Announcements

Pilot Energy has received a $3.887 million Petroleum Resource Rent Tax refund after oil production ceased at its joint venture Cliff Head oil field. The refund, paid via operator Triangle Energy Operations, was attributed to funds spent on abandoning, decommissioning and rehabilitating the Western Australian offshore production site. Pilot is cashed up after also raising $6.8 million in a recent share and convertible note issue.

Dateline Resources has zeroed in on six new, potentially gold-rich breccia pipes at its Colosseum gold and rare earth project in California, thanks to a 3D geophysics sweep. The anomalies mirror the signature of the mine's existing pipes, featuring 1.4 million ounces, suggesting a much larger gold system lurks below surface. The company has drill rigs primed to put the theory to the test.

The critical battery mineral – lithium - may be set for sustained higher pricing after a Chinese crackdown on illegal mining activity removed a chunk of supply from the market and triggered a price surge. The price touched its peak for this year of US$970 (A$1485) per tonne of the industry-standard 6 per cent spodumene concentrate, putting a welcome smile on the faces of lithium players.

St George Mining has dual listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to boost European investor access to the company, driven by its world-class Araxá project in Brazil, which has more than 40Mt at 4.13 per cent total rare earths oxide and 0.68 per cent niobium pentoxide. The move aligns with its global strategy to supply critical minerals outside China. St George is currently drilling to expand the high-grade deposit.

Triangle Energy and its joint venture partner Athena Exploration have substantially boosted gas resources at their UK North Sea permit, marking a significant milestone for the two companies. The marked increase in both contingent and prospective resources positions the partners among the top three holders of undeveloped gas resources in the UK west of the Shetland Islands and in the southern North Sea.

Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… OD6 Metals, after it unveiled a low capex, lower-cost product from its mammoth Splinter Rock rare earth project near Esperance. Mount Ridley Mines rode the rare earths coattails based on its nearology to OD6 in the rare earths region, ActivePort Group launched an Australian first private cloud superhighway and Energy Transition Minerals shot up on a 60 Minutes story on its monster Greenland rare earths project.

Estrella Resources has shifted its Timor-Leste exploration into high gear after picking up visuals of rich manganese mineralisation running up to 80 per cent at the Ira Miri prospect. The company is also preparing to collect a 30,000-tonne manganese bulk sample at site and planning a drill program at its billion-tonne Werumata limestone target in Baucau.

Buru Energy has discovered a significant new gas prospect beneath its Rafael gas field in WA's onshore Canning Basin. Buru estimates its Flying Fox target, identified in recent Rafael 3D seismic data, contains 60-614Bscf of gas and 1.2-12.6MMstb of condensate. The discovery mirrors Rafael's contingent resources and could seriously boost the overall project's potential. Buru plans to drill next year.

Norfolk Metals' 70 per cent earn‑in at its Carmen copper project in Chile is now underpinned by a drill plan designed to twin the best historical holes, hit the oxide blanket from surface and push deep into sulphide potential. In a copper market that is starting to get serious attention again, Norfolk's timing appears to be good.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drilling intercepts recently reported to the ASX by Caprice Resources, Stavely Minerals and Patriot Battery Metals. Caprice's Island gold project south of Cue in WA's Mid West region revealed an 11-metre hit assaying 17.3g/t gold, including 9m at 21g/t gold from 170m. Other interesting drill hits were reported at Stavely's Fairview prospects in Victoria and Patriot made a big caesium discovery in Quebec, Canada.

Dateline Resources Limited has made a significant breakthrough at its Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California with the discovery of several high-priority rare earth element drilling targets. The results from the company's recent 3D magnetotelluric geophysical survey revealed one particularly promising anomaly, which hinted at the potential for carbonatite-style mineralisation at depth, akin to the famed nearby Mountain Pass rare earths deposit.

Lindian Resources can now significantly increase its rare earths mining area by almost three-fold at its Kangankunde project in Malawi after receiving departmental approval for its stage two modular expansion plan. It is a further positive step forward in the company's plans to supercharge its stage-two expansion of the world-class rare earths project that boasts a massive high-grade rare earths deposit.

Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Rhythm Biosciences, after it after it revealed promising results from a study of its simple bowel cancer diagnostic blood test. Roolife Group inked a blockbuster e-commerce partnership supply agreement with multi-national Eternal Asia Supply Chain Management, Waratah Resources unveiled a 208m intersection of high-grade gold in NSW land of the copper-gold giants, and Lindian resources secured a funding and offtake partnership with Iluka Resources to lock-in a domestic rare earths supply.

Thunderbird Resources has uncovered a string of high-priority gold targets at its Kookabookra project in NSW, with geophysics revealing sulphide-rich anomalies that correlate with past mineralisation. The company's drill rig is now poised to hit the ground in the fourth quarter, with strong geological cues pointing to untapped gold systems similar to the nearby Hillgrove antimony-gold deposit.

American West Metals has hit thick, high-grade copper at its Storm copper project in Nunavut, Canada, with a reverse circulation drilling program confirming near-surface mineralised zones and deep diamond drilling hitting 57m of visible copper sulphides at its Cirrus target. The results point to an extensive copper system, which might support resource upgrades and expansion at the company's Corona, Thunder, Lightning Ridge, and The Gap prospects.

BMG Resources is raising $600,000 through a placement of new shares to sophisticated and institutional investors to advance its Abercromby project scoping study and to drill its Bullabulling project in the WA goldfields. With a 518,000-ounce gold resource at Abercromby and high-grade hits at Bullabulling, BMG is poised to capitalise on its WA gold projects, leveraging their proximity to major mines and infrastructure for rapid development.

