There’s a big play happening up in PNG with a potentially huge prize and the $9m ASX listed Augustus Minerals is in the thick of it. After years of dispute, court cases and controversy, the gold-rich Mt Kare project, that sits about 600kms north-west of Port Moresby, is about to be awarded to someone by the Papua New Guinea Government’s Mineral Resources Authority, or “MRA”.

The project has a long and arduous history that reads like a bit of a soap opera.

Originally discovered by CRA, now Rio Tinto, a million ounces of alluvial gold was rumoured to have been pulled out of it just via illegal mining in the late eighties and early nineties.

For the next two decades it was explored with great success by multiple parties, however historic landowner issues forced its owner into administration in 2008 when the project was subsequently awarded to PNG local company Summit.

Fast forward to 2011 and Summit was taken out by ASX listed company Indochine.

By 2015 some $125m had been spent on the ground and at that time, Indochine set tongues wagging at the Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie when it revealed the stellar resource at the project. That resource was 42.5m tonnes going 1.54 g/t gold and 13.5 g/t silver for a whopping 2.11m ounces of gold and a further 18.4m ounces of silver. Put a little differently, Indochine said at the time it was sitting on 2.45m gold equivalent ounces at Mt Kare and there is no evidence that any of that has been mined to this day.

By early 2015, Indochine was in some financial troubles that were exacerbated when the PNG Government refused to renew its leases for Mt Kare towards the end of that year. Indochine sought a court ruling to overturn that decision in 2018, lost that battle and saddled up again for an appeal which was thrown out again in 2021.

That final court resolution attracted applications from a flood of hopefuls, all seeking to land the grand prize of the Mt Kare leases. Since then, the PNG MRA has been working its way through them, looking for a party with both money and mining expertise to hand it to.

It is dealing with each application in the order in which it was lodged and has already summarily dismissed the first in line. It is now onto hopeful No 2, a private company by the name of Tribune Mt Kare Gold Ltd.

‘If we’re successful in securing this ground, it would position Augustus at the doorstep of world-class geology…’
Augustus Minerals CEO James Warren

If Tribune can’t meet the high money and expertise bar being set by the MRA, ASX listed Augustus Minerals, run by Perth mining man Brian Rodan and James Warren – who has a PHD in Geology no less – is next in line for the 2.45m ounce gold equivalent prize – and that’s where things start to get interesting.

Rodan might as well have a mining tattoo stamped on his forehead. He was one of a handful of people who originally set up massive mining contractor Eltin Mining many years ago. Eltin, which was domiciled in Kalgoorlie, ruled the Australian mining scene for decades around the late 1990’s early 2000’s. Rodan then went on to build large mining contractor ACM which he subsequently sold for tens of millions of dollars.

Since that time he has founded, invested in and still continues to control multiple ASX-listed exploration companies. He has been the driving force behind capital raises for all of them totalling in the many millions of dollars over time.

Curiously, Rodan – who has been in the mining game for half a century – has some form at Mt Kare. He was the managing director of mining contractor ACM PNG when it was awarded a contract back in 2012 to do the stage 1 underground drilling and mine development at the project. For various reasons that contract never went ahead and to this day the project remains unmined, however at the time Rodan provided his expertise to create the mine design and he worked out what equipment was necessary to mine it and even mobilised that equipment to site. So unlike some of the other hopefuls shaking their tail feathers at PNG’s MRA, Rodan has been down and dirty with this project before.

By any measure Mt Kare sits in the land of the giants. It is about 15 kilometres southwest of Barrick’s world-class Porgera mine, which boasts a massive endowment of over 32 million ounces of gold. Further north again is the revered Ok Tedi with its 16m ounces of gold and 11 billion pounds of copper. To the south-east of Mt Kare is Newmont/Harmony’s crazy Wafi Golpu site, host to 22 billion pounds of copper and 23m ounces of gold.

Geologically Mt Kare is an Alkalic Epithermal deposit. Alkalic type deposits are a subset of low-sulphidation epithermal deposits and form some of the mega mineral deposits around the world. Their drill results are like eye-candy to a geologist and Mt Kare is no exception. In the past, Mt Kare has thrown up coffee-spitting drill hits like 111m at 9.8 grams per tonne gold from just 4m and 17.7m at 100 g/t gold from 59m – or maybe try 20m at 443 grams per tonne gold for size! Those sort of numbers would have the West Perth mining glitterati leaping out of bed every day.

Augustus Minerals CEO James Warren said recently; “If we’re successful in securing this ground, it would position Augustus at the doorstep of world-class geology and give shareholders exposure to a project with genuine scale potential.”

