A$7.114 million loss as Australian Mines expands Flemington PFS

Funding Uncertainty Sits Beside Flemington’s Scandium Ambition

Australian Mines Limited (ASX:AUZ) is presenting Flemington as a potential long-life scandium development just as its auditor highlights the more immediate question: how the explorer will fund the next stage. The company ended FY2026 with A$5.238 million in cash, but BDO said a material uncertainty may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. The audit opinion itself was not modified.

The financial numbers explain the caution. Australian Mines reported a A$7.114 million net loss, up from A$1.881 million a year earlier, after recognising A$5.018 million in impairment and write-off charges. Those charges included the full impairment of the Broken Hill and Jequie projects, alongside write-offs linked to expired Sconi and Flemington tenements. The company also used A$1.426 million in operating cash and A$3.547 million on exploration and evaluation during the year.

Flemington PFS Tests a Larger Production Case

Flemington remains the centrepiece. Its 6.3 million-tonne Mineral Resource grades 446 parts per million scandium at a 300 ppm cut-off, with about 98% classified as Measured or Indicated. The FY2026 Scoping Study outlined a 60-tonne-per-year scandium oxide operation over 28 years, with initial capital estimated at approximately US$125 million.

The study produced a post-tax NPV₈ of about US$270 million and an IRR of 32% at a US$1,500 per kilogram mine-design case. At US$3,000 per kilogram, the figures rose to approximately US$860 million and 74%, respectively, but that higher-price scenario is explicitly a sensitivity, not a company forecast. The company has since expanded the PFS to test 60, 120 and 180 tpa cases, following the Flemington PFS team appointment, which targeted completion in the first quarter of 2027.

The study still has a long list of hurdles ahead: further metallurgy, mine planning, water and environmental work, product qualification, customer engagement, permitting and funding. Australian Mines says Flemington’s PFS is intended to reduce those technical, environmental and commercial risks, but the project remains a study-stage opportunity rather than a construction-ready mine.

Boa Vista Drilling Builds a Second Exploration Track

In Brazil, Boa Vista supplied the year’s other prominent exploration thread. Drilling at the VG1 prospect returned 142.6 metres at 1.37 grams per tonne gold in hole VGADD0010, including higher-grade internal intervals, while VGADD0002 returned 120 metres at 1.34 g/t gold. Those intersections are encouraging exploration results, but gram-metres do not establish economic significance and the project’s 8.47-million-tonne foreign estimate at 1.23 g/t gold remains outside the JORC Code 2012 framework.

The company has identified 14 additional targets beyond VG1, with Baixao, Zé do Leicha, Almir and Jair prioritised for further work. This broader program followed the 14 new Boa Vista gold targets identified after year end, including selective rock-chip and grab samples of up to 31.0 g/t gold at Baixao. Such samples are point results, not representative measures of average grade or continuity. Australian Mines plans at least 6,000 metres of further drilling, with scope to increase the program to about 10,000 metres, and says the objective at VG1 is to generate data that could support consideration of a maiden JORC Mineral Resource.

Equity Raises Bought Time, Not Financial Independence

Australian Mines raised A$9.5 million before costs through three equity placements during FY2026, lifting year-end cash from A$1.452 million to A$5.238 million. After year end, holders exercised options for a further 42.7 million shares at A$0.022 each. Even so, the annual report says additional funding will be needed as the company advances its projects, with future equity potentially diluting shareholders.

The board also changed shape during the year. Andrew Nesbitt became Managing Director, while David McNeilly became chairman after Michael Ramsden stepped down from the role and remained a director. Shareholders were due to consider the proposed cancellation of existing loan-plan shares and a new performance rights plan, with no surrender having occurred at the report date.