Bulls N' Bears (Commercial Content)

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week is… Ovanti Ltd, after the company scored a buy now, pay later maestro to guide its US expansion. Olympio unveiled visible gold in its first drill hole in Canada, Codeifai flew on a poorly kept takeover secret, and Sunrise unveiled high-grade scandium results at its NSW critical minerals project.

Aurum Resources has launched a 30,000-metre diamond drilling campaign at its 0.87-million-ounce Napié project, about 110 kilometres southeast of the company’s flagship Boundiali project in Côte d'Ivoire. The two-rig program aims to expand the current Napié resource, drill other thinly tested targets and deliver an updated mineral resource estimate for the project by the end of the year.

Larvotto Resources has secured formal NSW government approval for its Hillgrove Mod 6 application, clearing the path for mining and processing at its gold-antimony project. The green light allows the company to press forward with final financing, infrastructure upgrades and a planned production start in 2026. The approval also supports key environmental initiatives, including the shift to dry-stacked tailings for more sustainable operations.

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals has acquired unlisted Perth-based Isopogen for $5.1 million, gaining control of the company’s stem cell therapy developed as a last-line treatment for severe autoimmune disease and transplant complications. The move puts NeuroScientific in line to compete in the regenerative space.

Terrain Minerals has cranked up the drill bit at its Smokebush project in Western Australia, extending its current reverse circulation drilling campaign in search of high-grade silver and gold at its Lightning and Monza prospects. The company has tacked on an extra 700m and three holes, expanding the program to a substantial 20 holes for 4300m. The expansion stems from keen field observations by Terrain on the ground.

Beetaloo Energy has secured crucial consent from Traditional Owners to sell appraisal gas from its Carpentaria gas project in the Northern Territory. The decision followed an on-country meeting organised by the Northern Land Council and paves the way for further development. The company says the agreement has highlighted its commitment to Indigenous partnerships and enables local communities to share in the region’s growing economic opportunities.

Horizon Minerals has kicked off a 30,000m drilling campaign at its Burbanks gold project in WA’s Goldfields. The campaign aims to upgrade confidence in the resource and expand high-grade zones to feed the company’s refurbished Black Swan processing plant. With early hits of up to 45.4g/t gold and historic grades averaging 22.7g/t, Burbanks is shaping as a cornerstone for Horizon’s standalone gold producer strategy.

Neometals, through its partnership with mining services heavyweight Mineral Resources, has inked an agreement with mining giant Rio Tinto to advance its patented lithium processing technology – the ELi process. The company’s 70:30 joint venture Reed Advanced Materials has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Rio subsidiary Livent USA to explore the commercialisation of its proprietary process to convert lithium feedstock into high-purity lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

Neometals has delivered a 250,000-tonne mineral resource estimate averaging 1.6g/t gold for mineralisation near historical underground workings at its Ironclad deposit in the company’s Barrambie project near Sandstone. The inaugural inferred estimate of 13,000 ounces gold for Ironclad was completed to confirm historical non-JORC compliant estimates and is based mainly on shallow reverse circulation and rotary air blast holes drilled mostly to less than 75 metres deep.

GreenTech Metals’ recent exploration target model for its Whundo massive sulphide base metals project points to a resource potential from 15 million tonnes to 23Mt, with between 0.9% and 1.4% copper. The model for the company’s project, near Karratha in WA’s Pilbara region, also indicates a zinc resource potential for the same tonnage within a grade range of 0.2% to 0.4% zinc.

Legend Mining has snapped up a 100 per cent interest in the Pinnacle Well gold and base metals project outside Leonora in Western Australia for a mere $50,000 cash. The company says its underexplored gem in the northern Goldfields marks Legend’s first foray beyond its nickel-copper stronghold in the Fraser Range and signals a strategic gallop into the booming gold space.

Dateline Resources boss Stephen Baghdadi has put his money where his mouth is by injecting $1.06 million into the ASX-listed explorer after exercising more than 53 million options. The move has lifted his stake to nearly 13 per cent and gives the company’s flagship Colosseum gold-rare earths project in California a major confidence boost as mining studies and rare earths exploration ramp up.

Singapore mining entity Bastion Mining has declared victory in its battle for control of ASX-listed Xanadu Mines, announcing its off-market takeover bid is now unconditional after Bastion secured a 55.65 per cent stake in the Mongolian-focused copper and gold explorer. Bastion quickly accumulated the required 50.1 per cent of shares necessary for a successful takeover, after offering 8c per Xanadu share.

Pilot Energy has locked in the purchase of the WA-based Cliff Head oil facility from former joint venture partner Triangle Energy and will repurpose the asset for carbon capture and storage. Pilot has acquired Triangle’s remaining 78.75 per cent interest in the oil field to assume full ownership of its onshore assets as well as all its offshore assets within WA jurisdiction.

St George Mining will start a reverse circulation drilling program within days at its Araxa niobium-rare earths project in Brazil, as the company builds local community and government support to develop Araxa into a globally significant project. The RC program will be followed by a 10,000m, 16-week diamond drilling campaign in July.

Aguia Resources is set to kick off surface exploration at its prospective Atocha gold-silver project in Colombia, in a bid to generate new drill targets at the site where high-grade gold and silver have already been identified. Previous rock chip sampling returned grades of 19.9g/t, 14.65g/t and 14.2g/t gold and silver assays up to 3480g/t.

