Latest Heavy Minerals News

Cadoux has extended WIM-style rare earth-zircon mineralisation onto its Wimmera joint venture ground, with Toolondo returning 20 metres at 0.86% in-situ zircon from just 8 metres. The result is promising but remains early-stage: rare earth chemistry is incomplete and no resource has been estimated.

Sheffield Resources reported record quarterly ore mining and lower unit costs at its 50%-owned Thunderbird mine, while zircon shipments nearly doubled and pricing improved. The operational gains arrive as lenders consider a standstill that could defer Kimberley Mineral Sands’ debt obligations until June 2027, but no agreement is guaranteed.

VHM Limited (ASX:VHM) has strengthened the funding and revenue case for its Goschen rare earths and mineral sands project, securing a binding Iluka offtake agreement alongside up to A$40 million in convertible note funding. The project remains short of a Final Investment Decision, with total funding needs estimated at A$482 million.

Lion Rock Minerals has reported repeated shallow heavy-mineral zones with significant monazite at Minta Est, including up to 1.94% estimated TREO and 3.62% calculated monazite in recovered concentrate. Early magnetic-separation tests also concentrated up to 84.1% of calculated TREO into less than 27% of recovered heavy-mineral mass, although the results remain preliminary and HMC-based.

Tusker Minerals has completed the sale of its Malawi exploration subsidiary to AuKing Mining, receiving $800,000 in cash and 40 million escrowed AuKing shares. The deal gives Tusker further deferred and performance-linked consideration while redirecting its immediate funding capacity towards Cameroon and the retained Mzimba project.

VHM has agreed a non-binding term sheet with Mitsui covering up to 65,000 tonnes a year of heavy mineral concentrate from its Goschen project. The proposed deal could add a cornerstone customer and potential trade-finance support, but a binding agreement and funding remain outstanding.

Tāiko Critical Minerals has completed the final resource estimate for its Barrytown project, taking the project-wide inventory to 35.0 million tonnes. The result strengthens the base for feasibility work, but the extension still depends on consent and further drilling to address sampling uncertainty.

Tāiko Critical Minerals has submitted its response to Expert Panel comments on the Southern Block of its Barrytown project, with the approval decision still scheduled for 8 December. The company says it has met every deadline so far, but the filing does not indicate whether consent will be granted.

Heavy Minerals reported a sharply wider FY2026 loss and a $3.15 million net working capital deficit, with its auditor flagging material uncertainty over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The balance sheet pressure sits alongside stronger project milestones, including a post-year-end Port Gregory study and the push to fund Kanmantoo.

Chilwa Minerals has lodged a prospectus supporting a fully underwritten US$3.5 million Nasdaq IPO, with most of the proceeds earmarked for exploration at its Chilwa Critical Minerals Project. The raising would strengthen its cash position, but the prospectus also flags material going-concern uncertainty and further funding needs.

ASX has suspended 15 listed companies from quotation after they failed to lodge required periodic reports by their deadlines. Trading may resume quickly if the outstanding reports are lodged, but the announcement gives no detail on the cause or length of each delay.

Tusker Minerals reduced its FY2026 loss, but the improvement was driven largely by a A$4.64 million asset-sale gain rather than mining revenue. The early-stage explorer is concentrating its capital on Cameroon rutile and heavy mineral sands while relying on future funding to maintain momentum.