Core Lithium has boosted the mineral resource estimate at its Finniss lithium mine by 62 per cent.

Located just south of Darwin Port in the Northern Territory, Core completed drilling at its 100 per cent owned project in 2022.

The positive results of the drilling lead to the increased mineral resource estimate.

The 2022 drilling program was the largest that Core has completed to date and showed significant potential for extension of the Finniss project.

“This significant increase to the Finniss mineral resource is a fantastic outcome for Core and our shareholders,” Core Lithium chief executive officer Gareth Manderson said.

“The 2022 drilling campaign was the largest in Core’s history, and these outstanding results are a credit to the exploration team.

“Through the targeted and systematic drilling of known and emerging deposits, the company has further highlighted the prospectivity of our landholding in the Bynoe Pegmatite field and the strong potential for life of mine extensions at the Finniss lithium operation.

“Our exploration team returns to Finniss in 2023 with a pipeline of new and existing deposits. The success of the 2022 exploration program is a strong endorsement of our near-doubled 2023 exploration budget as we target growth at the Finniss lithium operation.”

Core prepared its first shipment of spodumene concentrate from Finniss ahead of schedule in early April of this year. The shipment made its way to China in the same week.

The first shipment was initially estimated to be ready by the end of April, but Core was ahead of schedule.

“I would like to commend the Core Lithium team for the work they have done to safely start operations and produce concentrate during this wet season,” Manderson said.

“Core’s focus is to now establish the foundations of sustained growth for the company, including the regular delivery of high-quality, reliable volumes of lithium concentrate that is currently in high demand.”

Mineral Resources (MinRes) has acquired all the issued fully paid ordinary shares of Norwest Energy that it did not previously own, acquiring an interest in over 80 per cent of Norwest shares.

MinRes and Norwest have been engaged in takeover talks since December 2022 when MinRes made an unsolicited takeover offer of $403 million.

While this offer was knocked back, a revised offer of $497 million won over the Norwest board in January 2023.

On April 6, MinRes announced that its offer was accepted by Norwest, and an acceptance facility was established.

Almost two weeks later, MinRes has now acquired over 80 per cent of Norwest shares and it has confirmed a letter has been delivered to the facility agent confirming the rollover condition has been satisfied and the acceptance facility has now closed.

The company also said if any Norwest shareholders wish to participate in the acceptance facility, it will now be processed as acceptances under the new offer.

MinRes said that Norwest shareholders who accept MinRes’ offer could be eligible to choose scrip for scrip capital gains tax (CGT) rollover relief in respect of the disposal of Norwest shares, meaning any CGT payable on the disposal of their Norwest shares is deferred.

“Norwest shareholders are urged to seek their own independent tax advice regarding the effect of choosing scrip for scrip CGT rollover relief to their individual circumstances,” MinRes said.

MinRes also said that Norwest shareholders who have not accepted the offer are urged to accept it without delay.

The offer is open until April 29, with MinRes announcing the offer consideration is best and final and will not be increased.

Mineral Resources (MinRes) has acquired all the issued fully paid ordinary shares of Norwest Energy that it did not previously own, acquiring an interest in over 80 per cent of Norwest shares.

MinRes and Norwest have been engaged in takeover talks since December 2022 when MinRes made an unsolicited takeover offer of $403 million.

While this offer was knocked back, a revised offer of $497 million won over the Norwest board in January 2023.

On April 6, MinRes announced that its offer was accepted by Norwest, and an acceptance facility was established.

Almost two weeks later, MinRes has now acquired over 80 per cent of Norwest shares and it has confirmed a letter has been delivered to the facility agent confirming the rollover condition has been satisfied and the acceptance facility has now closed.

The company also said if any Norwest shareholders wish to participate in the acceptance facility, it will now be processed as acceptances under the new offer.

MinRes said that Norwest shareholders who accept MinRes’ offer could be eligible to choose scrip for scrip capital gains tax (CGT) rollover relief in respect of the disposal of Norwest shares, meaning any CGT payable on the disposal of their Norwest shares is deferred.

“Norwest shareholders are urged to seek their own independent tax advice regarding the effect of choosing scrip for scrip CGT rollover relief to their individual circumstances,” MinRes said.

MinRes also said that Norwest shareholders who have not accepted the offer are urged to accept it without delay.

The offer is open until April 29, with MinRes announcing the offer consideration is best and final and will not be increased.

Queensland has a new largest gold mine in the Ravenswood mine, after Ravenswood Gold completed a $350 million expansion at the site.

