Going-concern warning shadows Blackstone’s Mankayan pre-feasibility study

Auditor flags funding uncertainty

Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX:BSX) has put an uncomfortable qualification around its push to advance the Mankayan Copper-Gold Project, with auditor BDO warning of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The warning does not modify BDO’s audit opinion, but it puts the company’s funding position at the centre of the FY2026 annual report. Blackstone held $13.74 million in cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2026, up sharply from $582,894 a year earlier, after a $22.6 million placement and a $217,000 share purchase plan. Yet operating activities consumed $8.93 million during the year, compared with $5.84 million in FY2025.

Loss widens as option costs rise

The loss attributable to Blackstone shareholders widened to $14.56 million from $9.72 million. The broader group loss was $15.51 million, including a $2.12 million loss from discontinued Vietnam operations and a $1.74 million impairment of the Gold Bridge asset in Canada.

Share-based payment expense was a major contributor, rising to $5.38 million from $557,014. The company issued 202.25 million options during the year and finished with 267.71 million options outstanding, although most remain out of the money at exercise prices ranging from nil to 30 cents. Blackstone’s shares closed at 3.7 cents on 29 September, according to the annual report.

Mankayan becomes the central test

Blackstone’s stated priority is now the Mankayan project in the Philippines, where it is progressing a pre-feasibility study. A local cease-and-desist order affecting exploration was lifted in April 2026, allowing its affiliate Crescent Mining & Development Corporation to restart metallurgical testing, prepare for further diamond drilling and continue technical work.

The company says the PFS will draw on geotechnical and metallurgical studies, lidar work and newly appointed consultants. It also says further engagement with local communities and government units remains necessary to establish a harmonious exploration environment. That combination of technical progress and permitting or community exposure leaves the PFS as both the principal operational milestone and the key test of whether the cash balance can be converted into a clearer development pathway.

Ta Khoa transfer awaits Vietnamese registration

In Vietnam, Blackstone is attempting to turn its Ta Khoa Nickel Project into a lower-cost holding while retaining exposure to a future development. Under the staged agreement with Xuan Loc Tho Co. Ltd, transfer documentation has been executed for XLT to acquire a 55% interest in Ban Phuc Nickel Mines. Completion still requires processing and registration by Vietnamese government authorities.

If completed, Blackstone says it will retain a 44.64% interest in Ban Phuc Nickel Mines and be free carried through to the granting of a construction licence. The annual report also makes clear that no new company for the proposed Ta Khoa refinery had been established by the reporting date, leaving the refinery concept less advanced than the ownership transfer itself.

Restated accounts add another layer of scrutiny

The report also restates the FY2025 comparatives after Blackstone concluded that the original accounting for the IDM International acquisition did not properly recognise non-controlling interests or foreign-currency treatment. The adjustment increased the recorded exploration and evaluation asset by $39.93 million and lifted non-controlling interest by $40.06 million at 30 June 2025, without changing the prior-year profit and loss statement.

Blackstone says the errors arose from isolated judgements at the time of the acquisition and do not reflect a broader deficiency in its accounting processes or controls. For shareholders, the more immediate issue is whether the company can keep funding Mankayan exploration at the present pace without returning to the market before the PFS produces a sufficiently investable result.