Penny Taylor

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals has secured key backing from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its phase two StemSmart trial for refractory Crohn's disease, supporting a planned year-end start. The regulator gave positive feedback on six of seven questions, including trial design, existing human data and product release testing. The company is addressing the remaining manufacturing control requirement, with trial initiation subject to regulatory, manufacturing and operational requirements.

Aguia Resources has struck a new monthly production record at its Santa Barbara gold operation in Colombia, producing 36.75 ounces from 105 tonnes of ore in September. Gross revenue reached A$218,000, enough to cover local corporate and operating costs for the first time. The company is now pushing to double monthly output as it develops more underground mining fronts.

Great Southern Mining has struck more high-grade gold at its Golden Boulder discovery in Western Australia's Duketon Belt, including 4m at 11.38 grams per tonne gold, extending known mineralisation by up to 50m down-dip. The 14,000-metre drilling program has now confirmed continuity across 1.1km of a 3.5km trend, with more assays pending from Golden Boulder and the company's nearby Amy Clarke discovery.

Beetaloo Energy Australia has been awarded a 25 per cent non-operated interest in a 305-square-kilometre block in Queensland's Taroom Trough for zero upfront consideration under Queensland's land release process. The liquids-rich acreage sits along trend from Omega Oil and Gas' Canyon play, adding a second unconventional opportunity as the company's Northern Territory gas assets move towards first pilot sales in Australia.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has defined multiple coherent gold anomalies, including a 2km-long trend, from first-pass aircore drilling at the Laverton Tectonic Zone Flexure target within its Pinjin project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields. The results have opened a new exploration front, with reverse circulation drilling planned to test for primary gold mineralisation at depth while sharpening its broader growth potential.

Buru Energy has referred its 100 per cent-owned Rafael gas project in Western Australia's Kimberley to the State's Environmental Protection Authority. The milestone, subject to regulatory approvals and a public comment period, will support a final investment decision in 2027 and first gas in 2029 from a modular development backed by 15.25 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved and probable reserves.

Rio2 Limited has rebounded from a savage Chilean winter at its Fenix Gold mine, where a string of severe snowstorms put the brakes on its first-year production ramp-up. Despite the weather hampering progress through July and August, the company has kept its processing infrastructure ticking over and says Fenix remains on track to hit commercial production during the fourth quarter.

Dalaroo Metals has cranked up its Côte d'Ivoire gold drilling to two shifts, with first samples from its 7km Gold Ridge corridor now at the laboratory and assays pending. Early logging revealed quartz veining in the opening hole as the company works through an initial 24-hole program, with results set to determine whether a bigger follow-up campaign gets the green light.

Great Southern Mining has delivered high-grade gold of up to 10.72g/t at Golden Boulder in WA, extending mineralisation down-dip as its 14,000m drilling campaign tests the 3.5km Main Line trend. Another 48 Golden Boulder holes await assays, while first reverse circulation results are also pending from the nearby 4.7km Amy Clarke discovery, setting up a strong results pipeline near Laverton.

American West Metals has hit thick visual copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralisation in three new diamond holes at its West Desert project in Utah. The standout hole stepped out 350m to the west of the deposit, while drilling to the north and east also expanded the footprint, strengthening the company's view that West Desert could form part of a much bigger critical-metals system.

Moonlight Resources has started a four-hole diamond drilling program at its Leo Grande gold prospect in central Queensland after RC drilling defined coherent gold mineralisation across more than 1km. The targeted program will gather key structural and metallurgical data to sharpen its geological model, taking the company a significant step closer to delivering a maiden mineral resource estimate.

Larvotto Resources has made the leap from developer to producer, commencing gold and antimony production at its 100 per cent-owned Hillgrove Mine in NSW. Forecast annual output of 4900 tonnes of antimony and 40,500 ounces of gold is expected to make it Australia's largest antimony producer, supplying 7 per cent of global demand and more than half of supply outside China-controlled sources.

88 Energy is moving its onshore Namibian oil and gas project closer to drilling, with its joint venture seeking a two-year licence renewal covering at least one exploration well. Fresh geophysical work has dialled in a drill-ready prime prospect while testing by neighbour ReconAfrica has flowed hydrocarbons to surface, giving the broader basin petroleum story a healthy shot in the arm.

Great Southern Mining has hit 14m at 1.05g/t gold in shallow drilling 200m north of its 55,500-ounce Mon Ami resource near Laverton, WA. Theresults at the company's Blanc Plat prospect point to a potential northern extension along the Barnicoat Shear Zone, opening a second growth front after recent drilling also extended Mon Ami at depth. A largely untested 200m gap sits between the two areas.

Moonlight Resources has breathed new life into Queensland's historic Peak Downs copper field, with its first modern drilling returning broad, shallow hits led by 22m at 1.26 per cent copper from surface. The 56-hole program suggests strong continuity between historical drill positions and backs up a system mined at spectacular grades in the 1860's, giving Moonlight a modern dataset to drive potential resource evaluation.

Estrella Resources has found visible copper in a suspected porphyritic intrusive, strengthening its case for a potentially large porphyry-style copper system at Laleno Dome in Timor-Leste. The discovery forms part of a 12km spread of copper occurrences and comes just weeks before the company launches what it says will be the deepest mineral exploration drilling undertaken in the country.

