Australia

S&P/ASX 200 up 1.43% with miners leading the gains

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) gained 76 points or 1.43% today to close at 5404.8 for its third straight week of gains.

Materials led improvements with a 3.3% rise helped by miners.

The best performing stocks include Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX:OBM) which rose 8.11% to 20 cents, St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) which gained 6.33% to 8.4 cents and Australian Mines Limited (ASX:AUZ) which rose 12.5%.

The worst performers today were technology stocks. Xero (ASX:XRO) declined 6% following another slump on Thursday.

Upcoming catalysts[hhmc]
Today is set to be a very busy session on the US data front.

Figures on retail sales, manufacturing, business inventories, industrial production, job openings and consumer confidence are all set to be released.

Proactive news headlines:
Ora Banda Mining higher on 144% increase in Callion gold resource at Davyhurst Project[hhmc]
Ora Banda Mining Ltd increased the Callion open pit mineral resource by 144% with this deposit forming a key part of the 1.99-mill..

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) gained 76 points or 1.43% today to close at 5404.8 for its third straight week of gains.

Materials led improvements with a 3.3% rise helped by miners.

The worst performers today were technology stocks. Xero (ASX:XRO) declined 6% following another slump on Thursday.

Upcoming catalysts

Today is set to be a very busy session on the US data front.

Figures on retail sales, manufacturing, business inventories, industrial production, job openings and consumer confidence are all set to be released.

Proactive news headlines:

Ora Banda Mining higher on 144% increase in Callion gold resource at Davyhurst Project

Ora Banda Mining Ltd increased the Callion open pit mineral resource by 144% with this deposit forming a key part of the 1.99-million-ounce Davyhurst Gold Project in WAs Eastern Goldfields. The mineral resource at Callion has been upgraded to 269,000 tonnes at 3.5 g/t for 30,000 ounces and includes an indicated resource of 241,000 tonnes at a higher grade of 3.7 g/t for 28,700 ounces. This resource is up from the previous estimate of 169,000 tonnes at 2.6 g/t for 14,000 ounces of contained gold. Shares have been more than 8% higher at 20 cents intra-day, double what they were at close on April 3.

St George Mining completes $3.6 million placement to fund drilling at Mt Alexander

St George Mining Ltd completed a private placement of ordinary shares to institutional and high net worth resources investors raising more than $3.6 million. A share purchase plan (SPP) was also launched by the company on May 12, under which eligible shareholders were invited to also acquire shares in St George at 8 cents per share. The SPP remains open and is scheduled to close on May 29, 2020. New funds secured under these capital raising initiatives will underpin the 2020 drill program at St Georges flagship Mt Alexander Project, with drilling scheduled to begin next week.

Australian Mines identifies 14 new nickel and cobalt targets within Sconi Project

Australian Mines Ltd identified 14 new nickel and cobalt exploration target areRead More – Source

Proactiveinvestors

Australia

Argonaut Resources directors show faith in company by participating in oversubscribed SPP

Argonaut Resources NL (ASX:ARE) directors have demonstrated their faith in the company’s copper-zinc strategy by participating in the recently closed share purchase plan (SPP).

Independent non-executive chairman Patrick Elliot purchased more than 4.465 million shares at 0.55 cents per share in an indirect interest.

He now holds 5,876,159 shares in that interest with another 20,324,574 held in a separate indirect interest.

Independent non-executive chairman Malcolm Richmond acquired more than 5.454 million shares in a direct interest, increasing the number held in this interest to almost 15 million with another 1 million held in an indirect interest.

Overwhelming response to SPP[hhmc]
The company was overwhelmed by the response to its SPP which closed early and more than twice oversubscribed with the target subsequently increased to $2.5 million from $1.2 million.

Subscriptions in excess of $3 million were received and as a result, the SPP was closed with immediate effect.

Money ..

Argonaut Resources NL (ASX:ARE) directors have demonstrated their faith in the company’s copper-zinc strategy by participating in the recently closed share purchase plan (SPP).

Independent non-executive chairman Patrick Elliot purchased more than 4.465 million shares at 0.55 cents per share in an indirect interest.

He now holds 5,876,159 shares in that interest with another 20,324,574 held in a separate indirect interest.

Overwhelming response to SPP

The company was overwhelmed by the response to its SPP which closed early and more than twice oversubscribed with the target subsequently increased to $2.5 million from $1.2 million.

Subscriptions in excess of $3 million were received and as a result, the SPP was closed with immediate effect.

