Latest news with #Fortescue
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Aussie inventor's valuable secret hidden beneath pile of rocks in outback
Pictures showing what appears to be a simple pile of rocks lying in Australia's remote Pilbara region hide a secret. Deep underneath is a purpose-built 'den' designed to protect one of the region's rarest creatures from Australia's most destructive predators. The Australian-made invention is being used to stop feral cats burrowing into the homes of northern quolls — a creature pushed to the edge of extinction and now listed as endangered. Ecologists deem this tiny, spotted native carnivore more valuable than any of the resources mined from the region, like iron ore, copper, nickel, gold, or lithium. Development of the 30kg synthetic Marsupial Den began in 2021, and they were first placed in the field in 2024. But few details about its success in protecting northern quolls have been made public until now. Related: Aussie plan to genetically engineer new super species of wild animals Habitat Innovation and Management was funded by mining giant Fortescue to design and manufacture the purpose-built structures to replicate the dimensions of a natural den while providing added protection. Mick Callan, a founding director of Habitat, told Yahoo News the dens are too shallow for a cat to be able to turn around in, so their natural instinct is to avoid the space. But there's an extra measure that's designed to stop even the most curious cat from entering. 'The entrance size was developed using the skull morphometrics of feral cats, so a full-size adult won't be able to get in there,' Callan said. Fortescue has reported early monitoring results from its den project appear 'promising'. Like the nest boxes, they've remained cool in the desert heat with maximum internal temperatures up to 16.5 degrees cooler than outside. It has also supplied images and video to Yahoo showing quolls exploring the inside of the dens, a precursor to using them as shelter and breeding sites. Since the dens were created, they've been used in projects designed to protect other threatened quoll species, including eastern quoll, spotted-tailed quoll, and western quoll. Habitat's small team is notable for overhauling the composition of artificial bird and possum nesting boxes, which are needed because most of Australia's hollow-bearing trees have been felled. Historically, they were made from wood that tended to fall apart after a few years. They also regularly overheated to more than 50 degrees in the summer, a temperature that most wildlife can't survive. But Habitat's injection-moulded, glass-reinforced polymer invention remains cool and lasts for decades. 🌙 Australia's sky could change forever after winter ends ⛏️ Gold prospector's incredible find in 'remote' Aussie bush 👙 Jellyfish find could change the way Aussies visit the beach With products designed and manufactured in Australia, Callan said his artificial habitat business isn't a big money spinner, but more of a 'passion' project, that's subsidised by ecology consulting work and investors. 'We're always open to taking on new projects. We're at the point where we need species experts coming to us and saying we don't have a solution and we need your help,' he said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Tech, property stocks drop as ASX closes lower on mixed day of trading, investors weigh up oil prices
Australia's sharemarket edged lower during Thursday's trading, with gains in the healthcare and materials sector offset by falls in technology and property stocks. The benchmark ASX 200 dropped just 8.40 points or 0.10 per cent to close Thursday's trading at 8,550.80. The broader All Ordinaries also slipped down 6.30 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 8,773.60. Australia's dollar is now buying around 65.30 US cents. On a quiet session for the ASX, seven of the 11 sectors finished lower with gains in healthcare, materials and energy offset by falls in technology, property and industrials. These gains were offset by larger falls in the technology and property shares, down 2.05 and 0.71 per cent respectively. Market heavyweight CSL gained 0.64 per cent to $239.98, while Pro Medicus was up 0.25 per cent to $277.73 and ResMed finished in the green gaining 1.19 per cent to $39.97. The major iron ore miners had mixed results despite the price of the underlying commodity rising. Fortescue metals gained 0.34 per cent to $14.93, while BHP traded basically flat, up just 0.03 per cent to $36.12 and Rio Tinto retreated slightly down 0.11 per cent to $104.19. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said it was a mixed day for the ASX 200. 'The ASX200 has seen a return to narrow daily ranges and low volumes, characteristic of last week's trading patterns, with just a 26-point range today after yesterday's narrow 30-point range,' he said. 