Killi Resources has emerged from FY2026 with $14.68 million in cash and a far larger strategic ambition, centred on its proposed 80% acquisition of the Lodestone Iron Ore Project. The company remains loss-making and the transaction was still conditional at year-end, but a 20,000-metre drilling campaign is now targeting rapid resource growth.
- $14.68 million cash balance at 30 June 2026
- Proposed 80% Lodestone acquisition valued at $20.4 million in shares
- Lodestone inferred resource of 110Mt at 69% Fe concentrate
- 20,000-metre RC and diamond drilling campaign underway
- FY2026 net loss narrowed to $1.82 million
Killi Resources Limited (ASX:KLI) is trying to change the shape of its business. The mineral explorer finished the 2026 financial year with $14.68 million in cash, but its defining move was a proposed 80% acquisition of the Lodestone Iron Ore Project in Western Australia, a project carrying an inferred resource of 110 million tonnes and a stated pathway towards a 68-70% iron concentrate.
Lodestone drives the portfolio reset
The Lodestone transaction would see Killi issue 92.73 million shares valued at $20.4 million, alongside a 2.5% gross revenue royalty. The vendors would retain 20% of the project and remain free-carried until a final investment decision. At 30 June, however, the deal was still subject to shareholder approval and had not been recognised in the financial statements.
That distinction matters. The balance sheet reported at year-end does not include the acquisition, while the project itself is already being advanced through a 20,000-metre reverse circulation and diamond drilling program. The campaign is designed to expand and upgrade the existing inferred resource, test parallel and proximal mineralisation, sample roughly 15 kilometres of the 25-kilometre banded iron formation trend, and generate material for metallurgical and engineering studies.
Cash provides room for exploration
Killi’s cash balance rose from $1.51 million to $14.68 million during the year, helped by $14.99 million of share issue proceeds before $674,212 in issue costs. Net assets increased to $15.97 million from $3.16 million, while working capital reached $14.59 million. The company also disclosed a further post-year-end placement of 19.11 million shares at $0.22, raising approximately $4.2 million.
The improvement came with a familiar exploration-company caveat: Killi still recorded a net loss of $1.82 million, although that was narrower than the $2.30 million loss in FY2025. Operating cash outflow was $1.71 million, and the directors’ going-concern assessment assumes further capital will be raised to meet commitments and working-capital requirements over the following 12 months.
Copper and gold targets remain active
Lodestone is not the only drill story. At the 100%-owned Mt Rawdon West project in Queensland, Killi has prioritised the King Louie breccia and Rawdon Fault targets. King Louie has a roughly two-kilometre geochemical anomaly, while the Rawdon Fault is due to receive two holes totalling 900 metres under a Queensland Collaborative Exploration Initiative grant worth up to $275,000 including GST, subject to the prescribed work being completed.
The company also retains exposure to the 1,600-square-kilometre West Tanami Gold Project in Western Australia under an earn-in arrangement with Gold Fields, where geophysical and soil-sampling work has delineated areas for field validation and possible follow-up sampling or drilling. Ravenswood North in Queensland remains at an earlier target-generation stage, with limited drilling having identified surface and downhole gold and silver mineralisation.
Execution now matters more than acreage
The annual report records a substantial change in Killi’s corporate profile, including Neville Power as chair and Hamish Halliday as managing director from 24 August 2026. That leadership reset coincides with the company’s move towards a bulk commodity project with an existing resource, rather than relying solely on early-stage discovery targets.
For shareholders, the next test is not the size of Killi’s project portfolio but the quality of conversion. Lodestone’s resource remains inferred, the proposed acquisition was conditional at the reporting date, and the premium product case still requires further metallurgical work. The drilling results, resource updates and progress towards an economic study will determine whether the new strategy becomes a development proposition or remains an expensive exploration thesis.
Bottom Line?
Killi has funded a much larger exploration program, but Lodestone’s value will depend on converting an inferred resource and premium-grade concept into independently supported development evidence.
Questions in the middle?
- When will the Lodestone acquisition be formally completed and recognised in Killi’s accounts?
- Can the 20,000-metre campaign materially expand or upgrade the 110Mt inferred resource?
- How much additional capital will be required before Lodestone reaches an economic study or final investment decision?