For now however, Augustus’ official language on Mt Kare remains measured, as it should. “Quietly confident” is about as strong as it gets.

And while the PNG story provides the blue-sky narrative, Augustus is far from idle on home soil. The company is already advancing on multiple fronts across its West Australian portfolio, most notably the Music Well gold project which sits about 35 kilometres north of Leonora where early fieldwork has delivered results strong enough to lift eyebrows across the gold belt.

The company has completed more than a thousand surface-geochemistry samples and unearthed visible gold in quartz veins grading as high as two ounces to the tonne from the St Patricks prospect.

The maiden drill program will test undercover extensions at the Clifton East, Dodd’s, St Patricks and Black Cat prospects, all of which Augustus has ranked as high-priority greenfield targets.

Providing another string to the bow, the company also retains the Ti-Tree Project in the Gascoyne region of WA – a 1,700-square-kilometre package prospective for copper, gold, lithium, uranium and rare earths. While not the current focus, the Gascoyne ground adds a critical-minerals dimension that could gain traction as the company’s gold projects mature.

For now though, the big blue sky for Augustus comes in the form of Mt Kare. The PNG Government is looking for someone that has mining expertise and the ability to raise money to run it and whilst the credentials of the first hopeful in line, little known private company Tribune, are uncertain, Augustus has plenty of both.

And who knows, maybe no 1 and no 2 will join forces. Augustus could bring its public listing, money raising ability and mining expertise to the table and Tribune could bring its No 1 ticket holder status. And with 2.45m ounces of gold equivalent already discovered, it looks like there’s going to be plenty to go around.

Click here for the full Press Release

International Graphite (IG6:AU) has announced Collie land acquisition & approvals move ahead

Download the PDF here.

Astral Resources (AAR:AU) has announced Theia In-fill Drilling Continues to Deliver Broad Gold Zones

Download the PDF here.

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The BC government has unveiled new energy policy changes aimed at curbing electricity use from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, while permanently banning new cryptocurrency-mining projects and fast-tracking the North Coast Transmission Line.

Tabled by Energy Minister Adrian Dix, the proposed legislation will replace the Canadian province’s traditional first-come, first-served grid connection policy with a competitive bidding system for emerging industries such as AI and data centers, as well as hydrogen production for export.

Under the new framework, these sectors will be limited to a combined 400 megawatts of new power allocation every two years: 300 megawatts for AI operations and 100 megawatts for other data centers, with hydrogen limits to be determined by market conditions.

Dix said the move was designed to prevent British Columbia from falling into the same trap as regions in the United States where explosive growth in data center demand has strained power grids and driven up electricity costs for residents.

“The allocation framework allows for the paced growth of these sectors and avoids mistakes we’ve seen in other jurisdictions where growth has outpaced infrastructure, resulting in higher costs for everyday residential customers,” Dix told reporters in Victoria.

“We won’t make that mistake. We will prioritize the projects that provide the best, greatest benefit to British Columbians.”

The province’s publicly owned utility, BC Hydro, will oversee the competitive call process beginning in early 2026.

According to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, British Columbia has been inundated with requests from data-heavy industries seeking grid access, particularly as AI development accelerates worldwide.

By contrast, power allocations for resource-based industries such as mining, oil and gas, forestry, and hydrogen production will remain uncapped due to their higher employment and revenue contributions to the province.

Additionally, hydrogen-for-export projects will be enabled in a paced way, with the government prioritizing hydrogen energy production for domestic use.

“Other jurisdictions have been challenged to address electricity demands from emerging sectors and, in many cases, have placed significant rate increases on the backs of ratepayers,” the ministry said in a statement.

The new rules would also formalize a decision that has been years in the making. A temporary moratorium on new cryptocurrency mining projects, which was first imposed in 2022 and extended in 2024, will now become permanent.

The government cited crypto mining’s “disproportionate energy consumption and limited economic benefit” as justification for the ban. Unlike AI or manufacturing, officials noted that crypto mining generates little employment while consuming large amounts of power.

The policy stands in sharp contrast to neighboring Alberta, which has embraced data infrastructure investment and is targeting C$100 billion in new data center spending over the next five years. Alberta’s government has promoted its abundant natural gas reserves as a key energy source for such projects.

In a related move, the BC government announced plans to fast-track the construction of the North Coast Transmission Line, a massive infrastructure project aimed at unlocking new mining and industrial development in Northern British Columbia.

