Andrew Todd

Chariot Resources has confirmed the presence of valuable spodumene in all six previously disclosed high-grade samples from its Fonlo and Iganna lithium projects in Nigeria. Independent testwork identified easily processable spodumene, accounting for up to 75.3 per cent of the overall weight. The results provide a crucial technical input for planned metallurgical work and potential future mining scenarios.

Meeka Metals has shrugged off soggy conditions at its Murchison gold project, lifting mill throughput by a notable 37 per cent to 123,000 tonnes for the March quarter. While the weather impacted gold production, the company still grew its cash position to $50.1 million and says it will now feed the plant with higher-grade ore during the current June quarter.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Cassius Mining, which more than doubled on its explosive $1.32B damages claim against the Ghanaian government in a David vs Goliath mining dispute. Cauldron Energy ran on a mystery share buyer – or two - of its uranium projects, as nuclear returns to prominence, Janus Electric's battery-powered trucks charged amid the fuel crisis and Omega Oil and Gas surged on hopes it can one day bolster Australia's domestic fuel supply.

Lindian Resources has landed a fresh $100 million in funding through a placement to fully fund its stage one Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi and its SARECO processing facility in Kazakhstan. The raise establishes a debt-free path to production and enables the company to accelerate its stage two mine expansion plans, strengthening its position as an integrated rare earths supplier.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Killi Resources, after a boardroom makeover lured in ex-Fortescue boss Nev Power in a bold tilt for its Mt Rawdon West gold-copper play, in Queensland. Amplia Therapeutics more than doubled after delivering another eye-popping complete cancer response in its pancreatic cancer trial, NuEnergy ripped higher in a speculative frenzy amid tightening gas supply concerns, alongside the worsening Cyclone Narelle and 4DMedical charged again after the world-renowned Mayo Clinic deployed its breakthrough CT:VQ lung imaging tech.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Immutep. In a slightly perverse twist, the oncology mid-cap bounced hard from last week's near-death experience, clawing back 53 per cent after a brutal 90 per cent wipeout last week. Blue Star Helium floated higher on mounting anticipation of near-term production from its Colorado-based Galactica project, with helium sales edging closer, and Patagonia Lithium rode a wave of speculation around looming results from its Lithium Triangle projects in Argentina.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… 88 Energy, after the company's shares stormed higher on its Alaskan North Slope oil ground, more than doubling as oil went parabolic. Aguia Resources locked in a key mining permit for its Três Estradas phosphate play in fertiliser-starved southern Brazil, Chariot Resources surged after Nigerian government approvals cleared the transfer of six lithium licences into its JV, unlocking a large undrilled land package. The punters also piled into Torque after the gold explorer poached the ex-Spartan dream team behind the $2.4 billion Never Never take-out.

Ora Banda Mining has expanded its Little Gem prospect in WA, with new drilling uncovering a parallel trend, dubbed Sapphire, that extends the system south to its Sunraysia prospect. The fresh results highlight broader mineralisation potential, hot on the heels of yesterday's tenfold resource boost at the company's Round Dam trend to 1.33 million ounces. A maiden resource eyed for Little Gem later this year.

Ora Banda Mining has delivered a tenfold resource boost at its Round Dam deposit, catapulting the project's inventory to 1.33 million ounces of gold. The massive uplift supercharges the company's global resource to 3.3 million ounces, with the new deposit considered entirely suitable for low-cost open-cut mining. Management says the mineralised trend remains largely underexplored, with more drilling planned.

Dateline Resources has massively expanded its Music Valley heavy rare earths project in California, stacking on an additional 1800 per cent of landholding to create a district-scale landholding of more than 20,520 acres. The move consolidates nearly 9km of prospective ground as the company's airborne geophysics survey and on-ground mapping programs get into full swing.

Chariot Resources soared more than 50% after the government approved the transfer of six licences into a joint venture with local partners, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for its Nigerian lithium portfolio. The approvals cover four exploration licences and two small-scale mining leases previously held by Continental Lithium, which will now be incorporated into a new company called C&C Minerals.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… OD6 Metals, after the critical minerals outfit bagged the high-grade Quinn fluorspar project in Nevada to help tackle America's 100% reliance on imported fluorine. Regener8 Resources surged on the back of a savvy deal for a silver-lead-zinc project in Europe's world-class Tethyan Metallogenic Belt and BluGlass Ltd rode an 80 per cent “no-news” run on gallium nitride laser momentum and a looming price-sensitive customer order. Lindian Resources snagged a ready-built A$500 million cracking plant in Kazakhstan for a bargain-basement A$21 million, fast-tracking its Kangankunde rare earths play into an integrated non-Chinese producer.

Great Southern Mining is probing deep at its East Laverton project in Western Australia, kicking off government co-funded diamond drilling to target a platinum group elements discovery. The program has started at the company's Diorite Hill target, with the drill bit expected to reach up to a whopping 900 metres deep.

