Public Company News

Neometals has responded to the current heady gold prices and somewhat lukewarm battery metals market with a strategic re-evaluation of its Barrambie gold project in WA's Murchison region. The company says it has identified “a compelling opportunity” to use its in-house expertise, infrastructure, strategic position and existing Barrambie exploration target to bring a gold prospect to a decision to mine status in the second half of 2026.

American West Metals has entered into a partnership and funding agreement for the development of its 2200-square-kilometre Storm copper project in Nunavut, Canada, which will underpin the project's long-term future. The binding agreement with Ocean Partners Holdings includes an US$2M (A$3.32M) private placement, provision of up to 80% of initial capital for project development and Ocean Partners' offtake of 100% of the project's copper and silver production.

Thunderbird Resources' joint venture partner Firetail Resources is ramping up exploration efforts at their Picha JV copper project in Peru, ahead of maiden drill testing set for the second half of this year. Firetail is upping its game with geophysics, soil sampling and structural mapping underway to unlock the region's substantial copper porphyry potential.

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.

The United States Interior Department has reconfirmed ASX-listed Dateline Resources' rights to mine and explore for gold and rare earths at its flagship Colosseum project in California. The long-awaited decision paves the way for a dual-commodity future for the company, just 10km from the US's only operating REE mine, Mountain Pass.

Aurumin has launched a 1250m reverse circulation drilling program at the 64,700-ounce Gwendolyn gold deposit in its Johnson Range project, between Southern Cross and Sandstone. The validation and infill campaign is the first drilling undertaken since 2013 at the 803,000-tonne, 2.51g/t resource and, in the current heady gold price market, it has the potential to prove up an impeccably timed resource development opportunity.

After a thin few weeks for notable drill intercepts on the ASX, Bulls N' Bears Big Hits this week digs deeper into Western Mines Group's big reveal of an eye-watering 5.3 million tonnes of contained nickel metal in the company's maiden mineral resource estimate for its Mulga Tank project in the WA Goldfields. That includes a notable hit from its most recent - and deepest - diamond drill hole.

Aurum Resources will kick off a maiden diamond drill program this month at its newly acquired Boundiali South tenement in Cote d'Ivoire to pursue some big hits from previous reverse circulation drilling, including a 20m intercept at 10.45 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. With government approvals on track, Aurum sees no further impediment to future exploration or obtaining mining rights for the prospect.

Horizon Minerals has awarded ASX-listed GR Engineering with the scope to complete engineering studies on the mothballed Black Swan processing facility to have it roar back to life as a gold plant. The coveted piece of infrastructure was secured by Horizon from its recent merger with Poseidon Nickel. The Kalgoorlie plant was used to process nickel before it was placed on care and maintenance.

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.

This week's Bulls N' Bears ASX Runners of the Week is… Whitehawk Ltd, after it became a core cyber partner in a massive US$920M (A$1474M) US government contract. WA junior goldie OzAurum surged on results from its Cross Fault discovery next to Carosue Dam, Argent's cannabis-based epilepsy therapy was approved for prescription in Germany and Galan turned down an unsolicited $240M bid for its Argentinian lithium projects.

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.