The Pre-Start
ORI ($10.1B) - Orica expects first half earnings slightly above last year and has launched a cost-out program targeting >$100m annualised savings, but flagged $45–60m in H1 significant items and lower FY26 cashflow
WGX ($5.9B) - Westgold approved FID to expand the Higginsville processing hub from 1.6Mtpa to 2.6Mtpa for $145m, aiming for ~60kozpa extra gold and $34/t processing costs, payback ~21 months at A$4.9k/oz, with expanded production from mid FY28 - capex increased from 2025 Scoping Study range $60–$124m to $145m
PNR ($1.9B) - Pantoro will develop a 3rd underground mine at Norseman from early FY27, with O’Briens Reef targeting first ore in the Dec 2026 Q and Crown South in Mar 2027
DVP ($1.5B) - Develop reported $171m revenue and $2m NPAT for H1, closed with net cash $51m, and said Woodlawn remains on track to nameplate in the March Q, with Sulphur Springs FID in June
ARU ($1.1B) - Arafura advanced readiness at Nolans with compensation for pastoral leaseholders, purchase of a 200+ room camp for ~$7m, and partnering with Clean TeQ to review HRE separation options
MTM ($519m) - Metallium advanced commissioning at its Gator Point Texas campus, aiming to demonstrate 3 FJH reactors in parallel by June
LOT ($451m) - Lotus said Kayelekera is ramping with 80% utilisation in Feb (65% milling, 82% recovery), acid plant cold commissioning underway, targeting nameplate and first converter‑accepted U₃O₈ shipment in Q2 CY26
TRE ($343m) - Toubani approved FID for Kobada, with construction commenced, key permits and an investment protocol with Mali in place, first gold Q3 CY27
HRZ ($262m) - Horizon Minerals completed mining and toll treatment at Phillips Find (14koz gold), received $10m JV cash, closed with $114m cash (excludes $120m T2 pending 7 Apr approval)
NVX ($258m) - NOVONIX entered an exclusive access agreement to assess purchasing 17.5 acres adjacent to its Riverside Chattanooga facility for US$26m
VMM ($221m) - Viridis' Colossus rare earths project was selected for Brazil’s government-backed Climate & Ecological Transformation Investment Platform
AT4 ($206m) - American Tungsten & Antimony reported 11m at 3.1% Sb from 26m (incl. 2.6m at 12.5% Sb) from maiden drilling at Little Emma
ETM ($200m) - Energy Transition Minerals was ordered to pay €3m to Denmark & Greenland, with substantive licence rights issues now moving to their courts
VTM ($169m) - Victory reported 5m at 3,312 ppm TREO from 15m at North Stanmore, from a 63-hole AC infill program
MAT ($90m) - Matsa produced and sold 4.1koz gold from Devon Pit in Campaign 2 for $29m, ending with $19m cash; Campaign 3 processing starts 28 May
WGR ($56m) - Western Gold commenced mobilisation at the Gold Duke gold project with SSH Mining for pre‑mining works, with approvals and a toll milling agreement with Wiluna Mining in place
FEG ($55m) - Far East Gold reported 8.6m at 2.1 g/t gold at Sua within the Idenburg gold project, with an updated MRE pending
KCC ($49m) - Kincora expanded the Cowal East tenure by 40% to 100km²
NMT ($48m) - Neometals updated the Ironclad MRE to 0.3Mt at 1.6 g/t gold for 15koz (86% Indicated) at the Barrambie gold project
GA8 ($35m) - GoldArc Resources reported AC assays of 1m at 7.2 g/t gold from 46m at Whistler within Leonora South
AUZ ($31m) - Australian Mines reported 29m at 3.22 g/t gold from 161m at Boa Vista, extending mineralisation down-dip and along strike, with the hole ending in mineralisation
OZM ($27m) - OzAurum received environmental approval for Stage 1 open pit and heap leach at Mulgabbie North gold, enabling final permitting
AGR ($27m) - Aguia produced 470g gold at 4 g/t in February at Santa Barbara
High Grade It
Gold steadied at US$5,135/oz, after the US dollar retreated on comments by Donald Trump that the Iran war could be ending soon (Bloomberg)
Glencore has warned one of the biggest oil price surges on record will trigger rationing and demand destruction (Australian) US$130/b is the crunch point
Trump said that the US is waiving certain oil-related sanctions as a way to ensure adequate oil supply and lower prices (Reuters)
CATL’s full-year profit surged 42% as the company boosted overseas sales and leveraged its dominance in the energy-storage industry (Bloomberg)
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said diesel and petrol supply remains secure, amid fears of a crunch and a major diesel spike (Australian)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Smackover Lithium, a JV between Standard Lithium and Norway’s Equinor, will supply Trafigura with 8kt a year of lithium carbonate over a 10-year period (Mining.com)
California lithium and power developer Controlled Thermal Resources will go public on the Nasdaq through a US$4.7B SPAC transaction (Reuters)
A private resources company led by the brother of federal senator Matt Canavan has bought the Phosphate Hill fertiliser plant from Dyno Nobel for $1 (AFR) plus up to $100m deferred. But still $1!
Dataroom has reported that the oil price surge has sparked a Taroom Trough M&A race as LNG giants eye expansion (Australian)
ERM ($216m) - Emmerson will be acquired by Pan African Resources via an all‑scrip scheme offering 0.1493 Pan African CDIs per share ($0.45), valuing Emmerson at $311m with support statements from Noontide (19.1%) and TA Private Capital (6.9%)
Rattlin’ the Tin
No one is launching a cap raise today. Volatility kills the capital flow!
Word on the Decline
Greatland Gold Presentation this morning
We’ve written in this column several times about the “regional opportunities” for Greatland. And while we believe their organic exploration is ripe, this column is about deal speculation after all…
Of the opportunities, Antipa gets the most airtime. We think Cyprium is more desirable to GGP than most want to entertain. But last week we heard another contender that we had to stop and scratch our heads to… Winu
We bawked because we remembered the price tag Sumitomo paid for their 30% (headline US$400m but only US$195m upfront). But just a week ago Greatland had a $10B market cap, so it really isn’t inconceivable any more.
Winu is poised as a standalone 10-15Mtpa future mine thanks to its 741 Mt at 0.45% CuEq resource.
That volume goes a long way towards filling both trains at Telfer for a long time. But it is ~130km+ by the crow’s eye.
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In the Weeds
Costs crunch coming for miners (Dryblower)
Australia built its wealth on iron ore. Now China holds the cards (AFR View)
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher’s $1m mistake (AFR Rear Window) Sold $5m of stock the day before the Iran crisis began
Copper charts to watch as prices slip below $13,000/t (ING)
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Today’s Top Tweet
Ownership & Oversight
WIA ($848m) - Wia Gold appointed David Edwards as CFO
A1G ($517m) - Weiss AM bought $5.7m of African Gold shares on-market, lifting its stake to 6.2%
29M ($673m) - 29Metals director Ashish Gupta bought $87k of shares on-market at $0.38–0.40
SGQ ($477m) - St George appointed Carla Grasso Principal Geologist
WTM ($237m) - 1832 bought $2.6m of Waratah shares, lifting its stake to 9.1%
Devil’s in the Detail
Our rule-of-thumb with most announcements: read them back to front. The last paragraph is often the most important. And today’s Lotus announcement fits that spec.
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