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The mine is jointly owned by Piedmont – which has a 25% investment – and Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) – which holds the other 75%.

The project is the largest producing spodumene mine in North America.

Data from drilling, which launched in February and concluded in December 2024, will be plugged into an updated MRE, looking to upgrade resource classification and increase overall resource tonnage.

President and CEO of Piedmont, Keith Phillips, said the drill results would set the company up well for its next stage of development.

“The positive drilling outcomes support our plans for a potential brownfield expansion at NAL, aiming to increase production capacity to meet the growing global demand for lithium with resources produced in North America,” Mr Phillips said.

Additionally, the drill results will also open the door to expanding production at NAL and support improved mine planning.

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“These developments reinforce our commitment to advancing NAL as a cornerstone asset in our portfolio and contribute to our vision of becoming a leading supplier of lithium products critical to the energy transition.”

Piedmont has been trading at 11 cents early on Thursday.

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The order – worth US$5.5M – was secured by PWR’s North American subsidiary C&R Racing Inc., and is scheduled for delivery in 2025, with the order being manufactured at PWR’s Australian and North American sites.

Managing director Kees Weel said the order represented an important milestone for the company, which mainly engages in the production and sale of cooling products.

“This is PWR’s largest single order for Aerospace and Defence since we decided to build our own Aerospace and Defence team in 2020,” he said.

“Our decision to leverage our market-leading advanced cooling technology and expertise from Motorsport into Aerospace and Defence is now delivering tangible results.

“This order validates both our strategy and the investment we have made in building capability in this attractive sector.”

PWH‘s share price moved upwards after the news, and at 16:37 AEDT, shares were trading at $7.62 – a rise of 2.14% since the market opened.

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The sale was made to Verativ Corporation – is an investee company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, which is based in Georgia.

Orora aims to use the proceeds to repay debt facilities and invest in an organic Cans capacity expansion in Rocklea, Queensland, and will also begin returning proceeds from the transaction to shareholders in the form of an on-market share buy-back.

Managing director and CEO Brian Lowe said, “Today marks a significant milestone for Orora – completing the sale of OPS is a critical step forward in our strategy to become a specialised packaging provider for the beverage industry, focusing on our core glass and cans packaging businesses.”

He continued: “OPS transitions to Veritiv in a strong position, having transformed and grown whilst part of the Orora Group.

“The transaction leaves Orora with a strong balance sheet, with an initial focus on the repayment of debt facilities.

Capital management initiatives will include a share buyback as announced on 10 December and investment in strategically aligned projects that will grow the business and deliver value for our shareholders.”

Orora shares were lower after this news, and at 12:51 AEDT, they were trading at $2.42 – a fall of 0.62% since the market opened.

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The company has entered a binding Share Sale Agreement (SSA) to take on Noodlecake from its parent company Zplay (HK) Technology Co. Ltd, with the acquisition reflecting a desire to move more strongly into North American gaming.

Last month, Streamplay appointed Silicon Valley tech advisor Paolo Privitera to its board of directors, further underscoring this direction.

Noodlecake is a valuable acquisition in terms of its own portfolio. It has more than 60 in-house and published games, and has achieved more than 270 million downloads since its establishment in 2011, in addition to forging partnerships with Apple, Google, Xbox,PlayStation, Nintendo, Steam, and other tier-one brands.

Its games include ‘Yes, Your Grace’ – which was voted Best Indie Game on GooglePlay for 2024 – the multiplayer ‘Golf Blitz’ and ‘Alto’s Odyssey,’ the latter receiving an Apple Design Award in 2018 for its artistry and gameplay.

In financial terms, the story is also strong: Noodlecake brings in around A$42 million through its main monetisation channels, with additional revenue from other sources. Its annual revenue was approximately A$7.3 million for the year ending December 31, 2023.

Streamplay shares spiked upwards on the news, and at 11:28 AEDT, they were trading at 1.6 cents – a rise of 45.45% since the market opened.

