes the Barraba copper project complements its existing Springdale graphite project near Hopetoun in WA, due to the minerals sharing end uses in…