The Pre-Start
Northern Star reported underlying free cash flow of $536m (up 16%), leaving the balance sheet poised with a net cash position of $1B. It’ll pay out 30cps via a dividend (NST)
Genesis’s results showed a cash & bullion build of $395m, before its Laverton deal, $100m debt drawdown & $155m in investments & costs. FY26 guided to 260-290koz at 2,500-2,700/oz + ~$200m in growth & exploration spend (GMD) Production higher than expected, costs also high on inflation & royalties
Whitehaven reported underlying EBITDA of $1.4B, and $319m in profit. Net debt stood at $0.6B, while it paid a 6cps dividend, while intending to spend the same amount $48m) to buy back shares (WHC)
Collective Mining shared a hit of 184m at 3g/t AuEq from 37 at Apollo (CNL.TO)
St Barbara’s full year numbers saw it end the FY with $67m in unrestricted cash plus listed investments of $25m, following a $52m loss (SBM)
SQM posted EBITDA of US$308m, marginally below analyst expectations, with the company expecting 10% growth in lithium volumes this year (SQM.N)
Meteoric is in a trading halt pending an announcement relating to its environmental license process (MEI)
Gorilla claimed a discovery at Happy Jack, with a standout hit of 21m at 11.6g/t from 23m from the first drilling of the prospect (GG8)
Rox shared a metallurgical update, with gold recovery of 94-95.8% achieved by Albion oxidative leaching on concentrate samples from Youanmi (RXL)
Dateline has appointed GR Engineering to lead the Colosseum BFS (DTR)
High Grade It
BHP & Rio’s bosses have held talks with Trump over the Resolution Copper project that is facing opposition from environmentalists and Native American tribes (Australian)
Tianqi chief Frank Ha said he’s open to acquiring IGO’s stake in the flailing Kwinana lithium refinery & has no plans of shutting down the asset (BN)
Australia is key to Donald Trump’s goals of weaning the US off cheap Chinese critical minerals, Australia’s envoy in Washington, Kevin Rudd, has said (West)
Iluka CEO Tom O’Leary said the entire rare earths industry can expect higher prices after last month’s pledge by the US to provide a “floor price” to MP (AFR)
Northern Star has rewarded investors with a 37% dividend increase, as the soaring price of bullion pushed profits to $1.34B (AFR)
Whitehaven Coal said its profit declined by more than half in fiscal 2025, hurt by lower realised prices and higher costs of sales (Reuters)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Anglo American will seek damages for ‘wrongful termination’ from US coal group Peabody following its decision to scrap the $5.8B QLD coal deal (Australian)
Ausgold has acquired a parcel of freehold land for $35m which covers a portion of its Katanning gold project, bringing an end to a 2-year legal case (AUC)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Word on the Decline
So to add a little more intel to the Tropicana speculation from yesterday….
We hear that AngloGold Ashanti is either in or out of Australia in its entirety. And we’ve written in the past about the likelihood of Sunrise Dam being in play
So if Anglo goes the way of selling the Aus portfolio, who else will bid for Trop?
The bidding field knows the pre-emptive right is there, so what’s the point when you know Regis will exercise it at almost any price. And that’s why yesterday’s Street Talk article felt like a trial balloon
So here’s where things could get interesting… What if Regis found a way to lift their stake in Trop without needing to raise equity? Think an international strategic taking a minority stake in the JV…
Everyone is expecting an equity raise if Regis finds a way to get the deal over the line.. And they’re probably right to assume that. But imagine if they don’t…
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In the Weeds
Regal Partners is raising $94m for its Resources Royalties Fund, to fund the purchase of a royalty over the Malabar’s Maxwell coal mine (AFR)
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Devil’s in the Detail
We got excited reading about Ausgold’s “transformative” land acquisition - hoping this was the end to the holdout with the farmers once and for all….
But then we scrolled to the last page where an old-fashioned map reminded us to temper our excitement… The standoff continues with at least one other freehold owner…
Catch up on our latest episode
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Lithium’s True Inflection Point (YJ Lee)
“Lithium demand is exploding – and consensus has it wrong”
YJ Lee, fund manager at Arcane Capital, joined us to explain why the market is underestimating the real driver of lithium prices: demand.