Boss is closing in on production while explorer 92 Energy is back drilling.  Big funds back Red 5 raising and questions grow over Genesis-St Barbara deal.

Growing Australian gold producer Catalyst Metals and Canadian miner Superior Gold have agreed to a friendly merger (reports MiningNews).

Gateway Mining (ASX: GML) has commenced a new phase of reverse circulation drilling at its flagship Montague gold project in Western Australia’s Murchison district (reports Small Caps).

Caravel’s diamond drilling in late 2022 has successfully achieved two key objectives – adding confidence to the existing resource model and confirming an extension of mineralisation at depth (reports Stockhead).

Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) has commenced a major new phase of drilling at the wholly-owned Cardinia gold project in Western Australia (reports Small Caps).

After months of negotiation, Gascoyne Resources has announced a rescue package worth A$50 million that could see its shares trading as soon as next month (reports MiningNews).

Evion Group says strong construction progress at the site of the Panthera expandable graphite Joint Venture with Metachem in India means the project is on track for production this year (reports Stockhead).

Cygnus Metals has added more ground in Quebec to its lithium exploration portfolio in a deal with gold miner Osisko (reports MiningNews).

Sandfire Resources’ acting chief executive says the company has been inundated with interest for high-grade copper from its new Motheo mine in Botswana, which will start production in the coming weeks (reports The West Australian).

South Korea has weighed in with almost $700 million in free-hit funding to help lithium producer Pilbara Minerals move into battery chemical manufacturing amid debate about whether the Albanese government is doing enough to promote onshore processing of Australian minerals (reports The Australian Financial Review).

Plutonic deal sees De Crespigny-led gold miner emerge with 7Moz and 3Mtpa plant in WA gold belt; Plus, sell-off in lithium stocks doesn’t make sense.

Iron ore prices have reached highs not seen in more than nine months, topping $US130 a tonne in intraday trade in Singapore (reports The West Australian).

Rio Tinto is the latest miner to reveal a hit to its bottom line from higher inflation and weaker commodity prices, but chief executive Jakob Stausholm remains bullish on emerging demand from the energy transition (reports The West Australian).

Recent field exploration at Inca Minerals’ (ASX: ICG) MaCauley Creek project in north-east Queensland has generated “outstanding” bonanza grades of copper, silver, and lead, plus zinc, lithium, tantalum, tungsten and tin (reports Small Caps).

The call of Canada is being heard clearly by Australian lithium hopefuls, with some of the best-known names from the Aussie mining boom heading north to ride a wave driven by the US Government’s trade protection policies (reports Tim Treadgold on Small Caps).

Bellevue Gold has reshuffled its management team ahead of first gold production later this year (reports MiningNews).

Inflation, rising interest rates and the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine combined to drag markets lower this week even as China’s reopening promised to boost demand for Australia’s major commodity exports.

And another big position said to be held through derivatives. Plus, SQM betting on Azure’s lithium potential.

Takeover action brought some relief for investors this week as central banks ploughed through political objections to push on with their attack on inflation, promising to continue ratcheting up interest rates until consumers stop spending.

Gateway Mining (ASX: GML) has kicked off a 2023 exploration program at the Montague gold project in Western Australia’s Murchison district (reports Small Caps).