Andrew Todd

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.

Reach Resources has kicked off a 5000-metre reverse circulation drill program at its Murchison South gold project near Paynes Find in Western Australia. The work is centred around the company's flagship Blue Heaven deposit, where it already holds a handy resource of 681,000 tonnes at 2.8 grams per tonne gold for 61,300 ounces of relatively shallow gold.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Mont Royal Resources, after it exploded back from merger purgatory with a Canadian rare-earths relisting. Mount Ridley Mines doubled down on gallium glory revealing new management for Australia's largest gallium resource that was found hiding in untested historic drill hole results. HitIQ crunched a Monash University deal for its concussion detection mouthguards and XPON Technologies flipped cash-burn into black-ink bliss from its recent marketing acquisition.

Novo Resources has jagged numerous high-grade gold rock chips at its Tibooburra project in northwest New South Wales, grading up to a punchy 39.9g/t at its Pioneer North prospect. The company says a string of double-digit gold assays have lit up its undrilled Pioneer prospects, highlighting numerous targets for maiden drilling.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Mount Ridley Mines, which unearthed a monster 24,584-tonne gallium resource from its WA clay rare earths project. Eden Innovations cashed in on AI data centre fever, Whitebark Energy breathed new life into its Warro gas behemoth with giant dry gas-zone revelations and Pivotal Metals pocketed $5.4m to drill Quebec's copper-nickel veins as the red metal hits record highs.

Thunderbird Resources is approaching the final verdict on its Slasher Flats gold acquisition in Central NSW, with the Springfield gold deposit emerging as a leading contender for early drilling. The company says the existing known high-grade hits are likely just a slice of a much bigger system that is still begging for the drill bit at Springfield. With historically limited shallow drilling having already delivered thick, near-surface gold, Thunderbird says its prospects are likely to continue to considerable depths.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Investment house ASF Group, which sent the market nuts after entering the crypto space, rocketing 4900% before the ASX pulled the plug. Vectus Biosystems followed with a sharp biotech bounce, licensing its fibrosis-fighter to NASDAQ-listed XORTX. Hawk Resources swooped into WA's scandium spotlight and Thor Energy lit up the uranium charts with a no-cost US waste-recovery deal.

Ora Banda Mining has drilled into fresh high-grade gold at its Little Gem and Riverina Deeps discoveries in Western Australia's Goldfield region, with thick high-grade hits like 25.6m at 4.3 grams per tonne gold. The results stretch the near-mine mineralisation both along strike and at depth at the prospects. They will eventually tie into the company's flagship Riverina mining camp and extend its overall project life.

Ora Banda Mining has delivered a cracking September quarter, smashing records and adding $38.5 million in cash to its mounting $122.7 million money pile. The company also dropped all-in sustaining costs for its gold by 20 per cent to just $2872 as ounce capped off a successful quarter.

Dateline Resources MD Stephen Baghdadi has pumped another $277,000 into Dateline, bringing his total personal investment in the company just since June to $1.35m, boosting his stake to 12 per cent of the $1.3b company. Dateline's Colosseum project in the USA has driven a market frenzy this year, with punters liking both its gold endowment and its potential for rare earths.