Latest Zinc And Lead News

Australian Gold and Copper expanded its exploration footprint and advanced major targets during FY2026, but the campaign came with a larger loss and a sharp reduction in cash. The company now has a 38.5Moz silver-equivalent Achilles resource, a newly acquired Junee gold portfolio and further funding demands ahead.

Great Southern Mining finished FY2026 with A$4.76 million in cash after selling Southern Star to Regis Resources and raising A$4.63 million, while drilling extended gold mineralisation at several Western Australian projects. The exploration story is advancing, but the annual report also contains an apparent inconsistency in the reported annual profit that warrants clarification.

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.

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.

QMines has reported a broad 44-metre copper intersection and high-grade zinc-lead-gold-silver mineralisation from six holes at Mt Chalmers. The results support ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study work, while a hole ending in copper mineralisation and upcoming barge drilling add further exploration interest.

Advance Metals has recorded its strongest silver assay yet at the Gavilanes Project in Mexico, with drilling also returning the project’s highest-grade zinc-lead interval. The mineralised system remains open at depth and to the southwest, while metallurgical work and further drilling target a maiden JORC resource in the December quarter of 2026.

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.

Zinc of Ireland has transformed from a small Irish zinc explorer into a metals technology developer, acquiring Meclex, raising A$5.5 million and advancing ARGO and VOLTA. The opportunity is substantial, but both technologies remain uncommercialised and the VOLTA partnership requires formal renewal.

Polymetals Resources moved its Endeavor silver-zinc-lead mine from restart to commercial production in FY2026, generating A$100.0 million in revenue. The milestone came alongside a A$47.0 million loss, negative operating cash flow and an auditor warning over going-concern uncertainty.

Polymetals Resources has boosted the Endeavor Mine’s Mineral Resource to 20.7 million tonnes, adding 1.3 Mt of high-grade sulphide mineralisation in the Upper Main Lode despite ongoing depletion and a more conservative density model.

Zinc of Ireland’s ARGO hydrometallurgical process achieves near-complete recovery of silver, lead, and copper from zinc leach residues, fast-tracking pilot plant plans for early 2027.

Australian Gold and Copper Ltd (ASX: AGC) has revealed a significant new gold-silver zone at its Evergreen Prospect, with assays returning 13.6m at 4.6g/t gold and 23g/t silver from 51.4m. Follow-up drilling is underway to expand this shallow oxide mineralisation, which remains open along strike and at depth.