Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Horizon Minerals has continued to intersect bonanza-grade gold in drilling at its Burbanks gold project, south of Coolgardie in Western Australia, with assays confirming another stellar intercept grading up to 396.6 grams per tonne. The standout result of 2m at a whopping 235.7g/t gold from 248m depth included a 1.16-metre section grading 396.6g/t gold within a breccia zone of coarse visible gold.

St George Mining has made a strategic move to strengthen ties with the United States Government by appointing a leading government relations firm, as the aspiring producer looks to provide in-demand critical minerals, such as rare earths and niobium, from the company's groundbreaking Brazilian project to the Western world's most powerful nation.

Octava Minerals has restarted drilling at its Federation copper-zinc-silver project in western Tasmania, intersecting visible semi-massive sulphides at the Sweeney's prospect. Surface rock chips from the nearby Anomaly 1 prospect returned high-grade zinc, copper, silver, tin and indium, highlighting strong polymetallic potential across the project area.

Great Southern Mining has unveiled shallow gold hits at its Mon Ami project in Laverton, Western Australia, hinting at a potentially new parallel lode that could expand the deposit's existing 55,500-ounce resource. 2146 metres of aircore drilling was completed to target gold anomalies to the north, in hopes of expanding the existing 1.56 million tonnes at 1.11 grams per tonne resource.

Red Metal Limited's maiden drilling at its Pardoo gold project in WA's Pilbara region has intersected anomalous gold in younger cover sequences above basement rocks. Increasing gold, arsenic and antimony tenor running to the southeast has outlined a potential vector towards basement mineralisation, guiding follow-up drilling along a prospective granite–greenstone contact near the Hemi corridor.

Aurum Resources has delivered another strong set of high-grade gold hits from drilling at its Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire, extending mineralisation at depth and reinforcing confidence ahead of a near-term resource update. With a prefeasibility study due this quarter and $40m in cash, the company is accelerating towards development.

Rio2 Ltd has poured first commercial gold at its 100 per cent-owned Fenix gold mine in Chile, marking its transition to producer status. The initial pour delivered 897 ounces of gold, with production now ramping towards 20,000 tonnes per day and a 2026 gold output target of 60,000 to 70,000 ounces.

Dateline Resources has revealed zones of elevated chargeability in preliminary results from an induced polarisation (IP) geophysical survey conducted at its Colosseum gold and rare earths project in California. Management says a convergence of multiple geophysical datasets, along with fault structures identified from a geological mapping program, has highlighted the potential for structurally controlled, altered sulphide-bearing zones at depth.

Moonlight Resources' first swing with the drill bit at its Clemont project in Queensland has struck thick, shallow gold, including a standout 40m at 1.3 g/t from surface and a further 34m averaging 1.37 g/t from only 6 metres downhole. Notably, both holes ended in mineralisation. With momentum building, the company has wasted no time, readying the rig to roll back in any day.

Great Southern Mining looks like it has stumbled onto one of those classic WA gold stories where persistence, position and a bit of geological nous collide. Its Golden Boulder discovery near Laverton is again delivering shallow, punchy gold hits, right between some of the biggest names and deposits in the Duketon belt.

Lindian Resources has continued to build strong community foundations alongside the development of its Kangankunde rare earths mine in Malawi. The company has launched Project Early Learning, designed to support access to safe, inclusive and supportive early education, directly benefiting about 400 students currently enrolled at the school.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Australian Strategic Materials, which bagged a $450 million takeover bid from NYSE-listed Energy Fuels Inc. Osteopore landed yet another exclusive Hong Kong distribution deal with MontsMed for its dissolving 3D-printed bone scaffolds, Olympio unveiled over 100 high-grade gold hits from drilling at its Bousquet project in Quebec and Riversgold continued the gold fever with shallow high-grade gold at its Kalgoorlie Northern Zone, plus a $2.15m strategic capital raise.

Dalaroo Metals is charging ahead with a high-octane 2026 exploration blitz at its flagship Blue Lagoon critical minerals project in Greenland, hot on the heels of a knockout reconnaissance program in 2025. Results from that work have lit a fire under the stock, positioning Dalaroo as a serious contender in the global scramble for secure, conflict-free supplies of rare earths, zirconium, hafnium and niobium.

Dateline Resources has loaded its war chest, banking $35 million in fresh funding to push the accelerator on its Colosseum gold project in California. With permits in hand, a bankable feasibility study due this year and stratospheric gold prices, the company is positioning itself to move swiftly from study mode into construction, backed by robust economics and growing US strategic interest.

Dateline Resources has loaded its war chest, banking $35 million in fresh funding to push the accelerator on its Colosseum gold project in California. With permits in hand, a bankable feasibility study due this year and stratospheric gold prices, the company is positioning itself to move swiftly from study mode into construction, backed by robust economics and growing US strategic interest.

Estrella Resources has fired the starting gun on what could be Timor-Leste's first economic mining, with diggers onsite to mine up to 30,000 tonnes of high-grade manganese ore from its Ira Miri project. The latest activity follows the company's recent agreement with the country's national mineral authority, authorising the extraction of ore from Estrella's project for market appraisal purposes.

