Latest Base Metals News

QMines is spending $2.388 million on two freehold properties that remove a key access constraint over the Botos deposit near Mt Chalmers. The acquisition clears the way for modern drilling, but the deposit remains an untested conceptual opportunity rather than a defined resource.

Sultan Resources has applied for a 171.2km² copper-gold exploration licence in Namibia’s Central Damara Orogen, a region with established gold deposits and growing copper interest. The opportunity would add a sizeable new landholding without issuing consideration shares, although the licence remains subject to grant and has produced no company exploration results yet.

Parabellum Resources has established a maiden 4.8 million tonne Mineral Resource Estimate at its Miandetta prospect in central NSW, containing 37,000 tonnes of nickel and 1,920 tonnes of cobalt. The shallow resource is a meaningful exploration milestone, but remains preliminary and relies on several conceptual assumptions.

Orion Minerals has set out a clearer route towards first production at its Prieska copper-zinc project, but its audited FY2026 accounts warn that further funding remains essential. The company reported a A$12.69 million loss and A$14.46 million in cash while targeting first production in Q3 2027.

Eastern Resources has placed its Queensland Marengo Gold Project at the centre of its exploration strategy after 54 of 60 rock-chip samples returned more than 0.1 ppm gold, including a peak of 12.3 ppm. The company remains an early-stage explorer, with no JORC Mineral Resource yet defined and A$3.27 million in cash at year-end.

Albright Metals will surrender its Gabanintha mineral rights to Australian Vanadium in return for $1.75 million, a 0.75% royalty and a sharper focus on its Canadian flagship. The package includes $500,000 in cash and $1.25 million of Australian Vanadium shares, although the final share count is yet to be determined.

Australian Vanadium will pay $500,000 in cash, issue $1.25 million of shares and transfer a royalty to regain control of non-vanadium mineral rights at its Gabanintha project. The deal simplifies the project’s ownership structure, but the newly recovered nickel, copper and gold potential remains unproven and outside the current development case.

A new magnetotelluric survey has identified a large conductive anomaly beneath Strickland Metals’ Obradov Prospect in Serbia, adding another high-priority target to its 9.25Moz AuEq Rogozna project. The anomaly is supported by overlapping gravity, IP, geochemical and drilling evidence, but still requires drilling to establish whether it contains an economic mineralised system.

Deep Yellow reported a A$13.3 million FY2026 profit and moved its Tumas uranium project closer to a targeted fourth-quarter investment decision. The company remains debt free, but acknowledges it will need external capital to fund construction.

King River Resources has shifted its operational centre of gravity to the Mindoolah Gold Project, where it identified 467,659 cubic metres of historical stockpile and waste material for evaluation. The company’s $15.9 million annual profit was driven mainly by gains on Tivan securities rather than mining revenue, leaving drilling results and funding capacity as the next tests.

Reward Minerals has secured approval for the first-ever drilling at its Jackpot gold-copper prospect in Newfoundland, with a seven-hole campaign expected to begin within days. New soil results have also extended the exploration story across a 1.2-kilometre corridor, including a 378ppb gold anomaly at High Stakes.

American West Metals has reported thick visual copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralisation in three new holes at its West Desert Project in Utah. The strongest result came from WD26-07, but laboratory assays are still needed to establish grades and economic significance.