Located 130km southwest of Townsville, the mine has created over 350 local jobs and has supported 1000 contractors.

The mine is set to produce over 200,000 ounces of gold a year.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart congratulated the company on the expansion and said the project “deserves a gold medal for how it supports locals and local businesses”.

“It is providing good jobs, flow on benefits for local businesses and is ensuring a sustainable future for the town of Ravenswood well beyond the life of the mine,” he said.

“And all Queenslanders benefits with royalties that will fund our schools, hospitals and roads.

“The resources industry directly supports about 75,000 jobs across the state, particularly in the regions, which account for about two-thirds of all mining jobs.”

The mine has been in operation since 1987 and was purchased by Ravenswood Gold in April 2020.

In 2021, the gold mine was touted as the supplier of gold for the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic medals in 2032

“This is a major achievement for our team at Ravenswood Gold and for the township of Ravenswood,” Ravenswood Gold chief executive officer Brett Fletcher said.

“We are delivering huge economic benefits and providing local employment opportunities, with the vast majority of our team living within a two-hour drive of the mine.

“Ravenswood Gold is a great example of local people working together with private business and government to bring real benefits for the state of Queensland.”

BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry said the approval was a strong endorsement on the value of the arrangement.

“This is a strong endorsement from OZ Minerals shareholders on the value they will receive under the scheme and the hard work of the OZ Minerals team over many years to create a successful business,” he said.

“We look forward to bringing together our talent and resources to create an even stronger organisation.”

The approval comes just days after Vietnam’s Competition and Consumer Authority also approved BHP’s acquisition and a month after the Brazilian competition regulator gave similar approval in March.

Takeover talks have been on the table since August 2022, when BHP made an offer of $25 per share ($8.4 billion).

This offer was swiftly rejected, and BHP came back in November 2022 with a revised offer of $28.25 per share, or $9.63 billion, which was accepted.

While the OZ board unanimously recommended its shareholders approved the revised offer, some shareholders indicated that they would vote against the existing deal, citing OZ’s attractive portfolio.

However, it seems that not all shareholders thought that way, with the takeover being approved without issue.

Shareholder approval was the second-last hurdle BHP had to jump through before the takeover process is finalised.

Now, the decision rests in the hands of the Federal Court of Australia. OZ is expected to apply for court orders approving the takeover on April 17.

If approved by the court, the acquisition is expected to become effective on April 18 and be implemented on May 2.

The MF500 is a fully functional hydrostatic transmission system developed for hands-on training and teaching of hydrostatic transmission systems at vocational and technical training colleges.

Because the hydrostatic transmission training simulator has an electronically controlled wheel-load system, students can operate the equipment in the laboratory and experience real-world conditions such as uphill, downhill, tough surfaces, and more.

The hydrostatic transmission training simulator includes pre-programmed tasks that cover the issues listed in a typical hydrostatic transmission manufacturer’s troubleshooting flowchart. This allows students to practise troubleshooting skills on a machine that has many of the faults that a hydrostatic transmission system might have.

Because it is primarily intended for educational purposes, using the MF500 hydrostatic transmission training simulator eliminates the hazards associated with the skid-steer loader. Students may safely drive it, load it, and operate the equipment.

The simulator includes comprehensive diagnostic capabilities for real-world troubleshooting in real time. All electric components of the simulator are protected by industry-standard lockout/locking devices for safety while at rest and in motion.

It has four emergency stop buttons that are easily accessible at each workstation; hydraulic motors (left and right), pump controls, steering, and directional control. This allows trainers or operators to quickly access any of the emergency stop buttons with no safety concerns.

Mineral Resources (MinRes) and Norwest Energy have provided an update on the drilling operations of the Lockyer-2 conventional gas appraisal well.

Lockyer-2 is a downdip, step-out appraisal well located approximately 3.2km to the north-east of the Lockyer Deep-1 gas discovery in WA.

According to MinRes, while the Kingia Sandstone reservoir is of excellent quality, an analysis of the wireline data and sampling indicated the reservoir is water-saturated and the aquifer is at a much higher pressure than previously interpreted, resulting in the Lockyer-2 well being suspended for future potential use.

The Lockyer-2 well is situated in the north Perth Basin within exploration permit EP368, a joint venture (JV) between Norwest Energy and Energy Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of MinRes.

The JV states that Norwest Energy holds 20 per cent of the agreement, and Energy Resources is the operator and holds 80 per cent of the agreement.

