Announcements

Estrella Resources has received the final assays from its 2025 drilling at the Werumata limestone project in Timor-Leste. The Baucau limestone averaged 83 per cent calcium carbonate and Batu Putih chalk averaged 77.5 per cent carbonate, values which would support a range of industrial acid-neutralisation uses. Bulk density work is underway ahead of a maiden mineral resource estimate targeted for mid-April.

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.

Horizon has wrapped up its latest mining phase at Boorara, retaining a hefty 460,000 tonnes of stockpiled ore containing 14,200 ounces of gold that will serve as the initial feed for the commissioning of its planned Black Swan processing hub in mid-2027. The move is designed to de-risk the mill start-up, while pre-production planning is also underway for an early-2027 Boorara mining restart.

Quantum Graphite says partner Sunlands Pure Group has signed an MOU with Oman's Al Buraimi Governorate for a planned, large-scale graphite refinery on a 240-hectare site in Buraimi, 60km from the nation's Sohar Port. The agreement recognises Quantum as the exclusive flake graphite supplier and flags a further update on funding and downstream arrangements within two weeks.

Terrain Minerals has kicked off 1500 metres of aircore drilling at its Lort River project near Esperance, targeting clay-hosted rare earths. The program was prompted by a standout 8m intercept 12 months ago, which assayed 4037 ppm total rare earth oxides, with peak one-metre results of almost one per cent TREO, including highly anomalous grades of magnet rare-earth elements.

Triangle Energy has signed a joint study agreement with an Indonesian institution for an offshore exploration area in Indonesia, overseen by the nation's Directorate General of Oil and Gas. The six- to eight-month study is expected to cost about US$300,000 and, once completed, will give Triangle priority rights to negotiate a production-sharing contract. The company says the area is unexplored and prospective for gas and oil.

St George Mining has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with a Brazilian fine chemicals specialist to assess processes for separating cerium and lanthanum from its Brazilian Araxá rare earths concentrates. With cerium and lanthanum making up the bulk of Araxá's rare earths mix, the company says removing them could boost its more valuable neodymium-praseodymium and other heavy rare earths concentration to boost its product value.

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.

MetalsGrove Mining has added another promising piece to the exploration puzzle at its Zuénoula permit in Côte d'Ivoire, identifying a second gold target from early-stage soil sampling. The new anomaly stretches for kilometres along a favourable structural trend and sits just north of the company's previously defined Central Area. Samples have been consigned to Bureau Veritas' laboratory in Abidjan for fire assay, with results due mid to late March.

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.

Corazon Mining has inked a diamond drilling contract with K-Drill for its wholly owned Two Pools gold project in Western Australia. The maiden program covers four holes for 1,000 metres, including a 400-metre test of a 300-metre north-west extension. Heritage and Program of Work approvals are complete, with drilling due to start once the final heritage report is received.

St George Mining has encountered more thick, high-grade rare earths and niobium intercepts from surface at its giant Araxá project in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. New assays from 16 diamond holes have confirmed strong continuity and depth persistence, including up to 160.65m at 3.74% total rare earth oxides and 0.54% niobium pentoxide.

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.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining is about to put the pedal down on exploration at its Pinjin gold project in Western Australia's Laverton Tectonic Zone, locking in multiple drilling programs set to begin in mid-April. The campaign will chase extensions at its existing deposits, test deeper gold below known mineralisation and probe a suite of fresh structural targets across one of the Goldfields' most productive geological corridors.

St George Mining has bolstered its Brazilian leadership ranks with the appointment of a highly experienced local geologist as it pushes ahead with development studies at its rapidly emerging Araxá rare earths and niobium project. The strategic hire comes hot on the heels of a major resource upgrade and signals the company is shifting its focus from exploration success towards mine planning and development.

Horizon Minerals has pocketed another $10 million from its Phillips Find joint venture after completing mining and five toll-treatment campaigns. The project has processed 225,988 tonnes at 2.02g/t gold for 14,095 ounces of gold from five toll treatment campaigns, with more cash expected next month after final reconciliation. Horizon says the funds have strengthened its balance sheet as the company progresses its Black Swan processing hub plan.