'The quiet session for the ASX200 followed a dull session on Wall Street, as Middle East tensions faded further into the background.' Oil prices rose again after US President Donald Trump said the US has not given up on its 'maximum pressure on Iran' including restrictions on sales of Iranian oil. The price of Brent crude futures rose by 0.35 per cent to $US67.99 on the back of Mr Trump's comments. Shares in Santos rose 0.79 per cent to $7.63, while Woodside slid 0.62 per cent to $23.85 despite the price of oil rising. In company news ANZ was one of the stronger performing shares on the ASX 200 despite the big four bank announcing the retirement of group executive technology group services Gerard Florian will retire. Xero led tech stocks down after the accounting software provider announced a $3.9bn cash and shares plan to buy the US based software company Melio. Shares slumped 5.26 per cent to $184.00 on the back of this announcement. Meanwhile, the saga between Betr and MIXI for control of PointsBet continues, with Betr slamming PointsBet for an 'unprofessional and irresponsible' behaviour after saying a takeover bid from MIXI had passed as a result of Betr revoking its votes. Shares in PointsBet fell 1.26 per cent to $1.18 while Betr shares were up 1.82 per cent to $0.28. Defence contractor DroneShield continued its march higher, after it rose another 11.7 per cent to $2.39 on Thursday. This follows gains of almost 20 per cent in the previous session after the defence technology company announced a $61.6 million European military deal for its handheld detection and counter-drone systems.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Lunch Wrap: ASX loses fizz as soft CPI lifts banks; DroneShield soars on record deal
ASX fizzles as soft CPI lifts banks, hammers miners DroneShield rockets on record European order Paladin names new CEO The ASX bolted out of the blocks on Wednesday, up nearly half a per cent inside the first hour, but the early fizz went flat by lunch. Local traders digested a mixed brew of softer inflation and wobbly commodity prices. Overnight in New York, the bulls were on parade. The S&P 500 added 1.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq almost clinched a fresh record, up 1.5%. Fed boss Jerome Powell told Congress there's 'no rush' to slice rates, but conceded cuts will come 'sooner rather than later' if inflation behaves. Oil prices kept sliding, and WTI has now dropped almost 15% in two sessions to hover near US$65 a barrel. Much of that retreat hangs on Donald Trump's hastily brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran, complete with his trademark all-caps warnings: 'DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS'. Back home, the inflation reading landed this morning, with May CPI easing to 2.1% year-on-year, better than the 2.3% the punters tipped and well below April's 2.4%. The trimmed mean – the RBA's pet measure – slipped to 2.4% from 2.8%, still inside the holy-grail 2–3 per cent band which is good. Back to the ASX, where bank stocks led. Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) hit another record $192 before paring gains. Miners copped the heaviest selling after iron-ore futures dipped again in Singapore. Fortescue (ASX:FMG) slid 2%. The gold crew also lost their shine as haven demand cooled. Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) dropped a hefty 2.7%. In the large caps front, it was anything but dull. Defence tech darling DroneShield (ASX:DRO) stole the headlines, rocketing 22% after sealing its biggest single contract yet – a $61.6 million order from a European military customer for handheld counter-drone gear. Among the other movers, freshly relisted Virgin Australia (ASX:VGN) climbed another 3.5% after finishing 10% higher on debut yesterday. Xero (ASX:XRO) is in a trading halt pending its potential US$2.5 billion acquisition of New York fintech, Melio. And, uranium miner Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) named chief operating officer Paul Hemburrow as its new CEO from 1 September. ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 25 : Security Description Last % Volume MktCap OVT Ovanti Limited 0.007 133% 239,057,184 $9,016,545 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.002 100% 5,130,468 $776,707 LIS Lisenergylimited 0.135 45% 3,714,033 $59,538,621 CDE Codeifai Limited 0.064 33% 4,604,031 $21,261,046 HCD Hydrocarbon Dynamics 0.002 33% 1,816,797 $1,617,164 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.004 33% 172,779 $3,364,953 AN1 Anagenics Limited 0.005 25% 105,000 $1,985,281 ERA Energy Resources 0.003 25% 85,665 $810,792,482 FBM Future Battery 0.020 25% 268,651 $10,770,576 OMG OMG Group Limited 0.005 25% 1,721,869 $2,913,180 TEG Triangle Energy Ltd 0.003 25% 1,050,660 $4,178,468 SUM Summitminerals 0.038 23% 855,713 $2,745,858 DRO Droneshield Limited 2.170 22% 23,021,475 $1,561,051,854 AON Apollo Minerals Ltd 0.006 20% 140,000 $4,642,284 FRX Flexiroam Limited 0.006 20% 200,019 $7,586,993 OLI Oliver'S Real Food 