The Pre-Start
NEM ($168B) - Newmont said processing at Cadia is returning to normal
WAF ($4.0B) - West African entered a halt pending a Burkina Faso gov’t decree on its potential acquisition of an additional 25% of Kiaka
LIN ($1.7B) - Lindian locked in a 12‑month fixed‑price diesel supply of 500kl at US$2.83/litre, covering construction and commissioning
VUL ($1.7B) - Vulcan awarded a €40m supply framework to Siemens as Main Automation Contractor for Lionheart
SBM ($865m) - St Barbara outlined an outlook to lift attributable gold output to 191koz in FY30, funding US$315m across New Simberi (40%), the Touquoy restart and 15-Mile from cash/bullion & cash flow, while New Simberi’s ramp-up is ~6 months later than the FS
BMC ($706m) - BMC reported 25.1m at 180 g/t Ag, 9.7% Zn, 1 g/t Au, 0.3% Cu, 3.4% Pb from 327m at Krakatoa outside the ABM reserve
AUC ($564m) - Ausgold pushed key permits and FID for Katanning to Q4 2026 after the EPA requested additional studies
BTR ($472m) - Brightstar completed the final Genesis OPA campaign (7.9koz), generating $53m revenue and clearing its working capital facility; with the OPA ended, Fish has moved to C&M, and Second Fortune will follow
29M ($420m) - 29Metals annual report showed $567m revenue and $24m NPAT in 2025, while keeping Gossan Valley on track for first ore by end-2026
AAR ($342m) - Astral ended the quarter with $73m cash (-$3m QoQ) and targets finalising a Think Big JV in the June quarter
BGD ($240m) - Barton returned 10m at 17.7 g/t gold from 40m at Challenger
MPK ($157m) - Many Peaks reported a maiden 26.7Mt at 1.5 g/t gold (1.3Moz) MRE at Ouarigue, Ferk, with a PFS underway targeting Q4
ASN ($87m) - Anson reported 8.8% effective porosity from historical core at Floy Unit 1 in the Green River lithium project, 46% above the 6% used in its MRE, to inform an MRE update and processing design
ENX ($80m) - Enegex mapped a 500m artisanal zone at the AW1 prospect in Cote d'Ivoire, with pit samples up to 7.83 g/t gold
CRS ($68m) - Caprice's AC drilling at Island returned 4m at 1.11 g/t gold at Trig Gully
WCE ($65m) - West Coast Silver is in a halt pending MRE for the Elizabeth Hill project
RDM ($58m) - Red Metal's maiden four-hole program at Pulkarrimarra copper-gold returned no significant assays
NMR ($55m) - Native Mineral Resources reported 5.5m at 14.2 g/t gold from 21.6m at Blackjack
IMA ($50m) - Image reported initial met sighter results at Erayinia King with 90%+ cyanide bottle‑roll gold extraction and 40%+ GRG
CAV ($45m) - Carnavale said the Kookynie gold project BFS remains on track for Q3 with an MRE update underway to support reserve estimation, underpinned by 7m at 28.3 g/t gold from 71m
UM1 ($36m) - Unity Metals discovered stacked gold zones at Rohav Mountain within the Ngot project, highlighted by 23m at 0.9 g/t gold from 120m
High Grade It
UAE officials told the US that if they run short of dollars, they may be forced to use Chinese yuan or other countries’ currencies for oil sales (WSJ)
Vitol told banks it made a first-quarter profit of ~US$2B, as the world’s top energy trader moves to reassure lenders despite war losses (Bloomberg)
Copper price within sight of all-time high as Chinese smelters hit record activity (Reuters)
After long avoiding politics, commodity traders are cozying up to Trump (Bloomberg)
Implats considers reopening Hartley Complex in Zimbabwe after BHP's $585m misadventure (MiningMX)
Gina Rinehart plans new iron ore mine at Mulga Downs station (Australian)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Dataroom has claimed Stanmore Coal faces prospect of $1.5B raising if it wins Anglo American Queensland coal bid (Australian) shortlist includes BUMA and Dilmar
Government-backed private equity from North America and Europe is in the mix for strategic equity in Tharisa’s Karo project (MiningMX)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Gagan Gupta’s Eagle Eye has struck a US$120m deal with Cora Gold to support the development of the Sanankoro gold project in southern Mali (Bloomberg)
La Mancha will invest C$50m into Greenheart Gold to increase its stake to 19.9% of the Guyanan explorer (La Mancha) when Altair?
Lumina Metals and Sitka Foundation seek C$344m in Toronto IPO, valuing it at C$1.3B (Mining.com)
Former BHP CFO Peter Beaven has raised $12m for a metals recycling plant in the Hunter Valley (AFR)
MEI ($476m) - Meteoric is in a trading halt pending a capital raise
NMT ($39m) - Neometals raised $8m at $0.04 via a placement
Word on the Decline
If it’s not already clear, the Dataroom article on a potential Stanmore equity raise looks like a classic scare plant, almost certainly fed to BC by advisers working for a rival bidder.
These assets will not fetch $5B... Contingent consideration will do the heavy lifting. And you don’t need to raise equity for that.
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In the Weeds
Why is There an M&A Premium at All? (Byrne Hobart)
The sins of the father: Gina Rinehart’s bitter victory (AFR)
Iran war’s sulfurous fallout spreads to copper and nickel (Reuters) adding US$4k/t to Ni price
AMEC survey: 33% of WA miners halt exploration due to high diesel costs (The West)
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Ownership & Oversight
WA1 ($1.1B) - Helikon became a substantial holder in WA1 after buying $64m of shares on-market
SLS ($212m) - Paradice cut its Solstice stake to 7.8% (from 8.8%)
TKM ($160m) - Trek Metals Chair Tony Leibowitz resigned effective 30 April, with Andrew Reece to assume the chair role
GBR ($115m) - Great Boulder subscribed $216k in Cosmo Metals' rights issue and now holds 11.9% (down from 14%)
AAM ($63m) - Condire lifted its stake in AuMega to 19.9% via the placement for C$7.6m; separately, Franklin and Nokomis became substantial holders