Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Augustus Minerals has begun follow-up drilling at its Music Well gold project near Leonora in Western Australia after maiden results from Clifton East returned broad intercepts, including 16m at 1.46 grams per tonne gold and 32m at 0.90 grams per tonne. A recent $2.5M raising will help fund the next phase as the company works to better define the strike and dip of the mineralisation.

MetalsGrove Mining has outlined an 18-kilometre network of gold-anomalous trends at its Zuénoula project in Côte d'Ivoire, expanding the project's district-scale potential and defining a second emerging drill target. A peak soil result of 1.24 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, multiple open-ended trends and extensive infill sampling have the company advancing rapidly towards auger drilling and a more comprehensive drill campaign later in the year.

Aurum Resources has won key environmental approvals for its 3.22 million-ounce Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, marking a major regulatory step towards the granting of its three mining licence applications after a 12-month assessment process. The company says its prefeasibility study is due this quarter and its definitive feasibility study remains on track for later this year, while its 16 company-owned rigs maintain drilling momentum.

Dalaroo Metals has finalised exploration plans for its Blue Lagoon critical minerals project in southern Greenland. The upcoming mid-June campaign will be the company's most advanced field program to date, combining onshore auger drilling and mapping with offshore sediment grab sampling. The work builds on a successful maiden program that yielded high-grade zirconium oxide, hafnium, and rare earth enrichment.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts recently reported to the ASX, led by Aldoro Resources' huge 503.98m critical metals intercept in Namibia. Pantoro Gold also jagged gold up to 189.84g/t at Norseman in WA, while Mithril struck 9.65m at 7g/t gold and 370g/t silver at Copalquin in Mexico.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Hydrix Limited, which surged after unveiling a strategic pivot into counter-drone defence technology through a deal with NIOA Group. Newcomer KTEK Aerosystems charged on debut as investors backed its full-turnkey drone sub-assembly technology amid massive global defence spending, Anteotech surged on independent US validation of its Ultranode high-silicon anode delivering over 40 per cent higher energy density for drone batteries and Castle Minerals ran strongly after acquiring the high-grade Nielle gold project in Côte d'Ivoire's prolific Birimian belt.

Dateline Resources has appointed project management heavyweight Alvarez & Marsal as construction manager for its Colosseum gold development in California. Following solid bankable feasibility study results, the engineering firm will build a dedicated owner's team. The appointment will allow Dateline to lock in major engineering contracts as it prepares to transition into a significant US gold producer.

Terrain Minerals says it is closing in on a maiden July mineral resource estimate for its Lightning gold project after ticking off key technical and approvals work. DGPS collar surveys, a topographic drone survey, metallurgical sampling and permitting are all part of the process, while recent IP targeting and test work continue to support the broader Smokebush gold story in WA's Mid West region.

88 Energy Limited says its Augusta-1 exploration well in Alaska is on track for a Q1 2027 spud, with the rig now locked in whilst camp, access planning and logistics are all progressing. The well will test 133.7 million barrels of gross unrisked prospective resources across three stacked reservoir targets, following a 35 per cent uplift in South Prudhoe's total 2U prospective resources announced two days ago.

Aguia Resources has transformed operations at its Santa Barbara project in Colombia, lifting processing head grades to 12 grams per tonne gold. The turnaround came after switching to high-grade, narrow-vein mining methods. With phase one site upgrades fully complete, the company is now rolling out phase two improvements, alongside the start of production at its recently licensed flagship Brazilian phosphate asset.

Corazon Mining has entered a binding agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Westgold Resources' Chalice gold project in Western Australia's Higginsville district. The transformational deal hands Corazon a granted mining lease hosting a high-grade 191,000-ounce gold resource. Backed by a heavily supported A$16.5 million capital raise, the company is launching an immediate 15,000-metre drilling campaign.

Terrain Minerals has kicked off metallurgical testwork at its Lightning gold project in WA's Mid West, where recent drilling has delivered high grade hits including 8m at 6.87g/t gold and 7m at 7.08g/t gold. Early work points to a likely non-refractory feed, implying conventional gravity coarse gold separation and carbon-in-leach processing ahead of a maiden resource estimate in July.

Neometals' latest induced polarisation survey has lit up multiple drill-ready copper targets around the historic Rinaldi workings at its Barrambie project in WA's Mid West, headlined by a standout anomaly stretching more than 300m vertically. The company is preparing to fold copper testing into a June drilling campaign centred on the nearby Ironclad gold prospect, while neighbouring success at Solstice Minerals' Nanadie project adds weight to the broader copper story.

Maritana Minerals will acquire Accelerate Resources' Kanowna East tenure near its Black Swan processing hub and Gordons Dam project while divesting non-core Balagundi ground. The dual transaction, due to complete in the June 2026 quarter, has sharpened the company's Kalgoorlie footprint and preserves future toll treatment optionality.

Estrella Resources has taken to the skies with a cutting-edge drone-borne electromagnetic survey at its Ira Miri manganese project in Timor-Leste. Developed by Expert Geophysics, the high-resolution system can penetrate up to 800 metres below surface to evaluate deep extensions beneath the current open pit. The system acquires near-continuous data at tight five-metre intervals to define high-priority targets for upcoming diamond and reverse circulation drilling campaigns.

Dalaroo Metals has secured two new exploration licences in Greenland at its Blue Lagoon project, tightening its grip on a rapidly emerging district-scale critical minerals system. The expanded footprint strengthens the company's exposure to rare earth elements, zirconium, niobium and hafnium across prospective onshore and offshore targets as it ramps up field programs testing a broader “source-to-sink” geological model.