The government will exempt the project from a regulatory certification process that normally requires public hearings before the BC Utilities Commission, cutting as much as 18 months from its development timeline.

The 450 kilometer line, which will initially connect Prince George to Terrace, carries a price tag now estimated at C$6 billion, which is double the previous year’s estimate of C$3 billion.

Once complete, officials say it will supply high-voltage electricity to a region rich in mineral resources but long constrained by limited power access. Government projections estimate that the project could create about 9,700 full-time jobs and contribute nearly US$10 billion per year to the province’s GDP.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

West High Yield (TSXV:WHY,OTC Pink:WHYRF) has received final approval from British Columbia’s Ministry of Mines and Critical Minerals to develop and operate its Record Ridge Industrial Mineral Mine near Rossland.

The provincial Mines Act Permit authorizes the construction and operation of the Record Ridge project, known for its deposits of magnesium, silica, nickel, and iron, after years of environmental assessment and consultation with Indigenous and local communities.

“This major milestone represents years of disciplined technical, regulatory, and community collaboration,” said Frank Marasco, president and CEO of West High Yield. “The RRIMM Permit validates the strength of our Project, our team, and our long-term vision.”

The project focuses on magnesium, which is a key component for electric vehicles, clean energy technologies, and advanced manufacturing.

Under the new permit, construction and mining will proceed in collaboration with Skemxist Solutions, a partner company of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), ensuring Indigenous participation and oversight in environmental management and contracting.

Chief Clarence Louie of the OIB welcomed the decision, saying, “Through collaboration with WHY Resources and Skemxist Solutions, we are demonstrating that responsible development and Indigenous economic leadership can go hand in hand. This Project brings opportunity, training, and long-term benefits for our people and the entire region.”

The company said its immediate focus will be on post-permit compliance work, including environmental, safety, and engineering activities, followed by site preparation and road construction.

During the mine’s initial phase, ore from Record Ridge will be shipped to a US buyer for offsite processing, generating early cash flow while plans for a domestic refining facility advance.

Marasco said the company’s long-term goal is to establish Canada’s first magnesium-refining plant, which could create hundreds of jobs and strengthen British Columbia’s role in the global critical minerals sector. “

The mine is expected to provide significant economic benefits for the surrounding region through new employment, training, and contracting opportunities while supporting Canada’s clean-energy transition.

The company also noted that future verticals under evaluation include magnesium oxide and silica production, pharmaceutical-grade magnesium, and magnesium wallboard, which are all essential materials in renewable energy and construction industries.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

GreenRoc Strategic Materials Plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of critical mineral projects in Greenland, is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding secured loan facility for EUR 5.2 million from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (‘EIFO‘), to be used for the financing of the Company’s work programmes both at the Amitsoq Graphite Mine in south Greenland and in relation to the establishment of a fully operational European pilot plant for the production of active anode material from Amitsoq graphite.

Highlights

• Loan facility granted by EIFO of up to EUR 5.2m to fund the work programmes at the Amitsoq mine (‘Amitsoq Mine‘ or ‘Mine‘) and active anode material (‘AAM‘) pilot plant (‘AAM Pilot Plant‘), collectively the ‘Amitsoq Project‘ or ‘Amitsoq‘.
• The Agreement is regarded by the GreenRoc Board as a major vote of confidence in the future of the Amitsoq Project and an endorsement of Amitsoq’s position as one of Europe’s foremost critical mineral projects.
• The Company anticipates that, if fully drawn down, the loan will enable GreenRoc to make significant advances in the development of both the Mine and the AAM Pilot Plant:
  • being able to fund the completion of Phase 3 infill and geotechnical drilling will enable the Company to proceed the Mine to the PFS/DFS stage; and
  • financing the construction of a fully operational pilot plant will enable GreenRoc to produce spherical graphite so that end users may carry out their own quality and certification tests for an offtake decision.
• The loan facility may be drawn down during the first two years of the term at GreenRoc’s sole election, and has a maturity of 5 years or, if sooner, on the date of commissioning by GreenRoc of a commercial AAM plant (‘Commercial Plant‘).
• The five-year maturity provides a significant runway for GreenRoc to deploy the funding and build up value in the Company and its share price prior to maturity.
• On maturity, or sooner if GreenRoc raises £15m or more over 18 months from other sources of debt or equity capital, or a defined exit event occurs for GreenRoc, EIFO may elect either to be repaid in cash or to convert the loan into ordinary shares in the Company (‘Ordinary Shares‘), with conversion at an effective 20% discount to the Ordinary Shares’ market price at that date.
• Key protections have been agreed to reduce the dilutive impact to the Company of any conversion, notably:
  • the inclusion of a valuation floor for the purpose of conversion – if GreenRoc’s market capitalisation is less than £30m on conversion, it will be treated for the purposes of conversion as if it has a market capitalisation of £30m;
  • EIFO may not, as a result of conversion of the loan, hold more than 10% of the issued share capital of GreenRoc, with any balance being repaid in cash or otherwise by conversion into shares in GreenRoc’s graphite-related subsidiaries, subject to an independent valuation; and
  • if EIFO elects to convert the loan into Ordinary Shares, the Company may instead elect to repay the loan in cash and to issue share options to EIFO in an aggregate value corresponding to 20% of the amount repaid in cash.

