Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

Toronto-listed Royal Road Minerals has welcomed Rio2 Limited onto its register after the Chile-focused developer picked up a 15 per cent stake in Royal Road in an on-market trade worth C$4.6 million (A$5 million). The deal propels Rio2 into substantial-holder territory and locks in boardroom rights, setting the stage for a heavyweight partnership between two hungry gold players both gearing up for serious growth on multiple fronts.

Estrella Resources has kicked off RC drilling at its Werumata limestone project in Timor-Leste, targeting a 500-million-tonne resource. Approvals have been secured and drilling is imminent, as the company eyes an early offtake deal. Estrella's environmental impact statement and management plan have been given the green light, paving the way for it to launch its maiden drilling campaign in about two weeks.

Thunderbird Resources' joint venture partner Mustang Energy has kicked off a 2000m diamond drilling campaign at the duo's Surprise Creek uranium-copper project in Canada's Athabasca Basin. The program aims to unlock a high-grade prize at the world's premier uranium address. Past results at site hit 2.1m at 4.37 per cent uranium, just 57m below surface, and rock chips grading up to 7.98 per cent.

Aurum Resources has nailed stellar gold hits in infill drilling at its Boundiali project in Cote d'Ivoire, including 1 metre assaying a bonanza 152.35g/t gold, in a 12-hole campaign targeting a pre-feasibility study in the first quarter of 2026. Potential exists for significant resource growth as mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth.

Terrain Minerals' latest drilling results shine with 13m at 8.13g/t gold, including 2m at 48.22g/t and 1m at 18.04g/t at its Monza and Lightning targets in the company's Smokebush project, about 350km north of Paynes Find in WA. Eighty per cent of the reverse circulation drill holes jagged gold, with multiple thick zones, while IP surveys point to a possible big system that remains open along strike and to depth.

The US Government's plan to take a direct stake in Lithium Americas' Thacker Pass mine has sent shockwaves through the battery metals market. With lithium now squarely a matter of national security, ASX-listed Chariot Corporation has landed in the spotlight. It holds one of the biggest lithium land packages in the US and a tier-one scale project portfolio.

Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Everlast Minerals, after the newbie blasted onto the boards with a $6 million oversubscribed IPO for its Bangladesh mineral sands play. Finder Energy's Timor Sea oil farm-in with national heavyweight TIMOR GAP slashed the funding hurdles for first gushers, Environmental Clean Technologies zapped into the forever chemicals fight by grabbing Rice University's flash heating tech, and Swift Networks' tie-up with aged care giant Opal HealthCare unlocked screens and upsold cash amid regulatory rewrites.

Dateline Resources has landed a cracking validation at its Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California, with a second geophysics survey confirming a standout carbonatite rare earths target. The fresh results double down on the project's potential to deliver a major rare earths discovery. Drilling continues at the white-hot United States play.

Siren Gold's Langdons project in New Zealand's Paparoa goldfield has dazzled with assays up to 38.5g/t gold and 5.7% antimony from open-pit channels samples, and 37.8g/t gold and 20.9% antimony in adit mullock. The results confirm previous sample analyses, including a bonanza-grade 506g/t gold and 6% antimony from open-pit mullock. Multiple mineralised structures span a 400m strike, while soil geochemistry flags extensions under cover.

Rio2 Limited has inked deals with two water suppliers in Chile's Copiapo region to study piping desalinated water from the coast up to its high-altitude Fenix Gold mine in the Atacama Desert. The move paves the way for an ambitious expansion that could see the project churn out 300,000 ounces of gold a year for the next decade, firmly positioning Rio2 as a major player in the Americas.

Middle Island Resources has begun field exploration at the company's Bobija polymetallic project in western Serbia, targeting exposed barite-sulphide mineralisation in the historic open-pit mine. Initial rock chip and channel sampling aims to validate previous sample results up to 5.24g/t gold and 120g/t silver, while soil sampling is planned to chase up areas defined by anomalous stream sediment results.

Lindian Resources has engaged DRA Pacific for its Malawian Kangankunde rare earths project stage 2 study, targeting 50,000-100,000pa concentrate. Lindian is positioning itself as a key player in the global rare earths market, under recently appointed executive director Zac Komur, with stage 1 development on track, funded by a $91.5 million placement, targeting first production in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Red Metal's 44 per cent stake in Maronan Metals looks set to shine after its partner unveiled a barnstorming preliminary economic assessment for the Queensland-based Maronan project. The study paints a picture of a long-life polymetallic mine, powered by a juicy silver core expected to deliver 53 per cent of revenues, while future expansion potential looms large across the broader resource base.

Gold's stubborn strength is pushing spreadsheets ahead of drill holes. And Dollar Bill sees more moves forming, with some left-field possibilities. There's Kingsgate/Emerald in South East Asia, Capricorn and Bellevue - despite their distance - and perhaps some Leonora adjacency tidies make sense. There may be more on the home front, while in Africa, Perseus and West African Resources look like a regional fit.

Thunderbird Resources is forging a golden path in NSW'S renowned Lachlan Orogen, acquiring the drill-ready Springfield gold deposit and kicking-off a $2.2 million placement to fuel its exploration blitz. The binding agreement to acquire Springfield with its impressive series of existing drill hits, sets in train a boost to the company's growing portfolio of gold projects.