Estrella Resources has found visible copper in a suspected porphyritic intrusive, strengthening its case for a potentially large porphyry-style copper system at Laleno Dome in Timor-Leste. The discovery forms part of a 12km spread of copper occurrences and comes just weeks before the company launches what it says will be the deepest mineral exploration drilling undertaken in the country.

Canadian-listed uranium developer IsoEnergy Limited has inked a pivotal agreement with Indigenous group Kineepik Métis Local in Saskatchewan, formalising a framework for collaboration and community participation. It puts firmer foundations beneath IsoEnergy's Eastern Athabasca exploration push across its vast landholding, led by Hurricane, home to the world's highest-grade published indicated uranium resource, with an 8000m summer drill campaign chasing further high-grade growth.

Beetaloo Energy Australia has brought infrastructure heavyweight AGIG into the fold, signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding to plan a 750km gas pipeline from its Carpentaria gas project towards future demand centres around Darwin. The pipeline could become the critical midstream link connecting the company's basin-scale gas resources with its ambitious Beetaloo Digital vertically integrated gas-to-power data centre development.

King River Resources has launched an exploration blitz at its historically high-grade Mindoolah gold project in WA's Murchison. A 260-square-kilometre magnetic survey and systematic soil sampling will feed a growing structural target pipeline alongside pending phase one assays, opening up the hunt well beyond the historic mine workings ahead of a major reverse circulation drilling campaign already locked in for October.

WA Gold Limited has picked up two promising gold trails from first-pass drilling at Bullabulling, next to Minerals 260's 4.5-million-ounce gold system near Coolgardie. With coherent anomalism emerging across two prospective targets and both key hits ending in gold, the company will now bring in geophysics before sending deeper drilling after the potential primary sources lurking beneath the cover.

Neometals Limited has strengthened its emerging WA copper story with a six-metre hit grading 1.56 per cent copper and 20.8g/t silver at Rinaldi, adding to evidence of a primary copper system beneath historic workings. However, the company's biggest swing may be yet to come, with a September diamond drill test planned for a much bigger, largely untested geophysical target nearby.

Great Southern Mining appears to have put some serious meat on the bones of its Mon Ami gold story near Laverton, with initial drilling extending mineralisation to 70m down-dip. The first six holes returned a standout 16m at 3.37g/t gold, including 4m at 8.54g/t, with the system remaining open and another 10 holes pending.

Kuniko Limited has grabbed the driver's seat at its Commonwealth-Silica Hill gold-silver-copper project in NSW, securing a controlling 51 per cent stake more than a year ahead of schedule. The company completed its initial A$1.5 million expenditure commitment under a joint venture with Impact Minerals, giving it operational control to advance a project that has already delivered spectacular high-grade results.

Lindian Resources has secured 100 per cent ownership of the SARECO rare earth processing facility in Kazakhstan for up to US$20 million. The deal gives the company full control of a key downstream asset, avoiding the A$500 million-plus cost and years needed to build a comparable plant. Lindian is fully funded to bring both SARECO and its Kangankunde mine into production by Q4 2026.

Moonlight Resources has launched its maiden 3,000m reverse circulation drilling campaign at its historic Peak Downs copper prospect in central Queensland. The first modern, systematic test of the forgotten but lucrative historic high-grade copper field will look to validate historical drilling, assess continuity and determine whether the project has the geological foundations to support a future mineral resource.

Corazon Mining has agreed to acquire Dynamic Metals' adjoining gold tenure around its Chalice project near Norseman in WA, massively expanding its footprint across a prospective 40km corridor. The deal creates multiple new exploration targets in greenstone while giving Dynamic immediate upside through Corazon scrip and cash and ongoing exposure via milestone payments and a future gold royalty.

Moonlight Resources has kicked off its maiden 2500m reverse circulation drilling campaign at the Goldfinger prospect in central Queensland. The program will verify and extend a string of exceptional shallow, high-grade gold discoveries uncovered in the late 1980s, including 2m at 37g/t gold and a peak assay of 44.5g/t gold, as the company advances its broader Clermont exploration strategy.

Beetaloo Energy has unveiled plans to build an integrated gas-powered AI data centre precinct near Darwin after securing exclusive rights to a strategic Northern Territory site. The proposal could create a substantial long-term domestic market for the company's Beetaloo Basin gas while adding power generation to the Territory grid and expanding its strategy beyond upstream gas production.

Octava Minerals has unveiled a mammoth exploration target of up to 7.4 billion tonnes at its Byro critical minerals project in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. The target hosts rare earth elements, lithium and vanadium, while encouraging bioleaching testwork suggests a potential low-cost processing pathway that could unlock the value of the giant mineralised system.

Great Southern Mining has kicked off a fully funded 15,000m drilling campaign to grow its 3.5km Golden Boulder gold discovery within WA's Duketon gold project. The program will test for extensions and higher-grade zones before the rig moves to the emerging Amy Clarke discovery, while Mon Ami assays are expected within weeks.

Aguia Resources has transformed operations at its 100 per cent-owned Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia, lifting production, grades and recoveries while slashing costs. The turnaround has put Santa Barbara on course for operational break-even ahead of a planned return to exploration drilling later this year, capping an impressive transformation from a tough start-up into a high-grade producer with building momentum.