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There are new platforms being developed to streamline processes and make investment simpler for fund managers.

One of these is by global investment bank, Canaccord Genuity. Canaccord has a dedicated offshore sales team platforming North American equities to Australian Institutional clients, with team members including Kasey Connick based in Sydney, and Matthew Smith in Toronto, providing 24-hour coverage.

It means Canaccord can connect Australian fund managers with their Toronto-based trading team for direct market access during the North American trading session.

And Canaccord’s worked with Iress (ASX:IRE) to streamline the order-placing process through Iress’s global fix hub.

In this interview, Canadian Securities Exchange director of listing development, Anna Serin, talks about why Australian investors may look to increase exposure to Canadian and North American company shares.

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MyAccess, which manufactures and retails cannabis products, provided medical cannabis treatments to help patients dealing with chronic pain, mental health, and sleep conditions.

The sale should help Althea achieve operating cost savings of around $1.5 million, as well as annualised cost savings of $4 million (previously announced in May).

On top of that, the ASX-listed company will now be able to concentrate on expansion of its North American operations, particularly targeting the cannabis beverage sector through Peak Processing Solutions – its recreational cannabis business whose products are marketed to retail stores.

Althea CEO Joshua Fegan said the decision would boost the company’s ability to grow in North America in particular.

“The completion of this sale marks a significant step in AGH’s strategy to streamline our operations and sharpen our focus on high-growth opportunities,” he said.

“By divesting MyAccess Clinics, we are better positioned to accelerate our North American expansion, particularly in the cannabis beverages market through Peak Processing Solutions.”

Althea shares fell on the news, and at 14:14 AEDT, they were trading at 4 cents – a fall of 6.98% since the market opened.

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Last week, BM8 announced it had raised A$1 million to progress exploration at its Bleiberg zinc-germanium project in Austria, with this coming shortly after the company announced fieldwork at the site to happen later in October, chasing up 6 kilometres worth of drill targets, and guided by more than 100 years of historical data.

The latter gives investors some insight into the value of the Bleiberg asset: comprising 116 claims stretched across 65.8 square kilometres, the landholding includes the historic Bleiberg zinc-lead-germanium mine, which was ranked the world’s sixth largest producer of the latter metal before its closure in 1993.

The whole Bleiberg region is recognised as a historic lead and zinc district, with mining activity starting there in the 14th century. But germanium is also found there in world-beating grades, in addition to gallium recorded at between 90 and 110 grams per tonne.

The maiden fieldwork program at Bleiberg will see BM8 chief executive officer Nigel Broomham join chief geological advisor Dr Simon Dorling to undertake reconnaissance geological traverses to support mapping efforts at the project, as well as collecting surface samples, conducting assessment of scale, and establishing drilling targets.

Mr Broomham – who spent six years in senior geologist and superintendent roles at Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) leading the team from Exploration through to Production – joined BM8 before its re-listing to the ASX last year, and said the decision had been guided by both its assets and team.

“It’s pretty similar to my investment strategy as well, (BM8) has a capable board, very strong register, and some really exciting projects which I felt had a huge amount of potential,” he said.

“That’s our lead-zinc-germanium project in Bleiberg Austria – where we have the best exposure to the strategic metals of germanium and gallium on the ASX – and also our lithium asset in Ontario Canada, Falcon Lake.

“It became apparent to me that after 6 years at Pilbara Minerals, playing a part in the success story there at Pilgangoora, that I wanted to get out and find the next one, and I saw Battery Age as the perfect opportunity.”

BM8’s Falcon Lake lithium project in Canada has been progressing side-by-side with Bleiberg throughout 2024, pulling up impressive results from a summer exploration program which kicked off in July.

This included intercepts of 28.25 metres at 1.30% Li2O (lithium oxide) and 18.40 metres at 1.88% Li2O – both reported in September based on a seven-hole program of drilling, in with significant mineralisation found in six of these.