Estrella Resources has drilled thick supergene manganese at its Ira Miri prospect in Timor-Leste, estimated at up to 12.87m at 80% oxides. The zones remain open to the northwest and southeast and follow the trend of the Noni Formation. Step-out drilling continues and assays are expected in 6-8 weeks, as manganese demand surges for the steel and battery markets.

Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Stakk Limited, after it inked a blockbuster Robinhood deal to power its banking push with embedded finance tech. Carnegie Clean Energy's wave power whiz caught some US OTC buzz without a whisper of news, Lord Resources' copper visuals at Ilgarari sparked a drilling frenzy in WA, and Kula Gold's visible gold hits at Mt Palmer lit up the Southern Cross goldfields amid small-cap fireworks and resource blues.

If you've been watching the order book chatter, you'll have noticed the market is starting to remember how to take a risk without immediately breaking out in hives. Dollar Bill reckons that stellar day-one IPO pops for Virgin and GemLife weren't miracles - they were signals that investors will fund a credible equity story at a fair price.

Buru Energy has clinched the environmental nod from the Western Australian government for its Kimberley gas resource appraisal campaign in early 2026. The well environmental plan greenlights the company's next steps in unlocking the project in the Canning Basin, paving the way to drilling in the first half of next year.

Aguia Resources has struck more bonanza-grade gold at its Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia. The latest batch of diamond assays confirms the continuity of the project's high-grade veins. Standout assays dropped numbers up to 85g/t gold, including a hit of 18.9g/t gold and 22.5g/t silver over 0.35m vein, reinforcing a mineralised system that is starting to take shape.

Larvotto Resources has launched a bold refurbishment of key infrastructure at its Hillgrove processing plant near Armidale in NSW, as the company looks to ramp up commissioning of the facility in July next year. Refurb works have officially kicked off at the company's antimony-gold project, marking the start of a comprehensive plant upgrade to transform the historic processing facility into a modern production powerhouse.

Octava Minerals is forging ahead on its dual-pronged assault on copper and critical minerals, announcing ambitious drill programs and geophysical surveys at its Sweeney's copper-zinc-silver-tin prospect within the Federation project in Tasmania. With boots on the ground and rigs powering up, the junior explorer is progressing exploration at Federation's Sweeneys prospect for the first time in four decades.

Javelin Minerals has locked in a profit-sharing mining agreement with renowned contract firm MEGA Resources to mine 39,000 ounces of gold from its Eureka gold project near WA's historic Kalgoorlie mining hub. In a huge win for Javelin, full-service contractor MEGA will fully fund the operation, covering the full spectrum of mining activities, project financing and haulage services.

St George Mining has won stellar rare earths and niobium results from drilling of its East Araxá zone, 1km east of the main Araxá resource in Brazil, with grades up to 16.87% TREO and 4.06% niobium from surface. Thick intercepts and high Nd:Pr ratios signal major expansion potential for the project, supported by a US alliance, positioning Araxá as a key critical minerals source outside China.

Neometals Ltd has struck gold in the archives, uncovering a cache of 2271 unreported historic drill assays from its Barrambie gold project in Western Australia's goldfields, including a bonanza 3-metre run at 95.7 grams per tonne gold. The discovery will guide an upcoming drilling program. Neometals is set to get the drill rod spinning before the end of the year.

Larvotto's IP survey at Hillgrove's Freehold prospect, in NSW, has confirmed historic antimony-gold associations and uncovered untested extensions 350m east of historic mining. The company has already launched exploratory drilling on the new targets. Additionally, a $388,662 R&D tax rebate recognises the company's metallurgical innovations for gold and antimony recovery from ore and legacy tailings, which could boost output while bringing environmental benefits.

Aguia Resources has delivered a powerful update for its Tres Estrades phosphate project in Brazil, with a revised economic study pointing to pre-tax free cash flow rocketing by 150 per cent to $411 million (US$274 million). It reveals a favourable scenario for the company, with both pre-tax NPV and EBITDA soaring by more than 70%.

Peninsula Energy has rolled out the first drum of uranium yellowcake from its Lance project in Wyoming, aligning with the United States Energy Secretary's push to boost the nation's uranium reserve. Peninsula, now ramping up under new leadership, is poised to meet rising US nuclear demand. The company and fellow uranium producers Cameco Corp and Boss Energy have seen share price gains in the wake of renewed uranium interest.

Dateline Resources is continuing to flex its muscles in the high-stakes arena of US critical minerals by snapping up the promising Argos strontium project, near its groundbreaking Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California. In a powerhouse move that catapults its American footprint into overdrive, the company has sunk its teeth into the US's largest known strontium deposit.

Estrella Resources has hit manganese at its Ira Miri project in Timor-Leste, including 2.5m at 70% manganese oxides. The company has LiDAR and drone-borne geophysical surveys underway to guide its exploration and drill targeting. Estrella has completed LiDAR surveys at its Werumata limestone project and is waiting on approvals to drill.

Neometals will divest its 50% stake in a lithium battery recycling joint venture to diversified infrastructure company SMS Group for $8.9 million in cash and a capped $12.5 million revenue fee. The move, set for Q3 2025, will free capital for projects such as its Barrambie gold-titanium-vanadium projects, aligning with the company's risk-reduction strategy amid Europe's electric vehicle sales slowdown.

Lindian Resources has appointed mine development specialist Zac Komur to lead its giant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, where early site works are on budget and ahead of schedule. Stage one construction is fully funded for Q4 2026 production. Stage two studies and downstream partnerships are moving ahead, supported by a $91.5 million placement, positioning Lindian as a key rare earths supplier.