Latest Economic Studies News

49 Metals will begin a 3,500-metre follow-up drilling program at its Gold Mountain project in Nevada in October, targeting extensions of the Adit Zone discovery. The campaign is fully funded and follows a maiden program in which all 22 holes intersected gold and/or silver mineralisation.

Forrestania Resources has increased the British Hill JORC Mineral Resource Estimate by 21% to 212,400 ounces of gold, with higher-confidence Indicated ounces rising 37%. Drilling is continuing, but the project remains at the resource and study stage rather than production.

Australian Gold and Copper has reported repeated broad zinc-gold-lead intersections at northern Evergreen, including a peak interval of 26.4% zinc. A 21-hole, 2,593-metre RC program has also finished testing extensions to the prospect’s recent high-grade gold-silver discovery, with assays due from late October to early November.

Firebird Metals has prepared the first manganese feedstock for its Australian Demonstration Plant, marking a practical step towards testing its integrated pathway from Western Australian ore to battery materials. Equipment remains scheduled to arrive in October, with commissioning targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Mount Ridley Mines has reported broad, shallow scandium intersections extending up to 8km beyond the Grass Patch Project’s current Block 1 and Block 2 resource boundaries. The results could support a larger JORC resource, but the company has yet to convert the exploration footprint into an updated estimate.

Orbit Resources enters FY2027 with a 17.52Mt Lewis Ponds resource, a preliminary study pointing to a A$481 million pre-tax NPV and a new polymetallic sulphide discovery outside the existing resource. The gains come with familiar junior-miner constraints: a A$3.49 million annual loss, A$3.69 million in cash and further funding still required.

Leeuwin Metals has confirmed gold across all 10 samples from historic tailings at its Marda Central project, averaging 0.596 g/t Au in the top metre. The result points to a potentially accessible processing opportunity, but the material remains well short of a defined resource or economic study.

Astron Limited (ASX:ATR) says its Donald rare earths and mineral sands project is construction-ready, with a $759 million Phase 1 pre-tax NPV and first production targeted for 2028. The unresolved question is whether debt financing can convert the project’s strong study economics into a final investment decision.

Talonx Resources Limited (ASX:TXR) is positioning its portfolio around two distinct exploration propositions: a near-term maiden resource pathway at Viking’s Beaker 2 prospect and district-scale copper potential at Kihabe in Botswana. The September investor presentation largely repackages previously reported results, rather than announcing a new discovery or resource upgrade.

PC Gold’s Spring Hill project emerged from FY2026 with a sharply larger resource, fresh institutional funding and a clearer path towards feasibility studies. The gold explorer remains pre-production and loss-making, but its post-year-end A$75 million raise gives it substantial room to expand drilling and development work.

Magnum Mining has completed a 10,000-metre auger programme at its Piracanjuba North ionic adsorption clay rare earths project in Brazil, shifting its focus to a 32.5km² plateau zone. The company is targeting a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate in November, but the project remains at an early exploration stage with no declared resource or reserve.

Elementos has materially strengthened its balance sheet while moving its Spanish Oropesa tin project closer to permitting, financing and a final investment decision. The annual report also highlights a doubling of Cleveland’s inferred tungsten resource, but both projects still require substantial capital and further approvals.