The global energy transition continued to accelerate in Q3, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing demand for clean sources of power. This trend presents significant investment opportunities in the cleantech sector, with wind, solar and nuclear energy gaining attention as key areas of growth.

However, Donald Trump’s recent re-election in the US has introduced uncertainty regarding the future of clean energy policies and investments in the country, adding a layer of complexity to the investment landscape.

Equity and debt funding to carbon capture-focused companies.

Chart via Crunchbase.

Likewise, major tech companies have given financial support to large-scale carbon offset projects.

Frontier, a buyer of carbon removal credits founded by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), McKinsey, Meta, Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) and Stripe in 2022, enabled its fourth round of carbon removal pre-purchases in Q3.

Meta also entered into a carbon offset agreement with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, the forestry arm of Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual. Under the terms of the deal, which is Meta’s largest carbon removal initiative from a single project to date, the company will purchase up to US$3.9 million in carbon credits from Timberland through 2038. This follows a similar agreement struck between Microsoft and BTG Pactual in Q2.

Meta has pledged to contract a further US$35 million for carbon removal projects in the next year.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

‘The world is going to be very much bipolar, and the global village has changed,’ she explained. ‘Right now it’s west against east, and everything is turning to the east. So that is a very serious consideration.’

Blaszczk noted that while it’s tempting to focus on issues close to home, a wider perspective is key.

‘The major emphasis is on global geopolitical developments,’ she commented.

When it comes to gold, Blaszczk is standing by her US$3,000 per ounce prediction, adding that it is likely to happen soon.

‘There is a global race for gold — it’s a gold rush in some ways,’ she said, pointing to ongoing central bank buying.

‘Gold is going up, and it will be going up,’ Blaszczk continued. ‘I don’t think people should worry about the trends going up and down. I think people are (too) preoccupied on a daily basis with gold, or a monthly basis.’

Watch the interview above for more of her thoughts on the BRICS and gold.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

AuKing Mining Limited (ASX: AKN, AuKing) is pleased to advise that, together with local Saudi Arabian partner, Barg Alsaman Mining Company (BSMC), it has been successful in securing the “Shaib Marqan” exploration licence as part of the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ 6th Licensing Round bid process.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (Ministry) issued an Information Memorandum dated 5 August 2024 (IM) as part of the 6th Licensing Round bid process. The following highlighted information was included in the IM in relation to Shaib Marqan:

• The Project is considered highly prospective for orogenic vein-hosted gold mineralization and is significantly under-explored. The Al Amar gold mine is 100km to the north-west and produced nearly 30,000oz Au in 2022 (Ma’aden Gold).
• At least 22 ancient workings over quartz veins have been noted in the area, with 50 vein and wall-rock samples averaging ~ 5.8g/t Au, with a maximum of 40g/t Au.
• The quartz veins have lengths of up to 300m, with widths of up to 10m being reported.

Managing Director, Paul Williams commented: “AuKing is very pleased to have secured the Shaib Marqan exploration licence with its local partner BSMC. We understand that this 6th Bidding Round has been the subject of significant interest from companies around the world and it is an honour to be recognized by the Ministry with this successful bid. Shaib Marqan is situated in a highly mineralized area within the famous Arabian-Nubian Shield geological region and is situated within close proximity to various established deposits.

Systematic exploration across the licence area could lead to the rapid identification of a significant mineral deposit within the Ar Rayn Terrane”, he said.

We will now commence work with both the Ministry and our local Saudi partner, BSMC, to seek to finalise the grant of the formal Shaib Marqan exploration licence over the next several weeks”, Mr Williams said.

Saudi Arabia’s Mining Sector Expansion

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform agenda has elevated the mining sector’s role in the Saudi economy, positioning it as a third key economic pillar as part of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program. The Kingdom’s focus on mining is driven by a desire to diversify the economy and increase non-oil revenue as it weans itself off oil dependence.

Furthermore, minerals are key inputs in many industries essential to Vision 2030 objectives, such as achieving a green transition, digitizing the economy, becoming a global hub for technology and connectivity, producing nuclear energy, and localizing military procurement.

