St Barbara secures $410m in major mining deals

St Barbara finalized a $410 million cash deal for its remaining stake in the New Simberi gold project in Papua New Guinea, a transaction that bolsters its financial position while redirecting focus to Canadian operations. The agreement, finalized on September 10, 2026, also includes an extra $43 million to settle outstanding construction costs. Lingbao Gold Group took over the asset, leaving St Barbara with a 2.75% net smelter royalty on future gold and silver output from New Simberi, plus a 1.5% royalty on other minerals from the Tabar Islands exploration licenses.

Finalization is set for the March quarter of 2027, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. Once complete, the company expects to hold roughly $880 million in cash with no debt. These funds will support its Canadian projects, including the 15-Mile Processing Hub, where recent upgrades increased the measured and indicated gold resource to 2.5 million ounces. St Barbara also plans to boost exploration at 15-Mile and restart production at the nearby Touquoy project, with ore processing scheduled to begin later this year.

St Barbara exits Papua New Guinea for Canadian focus

The company’s decision to sell New Simberi reflects confidence in its ability to advance Canadian assets amid permitting challenges that frequently delay gold projects in that region. This move aligns with a broader industry shift toward prioritizing lower-risk, near-term production over higher-risk international ventures.

Latitude 66 reported a share price increase following the release of a scoping study for its KSB gold-cobalt project in Finland. The study outlines a 7.5-year standalone operation with strong financial projections. The plan involves conventional open-pit and underground mining using carbon-in-leach processing, supported by existing regional infrastructure such as grid power, roads, and water access.

Under a base-case scenario assuming gold prices of $3,500 per ounce, the project is expected to produce an average of 65,000 ounces of gold and 475 tons of cobalt annually in concentrate over its life. Free cash flow is projected at $782 million, with a payback period of just 12 months on capital costs of $130 million. All-in sustaining costs are estimated at $1,283 per ounce, placing the project in the most cost-efficient quartile. The study also forecasts a post-tax net present value of $485 million and an internal rate of return of 85%.

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The company is now progressing to a pre-feasibility study, with a focus on operational improvements and potential expansion. A drill program targeting near-mine prospects is planned for the near future, though no specific timeline has been provided.

KSB project’s cobalt-gold potential draws investor interest

The KSB project’s financial outlook is particularly strong given ongoing cobalt supply constraints, especially as demand from electric vehicle batteries rises.

Unity Metals gained industry attention after identifying new high-priority gold targets at its O’Phlay project in Cambodia. The company combined magnetic susceptibility and vein orientation data from drill core with airborne UAV magnetic surveys, linking the Camp prospect’s gold mineralization to a demagnetised zone within a larger magnetic anomaly. Previous drilling at Camp returned intervals including 70.4 meters at 1.1 grams per ton and 40 meters at 1.9 grams per ton gold.

Magnetic susceptibility readings from altered diorite were around 40 times lower than unaltered rock, reinforcing the link between hydrothermal alteration and magnetite destruction with gold mineralization. The UAV survey also revealed a series of similar anomalies stretching over 6 kilometers across the northern end of a major diorite intrusion. Unity highlighted the Small Creek and Toulsroloav prospects, which feature historical mine workings and anomalous gold results in soil and rock sampling.

Ten drill holes are planned for early next quarter at Small Creek and Toulsroloav, with another ten proposed to target Camp and other geochemical anomalies. This work continues a broader trend in exploration where advanced geophysics and data integration are increasingly used to refine drill targets in complex deposits.

Tin-copper-silver discovery expands Montezuma’s mineral suite

Lode Resources advanced its position after discovering a high-grade tin-copper-silver lode at its Montezuma project in Tasmania. Drill hole MZS43 returned 0.5 meters at 7.3% tin, 6.8% copper, 863 grams per ton silver, 1.8 grams per ton gold, 2.1% antimony, and 4% lead from the newly identified Moores Lode. This intercept expands Montezuma’s known silver-antimony endowment by adding high-grade tin and copper to its mineralization suite.

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Earlier assays from hole MZS42 confirmed a second mineralization style in the Maestries conglomerate, with 6.4 meters at 6.2% zinc, 1.5% lead, and 43 grams per ton silver. Follow-up drilling is underway to convert these targets into a measured and indicated resource estimate. Three additional intercepts from MZS43 remain pending, including 2.2 meters and 15.4 meters of base metal replacement mineralization in the Maestries zone.

Regional exploration is also active at the Fahlore, Silver Cliffs, and Persic prospects, viewed as potential satellite deposits to Montezuma.

LinQ Minerals saw its stock rise after releasing results from its maiden drilling at the Monza prospect within the Gilmore project in New South Wales. The latest four holes from an eight-hole campaign returned thick, shallow mineralisation open in multiple directions. One hole delivered 113m at 0.71% copper equivalent from 33m, including a richer 4m interval at 5.3% copper equivalent from 62m. Another hole intersected 79m at 0.31% CuEq from 40m and 31m at 0.69% CuEq from 352m.

Other new results included 193m at 0.45% CuEq from 49m and 104m at 0.38% CuEq from 159m. They build on earlier strikes at Monza that included 226m at 0.70% CuEq and 208m at 0.61% CuEq. Monza forms part of a broader 17km copper-gold corridor within LinQ’s ground at Gilmore. The broader project hosts a resource totalling 3.7Moz of contained gold and 1.2Mt of copper.

The results align with growing interest in copper-gold projects within the Macquarie Arc, driven by rising metal prices. However, converting shallow mineralization into a bankable resource requires further drilling to confirm continuity and grade consistency.