Bulls N' Bears

For decades, humble phosphate fertiliser was a simple story of digging up rock to help grow crops. Now, amid the US-Iran war, prices are surging and major global supply chains are at a tipping point. With traditional supply chains under pressure, the world is desperately seeking new sources. Bulls N' Bears examines a cohort of ASX-listed explorers and developers who are moving to fill the void.

Beetaloo Energy Australia has been awarded a 25 per cent non-operated interest in a 305-square-kilometre block in Queensland's Taroom Trough for zero upfront consideration under Queensland's land release process. The liquids-rich acreage sits along trend from Omega Oil and Gas' Canyon play, adding a second unconventional opportunity as the company's Northern Territory gas assets move towards first pilot sales in Australia.

Maritana Minerals has reached another major milestone, securing the final statutory permit to develop its 2.5-million-tonne-per-annum Black Swan gold processing hub near Kalgoorlie in WA. The approval clears the path for full-scale construction, with the company extending an early works agreement with GR Engineering by A$6.5 million, ahead of a planned first gold pour in the second half of 2027.

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has defined multiple coherent gold anomalies, including a 2km-long trend, from first-pass aircore drilling at the Laverton Tectonic Zone Flexure target within its Pinjin project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields. The results have opened a new exploration front, with reverse circulation drilling planned to test for primary gold mineralisation at depth while sharpening its broader growth potential.

Buru Energy has referred its 100 per cent-owned Rafael gas project in Western Australia's Kimberley to the State's Environmental Protection Authority. The milestone, subject to regulatory approvals and a public comment period, will support a final investment decision in 2027 and first gas in 2029 from a modular development backed by 15.25 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved and probable reserves.

King River Resources has confirmed shallow, high-grade gold at its recently acquired Mindoolah project in WA's Murchison province. A first-pass drilling campaign delivered an impressive 79 per cent hit rate, with top results including 1m at 13.59 grams per tonne gold and 1m at 10.70g/t gold. A follow-up drill program is already scheduled to commence this month.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts recently reported to the ASX this week, led by Solstice Minerals' huge copper-gold hit at Nanadie in WA, followed by Kantra Copper's deep Nugent strike in South Australia and a fresh high-grade rare earths discovery for Brazilian Rare Earths in Brazil.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Dateline Resources, which more than doubled after the US Government intervened in a legal stoush to restart its Californian gold and rare earths project. Also charging were Mamba Exploration, with historical copper hits securing a $6 million raise to fund the drill bit, Image Resources landed a $5 million raise of its own for a brand new gold discovery in WA and BOA Resources uncovered cracking copper intercepts near the fabled DeGrussa deposit in WA.

Patriot Resources has launched a significant exploration program at its Tassa silver-gold project in Peru, aiming to expand its existing 31.4-million-ounce silver-equivalent resource. The company has completed its first round of surface sampling at the northern Pachamayo target, with 38 samples now at the lab for analysis. With key community agreements secured, the program now moves south to test the Tassa 5 tenement.

Aurum Resources has hit its best-ever drill intercept at the flagship 3.22-million-ounce Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, pulling a stunning 28.8-metre section grading 22.92 grams per tonne gold. The result, which includes a higher-grade core of 17.95m at 36.57g/t gold, comes from an expanded 150,000m diamond drilling program to grow the project's resource ahead of a definitive feasibility study.

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals has pulled the trigger on a planned phase two clinical trial for refractory Crohn's disease, appointing leading Australian clinical research organisation Southern Star Research to manage the study in Australia and the United States. The trial will evaluate the company's patented “StemSmart” stem cell technology in a market estimated to be worth around US$13 billion.

Augustus Minerals has firmed up at least two higher-grade gold shoots at its Music Well project, just 35km north of Leonora, a district known for its multi-million-ounce gold endowment. The company says it has defined a western shoot over 400m of strike and an eastern shoot over 300m of strike, with both open to the north-northeast. Assays from recent drilling designed to test the new geological model are pending.

Lindian Resources has successfully commissioned and energised grid power to its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi. The 27km power line was delivered two weeks ahead of schedule and about 20 per cent under budget, removing a key risk on its path to targeted first production in late 2026. The move connects the globally significant project to Malawi's national grid.

Larvotto Resources has hit thick, high-grade mineralisation outside the existing resource at its producing Hillgrove gold-antimony mine in NSW. Drilling returned 32 metres at 5.68 grams per tonne gold equivalent, with a new lode delivering bonanza grades up to 91g/t gold equivalent. The results also included up to 11.13 per cent tungsten, a timely outcome given surging global prices for the critical metal.

Lindian Resources has confirmed its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi is unaffected by local export rules after the government reaffirmed its locally beneficiated monazite concentrate can be exported. With its stage one project fully funded and construction advancing, Lindian is targeting first production in the final quarter of 2026 as it pushes ahead to become a globally significant critical minerals producer.

Forrestania Resources has added more weight to its Forrestania Hub in WA, unveiling an updated 285,700-ounce gold resource for its Ladies project and boosting high-confidence ounces by 43 per cent to 100,400. The result feeds into the company's ambitious two-plant strategy, aimed at consolidating satellite deposits to supply its Edna May and Lake Johnston processing facilities.