Money raised under this SPP and from the recently completed $2.7 million share placeRead More – Source

Proactiveinvestors

Australia

Strickland Metals shares jump 39% ahead of drilling base metal target near DeGrussa

Strickland Metals Ltd (ASX:STK) shares surged 39% today ahead of its maiden drilling program at the Doolgunna Project, which will include a diamond drilling program that is likely to begin by the end of this month.

As a part of the program, a minimum of four diamond holes will be drilled to a depth of 500 metres to test a VMS target similar to the nearby DeGrussa deposit of Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR).

Heritage survey[hhmc]
Exploration activity has recommenced on the Doolgunna Project following completion of heritage surveys to allow land access to areas where the company wishes to complete exploration drilling.

The target for drilling is a compelling base metal prospect that exhibits geological characteristics that are interpreted to be similar to Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa deposit about 30 kilometres to the east of the project.

The prospect has a 3-kilometre-long electromagnetic conductor that lies below an outcropping copper-zinc gossan that has been mapped over a 1.2-kilomet..

As a part of the program, a minimum of four diamond holes will be drilled to a depth of 500 metres to test a VMS target similar to the nearby DeGrussa deposit of Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR).

Heritage survey

Exploration activity has recommenced on the Doolgunna Project following completion of heritage surveys to allow land access to areas where the company wishes to complete exploration drilling.

The prospect has a 3-kilometre-long electromagnetic conductor that lies below an outcropping copper-zinc gossan that has been mapped over a 1.2-kilometre strike.

Diamond core drilling

The company plans to start the diamond core drilling by the end of this month.

A multi-purpose drill rig has been contracted to enable the minimum planned program wRead More – Source

Proactiveinvestors

Australia

Pan Asia Metals has positive discussions on plans for Thai lithium project

Pan Asia Metals Ltd (ASX:PAM) has had positive discussions with authorities in Phang Nga Province, Thailand, including the provincial government, for its Reung Kiet Lithium Project.

PAM has submitted a presentation covering all aspects of the project including methods of ongoing exploration, conceptual mining and concentrate production, and the potential for downstream value-adding industries in Phang Nga and Thailand.

The presentation and subsequent discussions were aimed at assisting Phang Nga Provincial Government in their considerations for the proposed mining and industrial development areas.

Provincial Government discussions[hhmc]
Pan Asia was recently invited by the chief executive officer of the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), a Phang Nga Provincial Government coordinating body, to represent PAM and the Reung Kiet Lithium Project.

The meeting was also attended by the head of Phang Nga Provincial Industry along with the representatives of the Phang Ng..

Pan Asia Metals Ltd (ASX:PAM) has had positive discussions with authorities in Phang Nga Province, Thailand, including the provincial government, for its Reung Kiet Lithium Project.

The presentation and subsequent discussions were aimed at assisting Phang Nga Provincial Government in their considerations for the proposed mining and industrial development areas.

Provincial Government discussions

Pan Asia was recently invited by the chief executive officer of the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), a Phang Nga Provincial Government coordinating body, to represent PAM and the Reung Kiet Lithium Project.

The meeting was also attended by the head of Phang Nga Provincial Industry along with the representatives of the Phang Nga Provincial Public Works and Town Planning Office.

Phang Nga Provincial Industry head has been appointed by the Phang Nga governor as chairman of the Phang Nga New Town Planning Committee.

During the meeting, the chairman of the committee conveyed its support for the Reung Kiet Lithium Project.

PAO wants to ensure that the requirements of the Reung Kiet project are incorporated into the town planning committee’s zoning plans to ensure that the project can progress once exploration and feasibility results prove positive.

“Can bring opportunities”

PAM managing director Paul Lock said: “We have been working hard in Phang Nga province and we are very happy with the positive reception that the Reung Kiet Lithium Project is receiving from the Phang Nga Provincial Government and surrounding communities.

“Reung Kiet is strategically located and based on peer feasibility work the project is positioned to potentially be one of the lowest-cost suppliers of lithium chemicals in the global peer group.

“This is a project that can bring substantial opportunities and value to Phang Nga and Thailand.”

Pan Asia is planning its second Reung Kiet drilling program with expectations that this will begin in the coming months following the conclusion of the current Khao Soon drilling program.

Potential cost curve leader

Reung Kiet is a hard rock project with lepidolite rich pegmatites chiefly composed of quartz, albite and lepidolite with minor cassiterite and tantalite as well as other accessory minerals including some rare earth.

Lepidolite does not require roasting and has a suite of by-products which are recoverable at the concentrator and processing stages of the flow sheet.

Peer feasibility work has Read More – Source