US sharemarkets were flat to slightly weaker on Thursday. Healthcare was the biggest drag, down 1.3% but financials rose 0.6%. There was caution ahead of the start of earnings season. On Friday, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo report earnings. Analysts expect that S&P 500 first-quarter profits fell by 2.5% on a year ago, the first contraction since 2016. Latest data assured investors about the health of the US economy. The Dow Jones index fell by 14 points or 0.1%. The S&P500 index rose by less than 0.1%. And the Nasdaq index lost 17 points or 0.7%.

Global oil prices fell on Thursday on fears that OPEC may not extend production cuts past July. Reuters reported: "OPEC may raise oil output from July if Venezuelan and Iranian supply drops further and prices keep rallying, because extending production cuts with Russia and other allies could overtighten the market, sources familiar with the matter said." Brent crude fell by US90 cents or 1.3% to US$70.83 a barrel and US Nymex fell by US$1.03 or 1.6% to US$63.58 a barrel.

Base metal prices fell by up to 1.9% with nickel down the most although zinc only lost 0.2%. And aluminium was the only metal to gain, up 0.1%.

The gold futures price fell by US$20.60 an ounce or 1.6% to $1,293.30 an ounce. The spot gold price was near US$1,291 an ounce in late US trade. Iron ore rose by US70 cents or 0.7% to US$95.00 a tonne.

Thursday 11 April - close. Australian shares have fallen, dragged down by share prices falls by the major miners and the big four banks amid dovish comments by US and European central banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 24.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6,198.7 points at 1615 AEST on Thursday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 22.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 6,294.1.

Cassini Resources Limited: (CZI.ASX, 10cps, m.cap A$41.5m with 415.5 SOI, Cash $11.3m (Post Placement), Base Metals Explorer)

• OZ Minerals Limited (ASX.OZL), mkt cap A$3.4B, has satisfied the 70% (Stage 2) earn-in milestone by contributing a total of $36m towards the Nebo-Babel Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and regional exploration.
• The PFS for Nebo-Babel commenced in November 2017 and is scheduled for completion by OZ Minerals late Q2/early Q3 2019, with a study update to be released shortly thereafter.
• OZ Minerals will continue to sole fund the Nebo-Babel Studies until a Definitive Feasibility Study and decision to mine is delivered. In respect of any amount funded by OZ Minerals in excess of $36M,CZI will be loan-carried for its 30% contribution, with principal and capitalised interest to be repaid 5 years after the commencement of production at the WMP.
• In addition to today's announcement by CZI, OZL have released an updated Mineral Resource estimate as at 12 April 2019 for the Nebo-Babel deposits.
• Confidence in the Resource has increased through conversion from the lower, Inferred category to the higher, Indicated category. Inferred Resource conversion has resulted in a 26 per cent increase in Indicated Resources to 141 million tonnes. Indicated Resources now comprise 59 per cent of the total Nebo-Babel Resource.
• The updated resource will inform the mine design optimisation that is occurring as part of the study work currently underway.
• The estimated Mineral Resource for the Nebo-Babel deposits is shown in the table below. The Mineral Resource estimate has been reported in accordance with the 2012 edition of the JORC Code.

• The current phase of work is focused on determining the optimal mining cut-off grade and plant throughput, mine design, mining operations optimisation, process plant flowsheet selection and investigation of off-grid renewable power solutions. Many options are being considered as part of the study program. Importantly the team is working in collaboration with the local community to co-design elements of the project to maximise community value where possible. A recent community consultation workshop on site was well supported with 150 members of the community attending to learn more about the project and discuss their aspirations.
• OZ Minerals Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Irwin, said “This is another positive step towards realising the considerable potential of the Musgrave Province. Infill and extension drilling is continuing for the Nebo-Babel deposits and the uplift in resource confidence resulting from the 2018 drilling program will feed into our ongoing mine design optimisation. Our confidence in the project continues to build and we remain focused on our goal of maximising project value.”
• A link to the full announcement can be found here
• Please contact your adviser on +61 8 6169 2668 should you wish to discuss further.