0.006 20% 2,846,964 $2,703,660 PWN Parkway Corp Ltd 0.012 20% 8,434,707 $27,671,139 PPK PPK Group Limited 0.340 17% 242,989 $26,335,624 BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.007 17% 100,000 $5,066,383 WBE Whitebark Energy 0.004 17% 551,397 $2,062,001 RPG Raptis Group Limited 0.043 16% 67,311 $12,975,340 CHW Chilwaminerals 1.220 16% 58,992 $56,907,194 MCA Murray Cod Aust Ltd 1.185 15% 29,820 $108,947,776 NME Nex Metals Explorat 0.023 15% 20,067 $6,682,116 AVW Avira Resources Ltd 0.008 14% 108,829 $1,610,000 Ovanti (ASX:OVT) has named Zip Co (ASX:ZIP) exec Peter Maher as CEO of its US BNPL, payments and embedded finance arm. Maher, who helped grow Zip's American business under co-founder Larry Diamond, will join OVT on July 14 after serving out his notice. Ovanti picked him after a global search, banking on his track record in big merchant deals, AI-led affordability tools and launching BNPL products that ditch credit scores for real-time income data. OVT reckons that's the key to cracking the US market, and Maher's the one to do it. Reedy Lagoon (ASX:RLC) has lined up a handful of promising drill targets at its Burracoppin gold project in WA's Wheatbelt, sitting between Perth and Kalgoorlie. Using magnetic data and over 3,000 soil samples, it's pinpointed gold anomalies across four main prospects – Lady Janet, Windmills, Shear Luck and Zebra. The land's flat and mostly covered in crops or sheep, with little rock showing, so the company's been relying on geophysics and soil to guide the way. First-pass drilling is now on the cards to see what's hiding in the bedrock. Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) has signed a deal with a major defence tech company to test its lithium-sulfur batteries for global military use. The partner, which supplies advanced gear to defence forces in the US, Europe and Australia, will put LIS cells through their paces for performance and safety. The two plan to explore how Li-S tech could be integrated into military systems. And, Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) boss Stephen Baghdadi tipped in $1.06 million by exercising his options on the stock, lifting his stake to almost 13%. Shares were up 5%. ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 25 : Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap AUK Aumake Limited 0.002 -33% 16,655 $9,070,076 JAY Jayride Group 0.001 -33% 10 $2,141,834 RAN Range International 0.001 -33% 2,836,500 $1,408,935 HLX Helix Resources 0.002 -25% 2,525,000 $6,728,387 PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.014 -21% 1,849,161 $11,866,022 OLH Oldfields Holdings 0.020 -20% 40,500 $5,326,478 EAT Entertainment 0.004 -20% 54,200 $6,543,930 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 199,998 $3,474,442 KPO Kalina Power Limited 0.004 -20% 6,554,734 $14,664,978 MEL Metgasco Ltd 0.002 -20% 179,775 $4,581,467 EWC Energy World Corpor. 0.021 -19% 4,422,520 $80,051,952 14D 1414 Degrees Limited 0.014 -18% 472,948 $4,892,243 VRL Verity Resources 0.019 -17% 2,383,681 $6,426,740 AUR Auris Minerals Ltd 0.005 -17% 84,413 $2,859,756 JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.003 -17% 147,000 $18,378,447 LML Lincoln Minerals 0.005 -17% 5,371,284 $12,615,418 X2M X2M Connect Limited 0.022 -15% 2,228,843 $10,092,728 LMG Latrobe Magnesium 0.009 -15% 2,076,872 $26,265,900 ODE Odessa Minerals Ltd 0.006 -14% 1,540,131 $11,196,728 RDS Redstone Resources 0.003 -14% 720,000 $3,619,936 MPR Mpower Group Limited 0.007 -13% 133,000 $2,749,626 IRX Inhalerx Limited 0.042 -13% 100,000 $10,245,515 ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.036 -12% 23,448 $16,883,748 IVX Invion Ltd 0.110 -12% 79,218 $10,591,082 LAT Latitude 66 Limited 0.022 -12% 273,154 $3,585,018 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT A recent research report has given Belararox (ASX:BRX) a target share price of 44 cents and market cap of $60m based on its copper projects. Besra Gold (ASX:BEZ) continues to de-risk key workstreams required to complete the bankable feasibility study for its Jugan project within the Bau gold field in Sarawak, Malaysia. ADX Energy's (ASX:ADX) focus on testing shallow gas prospects in Austria has led Auctus Advisors to maintain its 30c price target. Core Energy Minerals (ASX:CR3) will drill an initial 50 aircore holes at its Cummins uranium project in South Australia, with scope to expand to up to 120 holes under approved permits. Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) has welcomed the start of drilling at the Glenlogan project joint venture with S2 Resources on the hunt for a copper-gold porphyry target. Astute Metals' (ASX:ASE) drilling has returned consistently high-grade lithium intersections at its Red Mountain project in Nevada. Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) has signed a MoU with Paddington Gold to purchase ore from its Menzies gold project in WA. LAST ORDERS Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) is $300,000 richer after finalising the sale of its Commando and Warrior projects in WA to Kurnalpi Gold Pty Ltd, a privately held company. PUR has now divested 100% of its legal and beneficial interests in the tenements. Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) is anticipating a busy second half of 2025 at the Carmen copper project, having established an operations camp to house its ground teams just an hour away from the site. NFL has ambitions to prove-up a shallow copper oxide resource of large enough size to develop a low-cost, high-margin, value-accretive heap leaching operation producing copper cathode at the mine gate. Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) has welcomed US executive Ben Harris as US Defence and Armaments Advisor to support Trigg's strategy to become a secure, domestic supplier of the critical mineral antimony. With more than 35 years' experience in the US defence and government sectors, Harris will support TMG's efforts to align the Antimony Canyon project in Utah with US national security and federal procurement priorities. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Pursuit Minerals, Norfolk Metals and Trigg Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
West Australian
5 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
BHP's WA iron ore chief Tim Day rebukes Andrew Forrest's warning the Pilbara could soon be a ‘wasteland'
The boss of BHP's Western Australian iron ore empire is firing back at people like Andrew Forrest painting a 'negative picture' of the Pilbara, just weeks after the Fortescue founder said the State's most resource-rich region is at risk of becoming a 'wasteland'. BHP 'will never talk down the Pilbara', according to Tim Day, who is making the veiled rebuke on Wednesday at the Pilbara Summit held in Karratha. 'Others are painting a very different, negative picture (of the Pilbara), which we do not agree with,' Mr Day will say. 'Globally, BHP is making a significant and strategic push for commodities like potash and copper, but iron ore in the Pilbara is what has kept our business strong and stable for decades. That's not changing. 'Anyone who claims the iron ore industry is in decline needs to look at the numbers — because they're dead wrong.' Mr Day's speech comes about a month after Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest said the Pilbara could turn into a 'wasteland', with the Cottesloe-based billionaire claiming China is increasingly looking to higher-grade iron ore overseas to feed its steel mills. 'They're looking straight into a future that may or may not include Western Australia. China will base its green steel industry on other ores that are specific to Brazil or Africa, but not our lower grades,' Mr Forrest said last month. Mr Day told The West Australian his speech at the Pilbara Summit is not just specifically targeted at Mr Forrest, but more broadly 'getting ahead' of anti-Pilbara sentiment emerging in business circles. Fortescue is developing an iron ore mine in the African country of Gabon, but it is the massive and high-grade Simandou iron ore mining complex on the same continent that is set to be one of the biggest challengers to the Pilbara's global supremacy. Rio Tinto owns about a quarter of the entire Simandou complex and is spending nearly $10 billion to develop its portion, which is set to export its first iron ore next year. But Mr Day suggests the threat of Simandou, which has been colloquially dubbed the 'Pilbara Killer', is overblown. While BHP's key Pilbara iron ore rivals in Rio and FMG are diversifying away from their mining heartland into Africa, the Big Australian is focused on widening its gap over Rio as the most efficient operator in the Pilbara. 'Our absolute intention is to keep pushing our productivity agenda in the Pilbara over the next few years,' Mr Day told The West. One headwind facing BHP's productivity agenda is the emerging unionisation of the Pilbara's iron ore mines over the past year. The union movement was essentially dormant in the region since the 1980s but has now been emboldened by the Albanese Government's stance on industrial relations. Mr Day suggested BHP was tuning out the union chest-beating. 'If you think about what's made the Pilbara successful, it is that direct relationship between employers and workers that has actually made them (the) highest paid workforce globally,' he told The West. 'This has worked extremely well, so our goal is to continue that journey, continue working closely with our workforce and do what we've been doing for many years. 'And we're still doing it now, regardless of what's happening with union involvement. We continue to drive a direct relationship with our workforce.' Mr Day's backing of the Pilbara as the world's premier iron ore mining hub comes as Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting on Tuesday committed to spending $2.5b to extend the life of the Hope Downs mining operation in the region.