The new mining law that came into effect in 2021 targets the exploitation of the Kingdom’s mineral resources and the development of its mineral-based manufacturing industry, all of which are aimed at reducing imports to the Kingdom by circa $10Billion and generate more than 200,000 jobs by 2030.

Shaib Marqan Gold Project

Shaib Marqan is situated in central Saudi Arabia and covers an area of 91.8km². The project area is around 240km south-west of Riyadh and is part of the Ar Rayn Terrane along the eastern margin of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). Despite being smaller than other terranes within the ANS, the Ar Rayn Terrane is known for hosting multiple mineral systems and mineral commodities, including volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-hosted copper and zinc, epithermal and orogenic gold, and iron oxide copper/gold (IOCG) deposits.

Ancient workings have been documented throughout the Al Amar Belt, concentrating mainly on quartz veins with disseminated pyrite. The area was first mapped in 1956, with intermittent exploration occurring between 1970 and 1994.

The Ar Rayn Terrane in general has been the focus of exploration activities since the 1950’s. Notably, the Al Amar Au-Ag-Zn-Cu deposit, the Khnaiguiyah Zn-Cu-iron-manganese deposit and the Jabal Idsas magnetite prospect are all hosted within the Ar Rayn Terrane. The Al Amar Mine is located 100km northwest of Shaib Marqan project area and produced 27,443 ounces Au in 2022 (Ma’aden, 2022).

Previous exploration within the Ar Rayn Terrane includes mapping, regional geophysical surveying, and geochemical sampling of a single mineral occurrence within the KSA’s Mineral Occurrence Documentation System (MODS). Shaib Marqan stands out as a relatively under-explored area of the Ar Rayn Terrane in close proximity to several established deposits. Based upon the previous exploration work in the region, further systematic exploration activities could lead to the rapid generation of new precious and base metals targets.

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Description

The securities of Metal Hawk Limited (‘MHK’) will be placed in trading halt at the request of MHK, pending it releasing an announcement. Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Friday, 8 November 2024 or when the announcement is released to the market.

Issued by

ASX Compliance

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International Graphite Limited (ASX: IG6) has secured funding to construct the first purpose- built commercial graphite micronising plant in Australia.

HIGHLIGHTS

• $4.5M grant funding agreement signed with the Western Australian Government.
• $2.0M to be applied towards ~3,000 tpa micronising facility to be built in Collie at an estimated capital cost of ~$4.0M (Stage 1).
• Stage 1 is expected to be fully funded to mechanical completion.
• The remaining $2.5M will be applied to expand the facility and at least double capacity (Stage 2).

The Company has entered into a funding agreement with the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) on behalf of the State Government of Western Australia for $4.5 million of the grant announced by the Premier of Western Australia, the Hon Roger Cook, on 22 April 2024¹ (JTSI Grant).

Managing Director and CEO Andrew Worland said: “We are excited to be pushing ahead with the construction of the new plant at Collie. Establishing a micronising business in Collie has been an important step in our development plans. Critically it will establish the Company as a producer in the graphite industry and build further our technical skills as we progress our Springdale mine to market battery anode material strategy.”

Stage 1 of the JTSI Grant is available to be drawn down progressively over the project construction period as milestones are achieved. The balance of Stage 1 funding is to be met through funding awarded to the Company under the Australian Government Critical Minerals Office grant², existing cash reserves and additional Company contributions over the construction period, including future R&D rebates.

The balance of the JTSI Grant of $2.5 million will be applied towards expansion of the facility in Stage 2. Ultimately, the Company envisages expanding the Collie Micronising Facility to around 10,000 tpa capacity. It is expected to produce 95% total graphitic content (TGC) and 99% TGC micronised products from graphite concentrates produced at the Company’s 100% owned Springdale Graphite Project, on the south coast of Western Australia, once the mine is in production.

“At those production levels, our Collie facility will be amongst the most significant global producers of micronised graphite outside of China”, Mr. Worland said.

A front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is expected to be completed over the coming months which will confirm the implementation schedule and forecast economics for Stage 1.

