Andrew Todd

Horizon Minerals has generated another quarter of strong cash flows from gold sales, banking $23.3M from 3689 ounces sold, while ending the period with a healthy $37.5M cash balance and 14,300 ounces of contained gold in stockpiles. The robust quarterly came amid record-high gold prices and featured the safe completion of open-pit mining at the company's Boorara and Phillips Find open pits.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Apollo Minerals, which dusted off the historic high-grade Salau tungsten mine in France with a fresh five-year permit. Terra Metals unleashed a monster PGM sulphide hit at Dante in the Musgraves with a whopping 4m at 6.71g/t PGE3, sparking comparisons to South Africa's Bushveld monsters and Nagambie Resources inked a juicy JV with the $2.2 billion gold-antimony producer Alkane Resources on Australia's highest-grade antimony-gold play.

Meeka Metals has notched up another robust quarter at its Murchison Gold mine in Western Australia, lifting output to 9174 ounces while generating $23.9 million in cash, to take its holdings to $67.4 million. All-in sustaining costs came in at $2365 per ounce, underpinned by an average realised gold price of A$6275 per ounce on 7953 ounces sold for $49.9 million in revenue.

Horizon Minerals has continued to intersect bonanza-grade gold in drilling at its Burbanks gold project, south of Coolgardie in Western Australia, with assays confirming another stellar intercept grading up to 396.6 grams per tonne. The standout result of 2m at a whopping 235.7g/t gold from 248m depth included a 1.16-metre section grading 396.6g/t gold within a breccia zone of coarse visible gold.

Great Southern Mining has unveiled shallow gold hits at its Mon Ami project in Laverton, Western Australia, hinting at a potentially new parallel lode that could expand the deposit's existing 55,500-ounce resource. 2146 metres of aircore drilling was completed to target gold anomalies to the north, in hopes of expanding the existing 1.56 million tonnes at 1.11 grams per tonne resource.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Australian Strategic Materials, which bagged a $450 million takeover bid from NYSE-listed Energy Fuels Inc. Osteopore landed yet another exclusive Hong Kong distribution deal with MontsMed for its dissolving 3D-printed bone scaffolds, Olympio unveiled over 100 high-grade gold hits from drilling at its Bousquet project in Quebec and Riversgold continued the gold fever with shallow high-grade gold at its Kalgoorlie Northern Zone, plus a $2.15m strategic capital raise.

Buru Energy is inching closer to gas production in Western Australia after the Environmental Protection Authority approved exploration and well appraisal at the neighbouring Valhalla gas project in the Canning Basin. Buru received its own EPA approval in September last year and says the move is a major government endorsement of the onshore Canning Basin, where Buru's Rafael project is set to drill in the June quarter this year.

American West Metals has dropped a bumper resource upgrade at its flagship Storm copper project in Nunavut, Canada, increasing the deposit's contained metal by more than 20 per cent. The boosted inventory now sits at 28.2 million tonnes of mineralisation grading one per cent copper and 3.3 grams per tonne silver, for 276,000 tonnes of copper and 3.0 million ounces of silver – a 36 per cent lift in silver ounces.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Hydrix Ltd, which locked in a $2.5 million deal to develop SynCardia's next-gen fully-implantable artificial heart. Patagonia Lithium sealed a strategic partnership with oil-backed Ameerex to supercharge its Formentera brine project in Argentina's lithium triangle as lithium prices surge. Meanwhile, Energy Transition Minerals rocketed on Trump's fresh Greenland grab rhetoric, eyeing its mammoth Kvanefjeld rare-earth play for national security. At the same time, biotech junior AdAlta doubled after snagging exclusive rights ex-China to co-develop Shanghai Cell Therapy's lightning-fast two-day CAR-T cancer-killer therapy.

St George Mining has uncovered a new zone of high-grade niobium mineralisation at its Araxá project in Brazil, with assays confirming thick intercepts from surface well beyond the current resource. The company says the latest discovery lies 400 metres northwest of the existing resource in a previously undrilled area, marking a clear extension of the niobium system.