Lindian Resources has forged a multi-pronged major offtake agreement, cornerstone funding and strategic partnership with global critical minerals heavyweight Iluka Resources to push its world-class Kangankunde project in Malawi towards first production. The seismic deal for the company cements Kangankunde as one of the pre-eminent rare earths developments on the planet, as Iluka scrambles to lock in a strategic rare earths supply for Australia.

Horizon Minerals has expanded its footprint in Western Australia's famed Goldfields with a strategic $2.81 million acquisition of Yandal Resources' Gordons Dam and nearby projects. The new ground sits just a stone's throw from Horizon's Black Swan processing hub and includes a 20,000-ounce gold resource, exploration upside galore and the potential to turbocharge a planned five-year mining operation.

Neometals Ltd's drilling at its Barrambie gold project, 80km northwest of Sandstone in WA, has nailed high-grade gold, with top intercepts of 6.2m at 9.87g/t gold at its Ironclad deposit and 10.2m at 2.72g/t gold at its Mystery prospect. Other gold hits at Ironclad include 14.15m at 3.21g/t and 22.1m at 1.75g/t gold. Further drilling will target resource growth along the 4km Barrambie trend, aimed at mining in 2026.

Aurum Resources has delivered a total 2.41 million ounces of gold in a resource update for its West African Boundiali gold project - a stunning 50% hike on its previous resource estimate. When combined with a 0.87-million-ounce interim resource at its separate Napié project, Aurum's combined resource endowment across its tenement group now totals 3.28 million ounces of the yellow metal.

Latitude 66 has fired up a fresh exploration charge at its newly granted Piastri project in WA's Yalgoo-Singleton greenstone belt. The project, just 200m from the 2-million-ounce Ricciardo gold-antimony deposit being acquired by Capricorn Metals, could hardly be better placed. With funding due from the sale of its Queensland copper project, Latitude 66 is gearing up to chase high-grade gold targets in one of WA's most fertile mineral corridors.

Javelin Minerals has tweaked its mining plan to boost the expected gold recovery at the company's Eureka project to 39,000 ounces, following a 27 per cent jump in the resource's higher confidence indicated category. The lift to indicated resources was accompanied by a 32 per cent bump-up in grade to 1.98 grams per tonne gold, providing a significant uplift in the expected cash flow from mining the project.

Aguia Resources is charging into the new financial year with its dual-commodity strategy, after delivering its first gold sales from its flagship Santa Barbara project in Colombia. The company says it is laying the groundwork for next up phosphate production in Brazil's agricultural heartland, as it reported a promising start to its gold bullion journey.

Rio2 Limited's Fenix Gold Project in Chile's Atacama region is 41 per cent complete, with $56.4 million spent against a $57.8 million budget. A US$50 million third prepayment from Wheaton Precious Metals continues to support construction and development. Hosting 4.8 million ounces of gold, the project aims to pour first gold in January 2026, creating jobs and boosting the region's economy.

Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Oliver's Real Food, after the healthy fast food company unveiled a bounce-back profitable quarterly from last period's losses. Black Dragon Gold progressed its monster Spanish gold project closer to development, BSA Limited unveiled a profitable period despite losing its NBN contract earlier this year and Beforepay is on a tear, reporting increased profits from its pay-on-demand lending app.

St George Mining has unearthed a second high-grade rare earths discovery at its world-class Araxá project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The impressive discovery lies 1km northeast of its existing 41Mt niobium-rare earths resource within the richly endowed Barreiro carbonatite. Initial assays from the auger drilling program suggest a substantial expansion of the already globally significant Araxá deposit.

Latitude 66 Ltd has divested its 17.5 per cent stake in the Greater Duchess copper-gold joint venture in Queensland to partner Carnaby Resources for $6 million, comprising $2 million cash and $4 million in shares. The non-dilutive transaction will enable Latitude 66 to advance its more significant exploration ventures in Western Australia and Finland.

Perth-based stem cell therapy pioneer NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals is transferring its patented StemSmart technology to one of Australia's biggest and most experienced manufacturers to scale up clinical-grade production, ahead of the commercialisation of its infusion therapy for hard-to-treat conditions, starting with Crohn's disease. Queensland-based Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics specialises in manufacturing cellular immunotherapies for national and international clinical trials from 13 cleanrooms dedicated to cell manufacturing and quality control.

Larvotto Resources has fired the starter's gun on its $140 million Hillgrove antimony-gold project in NSW after locking in a US$105 million bond and $60 million equity raise. With early works already underway, the fully funded operation is targeting first production in Q2 2026. Hillgrove is poised to become the only new source of antimony outside China within the next four years.

Legend Mining has lit up eight gold and base metal soil anomalies at its newly acquired Pinnacle Well project in WA's northern Goldfields. Located near major gold and base metal operations, the project spans a 110sq.km block and features high-grade historical hits, quartz veining, gossans and key regional fault structures. Drill targeting is now underway.

Solara Minerals' moving loop geophysical survey at DeGrussa West, 17km from Sandfire's famed DeGrussa copper-gold mine, has defined two large north-dipping conductive plates with strong gold and copper potential. Coinciding with magnetic anomalies and favourable structural features, these high-priority targets are set for drilling, with permits approved, following the company's recent acquisition of OD4 Tom Price.

Ora Banda Mining has charged into FY26 with soaring gold production at its Davyhurst project in WA's Goldfields and a new gold discovery that could reshape its future. With the Sand King underground mine now hitting its stride and a 1km multi-lode system uncovered at Little Gem, the company is flexing its muscle across all operations, backed by a strong $84.2 million cash position and $73 million earmarked for exploration.