Latest Heap Leach News

OzAurum Resources has recorded 95% gold recovery in an independent heap leach column test on paleochannel material at Mulgabbie North. The result strengthens the case for a lower-capital processing route, but fresh rock testing remains the crucial next test because it contains most of the project’s resource ounces.

Saturn Metals has secured the key mining lease for its 2.83Moz Apollo Hill project, lodged its environmental review and kept its definitive feasibility study on track for the December quarter. The company ended September with $110.7 million in cash, although a further $39.79 million placement tranche remains subject to FIRB approval.

SQX Resources has completed a fully underwritten $2.47 million entitlement offer, leaving it with $2.40 million in cash to advance exploration across its US gold portfolio. Red Bird resource work is progressing while Williams assays are expected in the December quarter.

Anax Metals has moved its Whim Creek copper-zinc project deeper into engineering and financing work, while Mons Cupri’s Mineral Resource rises 24% to 6.32 million tonnes. The company is still targeting a fourth-quarter Final Investment Decision, but funding remains non-binding and the larger resource has yet to enter the project’s Ore Reserve or financial forecasts.

Turaco Gold has reported high-grade gold extensions at Begnopan and Asupiri-Adiopan, including a 6-metre hit at 18.52g/t, as it prepares to update Afema’s 4.65Moz Mineral Resource. The results remain exploration data rather than a new resource or reserve, but several intersections sit beyond existing models and Ore Reserve boundaries.

Red Metal’s latest column tests have extended the heap-leach case to the largest ore type at its Sybella rare earth project, with 65% neodymium and 68% praseodymium extraction from fresh granite. The result brings 598 million tonnes of fresh granite into the company’s pre-feasibility study, although the ore requires a longer leach cycle than its weathered counterparts.

Flagship Minerals has extended its Rosario Copper Project option by one year and cut the final exercise payment from US$2 million to US$1 million. The revised terms give the company more time to advance Isidora before committing further exploration capital to Rosario.

Bannerman Energy and CNNC Overseas have approved the Final Investment Decision for the Etango uranium project in Namibia, clearing the way for full-scale construction and targeting first yellowcake in 2028. The project is forecast to produce about 3.5 million pounds of U3O8 annually, with construction funding described as covered by existing cash balances.

Stavely Minerals has paired strong preliminary economics for its Thursday’s Gossan copper-gold-silver project with a much tighter near-term funding position. The company also reported higher-grade mineralisation at depth at the Freddy’s Find gold-silver prospect.

OD6 Metals has converted a run of high-grade Nevada fluorspar discoveries into a proposed 10,000-metre maiden drilling and bulk-sampling campaign. The company ended September with A$1.775 million in cash, but a subsequent A$6.92 million placement lifted pro forma funds to about A$8.695 million before costs and later movements.

Trek Metals has confirmed a shallow, high-grade manganese discovery at Kuro in Western Australia, with 38 of 72 Phase 1 holes returning significant intercepts. Follow-up drilling is complete, while the company has also secured an option over a second manganese project in Arizona.

Silver Mines has begun its first modern drilling program at the Kramer Hills gold project in California, targeting shallow oxide mineralisation and possible deeper sulphide zones. The 22-hole campaign will test a conceptual exploration target of up to 445,000 ounces, but the project remains well short of a JORC Mineral Resource.