Matt Birney

The acquisition of enviable lithium ground in Brazil sent a Perth-based explorer flying on the ASX last week, while a $160 million win against the Tanzanian government boosted a nickel explorer’s share price.

One biotech firm, which is developing a drug to combat both HIV and COVID-19, went nuts this week, while punters again flocked to the lithium bandwagon and companies exploring in the emerging hotspot of Canada.

Horizon Minerals has managed to get its foot on two lithium prospects with exquisite proximity to Greenbushes – the biggest hard-rock lithium mine in the world.

American West Metals has kicked off a maiden drill program at its Copper Warrior project, following up favourable geophysical IP anomalies and outcrop samples returning up to 3.3 per cent copper.

The legal fight, (if you can call it that), over AVZ Minerals' mega-lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conjures up images of the whacky Cantina bar scene in Star Wars.

The Northern Territory's onshore Beetaloo basin is thought to be harbouring almost biblical scale gas deposits and ASX-listed Empire Energy is at the tip of the spear when it comes to proving its commercial viability. The company is now teeteringly close to pushing the button on an investment decision to start flowing gas commercially out of the basin – a move that could revolutionise the Australian gas industry.

The NT’s onshore Beetaloo basin is thought to be harbouring almost biblical-scale gas deposits and ASX-listed Empire Energy is in the vanguard of those seeking to prove its commercial viability.

Middle Island Resources is onto several new iron-oxide-copper-gold and sediment-hosted base metals targets from gravity survey data at its Barkly project close to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Modelling of detailed geophysical data collected in 2023 over eight priority targets has detected several density anomalies with shapes and sizes that may represent sizeable mineral deposits.

ASX-listed Toro Energy has revealed proposals to spin out its portfolio of non-core nickel, gold, and base metal assets in Western Australia to focus solely on uranium. Projects flagged for the spin out into a new IPO include Toro's wholly owned Dusty Nickel Project 50km east of the town of Wiluna and the Yandal Gold and Base Metal Project.