The critical path items for the project include local building approvals, construction of new buildings and connection to services, including to the electricity grid, on new development lots adjacent to the Company’s existing facilities in Collie.

Building the project in two stages has been made possible, in part, by the operating experience gained from the Collie Graphite Processing & R&D Facility. Opened in 2022, the exiting facility includes pilot scale micronising and spheroidising equipment and a qualification scale micronising plant.

The facility has been instrumental in optimising equipment selection, vendor assessment, operating conditions and scaling of Stage 1 production capacity to achieve lower unit capital costs than was envisaged in the original 2023 feasibility study.

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Many Peaks Minerals Limited (ASX:MPK) (Many Peaks or the Company) is pleased to announce that exploration activities have commenced at both the Ferké gold project and the Odienné gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, now the wet season is drawing to a close. The first month of this 2024/25 field season will see two concurrent drilling campaigns commence with auger drilling at Ferké, and air core drilling at Odienné.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 10,000m of drilling planned for December quarter to follow-up previous drilling successes at the Odienné and Ferké gold projects, Côte d’Ivoire
• Ferké project auger drilling has commenced, with a 5,000m campaign covering +9km segment of gold anomalism, targeting extensions to high-grade gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling
• Odienné project air core drilling planned to commence over coming weeks to assess priority targets generated in previous quarter’s auger results
• Both projects fully funded for follow-up diamond and RC drilling as part of staged exploration campaigns planned to continue through the 2024/25 field season

Auger drilling has already commenced at the Ferké gold project, with three drill rigs mobilised to cover 9km of reconnaissance drilling along the highly prospective structural corridor hosting the Ouarigue South prospect. This program is designed to delineate extensional targets to open gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling that returned:

• 47m @ 3.72g/t gold from surface
• 77.6m @ 2.33 g/t gold from 45.9m
• 91.1m @ 2.02 g/t gold from surface
• 45.3m @ 3.16g/t gold from 45.9m

Concurrently, field work has commenced at the Odienné project, ahead of a planned 5,000m air core campaign that will assess priority targets delineated from the previous quarter’s auger drill results (refer to ASX release dated 20 August 2024). The drilling will be focussed on target delineation within more than 16km of anomalous gold trends located in the same high-strain corridor that hosts Predictive Discovery’s 5.4Moz Au Bankan deposit, as well as the recent discovery by Awalé Resources/Newmont joint venture, which is located on a contiguous land holding.

Many Peaks’ Executive Chairman, Travis Schwertfeger commented:

“Following the end of the West African wet season, we are pleased to have commenced Many Peaks’ 2024/2025 exploration program at our high-grade Cote d’Ivoire projects. Plans for the coming months include our maiden drilling at Ferké, where three auger rigs will drill 5,000m to identify extensional targets of historic holes that include 45.3m @ 3.16g/t and 39.7m @ 3.54g/t gold. We will also drill 5,000m of air core holes at Odienné, following up on extensive gold anomalism identified from drilling we conducted here in the previous season. We look forward to updating investors on our findings as we systematically assess the potential of these highly prospective projects.”

Ferké Gold Project

The Ferké Gold Project (Ferké) comprises 300km² in a single granted exploration permit in northern Côte d’Ivoire currently undergoing a renewal process and remaining permitted for exploration activity. Ferké is situated on the eastern margin of the Daloa greenstone belt at the intersection of major regional scale shear zones (Figures 1 & 3). The project area has seen substantial previous exploration activity confirming gold mineralisation but with limited follow-up work. Previous work includes high resolution geophysics, soil sampling, trenching, and RC and Diamond drilling (refer to ASX release dated 26 March 2024).

Planned Work

Many Peaks’ initial field programme at Ferké is a 5,000m auger drilling campaign focused on extending the auger coverage at Ferké along an additional 9km of strike extent in the >16km long corridor of soil anomalism referred to as the Leraba trend. The auger campaign is estimated to be completed in 3 to 4 weeks’ time with 400m to 600m spaced lines of sampling and planned 25m spacing between samples. Results are anticipated to refine targeting for follow-up drilling within the extensive gold anomalism which measures over 2km in width in most places (Figure 1).