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Barry FitzGerald: Magmatic adding serious value with WA gold deal
'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald has covered the resources industry for 35 years. Now he's sharing the benefits of his experience with Stockhead readers. One of Garimpeiro's pet peeves is coming across a junior explorer banging away at a single project rather than leveraging off their standing costs as an ASX-listed company by adding a second project to the portfolio. That is particularly so when there has been a tectonic shift in markets like there is now, with gold racing to more than $5200 an ounce in Aussie dollars – up a staggering 44% on 2024's average. So keep the flagship project bubbling along but use the downtime between drilling campaigns to add a gold project to the company's story because the reality is that there has never been a better time to be looking for the yellow stuff. That's just what a well-known explorer for potential tier-1 epithermal/porphyry style deposits in NSW's prolific East Lachlan region, Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG), has done via the acquisition of the Weebo project on the Yandal greenstone belt in Western Australia. The East Lachlan hunt continues, including a joint venture at the Myall copper/gold project with Andrew Forrest's Fortescue (ASX:FMG), also the company's biggest shareholder. Myall and other prospects in the East Lachlan could well deliver a big discovery in time, and there has been plenty of encouragement on that front. But for pure gold exposure at a time when the market is in a mood to reward gold discoveries handsomely, Magmatic has rolled up its sleeves and added WA gold to its story, powering up its newsflow in the process. Magmatic was trading mid-week at 4.2c a share for a market cap of $18.1 million on issued capital, increased by the share consideration component of the Weebo acquisition. It was a 3.9c stock before the Weebo pick up, so it can be said that the added element of WA gold has attracted the market's interest. But remembering the market cap is still not challenging. Given the quality of the East Lachan interests, it could be suggested that at Wednesday's share price of 4.2c, Weebo comes at this stage comes for free. Value added That's despite Weebo having all the hallmarks of becoming a quick value-add for Magmatic. Located 30km southeast of Leinster, the Weebo ground covers about 50km of the southern Yandal greenstone belt. The ground includes two near surface prospects – Ockerburry and Scone Stone – where previous drilling has yielded some nice hits by a previous owner. They stand as advanced drill prospects and there are a bunch of less advanced prospects. Magmatic has put a local exploration team in place and expects that its maiden drilling program at Weebo will kick off in the September quarter. It is exciting stuff for a company with an $18.1m market cap. What makes Weebo particularly exciting is its location, smack bang in the middle of five gold mines with treatment plants – Vault Minerals' (ASX:VAU) Darlot, Gold Fields' Agnew-Lawlers, Bellevue Gold's (ASX:BGL) namesake operation, Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST) Bronzewing and Northern Star's Thunderbox. While the hope would be that exploration success at Weebo delivers a standalone operation, the proximity of the regional treatment capacity lends itself to toll treatment opportunities, joint venture development and/or outright sale of ounces that Magmatic pulls together in a mineral resource estimate. Ounces in the ground In a $5200/oz environment ounces-in-the-ground are commanding a high value when there is a clear pathway to the ounces being whacked through a standalone treatment plant or one owned by a third party. By way of example only, Northern Star last year paid $12.5 million for the 177,000 inferred resource ($70 an ounce) at the Hobbes gold project – owned 80% by Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) and 20% by a private minority – to feed through its Carosue Dam operation. The year before NST paid Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) $61m in cash and shares for the 346,000oz Millrose deposit near the Jundee gold mine ($176/oz). Gold prices have moved substantially higher still, so smallish deposits have become even more valuable. Where Weebo ends up in terms of its scale remains to be seen. But it certainly delivers exploration excitement when the gold market is running hot. And who knows? That hunt for a tier-1 discovery in NSW could well come up trumps. That's particularly so when Mt York gets juiced up by the additional ounces expected to come from the big exploration push now underway. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the columnist and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead does not provide, endorse or otherwise assume responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Magmatic Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