The moment of truth is close for Great Southern Mining and Gold Fields Ltd, with the JV partners getting near to drilling a 2.4-km-wide porphyry anomaly in Queensland, unearthed by an IP geophysical survey that appears to scream “drill here”. The duo believe they may be onto a “chargeability anomaly” laden with sulphides housing a significant gold-copper deposit and will need the rods to start turning to prove up that theory.

Estrella Resources has struck 7.76m of manganese oxide just below surface at its Ira Miri project in Timor-Leste. The intercept confirms the company’s geological model and follows a successful site visit attended by East Timor’s Prime Minister. With drilling ramping up and assays pending, Estrella is accelerating exploration in the region, supported by enthusiastic community and government backing.

Dateline Resources has kicked off a major geophysical and geochemical survey blitz at its US Colosseum gold-rare earths project aimed at unlocking a dual gold and rare earths play from one of America’s most prospective geological corridors. A high-tech magnetotelluric study has been rolled out to collect detailed imaging data beneath the surface using fluctuations in the earth’s natural electrical and magnetic fields generated from solar winds and lightning to detect buried breccia pipes.

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week is… Amplia Therapeutics. The biotech beauty might just be onto a fabled golden bullet for pancreatic cancer. ArchTIS Limited surged on a pair of blockbuster defence cybersecurity contracts. And Vanadium Resources unveiled an early-stage direct shipping ore agreement with a Chinese global metals trader.

Novo Resources has given its high-grade Pilbara gold and gold-antimony prospects a solid nudge, including at Sherlock Crossing, where it defined a 1.5km-long soil antimony anomaly with coincident gold. The better than 15ppm anomaly, which peaked at 48.3ppm antimony, was identified in extended sampling south of Novo’s initial grid around the historic Clarke Mine, with peak gold of 85 parts per billion.

On the cusp of pouring its first gravity gold this month. Meeka Metals has also put together a $60 million share placement to expand its Murchison project operations in WA’s Mid West region. The company intends to combine proceeds from the placement with cash reserves to expand and accelerate its open pit operations by mobilising a third mining fleet and picking up the pace on its underground drilling.

Javelin Minerals will charge towards production at its 112,000-ounce Eureka gold project outside of Kalgoorlie, under a plan to fast-track mining at the existing open pit to recover 34,000 ounces gold by next year. Javelin says its latest strategy comes on the back of a recent round of successful drilling, sky-high gold prices and a ready-to-go mining lease.

Aspiring mineral producer Lithium Universe has snapped up the global rights to an innovative microwave technology designed by Macquarie University in Sydney, to simplify the separation of silicon and valuable metals in solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels. The company has entered a binding agreement to acquire Macquarie-owned New Age Minerals, which holds the exclusive licensing agreement to use and commercialise the new-age recycling technology.

Horizon Minerals has opened the cash floodgates from mining and processing gold-bearing ore from the company’s two cash-generating mines, under separate toll treating arrangements in WA’s renowned Goldfields region. Under its watchful eye, Horizon has witnessed a stream of cash pouring through its doors as the hauling and processing of ore achieves a continuous steady state.

Estrella Resources has deployed the heavy-duty diamond rig to build on a recent high-grade massive manganese discovery at its Ira Miri prospect in Timor-Leste. The company says it has uncovered further significant new supergene manganese outcrop at the project some 350m north of its discovery hole and believes it to be a direct continuation of the discovery.

Empire Energy Group – under its new name Beetaloo Energy Australia - has kick-started hydraulic stimulation activities at the company’s 3.3km-long Carpentaria-5H horizontal well in the Northern Territory’s massive Beetaloo Basin. The company plans to run more than 60 stimulation stages along the longest horizontal well in the Beetaloo sub-basin and expects the program to take four weeks.

The takeover battle for ASX and Toronto-listed Xanadu Mines has intensified after Chinese giant Zijin Mining, a 15.7 per cent shareholder and JV partner in the company’s Mongolian Kharmagtai copper and gold project, accepted Bastion Mining’s 8c-a-share offer. Zijin’s backing has boosted Bastion’s stake in Xanadu to 29.67 per cent, combining its existing 12.5 per cent holding with recent acceptances and puts it in a strong position to take control.

Aguia Resources has locked in a $4 million loan from a government-owned Brazilian bank to refurbish its leased processing plant and kick-start mining operations at the company’s Tres Estradas phosphate project. The 20-year loan will cover an initial $118,000 capital expenditure required to kick-off mining activities and fund the estimated $1.97M needed to bring the plant up to speed to process an expected 100,000 tonnes annually.

Aurum Resources’ Boundiali gold project in Cote d'Ivoire keeps on keeping on, with its latest results including a 66m run assaying 1.07g/t gold from 33m at its BDT1 deposit on the key gold trend in its BD ground. That intercept includes 21.73m assaying 1.01g/t gold from 39m and 29m going 1.46g/t gold from 69m. The latest holes have some exceptionally long runs showing persistent gold traces.

Javelin Minerals has zeroed in on a suite of highly prospective, undercover gold and copper targets at its Coogee West project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, setting the stage for high-impact drilling in the September quarter. The company’s latest geophysical review, run by Core Geophysics, has peeled back the layers at Coogee West to reveal a compelling treasure map of five high-priority anomalies lurking beneath shallow alluvial cover.

Octava Minerals has received promising early-stage results from CSIRO tests of a low-cost bioleaching process of ore samples from its Byro rare earths and lithium project in WA’s Gascoyne region. The stage one testwork focused on identifying, enriching and adapting microorganisms that can process the Byro ore. Stage two tests are underway to see which adapted cultures best extract critical and battery metals from the project’s polymetallic samples.