Exploration Risks and Rewards: Australian Mines’ Capital Raise Fuels Ambitious 2026 Plans

Strong Gold Intercepts at Boa Vista

Australian Mines Limited has delivered promising results from its diamond drilling program at the Boa Vista Gold Project in Brazil’s prolific Tapajós Gold Province. The highlight drill hole VGADD0002 returned an impressive 160.8 gram-metres, marking the second-highest intercept recorded at the site to date. This result confirms the presence of broad, continuous gold mineralisation within the interpreted mineralised envelope at the VG1 prospect, which hosts a historic inferred resource of 336,000 ounces of gold.

The drilling campaign aims to delineate the geometry and continuity of the mineralised system, with a focus on extending mineralisation along strike and at depth, as well as targeting high-grade structures. Visible gold observed in core samples adds qualitative confidence to the assay results, although further assays are pending.

Advancing Critical Minerals Exploration at Flemington

In New South Wales, Australian Mines has commenced a targeted reverse circulation drilling program at the Flemington Scandium-Nickel-Cobalt Project. This program is designed to test a large, underexplored geophysical anomaly adjacent to the existing high-grade scandium resource. The Flemington project already boasts one of the world’s highest-grade scandium resources, and the upcoming drilling results, along with an updated scoping study by SRK Consulting, are expected to refine the project’s economic potential.

Assay results from this program are awaited, with a second exploration phase planned for February 2026. The company is also actively seeking financial and joint venture partners to advance Flemington’s development.

Diversified Exploration Portfolio and Strategic Funding

Beyond gold and scandium, Australian Mines continues to explore rare earth elements, lithium, tin, and tantalum at its Resende and Jequie projects in Brazil. Recent soil sampling and auger drilling have identified priority target areas with encouraging rare earth element concentrations, setting the stage for upcoming diamond drilling and metallurgical test work.

Meanwhile, the Sconi Battery Minerals Project in Queensland remains strategically positioned despite subdued nickel and cobalt prices. The project benefits from granted mining leases and ongoing discussions with potential European partners for offtake and development support.

To underpin these exploration activities, Australian Mines successfully completed a $4 million strategic placement at $0.02 per share. The capital raise will fund upscaled drilling programs at Boa Vista and Flemington, as well as provide working capital. The company closed the quarter with a healthy cash balance of approximately $4.8 million.

Innovations in Hydrogen Storage

Complementing its mining activities, Australian Mines’ Metal Hydride (MH-May24) technology underwent independent testing by the US Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Materials Advanced Research Consortium. The results confirmed the material’s hydrogen absorption and desorption capabilities, supporting its potential for long-term energy storage applications. Further evaluations and partner engagements are planned to develop pilot modules.