Discovery Alert

28/08/2026

Australia's zinc and bauxite processing streams already carry germanium, gallium, and indium in recoverable quantities. The value is leaving the country inside concentrate shipments, recovered offshore by smelters that have long held the metallurgical data Australian producers lacked.

Geoscience Australia research confirms the constraint is not geological. It is economics.

The Alcoa-Sojitz Wagerup gallium project, under construction as of August 2026 and targeting up to 10% of world gallium supply, demonstrates that capital will deploy when processing economics are structured correctly.

For investors, the due diligence question is not whether a deposit contains critical minerals. It is whether recovery circuits can be made commercially viable.

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Critical minerals Australia already has — germanium and gallium flow through zinc streams. Alcoa-Sojitz targets 10% of global gallium supply.

28/08/2026

Geoscience Australia's ADERA project has reduced the national rare earth exploration search space by approximately 75% for clay-hosted deposits, while retaining around 95% of known occurrences within that narrowed area.

The project delivers Australia's first nationally calibrated mineral potential maps for clay-hosted and heavy mineral sand rare earth deposits, built on machine learning analysis of over 2,000 samples integrated with two continental geochemical surveys.

ANSTO's purpose-built rare earth processing facility, opened in May 2025, addresses extraction feasibility alongside the targeting work. Investors can now cross-reference tenement positions against publicly available, peer-reviewed prospectivity data.

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ADERA mapped Australia's rare earth prospectivity using ML on 2,000+ samples, cutting clay-hosted REE search space by 75%. Check tenements now.

28/08/2026

Two diamond drill holes at Lodestar Minerals' (ASX: LSR) Three Saints project in Chile's Atacama region have now confirmed a concealed hydrothermal system with a footprint exceeding 1.6 km, according to the company's ASX announcement.

The second hole, L3SDD004, drilled to 611.10 metres, intersected copper mineralisation at multiple depths. Key intervals included 14.82 metres at 0.10% CuEq from 404.40 metres, with a higher-grade section of 1.0 metre at 0.43% CuEq. The alteration assemblage, including magnetite and chalcopyrite, is consistent with an Iron Oxide Copper Gold deposit model, the company reports.

Lodestar is now reprocessing existing geophysical data to target the system's higher-grade core ahead of the next drill campaign.

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LSR confirms an IOCG system across 1.6 km at Three Saints — open all directions, cobalt identified. Reprocessing now targets the high-grade core.

28/08/2026

A contractor has been killed at the United Wambo Open Cut Mine near Singleton, NSW, after being struck by a reversing truck during afternoon operations on 3 August 2026.

The NSW Resources Regulator has now published its first interim safety findings, IIR26-05, flagging mobile equipment interaction as the central risk theme. The investigation remains active. Glencore, as site manager, suspended operations immediately. The mine employs approximately 560 people across a 50:50 joint venture with Peabody Energy.

The deceased worker's contractor status places induction quality and supervision directly in scope under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). Production remains suspended pending regulatory clearance.

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United Wambo mine stays suspended after a fatal truck strike. NSW's IIR26-05 flags mobile equipment risks — three key regulatory signals still to come.

28/08/2026

Asia's gold ETF market recorded US$12bn in net inflows across H1 2026, the strongest six-month period on record for the region. In the same window, it posted its largest-ever single-month outflow: US$2.3bn in June 2026.

By end-July, Asia remained the largest contributor to global year-to-date ETF inflows despite absorbing that record outflow. According to World Gold Council data, that persistence through an adverse event is the defining characteristic of structural accumulation.

Europe and North America tell a different story. European flows resumed strongly after a rate-driven dip. North American flows reversed from months of outflows to aggressive inflows over just weeks in late August, coinciding with shifting Federal Reserve expectations.

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Gold ETF flows split sharply in 2026: Asia banked US$12bn while North America shed US$7.7bn. Discover which signals called the 15% price surge.

28/08/2026

McEwen Copper closed a US$240 million term loan in August 2026. The more telling signal is what sits behind it.

The Los Azules copper project has now completed 12,468 metres of geotechnical drilling since late 2023. Metso has been awarded engineering contracts for the core processing circuit. The open-pit mine fleet tender is in its final stage. EPCM contractor selection is expected in Q4 2026.

Management is targeting a final investment decision around mid-2027, with commercial copper cathode output aimed at 2030, according to the 2025 feasibility study.

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Los Azules has 12,468m of geotechnical drilling done, Metso contracts signed, and a US$240M loan deployed. Here's why mid-2027 FID looks credible.