Ora Banda Mining has massively lifted its gold resource to 3.57 million ounces and more than doubled reserves to 555,000 ounces, driven by strong gains at its Round Dam and Waihi deposits near Kalgoorlie. The company has also approved a new three-million-tonne-per-annum mill and a third underground mine to support its next stage of growth.

Augustus Minerals has received firm commitments to raise $2.5 million to fast-track stage two drilling at its Music Well gold project near Leonora. The raise follows hot on the heels of a successful maiden drill campaign that returned wide intersections, including 32m at 0.9g/t gold. The new funds will be used for a 2,800m reverse circulation and diamond drill program set to kick off in June.

Aguia Resources has hit a major milestone, securing the final operating licence for its Tres Estradas phosphate project in southern Brazil. With mining equipment already mobilised, the company has kicked off operations immediately, transitioning from developer to producer. The move establishes Aguia as a key domestic fertiliser supplier in a region heavily reliant on expensive and disrupted imports.

King River Resources has deployed drone LiDAR technology to reconstruct the excavation history of WA's historic Mindoolah goldfield and has found a discrepancy nearly nine times larger than official records would suggest. With high-grade grab samples already in hand and a systematic drill program pencilled in for June, KRR is now treating Mindoolah as a system that may be far bigger than anyone previously credited.

88 Energy has blown out South Prudhoe prospective resources by 35 per cent to 768.9 million barrels on Alaska's giant North Slope after adding a maiden Brookian oil estimate and upgrading the Ivishak reservoir. Augusta-1 will now test 133.7 million barrels across stacked producing formations beside Prudhoe Bay, with Rig-3 secured and farmout talks progressing ahead of drilling in 2027.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Myeco Group, after it secured a major exclusive deal with Woolworths to roll out more of its premium recycled bin liners made from post-consumer waste and certified under the Global Recycled Standard. Elixinol Wellness charged late on news its flagship Healthy Chef brand will roll out into more than 400 Priceline stores nationally, Stelar Metals ran after acquiring the Hill of Leaders tungsten project in the NT amid surging tungsten prices and 1414 Degrees continued its strong run after establishing a dedicated aerospace and defence division to commercialise its nanoparticle battery technology.

Chariot Resources has firmed up its Nigerian lithium acquisition deal by adding a key Fonlo lease at no extra cost, while extending the deal timetable. The company has also boosted its regulatory spend by converting three small-scale licences into mining leases, which will deliver longer tenure and broader mining rights over those areas.

Dateline Resources has supercharged its Californian gold hunt after locking onto massive step-out hits of up to 287.3 metres at its Colosseum project. The company has now fired up a third drill rig to accelerate exploration for gold, while dense rock signatures emerging from its expanded rare earths campaign are showing strong similarities to the nearby world-class Mountain Pass carbonatite system.

Peninsula Energy has shored up its finances after securing a US$56 million (A$77M) funding package to accelerate mine development at its Lance uranium project in Wyoming. The deal comprises an equity raise and a US$30 million convertible note facility from investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson, which has also committed heavily to the equity component.

Estrella Resources has hit the ground running in Timor-Leste, dropping a mammoth 621-million-tonne maiden JORC inferred resource at its Werumata limestone project. The deposit contains a high-grade core of 493 Mt suitable for acid neutralisation applications, with an additional 128 Mt of industrial and construction-grade material. The limestone extends for 6km across the concession, with the maiden resource covering just a fraction of the ground.

Maritana Minerals has launched a phase two drilling program at its Burbanks project near Coolgardie in WA to chase deeper extensions after its first campaign returned knock-out high-grade gold hits, which boosted confidence in the project. The company has mobilised a second rig to test deeper extensions in a bid to firm up future ore supply for its developing Black Swan processing hub.

Aurum Resources has lifted the total mineral resource at its Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire by six per cent to 3.22 million ounces, with indicated resources up 24 per cent to 1.70 million ounces. The upgrade was driven by infill drilling at the BDT2 deposit, which converted inferred material into indicated resources ahead of a prefeasibility study due this quarter.

Larvotto Resources has confirmed it can recover high-grade antimony and gold from a 1.4-million-tonne legacy tailings dam at its Hillgrove project in New South Wales. Initial testwork delivered impressive recoveries of up to 95 per cent for antimony and 75 per cent for gold, confirming the material can be used as supplementary feed for the main processing plant, which is scheduled for a restart in August.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts reported to the ASX last week, led by Haranga Resources with 4.8m assaying 25.4g/t gold, including 2.4m going 48.84g/t gold. NexGen Energy also nailed 13m at 5.2% uranium oxide, including 0.5m at a whopping 30.2% uranium oxide in Canada, while GreenTech Metals landed big platinum grades in WA's Pilbara, with 12m at 3.13g/t PGE3 from 90m depth, including 2m going 8.37g/t PGE3.

Terrain Minerals has launched one of its biggest IP surveys yet, aimed at sniffing out repeats of its Lightning-style gold target in untested surrounding ground at the company's Smokebush gold and silver project, 350km north of Perth in WA. The survey will span the granted mining lease, which contains the Lightning and Monza gold deposits. Results are expected in July, ahead of Terrain's maiden Lightning mineral resource estimate.

MetalsGrove Mining has locked onto a major West African gold system, defining two parallel targets, each stretching more than 2.5 kilometres, at the Fifty-Five prospect within its Zuénoula permit in Côte d'Ivoire. High-density infill soil sampling is now underway to sharpen the picture ahead of auger drilling. With a massive landholding along a prolific greenstone belt, the company is set to rapidly generate strong news flow.