Webinar on Amitsoq Project

The Company will host a webinar to discuss this news and provide more general updates about the Amitsoq project and the business as a whole. The webinar will be hosted live via our website on Friday 24 October at 10am (UK time), and we invite both existing and prospective investors to submit their questions in advance.
Sign up for the webinar and submit your questions for the management team here: https://greenrocplc.com/webinars/pegqBP-investor-u…

Details

The Loan Agreement

Following the Letter of Interest from EIFO which was announced on 15 January 2025, EIFO and GreenRoc have now entered into a binding loan facility agreement to provide funding for the Amitsoq Project of up to EUR 5.2 million.

The loan facility may be drawn down in the first two years with a maximum of four drawdowns per year. The interest rate on drawn down funds is 10% per annum, being the EU Reference Rate for such agreements. Simple interest accrues on a semi-annual basis and is added to the principal to be paid on maturity. In addition, a commitment fee of 2.5% applies on any undrawn amounts for the two-year loan facility period. Subject to certain terms and conditions, on maturity the loan is either repayable in cash or convertible into Ordinary Shares.

The loan facility is split into a facility of EUR 3.3m to be utilised for the development of the AAM Pilot Plant and EUR 1.9m for the Amitsoq Mine. Up to EUR 0.5m can be reallocated from one of these facilities to the other, upon request by the Company.

The loan funds may be utilised for specified work programmes, including:

• at the Amitsoq Mine, Phase 3 drilling for JORC Resource category upgrade and geotechnical data acquisition; and
• for the AAM Pilot Plant, the purchase, delivery, installation and commissioning of graphite spheronisation mills and a purification plant, and the production of the first AAM precursor products.

Loan Maturity

The Loan is to be fully repaid upon the earlier of (i) 5 years from first drawdown and (ii) 6 months after commissioning of a Commercial Plant.

Loan Repayment and/or Conversion

Upon a ‘Trigger Event’, repayment of the Loan and accrued interest can take place either in cash or partly or wholly in Ordinary Shares, at EIFO’s discretion. A Trigger Event is either the maturity date, a ‘Qualified Financing’ or an ‘Exit’ (see below). The Loan converts into Ordinary Shares at a price equal to their market price at that time, less a 20% discount, subject to a valuation floor of £30m, and a valuation ceiling of £140m.

A ‘Qualified Financing’ means any capital raising by GreenRoc by way of debt or equity related instruments from one or more bona fide third parties or a combination thereof, in an aggregate amount of more than £15m measured on an 18-month rolling basis (not including the EIFO facility).

An ‘Exit’ means either a specified change of ownership of GreenRoc, a disposal or transfer of the Company’s assets, the delisting of the Company without a concurrent relisting, or the dissolution of the Company.

EIFO may only convert into a maximum of 10% of the issued share capital of GreenRoc, with any remaining balance being settled in cash, unless GreenRoc is unable to settle in cash, in which case the excess shall be converted into shares in one or more of GreenRoc’s Amitsoq subsidiaries (Greenland Graphite A/S, GreenRoc Graphite Limited and Norgraph AS) at a price determined by an independent valuation of the fair market value of the relevant subsidiaries.

If EIFO elects to convert the loan into Ordinary Shares, the Company has the right to counter-elect to repay the loan plus accrued interest in cash and to issue share options to EIFO, with a two year duration and a nominal exercise price, in an aggregate value corresponding to 20% of the amount repaid in cash, the combined effect of which would be to significantly reduce the overall dilutive impact to GreenRoc of EIFO’s proposed loan conversion.

