The NT Independent is providing an update of resource news from across the Northern Territory. Highlights this week include DeSoto Resources starting drilling works at its Fenton gold project, BPH ups stake in Clean Hydrogen to 17.5 per cent, Core Lithium commencing drilling of its BP33 mine, and Santos’ profits down due to lower production.

Santos’ profit dropped due to lower production

Santos’ net profit for the first half of this year ending June 30 dropped by 32 per cent due to reduced production and lower revenues. Net profit for the period totalled $US790 million, down from the $US1.17 billion reported the previous year. Underlying profit totalled $US801 million, down 37 per cent from the same period one year earlier.

Last year the company’s plans were thrown into turmoil after the Federal Court barred work on the company’s $US3.6bn Barossa gas field after deeming that the oil giant had failed to consult local Indigenous Australians adequately on the development. Meanwhile, gas prices dipping from record highs in 2022, also added to the company’s woes.

In the short term, Santos maintained its guidance for full-year production, of between the equivalent of 90 million and 100 million barrels of oil. Output in the first half was 45 million barrels.

Core opens the second mine near Darwin

Core Lithium has commenced operation of its BP33 mine, the company’s second underground mining project, at the Cox Peninsula, 33 km west of Berry Springs. Local contractor Northern Australia Civil (NAC) was awarded a $45 million contract to handle the mine’s preliminary work, including excavation and construction of the mine’s entrance. BP33 sits 5km south of Core’s first Territory site, Grants Mine.

The new mine, with a current value of $120 million, will initially employ 60 workers, and around 150 workers once deemed operational, the company said. The mine’s lithium reserves are estimated to last 12 years. The company said the mine’s lifespan could be further extended if new deposits were discovered. Once operational, hundreds of millions of dollars in lithium exports are expected to be delivered by the mine.

“The Finniss Lithium Operation is stimulating interest, investment and growth in the Northern Territory’s rapidly growing critical minerals sector, putting us on the map,” Mining Minister Nicole Manison said. BP33 mine is Core’s flagship project.

BPH ups stake in Clean Hydrogen to 17.5 per cent

BPH Energy has increased its interest in Clean Hydrogen Technologies to $390,000 or 17.5 per cent. BPH and its 36.1 per cent (direct interest) investee company Advent Energy initially entered into a binding term sheet with Clean Hydrogen under which the purchasers agreed to subscribe for 10 per cent of the total issued share capital of the New York-based energy company.

Clean Hydrogen’s developed technology is capable of processing hydrocarbons from natural gas to produce turquoise hydrogen and black carbon. The company’s end-to-end system processes hydrocarbons using its exclusive thermocatalytic reactor process and catalysts to produce hydrogen at a commercial scale. Its technology is expected to be producing valuable products through processing natural gas without emitting harmful CO2.

Advent currently has rights to natural gas assets at the Weaber field located in the NT’s Bonaparte Basin. Onshore and Clean Hydrogen will investigate the potential to process hydrocarbons from that area to produce for the high-value hydrogen and carbon black products.

Drilling is underway at DeSoto’s Fenton project

Drilling has started at DeSoto Resources’ (DES) Fenton gold project in the Pine Creek Region in the Northern Territory. An initial 3,000m of RC/DD drilling is being done across targets in the central discovery zone of the Fenton Shear Zone (FSZ), with the first phase comprising two deep +500m RC/DD holes targeting the gold-bearing intervals of the FSZ.

The Pine Creek gold region hosts an estimated 17m oz of gold. Fenton is comparable in scale to the Pine Creek Shear Zone. It has undertaken induced polarization (IP) and ground Electromagnetic (EM) surveys which have helped identify conductivity anomalies along a gold anomalous segment of the FSZ – for a strike length of 4 km. The first assays are expected within a month of drill hole completion, with the focus on the highest priority drill targets initially.

“Fenton has exposure to 55 km of a regional scale shear zone with historic wide gold intersections. The opportunity to drill into our highest priority targets in the system is all ahead for the company in the coming weeks,” DES MD Chris Swallow said.