The Penouta acquisition represents a compelling entry level right into a near-term crucial minerals manufacturing alternative within the EU. Pic: Getty Pictures
- Penouta aligns ETM with the EU’s aim to extend crucial mineral manufacturing and improve provide chain safety
- Commissioning of interim tailings filter presses at Al Washhi Majaza copper-gold challenge has resulted in a manufacturing increase
- Excessive-grade gold outcomes have been returned from rock chips on the Sir Walter Scott prospect
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Vitality Transition Minerals has a near-term manufacturing alternative for crucial minerals in Europe after winning a bid for the Penouta tin-tantalum-niobium mine in Galicia, Spain.
The supply of €5.2million (A$9.2 million) was profitable for the mine and processing plant, which is being acquired throughout the insolvency proceedings of Strategic Minerals Spain.
Penouta final operated in 2024 and is the one developed tin-tantalum-niobium challenge within the European Union.
This aligns Penouta and ETM with the EU’s aim to extend crucial mineral manufacturing and improve provide chain safety.
ETM shares reached 5.4c, a rise of twenty-two.73% on the pre-trading halt shut, earlier than closing at 4.8c.
The profitable bid will increase ETM’s technique past a single asset in Greenland, its Tier-1 Kvanefjeld uncommon earths challenge, right into a multi-asset, EU-based operator.
ETM stated this represented a deep worth alternative, with the mine and processing plant acquired for properly beneath the €28m (A$49.8m) price of historic funding together with processing infrastructure.
ETM managing director Daniel Mamadou stated securing the Penouta tin-tantalum-niobium mine was an enormous alternative for the corporate because it was the one latest producer of those crucial metals in Europe, making it a uniquely strategic asset.
“This acquisition represents a compelling entry level right into a near-term manufacturing alternative for tin, tantalum and niobium, all of that are crucial to Europe’s industrial and technological ambitions,” he stated.
“Importantly, Penouta additionally stands as the one present supply of tantalum and niobium within the European Union, including a key moral dimension to sourcing conflict-free crucial minerals.
“The upside for tantalum, significantly as a vital enter for the semi-conductor trade, additional enhances the strategic worth of the acquisition.”
Mamadou stated ETM was drawn to Penouta as a result of its vital established infrastructure and its deep alignment with Spain’s crucial minerals technique.
Penouta has a International Mineral Useful resource calculated in 2021 comprising an indicated and measured useful resource of 76.3Mt grading 149ppm tantalum pentoxide equal (443ppm tin and 73ppm tantalum). It additionally has an inferred 43-101 useful resource of 57Mt at 129ppm Ta2O5.
Profitable commissioning by Alara Sources of interim tailings filter presses (TFPs) on the copper-gold processing plant of Al Washhi Majaza Copper-Gold Challenge in Oman has resulted in a manufacturing increase.
The challenge is operated by Al Hadeetha Sources LLC (AHRL), wherein Alara holds a 51% curiosity, and AUQ shares lifted 34.3% to a excessive of 4.3c.
Two new TFPs have been sourced from China in a bid to beat limitations with the present press and improve plant output.
The items are at present working in semi-automatic mode underneath supervision of the unique gear producer’s representatives.
Previous to the brand new TFPs coming on-line AHRL had achieved some enhancements in plant efficiency from an earlier stage when operational effectivity was solely round 50%.
Over the previous six months AHRL’s operations workforce made substantial changes and modifications to the unique TFP, growing plant availability to about 65%.
With the interim TFPs now in operation the plant is anticipated to realize at the least 85-90% of its design manufacturing capability – as a result of a big discount in unplanned stoppages and improved throughput.
Because of this, projected month-to-month copper-gold focus manufacturing is anticipated to extend to an estimated 3000-3200 dry metric tonnes (DMT).
Alara managing director Atmavireshwar Sthapak stated: “Commissioning of the brand new interim filter presses is a key milestone for the Al Wash-hi plant.
“This improve enhances reliability and boosts capability, strengthening our potential to realize constant, high-volume manufacturing. It displays Alara’s ongoing concentrate on operational excellence and delivering near-term worth for shareholders.”
The acquisition of a everlasting TFP is in progress which, as soon as put in, is anticipated to allow the plant to function at or close to full design capability.
Alara is continuous exploration at its different Omani tasks, together with the Block 7 exploration licence underneath the Daris JV, Mullaq and Al Ajal licences underneath the Al Hadeetha JV, Block 8 licence underneath the Awtad Copper-Energy Metallic JV and the lately awarded Block 22B exploration licence underneath the Al Hadeetha Mining LLC JV.
Excessive-grade gold outcomes from rock chips on the Sir Walter Scott prospect in northeast NSW have given Infinity Mining one other point of interest on the Cangai copper challenge and shares have been up 30% to a each day excessive of 1.3c.
Twelve rock chip samples collected in July 2025 have returned 9 gold assays over 1 g/t with a most assay of 68.6 g/t.
Sir Walter Scottt, which lies ~3km south of the historic Cangai Copper Mine, was mined within the Nineties, producing 1,790oz Au from 2,203 tonnes at a median grade of ~25g/t.
The John Bull challenge of Novo Sources (ASX:NVO) is ~3km alongside strike to the NW and has lately reported anomalous rock chip samples and drill gap intercepts containing gold.
Infinity’s technical workforce will return to Sir Walter Scott to undertake extra detailed geological/structural mapping and floor geochemical sampling within the coming months to raised perceive its exploration potential.
Australia’s largest undeveloped antimony deposit overlaying the Mount Clement and Japanese Hills tasks in WA is ready to develop with Marquee Sources returning sturdy antimony outcomes from first section drilling at Mount Clement.
There have been 1,346 metres drilled throughout seven RC holes and antimony was intersected in each gap.
Greatest outcomes have been:
- 8m at 1.05% Sb and a couple of.85% lead from 137m, together with 4m at 1.35% Sb and three.55% Pb from 137m;
- 8m at 1.02% Sb from 81m, together with 4m at 1.48% from 81m;
- 2m at 1.96% Sb from 144m; and
- 3m at 1.27% Sb from 24m, together with 1m at 2.31% from 25m.
Mt Clement is contiguous on the jap flank of the Japanese Hills antimony useful resource owned by Black Cat Syndicate (ASX:BC8).
Black Cat states that its portion of this accretion is Australia’s largest undeveloped antimony challenge and the fourth largest antimony JORC useful resource in Australia comprising 794,000t at 1.7% Sb.
Marquee’s maiden useful resource is anticipated to be reported earlier than the top of August 2025 and section 2 drilling will start later this quarter.
The foundations of Gold Metropolis prospect inside TG Metals Van Uden gold challenge in WA have been strengthened with a series of new drill targets.
Soil assays from latest sampling have been mixed with historic drill outcomes to increase the realm of curiosity round historic workings and generate new targets.
Historic drilling returned outcomes reminiscent of 14m at 2.26g/t gold from a depth of 20m and 13m at 1.09g/t from 40m.
Chief govt officer David Selfe stated that whereas Gold Metropolis was identified to have gold mineralisation related to historic workings, the brand new soil outcomes demonstrated a considerably elevated mineralised development.
“The brand new soil outcomes are analogous to these already seen over the mineralisation outlined by historic drilling, which is clearly a optimistic signal,” he added.
“This probably opens up the Gold Metropolis prospect as a big second gold centre for the Van Uden gold challenge and a future enlargement of our substantial assets base as we progress in direction of first manufacturing.”