Other Terms

The loan facility agreement contains other standard terms customary for agreements of this type. These include the following:

Mandatory prepayments

EIFO may require prepayment of the Loan upon the occurrence of certain events, including:

• material changes to the ownership of GreenRoc without EIFO’s consent;
  
• a transfer of any assets which are subject to the security arrangements;
  
• GreenRoc disposing of assets with a market value exceeding the total loan drawn down;
  
• specified personnel changes which result in GROC not being adequately resourced for its then stage of development; and· in the event of an Exit, if the Fund decides not to convert the Loan into Ordinary Shares.

Events of Default

Events of Default include a failure to pay, insolvency, the Amitsoq exploration licence being cancelled, a breach of representations, warranties or undertakings, an event occurs which has a material adverse effect on GreenRoc or its subsidiaries, and a breach of environmental or social laws.

If an Event of Default occurs which is not or cannot be remedied and it has a material adverse effect, EIFO can demand immediate repayment of the loan plus certain break costs and, if within the first 2 years of the term, a make whole fee, equal to the interest that would have been payable in respect of the period between the termination of the loan and the end of the first two years of the loan term.

Security

EIFO to have benefit of first-ranking pledges over shares of all three Amitsoq sub-group subsidiaries (GreenRoc Graphite Ltd, Greenland Graphite A/S, Norgraph AS).

Lock up period

EIFO may not dispose of any Ordinary Shares for a period of 2 years from conversion.

GreenRoc’s Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:

‘This financing agreement reached with EIFO is the most significant moment for GreenRoc since the creation of the Company in late 2021. Access to this funding will enable us to make a major leap forward in the development of both the Amitsoq Mine and our downstream graphite processing capabilities.

‘This funding also has one other key advantage for GreenRoc and its shareholders, which is that in the ordinary course it will not be repayable for a full five years, which gives us a substantial runway to utilise the funds and build greater value in the Amitsoq Project and the Company’s share price before the funds become due for repayment.

‘This agreement is the culmination of a great deal of thought and hard work by the GreenRoc and EIFO teams to arrive at a financing package which makes sense for both of us. I would like to thank the EIFO team for their unwavering efforts in helping to make this financing a reality and for their confidence in our ambition to position the Amitsoq Project as a cornerstone of Europe’s electric vehicle raw material supply chain.’

GreenRoc’s CEO, Stefan Bernstein, commented:

‘We are delighted to have signed this loan agreement with EIFO. It will provide us with vital funds to advance our graphite business with regard to the Amitsoq Mine and the graphite Active Anode Materials plant. The funds will finance some of the more costly parts of our work programme, such as acquiring a pilot plant to process graphite flakes into spherical purified graphite, the essential part of graphite anode material for Li Batteries, as well as having our bulk sample from Amitsoq treated to extract graphite concentrate for use at our pilot plant. I am eager to get on with all those activities over the coming months.

‘The loan facility from EIFO is a very welcome financing opportunity, provides flexibility and a degree of certainty for the future. With the Project having been reviewed by EIFO’s financing team, which has seen literally hundreds of mining projects over the years, I also regard the loan facility as a quality stamp and a strong endorsement of the Amitsoq Project.’

Peter Boeskov, CCO at EIFO, commented:

‘EIFO is pleased to support GreenRoc as the company takes its next crucial steps towards contributing to the supply of indispensable raw materials for Europe’s green transition and defence industry. The project aligns very closely with EIFO’s strategic ambitions to support viable and impactful projects in Greenland, while also reinforcing business activities that contribute to the security of supply of critical minerals in Europe, and to wider geopolitical priorities. Developing mining projects requires capital and if everything goes according to plan, EIFO is interested in continued support of GreenRoc in collaboration with other financial partners and investors.’

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 (which forms part of domestic UK law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018). The Directors of the Company take responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

*ENDS**

For further information, please contact:

About GreenRoc

GreenRoc Strategic Materials Plc is an AIM-quoted UK public company focused on developing the Amitsoq Graphite Project in Greenland into a producing mine to meet critical demand from Electric Vehicle (‘EV’) manufacturers in Europe and North America for new, high grade and conflict-free sources of graphite. Amitsoq is one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in the world with a combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred JORC Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% graphite, sufficient to sustain several decades of mining.

The plans for the Amitsoq Project include the construction of a facility to further process the mined graphite into active anode material – an indispensable component of Li-batteries – which plans have independently and positively evaluated to prefeasibility study stage.

GreenRoc has entered into a partnership with the Norwegian battery manufacturer Morrow Batteries to establish a regional supply chain. The Amitsoq Project has been designated a Strategic Project by the EU and in March 2025 it was also ESG-certified by Digbee, an independent platform which provides sustainability assessments for the mining industry.

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