Terrain Minerals has wrapped up an extensive drilling assault at its Smokebush gold and silver project in Western Australia, completing 7739m of deep targeting across its Lightning and Wildflower prospects. The company says it has been probing for potential repeat Lightning-style systems at geophysical anomalies in previously untouched areas as well.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Hubify Ltd, after it raised $250,000 at a whopping 425 per cent premium to fuel its AI push and managed services partnership. Besra Gold surged on conditional mining lease approval for its Jugan deposit within the monster 2.3-million-ounce Bau gold project in Malaysia, European Resources jumped after smashing high-grade rare earth hits, including 4.5m at 1.4 per cent TREO at its Korsnäs project in Finland and Cosmos Exploration kept the lithium party rolling with a capital raise amid its Bolivian brine bonanza tie-up.

Corazon Mining is ticking off the final regulatory boxes ahead of maiden drilling at its Two Pools gold project in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. With a heritage survey now underway and drilling approvals in hand, the company is preparing to test a sizeable gold footprint that hosts multiple high-grade historical intercepts and has never been systematically followed up.

Augustus Minerals is about to take its first real swing at gold at its Music Well project, with drilling locked in to test a standout surface anomaly near Leonora. Backed by eye-catching rock-chip grades and a prime address in WA's Leonora–Laverton belt, the maiden program will finally put holes into a target that has never been drilled, despite sitting in one of the state's richest gold districts.

As the company presses ahead with its carbon management and clean energy projects in Western Australia, Pilot Energy has locked in new leadership, appointing energy veteran Brian Siddall as chief executive officer to steer its course. The company says Mr Siddall brings more than 30 years of experience in oil and gas, spanning strategy, project development, execution and asset management.

Dalaroo Metals has bulked up its strategic land holding in West Africa by bolting on the Bondoukou gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, boosting its footprint in one of the world's active gold jurisdictions. The acquisition hands Dalaroo control of a fully granted mining lease in the Birimian terrane, about 35 kilometres northwest of the lucrative 4.5-million-ounce Tanda deposit operated by Endeavour Mining.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Recharge Metals, which snapped up the Sunset Well project in the heart of WA's Leonora district complete with 94,500-ounces of gold. Cosmos Exploration muscled into Bolivia's lithium big leagues via its EAU tie-up with state-owned YLB and exclusive access to Vulcan's VULSORB lithium extraction technology, while King River Resources dusted off the historic Mindoolah goldfield in WA's Murchison belt, chasing high-grade reefs the old-timers left behind with modern rigs and a roaring gold price at its back.

Great Southern Mining is readying the drill bit for its Mon Ami gold project in Western Australia, with the company identifying multiple targets for resource extension at the mine-ready prospect. The company has initiated a detailed technical review of Mon Ami to speed up exploration that could lift the existing 55,500-ounce deposit, grading a handy 1.11 grams per tonne gold.

American West Metals has bolstered its US critical minerals push by hiring a top Washington advisory firm to steer the company's West Desert project into becoming the nation's first end-to-end indium supplier. The newly appointed Ervin Graves Strategy Group is a heavyweight in government relations, a move set to deepen the company's ties with US agencies and potential downstream partners.

Patriot Resources has masterminded a globally scaled copper-silver portfolio to ride the explosive wave of demand being driven by AI and data centres. The company has stitched together a set of perfectly timed high-grade assets in Africa and South America, as copper prices shatter records and silver surges on its dual role in the electronics industry and as a precious metals.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Great Dirt Resources, after a fresh $1.446 million placement to industry insiders woke up its manganese projects in northern New South Wales. EMC Gold Corp surged on permitting hopes for its monster Salave gold project in Spain, MetalsGrove ran on no news, just early boots-on-ground work at its Côte d'Ivoire gold project, European Resources ran on diamond drilling from its Korsnäs rare earths project in Finland delivering hits like 27m at 3767ppm total rare earth oxides.

Novo Resources has dusted off its Belltopper gold project in Victoria after boosting its exploration target to between 2.1 and 3.1 million tonnes of high-grade resources running 6.7 to 8.9 grams per tonne gold. The company says it has now outlined between 460,000 and 880,000 ounces of high-grade gold, with the upgraded figures accelerating plans for follow-up exploration in the world-class Bendigo goldfields.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Solstice Minerals, after it uncovered blockbuster high-grade copper-gold hits at its Nanadie project in WA. Alma Metals surged on huge copper intercepts and scale at its Briggs project in Queensland, contracting group RBR Group jumped after the Mozambique LNG got a green light for the restart of construction, with 4000 workers back on site and First Au raised $5.6 million to follow up fresh high-grade hits at its Gimlet gold project in WA.

Dalaroo Metals has ramped up its West African gold push, kicking off field mapping and drill targeting programs at its Bongouanoa project in southeast Côte d'Ivoire. The in-country geological team is now boots on the ground, advancing detailed structural mapping along key shear corridors, while early stakeholder engagement is building a solid foundation for operations.

Larvotto Resources has continued to rack up gold and antimony tonnes at its Hillgrove project in New South Wales, this time confirming broad zones of high-grade gold-antimony-tungsten across multiple lodes at its expanding Freehold exploration prospect. The 4300m diamond drilling program targeted depth extensions of historically mined old workings, with the company confident its results now validate the system's scale and depth persistence.

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.