James Pearson

With upgrades almost completed and a first gold pour under its belt Aguia Resources is about to kick off a 2500m diamond drill campaign targeting down-dip extensions to the vein systems at the company’s Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia. Aguia aims to deliver a maiden JORC resource for the project by year’s end. The company has also received government approval to sell its gold.

Dateline Resources has kicked off a bankable feasibility study at its 1.1-million-ounce Colosseum gold project in California, aimed at transforming the deposit into a long-life, high-margin open pit operation. By planning a two million tonnes per annum process operation, the company is targeting 75,000 ounces of gold production per year across 8.5 years, all as gold prices soar past US$3400 per ounce.

In a dramatic plot twist, Xanadu Mines has indefinitely postponed a shareholder meeting to approve a 25 per cent sell-down of its massive 4.7- million-tonne copper and 11-million-gold-ounce Kharmagtai project in Mongolia to Zijin Mining. The company says the delay will allow both parties to discuss a range of potential corporate outcomes. The big question is: What’s brewing behind the scenes?

Strickland Metals jumped 21% to 11c after securing $5M from Chinese mining giant Zijin to turbocharge drilling at its 7.4M-ounce Rogozna project in Serbia. The strategic placement gives Zijin a 2.4% stake and adds firepower to Strickland’s drill blitz, including a fast-track push to deliver a maiden resource at the high-grade Gradina gold deposit. Zijin already operates major copper-gold projects in Serbia, adding weight to the new alliance.

In a major step toward its clean energy pivot, Pilot Energy has secured $5 million via a heavily oversubscribed placement priced at an impressive 100 per cent premium to its last trade. Pilot will use $4.5M to shore up the acquisition of a remaining 82 per cent stake in the Cliff Head oil project from Triangle Energy.

Aurum Resources has smashed out another big gold hit in West Africa, striking a massive 89 metres at 2.42g/t gold from 213m at its Boundiali gold project in Cote d’Ivoire. The standout hit came from its BDT1 deposit, which makes up part of Aurum’s 1.59-million-ounce gold JORC resource. The drill bit also picked up sections of 7m at 14.46g/t gold and 6m at 9.01g/t gold in the hole.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has struck gold up to 9m grading 3.52 grams per tonne from 58m in fresh rock at its Lighthorse project near Pinjin, 140km northeast of Kalgoorlie. The company says the first-pass reverse circulation drill program appears to have cracked the code by confirming high-grade primary mineralisation exists below a shallow supergene blanket that was discovered two months ago.

Strickland Metals has hit top gear at its monster 7.4-million-ounce gold equivalent Rogozna project in Serbia by mobilising a sixth diamond rig to fuel what the company says is the biggest drilling campaign in the project’s history. The fresh rig is hard at work at the gold-rich Gradina deposit as part of Strickland’s effort to deliver a maiden resource at the prospect by the end of the year.

Triangle Energy has started drilling its hotly anticipated Becos-1 oil exploration well in Western Australia’s Perth Basin. The rods for the conventional well started spinning two days ago to target a fault-trapped rock layer called the Bookara Sandstone from the Triassic period. The company estimates there could be 1-21MMbbl in the pay zone, with a best guess of 5MMbbl.

As Larvotto charges ahead with a definitive feasibility study at its Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW, the company has now opened a new community hub in Armidale to keep locals in the loop. Larvotto says the Hillgrove Hub will deliver on its commitment to locals by offering a front-row seat to the project’s progress while fostering open dialogue with the community.

Lindian Resources has kicked off early site works at its world-class Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, marking a major step towards production. A new 5km access road is already well underway, allowing the company to mobilise earthmoving equipment and begin ground preparations. The move is part of a fast-track strategy to accelerate stage one construction at one of the world’s top rare earth deposits.

Reach Resources has unveiled a shallow, high-grade and open-pittable resource of 61,300 gold ounces at its Blue Heaven deposit, part of the company’s Murchison South project in Western Australia. Independent consultancy Mining Plus has put its stamp of approval on a mineral resource of 681,000 tonnes grading 2.8g/t gold from an optimised pit design at the company’s Blue Heaven deposit.

Lindian Resources will start metallurgical test work of its high-grade Kangankunde monazite from Malawi, helped by Australia’s top nuclear science team, to target a market-ready mixed rare earth carbonate product. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation will run parallel acid and alkaline cracking methods to find the most economical way of producing a usable carbonate product prior to generating a final certificate of analysis.

Estrella Resources is set to make history in Timor-Leste by launching the country’s first mineral exploration drilling campaign at its Ira Miri, Sica and Lalena manganese prospects. Partnering with experienced in-country operator CoreSearch Minerals, a division of the experienced H2O group, Estrella is investing US$200,000 to mobilise a fully equipped RC and diamond drilling rig into the country’s northwest.

GreenTech Metals and Artemis Resources have teamed up to form Andover Lithium, creating a massive 420-square-kilometre lithium exploration venture in Western Australia’s highly prospective West Pilbara region. By consolidating their lithium assets into one joint venture, the duo now holds the largest exploration package in the area - boosting the companies’ appeal to major funding partners drawn to the landholding’s scale and potential.

ASX-listed video tech innovator Atomos Limited has struck a savvy new $13.7 million debt deal - wiping out its old facility and dodging any shareholder dilution in the process. The move also delivers a fresh shot of $5M in working capital, as the company eyes a return to positive cash flow within the next year.

