Bulls N' Bears

Dalaroo Metals has entered the final approval stage for a significant licence expansion at its Blue Lagoon critical minerals project in southern Greenland. The move targets a "source-to-sink" geological system rich in rare earth elements, zirconium, and niobium. With stakeholder consultations complete, the company is now preparing for an intensive mid-2026 exploration program covering both onshore and high-priority offshore targets.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts recently reported to the ASX, led by BMC Minerals with 25.1m at 180g/t silver, 9.7% zinc and 3.4% lead from 327.5m. Caspin Resources' 13m at 1.16% tin at Bygoo in NSW and Barton Gold's shallow 3m at 20.6g/t gold in South Australia round out the selection.

St George Mining has recruited global engineering leader Worley to spearhead feasibility studies for its world-class Araxá niobium and rare earths project in Brazil. Following a competitive selection process, Worley will provide technical advisory services ranging from plant design to procurement. The partnership leverages Worley's 60-year track record in Brazil to fast-track development studies and move the high-grade project toward a formal commercial mining operation.

A global crisis is unfolding in the helium market following Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the closure of Qatar's Ras Laffan complex. With prices hitting $US2,000 per thousand cubic feet, critical industries face unprecedented supply shocks. ASX-listed explorers in North America, Australia and Africa are racing to fill the void, offering a strategic alternative to volatile Middle Eastern sources.

St George Mining has delivered additional thick, high-grade rare earths and niobium intercepts from surface at its Araxá project in Brazil. Best diamond drilling results included 43m at 8.02 per cent total rare earth oxides and 0.74 per cent niobium pentoxide, while step-out drilling has extended mineralisation 240m north of the current resource footprint.

Red Metal Limited is pushing its Sybella rare earths project near Mount Isa towards low-cost heap leach processing just as Australia and Japan step up critical minerals cooperation. The company's column leach tests are in progress, while ion exchange trials have delivered a nine-fold enrichment of rare earths and removed iron and aluminium, pointing to a simpler, cheaper flowsheet.

Maritana Minerals has delivered more sizzling gold intercepts from phase one diamond drilling at its Burbanks project, near Coolgardie in WA. One hole nailed a string of hits including its longest intercept of 4.20m assaying 42.43g/t gold from 289.63m, including 1.37m going an eye-watering 126.93g/t gold from 290.84m.

Larvotto Resources has pulled in more strong drilling results from the key Midas Gully mineralised system at the Metz Mining Centre, part of the company's Hillgrove gold-antimony project in NSW. The program nailed a standout hit of 13 metres at 8.56g/t gold equivalent from 253m depth, which included 1.2m at 34.53g/t gold equivalent. New geophysical results have also outlined fresh targets.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… 1414 Degrees, which more than tripled after its nanoparticle battery tech delivered a 50 per cent boost over traditional graphite, targeting the defence drone industry. Pathkey.AI charged higher on a proposed AI-driven semiconductor design acquisition through Chipforge, Eclipse Metals surged on a major resource upgrade at its Grønnedal rare earths project in Greenland and European Lithium ran on a proposed ~$1.2 billion scrip merger with NASDAQ-listed Critical Metals Corp for its Tanbreez REE and Wolfsberg lithium assets.

88 Energy is charging into a defining phase, with a strategic reset now culminating in a long-awaited test of its Alaska engine room. The company's Augusta-1 at South Prudhoe is shaping up as a near-term high-impact well, while Project Phoenix is closing in on a fully funded horizontal flow test. Backed by modern seismic and infrastructure access, the company is shifting towards potential development outcomes.

Triangle Energy has promoted Rory McGoldrick to chief executive officer as part of a broader reset following the spinout of its wholly owned Tetragon Energy. The company will focus on its Perth Basin and United Kingdom gas assets, while progressing the Cliff Head divestment. Former managing director Conrad Todd has shifted to a non-executive role and will lead Tetragon Energy ahead of its planned ASX listing.

Dalaroo Metals has consolidated its hold on the Blue Lagoon critical minerals project in Greenland, successfully transitioning its core exploration licence to granted status. The move gives the company full control over a confirmed 2.7-kilometre mineralised strike. Previous surface sampling at site returned peak values of 0.81 per cent total rare earth oxides. A major de-risking field program is now being fast-tracked for 2026.

Siren Gold has expanded its Queen Charlotte antimony-gold system in New Zealand's Marlborough District to almost eight kilometres of strike, with high-grade surface samples reinforcing scale and continuity. Historical and new sample assays have linked the Endeavour Inlet and Resolution Bay mine areas, suggesting a large, underexplored system rich in both gold and antimony, as the company advances toward drilling approvals.

Augustus Minerals has hit wide gold intersections in first-pass drilling at its Music Well project near Leonora, WA, returning shallow hits including 16m at 1.46g/t gold. The maiden program targeted a compelling gold-in-soil and rock chip anomaly at its Clifton East prospect, which had previously remained untouched despite sitting in one of the state's richest gold districts.

Pilot Energy has commissioned the first module of its Dongara data centre at the Cliff Head plant site near Dongara in Western Australia, marking a significant step in the company's diversification from oil and gas into high-performance computing. Delivered on schedule and within budget with UAE-based partner Kala Data, the initial 0.4MW of computing capacity is now live, with three additional 1MW modules planned for the second half of 2026 to take total capacity to 4MW.

Meeka Metals has boosted its cash to $50.1M despite a weather-hit quarter at its Murchison gold project. The company produced 6083 ounces in the quarter and is now upping the ante by moving into higher-grade underground ore. The transition will see high-grade ore sources at Andy Well and Turnberry bear much of the heavy lifting, with stoping at Andy Well expected to commence this quarter.