28/08/2026

3.15 MMCFPD of water-free gas from four zones simultaneously - that's the kind of flow test that moves a discovery toward a commercial reserve booking.

ADX Energy has reported positive results from its HOCH-1 shallow gas well in Upper Austria, with Zones 2, 3, 4 and 5 flowing commingled gas at an average 3.15 MMCFPD (548 BOEPD) over 12 hours. All three newly tested zones delivered water-free gas during clean-up, reducing commercial risk and confirming reservoir quality across the upper section. The well is now shut in with downhole gauges recording pressure buildup data that will inform reserves determination within approximately two weeks.

Executive Chairman Ian Tchacos explained: "The positive flow results from all HOCH-1 well zones tested to date is very encouraging in terms of the determination of a commercial reserve for the well." Post-drill seismic mapping indicates potential for large lateral extension of several sand bodies - up to 2.5 km to the south-east - which could materially expand the reserves base beyond the immediate wellbore. Phase 2 testing will target at least two deeper Hall Channel zones once a workover rig becomes available, with two additional fully permitted shallow gas prospects (GOLD-1 and SCHOE-1) scheduled for drilling in 2026.

Read the full technical breakdown and Phase 2 testing timeline: https://discoveryalert.com/asx-stock-news/energy/adx-adx-energy-hoch-1-gas-testing-august-2026/

28/08/2026

Rob McEwen has personally committed $85 million to the Los Azules copper project in Argentina, forming part of a $240 million senior secured bridge loan that closed 27 August 2026.

Sprott Natural Resource Investment Partners contributed a further $112 million, representing 46.7% of the total facility. The loan carries a 12% annual interest rate over four years, with 3.6 million share purchase warrants issued to lenders at a $40 exercise price.

McEwen Copper already holds RIGI approval, granting 30 years of fiscal and legal stability. A Final Investment Decision is targeted for mid-2027, with first copper cathode production aimed at 2030.

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McEwen Copper's Los Azules lands a $240M bridge loan. Rob McEwen tips in $85M personally — Sprott adds $112M. RIGI secured. Mid-2027 FID next.

28/08/2026

$12.5M institutional raise at a 16% discount — that's the kind of backing that signals serious confidence in a high-grade silver restart story.

Black Bear Minerals has secured firm commitments for a $12.5 million placement at $0.55 per share to accelerate work at the Shafter Silver Project in Texas. The raise will fund Stage 1 underground drilling targeting resource growth, validation work to convert the foreign estimate to JORC standards, and advancement of permitting and restart engineering studies. The placement was strongly supported by new and existing domestic and international institutions, with Canaccord Genuity acting as Sole Lead Manager.

CEO Dennis Lindgren described the support as recognition of "what Shafter represents — a past-producing, high-grade silver project in Texas with genuine restart optionality." The project sits on a historic mine that produced 35.2Moz silver at 521g/t Ag, with existing Merrill-Crowe processing infrastructure, grid power, water rights, and 160km of underground workings already in place. The current foreign estimate stands at 17.57Moz silver across 1.89Mt at 289g/t Ag, and Black Bear is now funded to convert this to JORC classification while progressing restart studies.

Read the full breakdown of the placement terms, Shafter infrastructure, and Independence Gold project metrics: https://discoveryalert.com/asx-stock-news/mining/bkb-black-bear-minerals-shafter-placement-august-2026/

28/08/2026

42.3% peak gas reading across 445 metres of coal — Eastern Gas just hit total depth at Venus-2H with excellent gas shows throughout the target zone.

Eastern Gas has completed drilling of its Venus-2H horizontal appraisal well at Project Venus in Queensland's Surat Basin, reaching total depth of 1,450 metres with a cumulative 445 metres of interpreted net Macalister Lower coal intersected across the production wellbore. The peak total gas reading of 42.3% during drilling was accompanied by repeated excellent gas shows whenever target coal was encountered, with almost all readings classified as excellent (above 8%) under the wellsite classification system.

Managing Director David Spring noted: "The gas shows confirm the presence of hydrocarbons within the target coal interval. While gas shows are not, in themselves, an indication of future production performance, the results are very encouraging and provide strong support for progressing the next phase of the Venus programme." The integrated Venus-2H/Venus-1 well system now moves to completion, dewatering and flow testing — the critical phase that will determine whether the project's contingent resources (2C 130.3 PJ) can transition toward reserves and commercialisation. Flow testing will measure water production, reservoir pressure response, timing of gas breakthrough and subsequent gas flow performance.

Read the full technical breakdown and upcoming flow-testing timeline: https://discoveryalert.com/asx-stock-news/energy/ega-venus-2h-drilling-results-august-2026/