Neometals Limited has upgraded the Ironclad gold resource at its Barrambie gold project in Western Australia's Mid West from 13,000 ounces to 285,000 tonnes at 1.6g/t gold for 15,000 ounces, with 86 per cent of the gold now in the higher-confidence indicated resource category. The update will bolster completion of Neometals' planned scoping study targeted for this month and support mine planning and approvals.

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.

St George Mining has clinched a spot in the ASX All Ordinaries after a meteoric rise driven by its world-class Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Brazil, with its market value rocketing to $500m. The company says index inclusion should lift its profile and potentially improve liquidity, as it nears development in Minas Gerais.

Xpedra Resources has kicked off reverse circulation drilling along a neglected and poorly tested 1700-metre-long high-grade gold intrusion at its Springfield prospect, near Gulgong in central New South Wales. Extensional and deep drilling will assess thick, shallow, high-grade gold intercepts that remain open in all directions and have not been worked on since 1999.

Dalaroo Metals has landed significant grades from scout rock-chip sampling at its Bondoukou project in West Africa. Four of six quartz samples returned grades between 3.59 and 17.95g/t gold from quartz reef material exposed in artisanal workings extending about 600 metres along strike. The company is continuing its evaluation of the project, with mapping and geochemical sampling underway.

Horizon Minerals has moved Black Swan firmly into build mode after ordering long lead processing equipment to support its gold plant conversion near Kalgoorlie. The early commitment aims to de-risk the construction schedule and follows scoping studies that outlined a robust 2.2 million tonnes-per-annum gold-processing hub capable of producing 102,000 ounces per year.

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.

Aurum Resources has returned thick, shallow, high-grade gold intercepts from a 30,000-metre step-back diamond drilling program at its 870,000-ounce Napié gold project in West Africa, ahead of a mineral resource update due this quarter. Best gold hits included 19m at 5.16g/t from 146m at Gogbala and 18.9m at 2.59g/t from 176.1m at Tchaga, supporting ongoing resource growth drilling.

Patriot Resources has delivered encouraging metallurgical results from its Tassa silver project in southern Peru, with test work pointing to strong silver recoveries up to 85.05 per cent and straightforward processing potential. The company has engaged independent specialists to review the results as it works to further de-risk the project and advance the project's development potential.

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.

Dateline Resources has wasted no time advancing exploration at its recently acquired Music Valley heavy rare earths project in California, mobilising airborne geophysics and specialist field teams. The renewed exploration of the area follows historical United States Geological Survey results that revealed high grade heavy rare earths mineralisation and supports Dateline's objective to build a domestic critical minerals pipeline in the United States.

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.

Half of all equity market investments now hug index funds that are becoming big, fat and bloated. Far from being diverse, Dollar Bill reckons these funds are trading off the huge multiples of just a narrow few that can soak up the wall of money sitting in big funds. Dollar Bill compares index funds with his favourite pastime – punting small caps with his ears pinned back.

Xpedra Resources is set to begin a maiden drilling campaign at its Springfield gold deposit in central New South Wales after mobilising a reverse circulation drill rig to site. The program will target extensions to historical shallow high-grade gold and deeper mineralisation across a largely untested intrusion that has not been drilled since 1999.

St George Mining has tabled a step change to its already giant carbonatite-hosted Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Brazil, boosting its mineral resource by 75 per cent to 70.9 million tonnes. A sharp 218 per cent increase in the measured and indicated category has also strengthened the project's development potential, while ongoing drilling and new discoveries point to further near term growth.

Lindian Resources has snapped up a 51 per cent stake in a fully constructed mixed rare earths carbonate processing plant in Kazakhstan for the bargain price of just US$15M (A$21M), transforming the company from a concentrate producer into an integrated downstream supplier. The deal positions Lindian to produce high-value mixed rare earth carbonates by Q4 2026, leveraging its Kangankunde monazite feedstock in Malawi and strengthening US–Kazakhstan critical minerals cooperation.