Chariot Resources has partnered up with a China-based lithium trader to negotiate potential funding and offtake for lithium from its recently acquired Nigerian project. Lithium-trader Fujian Jinjianqiao New Energy Technology has inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding to provide funding for the development of an on-site processing facility for Chariot to deliver spodumene concentrate to China.

Aguia Resources has tightened its leadership ranks, naming Tim Hosking as managing director to steer the company as its key South American projects gather momentum. The move follows his recent elevation to CEO. It comes as the multi-commodity miner edges closer to first mining at its flagship phosphate operations in Brazil, with initial production slated for the coming quarter.

Titanium Sands Limited has moved its Mannar Island heavy mineral sands project closer to production, after lodging applications for an industrial mining licence with Sri Lanka's mining bureau. The lodgement allows the company to wrap up its remaining environmental studies. At the same time, it is awaiting assessment under a forthcoming national mineral policy, as it advances towards developing its high-grade, ilmenite-rich deposit.

Aurum Resources has taken a major step towards development at its flagship Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire with three mining exploitation licence applications now lodged. The submissions cover the full project footprint and come ahead of key resource updates and a prefeasibility study due in the first quarter. Backed by a healthy cash position and an aggressive drilling program for the year, Aurum is advancing steadily in one of West Africa's most productive gold belts.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is Charger Metals which unleashed a ripping high-grade maiden gold discovery at its Xmas anomaly in the Yilgarn with 12m at 6.55g/t, Calix Limited stormed higher on blockbuster US water-treatment contracts and completion of its game-changing lithium demo plant with Pilbara Minerals. Investigator Resources also started the new year on the front foot, leveraging sky-high silver prices with a DFS update that bloated mineable ounces by 13Moz at the same time slashing the strip ratio at its pure-play Paris silver project in South Australia.

Horizon Minerals has pushed back its Black Swan plant conversion feasibility study near Kalgoorlie into the new year, opting to reassess project economics amid record gold prices. The company says delivery is now slated for the March quarter as it explores ramped-up throughput options buoyed by elevated gold prices exceeding A$6700 per ounce.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Year is… Kaili Resources, which ran on hot air and a tight Chinese register for a meme-stock frenzy in under 48 hours. Dateline Resources got the ultimate Trump Truth Social shout-out for its Colosseum gold-rare earths play near the Mountain Pass mine in California, Locksley Resources unlocked antimony and rare earths just next door, Sunrise Energy Metals flew on its monster scandium deposit in NSW and Mount Ridley dropped Australia's biggest gallium resource out of nowhere. IPO of the year went to the aptly named Metal Powder Works, as goldies Forrestania, Focus and a lonely oil player Finder Energy rounded out the list.

Terrain Minerals has called a brief festive timeout on drilling at its Smokebush gold project in Western Australia, wrapping up a productive end to 2025 at its Lightning prospect. With more than a third of the current RC program completed, a newly granted mining licence and strong funding support, the company says it is well placed to hit the ground running when drilling resumes in January.

Ora Banda Mining has drilled into wide, high-grade gold at its Sand King underground mine in WA's Goldfields, confirming a growing northerly mineralised corridor, which is likely to boost ounces significantly. Peak intercepts included bonanza grades up to 146 grams per tonne (g/t) from drilling that has stretched mineralisation well beyond current resource boundaries.

Estrella Resources has rolled out another set of manganese-rich results from its Ira Miri project in Timor-Leste, with several high-grade intervals hinting at the potential for multiple stacked manganese horizons. The company says it has also wrapped up drilling at its adjacent Werumata limestone project, which exposed thick carbonate layers and a fresh limestone unit at depth, with promising early commerciality indications.

Horizon Minerals has intersected stunning visible gold in drilling at its Burbanks project south of Coolgardie in Western Australia, including a whopping intercept grading up to 5.848 kilograms per tonne gold from 259m depth. The results form part of the company's monster two-stage 30,000m drilling program at the project, which kicked off in late June with focused infill drilling to upgrade confidence around its existing gold resources.

