The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (ASX: XSO) was trading at 3,428.40, down 1.39% or 48.50 points on the previous session.
The index was also weaker over the past five days, falling 3.54% or 125.80 points, reflecting broader pressure across the small-cap segment.
Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX:EXR, OTC:ELXPF) has completed the planned 12-stage fracture stimulation program at its high-impact Lorelle-3H appraisal well in Queensland’s Taroom Trough, with all pumped proppant successfully placed within the target formation.
The program was carried out across 1,033 metres of net gas-condensate pay in the Tinowon ‘Dunk’ Sandstone reservoir within ATP2056.
Alara Resources (ASX:AUQ) has reached a production milestone at its Al Wash-hi Majaza copper-gold mine in Oman, dispatching its 50th shipment of copper concentrate from Sohar Port.
The latest parcel, which departed on June 21, 2026, comprised 456 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of copper-gold concentrate containing around 83 metric tonnes (MT) of copper and 64 ounces of gold.
XPEDRA RESOURCES LIMITED (ASX:XPD) has returned further wide, shallow gold intercepts from the Springfield Gold Deposit in New South Wales, including 44 metres at 2.03 g/t gold from 1 metre and 24 metres at 2.97 g/t gold from surface.
The latest assays, from four additional reverse circulation (RC) drill holes, continue to support the scale and continuity of a shallow gold system at Springfield, which sits in the Lachlan Fold Belt of central NSW.
Li-S Energy Ltd (ASX:LIS, OTC:LISXF, FRA:9GQ) has shipped its first commercial order of Australian-produced lithium metal foil and secured ISO 9001:2015 certification for its lithium foil production line in Geelong, Victoria.
The order, supplied to a leading Australian battery research institution, marks the company’s first external commercial validation of its locally produced lithium foil and opens a potential new revenue stream in battery materials.
Australia’s labour market has strengthened and household spending has rebounded more sharply than expected, adding to evidence that the economy may not be slowing enough to bring inflation back to target and keeping another Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rate rise in play.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.4% in May, down from 4.5%, while the economy added 40,300 jobs, ahead of economists’ expectations for 32,500 new positions.
Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ) will host an investor webinar on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at 11:00am AEST.
Managing Director Grant Ferguson will provide an update on the company’s Tillex Copper-Silver Project in the Timmins mining district of Ontario, Canada, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Noble Helium Ltd (ASX:NHE, OTC:NBHEF) has refined its upcoming Kinambo helium drilling campaign in Tanzania after 3D seismic reprocessing and gravity anomaly analysis identified 2 optimised firm well locations and reduced operational risk.
The work has prompted a modification to the first well location at Kinambo, on the western flank of the company’s 100%-owned North Rukwa Project, with rig mobilisation now expected in July 2026 and the Kinambo-1 well scheduled to spud in August 2026.
BOA Resources Ltd (ASX:BOA) has moved to take full control of the Neds Creek Copper Project in Western Australia’s Murchison region through the acquisition of Core Value Australia NL (CVA), which is set to acquire the Thaduna and Green Dragon copper deposits from Sandfire Resources.
The transaction will give BOA 100% ownership of CVA and, through CVA, the Thaduna and Green Dragon deposits, while also consolidating BOA’s ownership of the broader Neds Creek copper assets.
Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX:CYM, OTCQB:CYPMF) has advanced the Phase 1 Cathode Restart at its Nifty Copper Complex in Western Australia, with work shifting from construction and refurbishment toward practical completion, commissioning and operational readiness.
The company said the June quarter to date had been a period of intensive execution across acid storage, ponds, heap leach, solvent extraction, electrowinning, solution handling, filtration, firewater and electrical systems at Nifty.
Provaris Energy Ltd (ASX:PV1, OTC:GBBLF) has completed a major front-end engineering design (FEED) milestone for its proprietary YP-Provaris low-pressure liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO₂) tank, advancing the technology through DNV’s approval process for maritime applications.
The company has submitted a detailed engineering package to DNV to support the General Approval for Ship Application (GASA) review, with the design review targeted for completion in August 2026.
The Five Eyes cybersecurity agencies have issued a direct warning to government, business and critical infrastructure leaders: artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging cyber risk - it is already changing the speed and shape of attacks.
In a joint statement released on June 22, 2026, cyber leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States said AI was transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capability.
International Graphite Ltd (ASX:IG6, OTC:IGRPF) has signed a Heads of Terms agreement with Wogen Pacific Ltd to support product sales, marketing and graphite concentrate supply for its Collie Micronising Facility in Western Australia.
The agreement is designed to help International Graphite establish sales channels into the Asia-Pacific market while supporting feedstock supply for future production growth at Collie.
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (ASX) was trading at 3,476.90, down 0.16% or 5.50 points yesterday, although the index remained 3.06% or 109.70 points higher over the past five days.
Several ASX-listed companies have released operational, commercial and investor updates this morning, spanning copper, graphite, carbon dioxide transport technology and base metals production.
RemSense Technologies Ltd (ASX:REM) is raising $1.21 million through a strongly supported placement, with funds to be directed toward further development of its virtualplant digital asset visualisation platform and AI-enabled intelligent image analysis capabilities.
The company will issue 44,875,296 fully paid ordinary shares at $0.027 per share, raising $1,211,633 before costs from new and existing sophisticated investors.
Iron Bear Resources Ltd (ASX:IBR) has received a further US$2 million funding tranche from Vale S.A. to advance the company’s flagship Iron Bear iron ore project in the Labrador Trough of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The payment represents the fourth tranche of Vale’s Phase 1 contribution under a binding development agreement between the two companies for the joint development of the project.