Pilot Energy is set to commission a one-megawatt modular data centre at its Arrowsmith facility in WA's Mid-West in early 2026, expanding to 4 megawatts by mid-year. The Dongara Data Centre is expected to be the region's first live data centre and deliver near-term positive cash flow to support Pilot's energy transition strategy.

Peninsula Energy is gaining traction at its Lance uranium project in Wyoming, with Mine Unit 4 ramping up, wellfields delivering early wins and revised US uranium policy sharpening the outlook for producers. With Mine Unit 4 outperforming early expectations and a revamped processing plant now humming, the company's long-awaited production reset is finally beginning to show its teeth.

Neometals Ltd has continued to rack up high-grade hits at its Barrambie gold project in Western Australia's Mid-West region, delivering a bonanza 1m at 38.4 grams per tonne in first pass drilling along strike from the historic Golden Treasure mine. The latest results capped off last year's drilling program at the prospect, where 26 reverse circulation holes for more than 3250 metres peppered the intriguing trend.

St George Mining has secured extra runway in its push to feed US rare earths demand with a year's extension of its alliance with REalloys, a key US supplier of magnets to US defence and energy labs. The original MOU with REalloys set a 120-day window to nail down a definitive offtake deal for up to 40 per cent of future production from St George's flagship Araxá project in Brazil.

Buru Energy is inching closer to gas production in Western Australia after the Environmental Protection Authority approved exploration and well appraisal at the neighbouring Valhalla gas project in the Canning Basin. Buru received its own EPA approval in September last year and says the move is a major government endorsement of the onshore Canning Basin, where Buru's Rafael project is set to drill in the June quarter this year.

American West Metals has dropped a bumper resource upgrade at its flagship Storm copper project in Nunavut, Canada, increasing the deposit's contained metal by more than 20 per cent. The boosted inventory now sits at 28.2 million tonnes of mineralisation grading one per cent copper and 3.3 grams per tonne silver, for 276,000 tonnes of copper and 3.0 million ounces of silver – a 36 per cent lift in silver ounces.

With gold prices holding near record territory, Reach Resources has locked in a key piece of the puzzle at its Murchison South gold project, securing a second granted mining lease that consolidates historic workings. The lease win also expands its development footprint and sharpens the pathway toward studies, drilling and potential production in one of WA's most gold-rich corridors.

St George Mining has landed another set of jaw-dropping rare earths and niobium results at its Araxá project in Brazil, with diamond-drill assays confirming thick, high-grade intercepts from surface, extending beyond the current world-class resource outline. The company says potential exists for a substantial resource upgrade with most holes ending in strong mineralisation.

As Dateline Resources nears completion of its Californian Colosseum gold project feasibility study with positive metallurgical results, the gold price has soared to an all-time high of US$4690 per ounce. New geotechnical studies have also delivered a more efficient open pit design, with higher capital input costs more than offset by the increasing gold price environment compared to the scoping study estimates a year ago.

Larvotto Resources is fast closing in on mid-2026 production at its Hillgrove antimony–gold project in NSW, with plant refurbishment on schedule and underground mining back underway. Workforce numbers are ramping up as key permitting milestones fall into place. The company is also advancing rare earth metallurgy in WA and progressing copper growth options near Mt Isa.

Aurum Resources is sharpening its boardroom edge with the appointment of capital markets veteran Richard Simpson as non-executive chairman, bringing more than 40 years of experience to the role. Simpson will step into the role with more than 40 years in the game, spanning mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, corporate advisory and executive leadership.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is…biopharmaceutical minnow Zelira Therapeutics, which landed a transformational US$33 million funding deal to fast-track its HOPE 1 autism drug towards FDA approval. Gold and copper newcomer Linq Minerals impressed with a cracking 142m hit grading 1.01gt gold equivalent from 121m at its Gilmore project in NSW, while Dalaroo Metals surged on the discovery of a 2.7km Greenland rare earths system and medtech play Osteopore Ltd unlocked the Chinese dental market with a $2.56M distribution deal.

Dalaroo Metals has defined what could be a brand-new critical minerals district in Greenland, after maiden stream and surface sediment sampling at its Blue Lagoon project returned consistent, high-grade rare earths, zirconium and hafnium along a 2.7-kilometre strike. This is the first time the area has seen a modern explorer in almost 50 years and the early indications are mouth-watering. 

Neometals Ltd's shares climbed 20 per cent after delivering a batch of strong gold assays from its Barrambie project in Western Australia's Mid West region. The results have delivered wide, high-grade gold intercepts at its historic Ironclad and Mystery mine sites, including a spectacular hit of 6m at 26.56g/t gold. The results have reinforced a strong northerly plunge in mineralisation, which is already feeding into an updated resource and mine plan.

Ora Banda Mining has delivered wider, high-grade gold results from drilling at its Waihi project near Menzies in Western Australia, further expanding the mineralisation envelope at Golden Pole. Thick, bonanza-grade intercepts have boosted the project's potential as a possible third underground mine for the company, sitting just three kilometres from its Davyhurst processing facility.

Aurum Resources has reported more high-grade results from infill diamond drilling at its Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, including one metre that assayed more than one ounce per tonne gold. Drilling is currently focused on growing and firming up Aurum's BDT2 resource in the southwestern part of the main tenement block.