Octava Minerals has reported significant polymetallic mineralisation from a maiden diamond drilling program at its Federation project in western Tasmania. Initial results at Sweeney's and Anomaly 1 returned encouraging copper, zinc, tin, silver, indium and antimony intercepts, including a newly recognised antimony zinc lode. The company says the feeder style sulphide system remains open and underexplored

American West Metals has hit a thick 77.65-metre continuous interval of visual zinc and copper sulphides in the first hole of its West Desert campaign in Utah. The hole was a bold 430m step-out from the existing deposit and successfully tested a 4km-long magnetic anomaly, confirming it is associated with mineralisation. The second hole of the program is already underway.

Chariot Resources has edged closer to consolidating its two thirds stake in a massive 254-square-kilometre Nigerian lithium portfolio. The company has officially secured five of its ten targeted licences, prompting a deadline extension to August to finalise the remaining transfers. With spodumene already confirmed at two key project clusters, Chariot is positioning to become a big player in the African battery metals space.

Maritana Minerals has reported a strong March quarter, with cash soaring to $120.6M after positive operating cash flow, major funding and divestment receipts. The coffers swelled even further in April to $233.5M after completing a jumbo capital raising. The company, formerly Horizon Minerals, is progressing early works and engineering for its Black Swan processing hub near Kalgoorlie in WA, targeting first gold production from the plant in mid-2027.

Ora Banda Mining has appointed long-time mining executive John Richards as a non-executive director from 1 May and flagged him to become chair following the retirement of Peter Mansell from the role at the close of the November annual general meeting. Richards brings 40 years of experience in mining and metals and currently serves as the chairman of Sandfire Resources. The company says his appointment supports its next growth phase.

Lindian Resources has secured a low-cost, domestic supply of sulphuric acid for its Sareco facility in Kazakhstan. The strategic arrangement with state-backed producer SSAP provides reagent security ahead of a looming global supply squeeze. With China set to ban acid exports from next month, Lindian's access to local supply at competitive prices significantly de-risks its downstream processing strategy for its world-class monazite concentrate.

Dalaroo Metals has completed priority one soil geochemistry across the south-eastern block of its Gold Ridge prospect in Côte d'Ivoire, collecting almost 2250 samples along the first 4.5km of an interpreted 9.5km gold corridor. The program targets strike extensions of a previously defined gold anomaly, where historical rock chips returned up to 17.95 g/t gold. Assay results and maiden drill targets will follow.

The Bulls N' Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Solis Minerals, which exploded after securing Rio Tinto's Brazil lithium project in Minas Gerais. The project is strategically positioned beside Pilbara Minerals' Colina asset in one of the world's emerging spodumene hotspots. Adisyn surged on validation of its revolutionary graphene-based semiconductor interconnect and a $14 million institutional placement, 333D Limited doubled on improving cash flow from its medical imaging and 3D data platforms and NoviqTech struck a pair of biochar and carbon removal partnerships tied to data centre demand and low-carbon concrete applications.

Fresh from building momentum in the Murchison, Meeka Metals has fired another shot by locking in a strategic gold acquisition at Mt Holland, 110km southeast of Southern Cross in Western Australia. The prize includes a fertile belt with 1.2 million ounces of historic production, multiple known deposits and 24 kilometres of underexplored gold-hosting banded iron formations now primed for an aggressive drilling assault.

Rio2 has begun commissioning a new US$27M tailings filtration facility at its Condestable copper mine in Peru, following an 18-month construction period. The plant is designed to process 8400 tonnes per day and will support the company's move to dry-stack tailings, which will lift water recovery to almost 90 per cent. Commercial operations are targeted for the September quarter.

Patriot Resources has upgraded the previous JORC-compliant exploration target at its wholly owned Tassa silver-gold project in southern Peru to a massive range estimated at between 559 million and 774 million ounces silver equivalent at a grade of between 48g/t and 57g/t silver equivalent. The estimate is based on an integrated review of surface sampling, geophysics and 8500m of historical drilling.

Neometals has kicked a big goal in the US, tabling a maiden exploration target for its Utah Brine Project that ranges from 1.9 to 6.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and a bumper 94 to 325 million tonnes of potash. The company says it has leveraged historical oil and gas data to define the low-cost target in the famed Paradox Basin.

Dalaroo Metals has significantly expanded its Blue Lagoon project in Greenland, after being granted new licences to target offshore critical minerals. The company's geological model suggests heavy minerals, including rare earths, zirconium and niobium, are being transported from inland alkaline rocks through drainage systems and out to sea. Dalaroo plans to test these marine accumulation zones using seabed sampling and bathymetric surveys.

WA Gold's scoping study for its Abercromby project near Wiluna in WA has outlined a staged pit-to-underground operation targeting 114,494 ounces of gold, with an $8M start-up capex. The base case flags about $270M pre-tax free cash flow and a $229M NPV at $6000 per ounce of gold, with payback in 1.5 years. Drilling is continuing to grow and upgrade resources.

Lindian Resources has secured a local funding package with Malawi's NBS Bank totalling US$11.6M, comprising US$4.6M for equipment finance and US$7M for working capital. The asset facility will reimburse 90 per cent of its Komatsu mining fleet, while the working capital will provide a liquidity buffer as the company's Kangankunde build progresses towards mechanical completion in 2H 2026.

Bulls N' Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill intercepts recently reported to the ASX last week, led by New Murchison Gold with 18 metres at 10.3 grams per tonne gold from 54m, including 6m at 29.3g/t from its Crown Prince East pit in WA. Golden Horse Minerals' shallow 7m at 13.0g/t at Hopes Hill South and SQX Resources' wide 24.4m at 3.1g/t at Red Bird in Arizona round out the selection.