With a prospective corridor of 5 kilometres in focus, this drilling was able to expand the mineralised zone – particularly at the Falcon Little Lake target, where a 40 metre thick pegmatite was intersected.

This boosted expectations and built on previous exploration carried out in 2023 at the project – which is located in a strong mining jurisdiction in Ontario.

Mr Broomham said being able to play a role in emerging critical minerals stories here and in Europe was a great position to be in.

“For me, sitting in Western Australia and being part of the lithium industry here for a quite a time, watching the emerging North American supply chain with a lot of excitement, and I really feel that’s the next frontier,” he said.

“With that comes our ventures in Europe as well, where we have strategic metals germanium and gallium as well as zinc – these are all future-facing commodities.

“We feel there’s a real need for these metals outside of the China controlled supply chain, and we believe we’re well placed to capitalize on them as they emerge.”

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that companies in the lithium sector in particular had been doing it tough, given the historically significant weakness in that commodity’s price seen recently, as when it steadied at a three year low of 71,500 Chinese yuan per tonne in September.

Mr Broomham was optimistic that the price had reached its lowest point, and that the cycle would turn around soon.

“It’s been difficult, much like many of our peers, to attract new investment in the sector,” he said.

“But what we’ve seen and what we believe is that we are at the bottom, or close to the bottom, especially when considering lithium and other battery metals globally.

“What we believe that’s done is essentially suppress capital flowing to the next producer, the next developer and the next discovery.”

He added that this suppression would lead to a lack of projects, in turn causing a higher price environment which could be capitalised on when the market turned.

Indeed, given reports in September that the world’s biggest battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) had closed down its lithium mine in China’s Jiangxi province have suggested that the oversupply narrative may be coming to an end.

“Nobody likes to be at the bottom of commodity cycles. However, to me this is 2019 all over again – we’ve seen a huge amount of supply come off line,” Mr Broomham said.

“And essentially the current pricing is below incentive pricing which means that these projects will not be coming on line as originally predicted, therefore supply won’t keep up with forecast, and ultimately that will result in high prices for longer.

“Demand is not going anywhere, despite the murmurings up and down St George’s Terrace.”

Crucial to this would be continuing consumer drive for electric vehicles, he added.

“What we know globally is that EV sales continue to grow in the largest markets in the world,” Mr Broomham said.

“Actually now it’s more affordable to buy an EV in the US than it is on a like for like basis as an internal combustion engine.

“So people are going to be voting with not only their heads but with their wallets now.”

BM8 has been trading at 11 cents.

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But Winsome maintains that it is the cost parameters which would make Adina – located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region – one of the most capital efficient new lithium projects in North America.

This begins with the fact that existing infrastructure connected to the Renard diamond mine 60 kilometres south of Adina is still in place, keeping start-up capital costs relatively low at US$260 million.

Additionally, Winsome says that C1 operating costs are expected to average US$598 per tonne /t across the active production period, while all-in sustaining costs across the same period should average US$693 per tonne.

This would set the estimated payback period at 1.8 years.

Managing director Chris Evan said this data provided high expectations for the project, outlining a clear path to production.

“The detailed inputs to this Scoping Study mean it provides a robust basis from which to advance the development of Adina,” he said.

“In particular the outcome that the existing and well-maintained Renard facility can be repurposed for a relatively modest Start Up Capital Cost to develop our hard-rock spodumene resource is a major benefit.

“Importantly it offers a significant commercial advantage that will see the facility operatethrough market fluctuations and commodity cycles.

“The ease of mining mineralised material at Adina via an initial low strip open pit along with the simple DMS flowsheet results in a competitive operating cost estimate which optimisation may improve further.”

In April this year, Winsome told investors it had an exclusive option to purchase the Renard project, which includes a processing facility and associated infratructure.

Winsome shares have risen on the news. At 12:43 AEST, they were trading at 52.5 cents – a rise of 0.96% since the market opened.