Shares in Buru Energy soared as much as 36 per cent on the open to 4.9 cents after the company inked a game-changing deal with a private LNG processing and supply firm to fund and build an LNG plant at its Rafael-1 gas discovery in WA’s Canning Basin. The deal could see Buru transition from explorer to producer with saleable gas potentially flowing from Rafael by the second half of 2027.

Horizon Minerals is on a tear after toll treating the first 37,000t of ore from its Phillips Find JV in the WA Goldfields and 50,604t from its Boorara mine to bank a cool $12.9M. With gold prices soaring to US$3,122 (A$5000) per ounce, Horizon’s timing could not be better.

Triangle Energy’s share price jumped 11% on strong volumes after confirming its highly anticipated Becos-1 exploration well in WA’s Perth Basin is set to spud in April, targeting up to 21 MMbbl of oil. Silver City Rig 24 is en route and expected on site next week to tackle Triangle’s 50 per cent owned EP 437 permit that it jointly holds with Strike Energy and Echelon which have 25% each.

Terrain Minerals has just upped the stakes significantly at its Monza gold project east of Geraldton after nailing an 11m drill hit grading 6.03g/t gold and 43.5g/t silver just 50m from known mineralisation. The high-grade hit at the new prospect to the west of the project included standout 1m intercepts of 10.28g/t, 11.41g/t, and 10.37g/t gold, suggesting a strong near-surface mineralised system.

Latitude 66 has jagged 16m of disseminated sulphides at 4m depth while hunting for high-grade gold and copper satellite deposits near its flagship KSB project in northern Finland. The 12-hole program was run over two targets called K6E and K6W. The exciting visuals line up with a strong IP anomaly and a nearby surface sample grading 8.8g/t gold and 0.6 per cent copper. Assay results are due in six weeks.

Chariot Corporation has rejigged its acquisition terms with Black Mountain Lithium to boost the company’s near-term cash while maintaining its grip on the promising US Black Mountain lithium project in Wyoming. Under the new deal, instead of coughing up US$1.45M in three lump sums by the end of 2025, Chariot will make seven smaller payments in instalments ending in September 2026.

Meeka Metals has delivered another strong result at its Murchison gold project near Mt Magnet, with drilling at Turnberry Central unearthing standout hits, including 36m grading 2.82g/t gold from 89m depth. The 24-hole program aimed to tighten up the resource for mine scheduling and probe for mineralised extensions to the west and below the current pit design.

Strickland Metals has delivered a major 670,000-ounce gold equivalent resource upgrade at its Rogozna project in Serbia, pushing the total to 7.4 million ounces - up 2m ounces in just nine months. The flagship Shanac deposit now hosts 5.3m ounces at 1.1g/t, including a high-grade core of 1.85m ounces at 1.8g/t, all discovered at just $3 per ounce.

Terrain Minerals has hauled up some remarkable rare earths samples from its Lort River project near Esperance in Western Australia’s Fraser Range region, after multi-element assay tests picked up head-turning grades of up to 9840 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO). The uber-high-grade 1-metre section was discovered within a broader zone of 8m grading 4037ppm TREO starting at only 23m depth.

Empire Energy is closing in on becoming the first gas producer in NT’s massive Beetaloo Basin from its Carpentaria project, in what is shaping up to be a high-stakes moment for Australia’s energy future. Hydraulic stimulation of its 3.3km horizontal C-5H well is expected to kick off in May. A successful production flow is likely to open the flood gates for many more players to enter the fray.

Latitude 66’s share price jumped 20 per cent to 7.8 cents after the company released a scoping study on its KSB gold-cobalt project in Finland. The study revealed a high-grade, low-cost operation with a post-tax NPV of US$310m at US$2500 an ounce gold. The project has an all-in cost of just US$996 with cobalt credits and will pay for itself in 16 months.

Canadian-listed Rio2 Limited has secured a US$25m prepayment from a US-based precious metals investment firm, Wheaton Precious Metals International, under a precious metals purchase agreement with Rio2’s Fenix Gold project in Chile’s Maricunga belt. Rio2 views the funding as a strong endorsement of its development strategy and a key milestone in its push to bring the mine into production by year’s end.

The latest drilling blitz at McLaren Minerals’ titanium project in WA’s Eucla Basin has revealed thick new intercepts of heavy mineral-rich sands coupled with an unexpected groundwater discovery and confirmation of an in-ground gypsum source. The campaign is focussed on infill drilling within a previously identified mineral sands strandline about 40km west of Balladonia. McLaren expects to wrap up the 6000m air core drill program by mid-April.

Larvotto Resources continues to pull in good results from the company’s high-grade Hillgrove gold antimony project in NSW, with big hits that included 0.6m at a stunning 183.5g/t gold equivalent from 493m. Four diamond rigs have now completed more than 8400 metres of drilling at its Bakers Creek and Eleanora-Garibaldi prospects, hinting at new rich mineralisation near existing underground infrastructure.

Great Southern Mining has jagged high-grade gold with an eye-opening intercept of 1 metre grading 70.94 grams per tonne gold within a 5m section of 14.57g/t gold from 41m at its Duketon gold project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields. The company's 3678-metre reverse circulation drilling campaign to test earlier identified shallow mineralisation kicked off in January and is now complete.

Management at Canadian-listed Rio2 Ltd has put the band back together to repeat its prior success at Peruvian gold mine, La Arena. Rio2 has a similar looking massive heap leach gold operation in Chile that is about to spring into production. Initially, its 4.8m-ounce Fenix gold mine is forecast to pump out 91,000 ounces of gold a year for the first 12 years at an uber-low cost of US$1250 per ounce.