Norfolk Metals has laid the groundwork for a busy new year drilling blitz at its Carmen copper project in Chile, with environmental permitting and studies progressing ahead of a news-packed Christmas period. The company says a five-year permit will clear the path for a broader drilling assault across its 46.6 square kilometre concession package, including follow-up work from a high-impact diamond drilling program currently underway.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runners of the Week are… Bass Oil, which soared on a freshly inked three-year gas deal with Origin Energy in a Cooper Basin comeback, Marmota, which confirmed its “spectacular gold discovery” at Greenewood in the Gawler craton, Alvo Minerals, which extended its Touro massive sulphide streak in Brazil as copper hits all-time highs and Alchemy Resources, which hit premium 65 per cent iron hematite on its granted mining lease in the Bryah Basin.

Beetaloo Energy has cleared the last hurdle to development at its Carpentaria pilot project in the Northern Territory, taking a final investment decision on its mammoth Beetaloo Sub-basin. The move caps off a string of regulatory wins for the company, which is on a fast track to deliver gas into a hungry NT gas market facing acute supply shortages.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Phoslock Environmental Technologies, which resurrected this week, flicking the switch on its Chinese factory after four years in the dark. Freshly minted Black Horse Mining galloped out of the IPO gates in a revival at the heart of Victoria's 80-million-ounce goldfields, DGR Global reminded everyone of its 6.8% stake in SolGold and its copper-gold monster in Ecuador, which copped a bid and African Gold got proposed to by its Canadian sugar-daddy Montage in a $264 million all-scrip merger in Côte d'Ivoire.

Aguia Resources is ramping up preparations for mining at its Três Estradas phosphate project in Brazil, with upgrades progressing ahead of schedule and production slated to begin in March of next year. Work at the mine site is advancing steadily, with a drainage system for the sump area and a 9-kilometre municipal road access already complete.

Dateline Resources has hit yet more solid gold intercepts from beneath the North pit at its Colosseum project in California, delivering wide zones of gold up to 132.6m grading 0.95 grams per tonne. Importantly, the results surpass the grades in the nearby resource blocks surrounding the mineralised intercepts hinting at an upgrade in ounces for the company.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… European Metals which bagged a $645 million Czech government cheque for its monster Cinovec lithium project. Its stock soared 150% on Friday. Synertec Corp inked a deal with Shell QGC for its zero-emissions Powerhouse battery system, Enlitic became one of only two global vendors for Philips' $40 billion radiology empire and Latitude66 parachuted into the Laverton goldfields with an earn-in and a rig already drilling at its newest gold tilt in WA.

Altech Batteries has locked in the final engineering design for its next gen sodium-nickel-chloride battery system clearing the last major hurdle before its first production next year. The company says its 400-volt units are set to roll off the line at partner AMPower's manufacturing facilities, before heading straight to Dutch gas pipeline facilities and industrial plants. The batteries are a much safer storage alternative to tradition lead-based and lithium-ion batteries.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Alvo Minerals, which ploughed the first-ever diamond hole into its Brazilian copper project only to pull out 13m of fat visual copper sulphides just 40 m from surface. 3D Energi struck a potential gas monster thanks to partner ConocoPhillips drilling offshore in Victoria. McLaren Minerals supersized its already huge ilmenite sands resource by 90 per cent and Zuleika Gold banked a handy $48 million litigation knockout from Catalyst Metals over its contested Plutonic gold ground.

Larvotto Resources has unveiled a prospective and potentially lucrative third revenue stream at its Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW, with metallurgy delivering 90 per cent tungsten recovery adding another highly strategic resource to its inventory. The news follows recent assays from its Freehold prospect that delivered broad, high-grade antimony-gold zones alongside surprise tungsten grades, the company has begun painting the picture of a new tungsten system with some serious economics legs.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… antimicrobial waste warrior Zoono Group, which peaked 280 per cent higher after inking a deal with Africa's biggest packaging giant for its shelf-life extender. ReNerve announced its regenerative nerve-cuff had been green-lit across the US DoD's military hospitals and veteran wards driving its stock price skywards while Stealth Group shares also shone after the company bolted on a $22m hardware buying empire to create a Bunnings-busting wholesale beast. And copper-gold explorer Havilah Resources locked in a $240m deal with Sandfire to fast-track its Kalkaroo monster into production.