MinRes said drilling at the well began on March 15 and had the primary target of Kingia Sandstone. The target was reached at 4347m, with low levels of background gas evident. The drilling was completed at a total depth of 4574m.

Norwest Energy said the Lockyer-2 results will impact the resource potential of the Lockyer Deep-1 discovery, since the anomalously high aquifer pressure indicates a much-reduced gas column.

Norwest Energy said the free water line is now interpreted to be at a depth of approximately 4007m, with the potential resource area above the free water line now estimated to be approximately 11 square kilometres.

Norwest Energy said it does not think the Lockyer-2 result affects the geological chance of the North Erregulla Deep-1 succeeding, but it is expected to materially downgrade the resource potential of the greater Lockyer structure.

Gold miner Westgold Resources and copper major 29Metals have released their preliminary production results for the third quarter (Q3) of the 2023 financial year (FY23).

Westgold delivered a solid quarter of operations, producing 60,512 ounces of gold, bringing the company’s production to 188,740 ounces year to date. The results put Westgold on track to achieve the upper end of production guidance of 240,000–260,000 ounces.

These results occurred despite major rainfall event across its Murchison operations in WA, which include two processing hubs, the Cue gold operation and the Meekatharra gold operation, as well as the company’s Fortnum gold operation.

While the rainfall did not stop milling operations all together, it did temporarily restrict activity towards the end of the quarter.

Westgold managing director Wayne Bramwell said the results were promising.

“Westgold’s Q3 results show changes made around operating discipline, mining efficiency and cost management are beginning to deliver the financial results we expect from our mines,” Bramwell said.

“Our team continues to find ways to simplify our business and drive efficiencies. Profitability and building our cash position is the objective this year and at the end of Q3, FY23, we remain on track to deliver our FY23 guidance.”

Results were also strong for 29Metals, who reported drilling at its Capricorn copper mine resulted in an increase in estimated mineral resource and ore reserves, up 58 per cent to 3.9 million tonnes. Given the mine was temporarily shuttered during the Queensland floods, these results pointed to the continued potential of Capricorn.

“These tremendous results continue to demonstrate the growth potential at the Capricorn copper ore bodies, building upon the highly successful drilling at Capricorn in 2022,” 29Metals managing director and chief executive officer Peter Albert said.

“These results further demonstrate the medium- and longer-term potential we see at Capricorn copper and highlight the importance of our ongoing recovery work to safely return Capricorn copper to operations following the impacts of the extreme weather event in March 2023.”

Glencore has added $US8.2 billion in cash to its initial $US23 billion takeover offer for Canadian miner Teck Resources.  

While Teck’s board members have doggedly crossed their arms and rejected Glencore’s offers, time will tell if the sweetened deal will be enough to convince shareholders by an April 26 deadline. 

Teck turned down the initial offer earlier this month, citing a reluctance to expose its shareholders to Glencore’s oil and thermal coal assets in light of the global push for net-zero, as well as jurisdictional risk. 

“All of which would negatively impact the value potential of Teck’s business, is contrary to our ESG (environmental, social and governance) commitments and would transfer significant value to Glencore at the expense of Teck shareholders,” Teck said in a statement.   

Glencore hit back yesterday, adding an $US8.2 billion cash component to its offer in an effort to appease shareholders who are eager to steer clear of coal.  

“Glencore has proposed … to introduce a cash element to the proposal … to effectively buy Teck shareholders out of their coal exposure such that Teck shareholders would receive 24 per cent of MetalsCo and $US8.2 billion in cash,” Glencore said in a statement.  

Through the merger, Glencore is seeking to simultaneously spin off two combined thermal and steelmaking coal businesses into stand-alone companies. 

MetalsCo would become a world-class base metals business with a diversified portfolio. 

CoalCo – the other proposed spinoff – would be a highly lucrative coal and carbon steel materials business. 

But Teck is already in the process of splitting its own businesses down the middle. The Canadian company is poised to spin off its steelmaking coal as Elk Valley Resources, while the main body rebrands to Teck Metals. 

The vote to split Teck is slated for April 26 which, if passed, will slam the door on Glencore’s proposal and complicate future takeovers.  

It looks to be an uphill battle for Glencore.  

Teck’s controlling shareholder Norman Keevil told Canada’s The Globe and Mail that he will not sell to a foreign company at any price, while another Canadian mining magnate, Pierre Lassonde, has indicated his intention to purchase a 20 per cent stake in Elk Valley Resources to protect it from takeover in its vulnerable early days of trading.