The Pre-Start
CSC ($13.8B) - Capstone Q4 saw it produce 58kt Cu at C1 cash costs of US$2.31/lb, generating record adjusted EBITDA of US$308m. Net debt stands at US$780m. 2026 guidance is for 200-230kt at C1 costs of US$2.45-2.75/lb - Down 5%
WA1 ($1.3B) - WA1 has received all data for an updated MRE at Luni as drilling returned multiple high‑grade intersections, including 93.1m at 2.1% Nb₂O₅
AUC ($614m) - Ausgold expanded Katanning Gold project drilling to 54km and mobilised a 5th rig after results, highlighted by 14m at 3.91 g/t gold
SGQ ($610m) - St George reported an updated Araxá MRE of 71Mt at 4.06% TREO and 0.62% Nb₂O₅, a 75% increase with M&I up 218% to 29.5Mt
BOC ($333m) - Bougainville Copper reported a net loss of $6m. ABG now controls ~72.9% and CEO Johnny Patterson Auna passed away
NTU ($286m) - Northern Minerals said Vastness withdrew its section 249D requisition, EGM cancelled and Court ordered AGM may be held on or before 30 June 2026 to allow FIRB more time
PC2 ($266m) - PC Gold extended the Main Zone 80m south at Spring Hill, intercepting 14.9m at 3.84 g/t gold from 143m, within existing pit shell
AEU ($180m) - Atomic Eagle reported an MRE of 86Mt at 309ppm U₃O₈ (58.8 Mlbs) at Muntanga, a 24% increase after its maiden drilling campaign
VTM ($179m) - Victory reported first-pass flotation at North Stanmore upgraded a 1,251 ppm TREO feed to a peak 5.9% TREO concentrate (48x), delivering ~81.5% recovery and 38% HREO/TREO
MMA ($135m) - Maronan was granted a mineral development licence for the Maronan Silver project, enabling a boxcut and exploration decline
CNB ($130m) - Carnaby reported 18m at 5% CuEq from 115m at Trek 2, outside the MRE, opening the deposit northwards
SLS ($116m) - Solstice reported a new high-grade zone at Nanadie, returning 106m at 0.86% copper, 0.23 g/t gold from 201m to EOH
LNQ ($111m) - LinQ reported 220m at 0.79% CuEq from 99m at Mandamah, confirming continuity of a shallow higher-grade copper-gold core
KSN ($97m) - Kingston produced 5.4koz gold and 53koz silver for the half, reporting revenue of $35m and NPAT of $34.5m, after selling Misima
OSM ($83m) - Osmond's preliminary testwork at Orión EU Critical Minerals delivered ~97.4% zircon liberation, producing ~50.2% ZrO₂ concentrate at ~70% recovery, and WHIMS flotation yielded ~19.4% TREO monazite at ~76% recovery
BCM ($76m) - Brazilian Critical Minerals' 49-hole infill auger program at Ema confirmed lateral continuity with thick MREO intercepts across ~82 km², supporting an H1 MRE update
EV8 ($55m) - Everlast received formal demarcation and government handover of the Kurigram site, authorising exploration
VKA ($46m) - Viking's gravity sighter at Linka upgraded 1.4% WO₃ feed to 22.9% concentrate (63.7% recovery)
RIM ($44m) - Rimfire located and resampled historic diamond drill core at the Windy Ridge prospect to validate historic gold intercepts
GA8 ($39m) - GoldArc's maiden RC at Leonora South identified new discoveries at Woodpecker, Whistler and Niagara West, highlighted by 2m at 12.9 g/t Au from 37m
LM1 ($22m) - Leeuwin's step-out RC drilling at Evanston extended shallow mineralisation supporting resource growth, with hits including 14m at 1.72 g/t
High Grade It
Oil faces its biggest threat in 50 years as Iran crisis disrupts Hormuz (AFR)
Rio approved a US$473m mine expansion at its Richards Bay Minerals unit (Reuters) China Harbour Engineering appointed contractor
Lynas shares rally on refinery licence deal with Malaysia (AFR)
Gas prices soar as Iranian attacks shut down Qatari production (FT) Europe & Asia prices +30%
The Iran conflict caused Rotterdam coal prices to surge 13% to $119.5/t, a 52-week high, boosting coal stocks (Barrons) NEWC +9%
Rio has suspended negotiations with Japanese clients over Q2 aluminium supply due to the Iran conflict (Bloomberg)
BYD sales fell by their biggest amount in 5 years as the pivot to export markets failed to offset slowing growth at home (FT)
Cameco signed a C$2.6B uranium supply deal with India to supply 22mlb of the reactor fuel from 2027 through 2035 (Bloomberg)
BHP chair Ross McEwan said Trump’s for business, but he is not too sure if it has been better or worse (AFR)
Tossing up adding property to your portfolio? Exceed Capital has a suite of high-quality commercial property trusts paying monthly distributions, like the brand new SP property trust.
HBM.TO (C$14.5B) - Hudbay will acquire Arizona Sonoran to create a Southern Arizonan copper hub, adding the Cactus project to HBM’s assets. The scrip deal will pay 0.242 per ASCU share (30% premium), implying a C$1.5B value
LIN ($887m) - Lindian and RA Group will acquire 100% of the operating SARECO MREC hydromet plant in Kazakhstan for US$15m via a new JV (LIN 51%), with US$3m on DD completion and US$12m deferred until 3 months of commercial MREC production - will process ~12.5ktpa Kangankunde monazite… a cracking deal… geddit. Stock up 25%
AE.V (C$228m) - Eric Sprott became American Eagle Gold’s 3rd strategic investor, after Teck & S32, taking a 9.9% stake for C$23m - Up 94% in 5 days
MKR ($198m) - Manuka secured a US$30m senior secured facility with Nebari and issued 36m warrants at $0.20 to refinance debt and fund Wonawinta silver and Canbelego gold
IVR ($238m) - Investigator raised $55m at $0.086 per share (28.3% discount) to bring forward first silver production at the Paris project
PHOS.CN (C$158m) - First Phosphate secured conditional approval for up to C$16.7m in federal funding to validate its LFP-grade phosphate concentrate
ARL ($143m) - Ardea raised $5m via placement at $0.60 (11.8% discount) and launched a $2m SPP
Word on the Decline
If you thought Wheaton’s US$4.3B silver stream on Antamina to BHP was something… we hear that things are just getting started in the streaming space. Some of the term sheets being thrown around are astonishing.
If you were wondering how the next wave of copper mines find the capital required to develop: this is it
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Trader Ferg on Market Huddle (YouTube)
Muddy Waters founder, Carsen Block is long junior mining (Resource Insider)
Rick Rule Selling Oil Stocks When Market Frenzy Hits (YouTube)
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Devil’s in the Detail
Three pages of key terms for the US$30m debt facility with Nebarri… With a $220m market cap, Manuka should just fund with equity 🤷

It’s not too late. Anyone else remember when Meeka was going to partially debt fund too?
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