Estrella Resources strengthened the case for a porphyry-style copper system at its Laleno Dome project in Timor-Leste, with new assays adding gold to the mix. Rock chips have returned up to 1.3g/t gold, 22.6g/t silver and a spectacular 45.61 per cent copper from the same sample, firming up the project's potential to host a major copper-gold system.

Rio2 Limited has rebounded from a savage Chilean winter at its Fenix Gold mine, where a string of severe snowstorms put the brakes on its first-year production ramp-up. Despite the weather hampering progress through July and August, the company has kept its processing infrastructure ticking over and says Fenix remains on track to hit commercial production during the fourth quarter.

Terrain Minerals has launched the biggest-ever drilling campaign, an 86-hole, 10,905-metre program at its 100 per cent-owned Smokebush gold-silver project, 350km north of Perth in WA's Mid West region. The work will target extensions to its maiden 54,000-ounce gold resource and test a suite of new potential discovery targets generated from successful induced polarisation and soil geochemistry surveys.

Red Metal Limited has swooped on available ground near its Gulf and Three Ways projects in Queensland, lodging 17 additional tenement applications for land prospective for iron oxide-copper-gold deposits. The company is motoring ahead with its “Big Copper” strategy as it looks to unlock giant discoveries analogous to the nearby mammoth Ernest Henry deposit and BHP's Oak Dam deposit in South Australia.

Octava Minerals has secured an option over the 400 square kilometre West Sierra Grande Fluorspar Project in Argentina, home to four historical mines idle for about 30 years. Backed by a $1.8 million placement, the ASX explorer is chasing a critical mineral used in semiconductors, batteries and steel, with acid-grade prices doubling since 2017 and China now a net importer.

Dateline Resources' shares have soared after landing some serious US Government muscle behind its bid to restart operations at its Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California. The Department of Justice is seeking to suspend a court injunction and the Department of War is declaring continued rare earths exploration at the site is in the national security interests of the United States.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts recently reported to the ASX last week, led by Anax Metals Ltd, where infill drilling confirmed shallow high-grade mineralisation at its Mons Cupri deposit in WA's Pilbara, followed by Many Peaks Minerals Ltd and MinRex Resources Ltd.

This fortnight's edition of Cap Raise Crucible has tracked more than $2.7 billion thundering through the ASX capital-raising machine, topped by NEXTDC's monster $1.1 billion UBS-managed convertible note, while Canaccord popped up across a string of resources books. Once the money landed, however, the aftermarket told another story as Vanadium Resources surged, Parbo Resources shone on debut and several heavily backed raisings slipped underwater.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Micro-X Limited, which tripled after its chairman bought a swathe of shares on-market, revitalising interest in the company's portable scanning technology. Charging once again was Arrow Minerals, as interest builds in its Pilbara iron ore play run by Atlas Iron founder David Flanagan and Mamba Exploration unearthed a treasure trove of historical high-grade copper hits at its new project in the Murchison.

Aurum Resources' drilling in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, has bored through a spectacular intercept of 1.3 metres grading 155 grams per tonne gold at its 3.22-million-ounce Boundiali project. The stunning result was part of a broader 2.63-metre hit assaying 76.74g/t gold, within a batch of assays that also included a 24-metre thick section going 6.31g/t gold.

Kuniko Limited has completed its phase two diamond drilling program at the Silica Hill prospect within its Commonwealth gold-silver project in NSW's prolific Lachlan Fold Belt. The five-hole, 1492-metre campaign aims to expand the mineralised system ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate targeted for Q4 this year, with assays expected in October.

Neometals has kicked off a diamond drilling campaign at its Barrambie project in WA's Mid West region, aiming for deeper extensions of its Ironclad gold deposit and a sizeable geophysical copper target at Rinaldi. The short, sharp program will probe below a cracking 12-metre hit grading 5.99 grams per tonne gold at Ironclad and will test a strong copper anomaly 700m from the historic Rinaldi workings.

Diversified producer Rio2 has launched a major exploration push, kicking off the first phase of a 33,870-metre drill program at its Condestable copper mine in Peru. The company has also advanced its Kalzas tungsten project in Canada, with a 2000m drilling campaign planned for 2027, as drilling at its Fenix gold mine in Chile has been temporarily suspended due to weather and contractor concerns.

Maritana Minerals has extended gold mineralisation below the proposed Pit 4 at its Boorara project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The latest resource conversion drilling program is aimed at feeding the company's planned Black Swan processing hub and has returned significant intercepts, including 23m at 1.8g/t gold and a bonanza 1m assaying 145.07g/t gold.

Manhattan Gold Corporation has delivered another strong set of drill results from its Hook Lake project in Canada, with a significant 275m step-out hole extending the drill-tested strike at its flagship Jaws prospect to 1.25km. The latest hit recorded 21.34m at 1.72g/t gold, including a higher-grade 4.52-metre zone grading an impressive 4.89g/t gold from just 32 metres downhole.

Lindian Resources is closing in on first production at its globally significant Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi, having stockpiled 125,000 tonnes of ore ahead of schedule. With construction running around the clock and first concentrate targeted for year-end, the company has welcomed Malawi's Minister of Mining, Thoko Tembo, to inspect the rapidly advancing project and initiate the mine's 14th production blast.