The planned auger drilling at Ferké is focused on expanding the footprint of gold mineralisation confirmed in previous drilling success. An initial 18 diamond holes drilled into a limited segment of the extensive gold corridor confirmed gold mineralisation at Ferké that remains open in all directions. Results from previous drilling include 45.3m @ 3.16g/t gold from 45.9m drill depth in hole FNDC001 and 39.7m @ 3.54g/t gold from 51.4m in drill hole FNCD008 (refer to ASX announcement dated 26 March 2024).

The current programme is designed to define extensional targets within in the predominantly undrilled north-south trending segment of gold in soil anomalism of the Leraba trend. This may justify expansion of planned follow-up RC and diamond drilling work over the coming field season, and complement drill ready targets already defined on open mineralisation at the Ouarigue South prospect.

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Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: MLS) (“the Company”) is pleased to announce that its Mine Management Plan for the upcoming field exploration program at the Warrego East copper-gold project in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field has been authorised by the Northern Territory Government (Refer to Figure 1 and 2). Weather permitting, the field exploration program will be scheduled as soon as a land holder access agreement is finalised.

• The $82M takeover of Tennant Creek Mining Group Pty Ltd (TCMG) by London-listed Pan African Resources PLC (AIM: PAF) has reignited interest in the underexplored Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF)¹
• The program will test a series of priority gravity and magnetics defined ironstone hosted copper- gold targets within a corridor which links the Warrego mine with the Gecko and Orlando copper- gold deposits^4,5. The Warrego mine historically produced 4.95Mt @ 2.0% Cu and 8g/t Au⁶
• Weather permitting, the field exploration program will commence as soon as land holder access agreements are finalised.

“We welcome the clear show of confidence Pan African Resources has demonstrated in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field via its $82 million takeover of TCMG, which is Emmerson Resources’ JV partner in the tenements hosting the Warrego copper-gold mine and various mineral resources. This comes as Metals Australia finalises plans for a substantial field exploration program at its Warrego East copper-gold project, located immediately adjacent to and east of those JV tenements.

The takeover of TCMG by Pan African Resources demonstrates the potential now being seen by bigger overseas players in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field. With a market cap of more than $1 billion, South African- based Pan African Resources has recognised the potential of this underexplored region to host significant mineral resources where less than 10% of drilling has extended beyond 150m in depth and where almost all significant deposits to date have been discovered under shallow cover.

The Warrego mine was identified undercover as a magnetic anomaly during an airborne survey conducted in 1956. Similar magnetic anomalies occur within a corridor through our Warrego East lease, with the Gekko and Orlando deposits discovered further to the east, within the same corridor.

Warrego went on to produce consistently between the early 1970s up until 1989 – averaging around 2% copper and 8gpt of gold during its production life.

We are working diligently to finalise the remaining requirements for our upcoming exploration program at Warrego East.

The planned program is a further illustration of Metals Australia’s status as one of the most active exploration companies, with field exploration programs recently completed at three projects and two more in the pipeline as we seek to unlock the true value of our portfolio in known mining districts in Australia and Canada.”

Figure 1: Metals Australia’s Tenements, TCMG tenements (acquired by PAF), Warrego Production⁶ in the TCMF.

This comes as the prospectivity of the Tennant Creek Mineral Field is further underlined by the $82 million takeover of TCMG announced on 5 November. Metals Australia’s Warrego East project is adjacent to, and immediately east of, the tenements hosting the Warrego mine and mineral resources held by TCMG and its JV partner Emmerson Resources.

The Tennant Creek Mineral Field has produced 25Mt @ 6.9 g/t gold (Au) & 2.8% copper (Cu)⁴, with historical production coming from deposits in outcropping areas – or undercover – such as the Warrego mine. Metals Australia’s tenements are located on Cu-Au trends in areas of shallow soil cover which have not been tested with modern exploration (see Figure 2 below). The tenements include EL32725 (granted) and EL32837, EL32937 and EL32410 (all under application), which were acquired by the Company as part of its 80% acquisition of Payne Gully Gold⁷ in 2022.

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