Updates from Centrex Metals, Zenith Minerals, Ausmex, Aeon Metals, Pure Hydrogen and State Gas in this week’s exploration, mining and processing briefs.

Mencel takes the helm at Centrex

The company behind the Ardmore phosphate project in North-West Queensland has a new chief executive officer.

Robert Mencel is an engineering and mining executive with more than 25 years’ experience developing and
operating a wide range of mining, mineral processing and engineering operations.

He has previously held the position of CEO for RONPHOS Corp., the Republic of Nauru’s phosphate company, where he was responsible for production, marketing and export of phosphate to customers throughout Asia and the Indian Pacific region.

Centrex Metals recently mined about 27,000t of phosphate rock at its low impurity Ardmore project.

In a quarterly update released late last month it said it was continuing to progress towards revision of its
definitive feasibility study on the Ardmore project to reflect current circumstances and financial parameters.

Early success at Rolleston West gas project

State Gas says the first well in its new Rolleston West gas project (ATP 2062) in Central Queensland has confirmed the existence of gas-bearing coal seams in the Bandanna coal measures within the project area.

The company said this strengthened its view that these coals would be developed synergistically with the Reid’s Dome gas discoveries.

The Rougemont-1 well, spudded on May 14, reached total target depth of 800m at 12pm on May 23.

Well logs confirm the intersection of 8m of net coal, hosted in a number of seams, with the thickest seam measuring approximately 2.2m.

High-grade gold zone extends at Red Mountain

New assay results have defined a plunging high-grade gold shoot at the Red Mountain gold project, north-east of the Cracow mine site in Queensland.

Zenith Minerals said ongoing exploration activity at the project was continuing to provide highly encouraging high-grade gold drill assay results.

New assay results include 21m at 1.9 g/t gold (including 2m at 10.8 g/t gold), 1.3m at 5 g/t gold (a zone of 9m at 3.2 g/t gold) and 3m at 2.4 g/t gold and with further gold mineralised intervals including 1m at 12.5 g/t gold and 11m at 0.5 g/t gold.

The gold mineralisation has been intersected 80m below the previous intersection of 5m at 10.4 g/t gold, defining a shoot some 250m long and open.

Name change for Cloncurry gold play

Cloncurry gold developer Ausmex is changing its name to Tombola Gold. An extraordinary general meeting passed a special resolution for the name change.

Ausmex is pushing towards gold production at Golden Mile and the Mount Freda tenements near Cloncurry.

Last week the company said it expected the mining lease (MLA 100201) for Golden Mile to be granted shortly.

New mine schedule optimisations for Walford Creek

Aeon Metals has released details on the new mine schedule optimisations developed for the Walford Creek copper-cobalt project.

This updated scheduling work incorporates preliminary bulk sulphide flotation and pressure oxidative leaching flowsheet parameters.

Aeon said the new scheduling outcomes indicated strong potential for a higher production rate and longer mine life at Walford Creek than those outlined in the 2019 Scoping Study (which delineated nameplate process throughput of 2.0Mtpa for about 11 years).

Given these outcomes, it has elected to rapidly complete a new scoping study, expected to be completed in the September quarter.

Another link secured for Pure Hydrogen supply chain

Pure Hydrogen Corporation has signed a term sheet with Pure Haul for the transport of hydrogen from its hydrogen hubs to customers’ sites.

Pure Hydrogen said the transport and logistic services provided by Pure Haul would form part of its total
supply chain.

This would encompass hydrogen supply, a refuelling network underpinned by established technology and now a transport and logistics offering to potential commercial customers.

Pure Hydrogen plans to develop four East Coast hydrogen manufacturing and distribution hubs – Project Jupiter (Gladstone), Project Mars (Mackay), Liberty North (Newcastle) and Liberty South (South East Victoria) – with joint venture partner Liberty Hydrogen.

Last week it executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with H2H Energy, which has agreed to supply and maintain refuelling outlets on a number of Pure Hydrogen’s proposed sites.