The Pre-Start

Southern Cross shared assyas from 4 diamond holes, with a hit of 3.1m at 41.8g/t AuEq (22.7g/t Au, 8.0% Sb) from 690m (SX2)
Santana shared step out drilling results from its RAS depost, with hits including 20m at 8.2g/t from 396m raising confidence in the high-grade core (HG1) (SMI)
Metro Mining shipped 750kwmt in August (upn 6% year on year), with year-to-date shipments of 3.4mwmt leaving it on track for CY25 guidance (MMI)
Astral released gold intersections beneath the deposit at Spargoville, with the 76-hole program being the first done since the Maximas transaction (AAR)
New Murchison has commenced production at Crown Prince (NMG) Up 12%
Gorilla extneded its Lakeview discovery a furth 150m down-dip, with results such as 6m at 10.3g/t from 246m on the main King Kong structure (GG8)
Dreadnought shared assays from Star of Mangaroon, with a headline hit of 15m at 20.5g/t from surface, amongst 14 infill assays (DRE)
Torque shared the result of what it called an unexpected gold zone outside its define DHEM conductors, hitting 25m at 3.9g/t from 290m (TOR)
Ardea updated the timeline for its DFS completion, which is now expected in mid-1H 2026, due to a number of minor delays (ARL)
Havilah shared hard rock uranium assays from its Johnson Dam project, with a hit of 4m of 3,643ppm U₃O₈ (HAV)
Kaiser Reef have halted production at the A1 gold mine following a strategic review (KAU)
A new presentations was shared by Regis

High Grade It

Tether, the world’s biggest stablecoin company, has held talks about investing in gold mining, seeking to deploy its vast crypto profits into “natural bitcoin” (FT)
Rio could be forced to make costly investments in processing or steelmaking in Guinea with the govt pushing back on miners exporting iron ore (AFR)
Rio has cut the planned footprint of its Winu project by 14k hectares to protect Aboriginal heritage sites & a rare night parrot habitat (Australian)
Manufacturing giants have warned that Australia's sovereign industrial capability faces major issues unless the govt intervenes to lower energy costs (Australian)
Trade anxiety, geopolitics & threats to central bank’s independence have driven investors to gold, sparking the Arca Index to hit all time highs (Bloomberg)
A renaissance for nuclear energy threatens to create a shortfall in the supply of uranium, with the WNA urging producers to step up efforts to find new sources (FT) Is this really the case…? And what would be the incentive?
Mining giants risk wasting $30B by rejecting shared green energy in the Pilbara, repeating their costly rail duplication, a federal finance body warned (Australian)

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Wheelin’ n Dealin’

New Found Gold is acquiring Maritime Resources in a deal valued at ~C$292m that would create a multi-asset gold producer in central Newfoundland (NM)
Boab Metals has extended its option to consolidate the 25% interest in Sorby Hills it doesn’t currently own out to Dec 31, 2025 (BML)
First Graphene and Hazer have entered an MoU to explore material processing and carbon-based product synergies (FGR)

Rattlin’ the Tin

West Wits received investment commitee aproved terms for an initial US$12.5m loan from Nebari (WWI) Up 20%
Coda Minerals launched a $8m underwritten entitlement offer (COD)

Word on the Decline

While we got some pushback for running the South32 Cannington divestment theory last week, we are also quite a lot more confident that it is being progressed than we were last week…

Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.

In the Weeds

Tony Ottaviano on Finding the Front
Kiwi, bro? The ‘most Australian’ flag faux pas (AFR’s Rear Window) Guinea’s planning minister mishap at ADU
The New Gold Rush: Why Australia’s Miners Say This Time Is Different (Bloomberg YouTube)
Rinehart’s $250m Perth palace in project purgatory (AFR)