Golden Dragon Mining (ASX:GDR) has intersected further high-grade gold close to surface in second-phase reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Behring Bore prospect, strengthening confidence in a larger gold system within the Cue Gold Project in Western Australia’s Murchison Goldfields.
The program returned a standout northeast-trending quartz lode intersection of 4 metres at 5.3 g/t gold from 48 metres in hole 26BB041, within a broader zone of 20 metres at 1.57 g/t gold from 40 metres.
Coppermoly (ASX:COY) has kicked off new geophysical and geochemical exploration programs across key targets at its Fox Creek and Windy Hill projects in the highly prospective Cloncurry district of northwest Queensland.
The work is focused on advancing several copper-gold-molybdenum targets south of Cloncurry, with ground magnetic surveying underway across 4 target areas and geochemical sampling planned at a new copper target within the Windy Hill Project.
Australia’s annual headline inflation rate slowed more than expected in May, but a hotter underlying inflation reading is likely to keep the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cautious on interest rates.
The consumer price index eased to 4% year-on-year in May from 4.2% in April, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Veteran mine builder Matthew Gili will join American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:ARR, OTCQX:ARRNF)'s board as a non-executive director as the company advances the Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project in Wyoming and prepares for a planned Nasdaq compliance listing in H2 2026.
Gili is currently president and CEO of Ur-Energy Inc, a NYSE American and TSX-listed Wyoming uranium producer, and brings more than 25 years of mine development and operational experience across major global mining groups including Rio Tinto and Barrick.
Lightning Minerals Ltd (ASX:L1M) has appointed Troy Brice as managing director, effective June 24, 2026, as the company moves ahead with a sharper focus on gold and copper assets, led by the Mt Turner Gold Project in northern Queensland.
The appointment follows Brice’s initial three-month period as chief executive officer, during which the board says he led a strategic reset of the business, refocusing Lightning around core gold and copper opportunities and beginning the divestment of non-core assets.
Meta is pushing further into consumer wearables with a new range of AI-powered smart glasses that drop the Ray-Ban branding and lower the entry price for its connected eyewear.
The new Meta-branded glasses start at US$299, around US$80 below the starting price of the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 line. The move signals a shift in Meta’s smart glasses strategy from premium eyewear collaboration toward a broader, more accessible product range carrying its own name.
Atomic Eagle Ltd (ASX:AEU) has secured key environmental and resettlement approvals for its Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia.
The company has received approval of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and “No Objection” approval for the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) from the Office of the Vice President’s Resettlement Division.
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) has established a regional office in Singapore to take direct control of international sales, marketing and logistics for its rare earths products, positioning the company closer to global customers as development of the Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi advances toward first production.
The Singapore office will manage future sales of Monazite Concentrate and Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC), following the recent termination of a third-party trading agency agreement with Gerald Metals.
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (ASX: XSO) traded lower, closing at 3,482.40 points, down 2.02% or 71.90 points on the previous session.
Over the past five days, the small-cap benchmark has fallen 2.08%, or 73.90 points, reflecting weaker sentiment across the smaller end of the Australian equities market.
Positive research from Breakaway Research has highlighted Carnavale Resources Ltd (ASX:CAV, FRA:YBB) as a speculative buy opportunity, with senior analyst Mark Gordon pointing to the company’s high-grade Kookynie Gold Project in Western Australia as a near-term, low-capex gold development story with strong margin potential.
Carnavale owns 80% of Kookynie, which sits 60 kilometres south of Leonora in the Eastern Goldfields, one of Australia’s premier gold mining districts. The company is advancing the project toward a bankable feasibility study (BFS), targeted for completion in Q3 2026, with a strategy based on contract mining and ore sales or toll treatment through existing regional processing infrastructure rather than building a standalone plant.
Nova Minerals Corp (ASX:NVA, NYSE-A:NVA, FRA:QM30) has completed its redomicile to the United States and started key 2026 field work at its Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project in Alaska, including drilling for antimony and gold.
The company’s common stock and listed warrants were now trading on the NYSE American under the ticker symbols NVA and NVAWS, while Chess Depositary Interests continue to trade on the ASX under NVA.
Dalaroo Metals Ltd (ASX:DAL) is mobilising for an expanded 2026 exploration campaign at its Blue Lagoon Critical Minerals Project in southern Greenland, setting up the company for its most comprehensive field program at the project to date.
The campaign will follow up Dalaroo’s maiden 2025 field season, which identified a 2.7-kilometre mineralised corridor with peak results of 4.42% zirconium dioxide, 99ppm hafnium and 0.81% total rare earth oxides.
Australia has signed a landmark $2.5 billion government-to-government agreement with Canada to export Australian Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) technology, marking the nation’s largest-ever defence export.
The agreement is the first international sale of Australia’s OTHR capability, which has been developed through the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), one of the country’s most significant sovereign defence technology programs.
G50 Corp Ltd (ASX:G50, OTCQB:GFYTF) has delivered a strong first result from its 2026 core drilling program at the White Caps Gold Project in Nevada, intersecting 13.5 metres at 7.67 g/t gold and 2.38 g/t silver from 305.5 metres.
The result from hole WCD26-01 included a higher-grade interval of 3.93 metres at 23.95 g/t gold and 7.29 g/t silver from the same depth, marking the first reported assay from a 5-hole, 2,220.10-metre program.
Toubani Resources Ltd (ASX:TRE) has delivered a strong batch of high-grade reverse circulation drilling results from its Kobada Gold Project in southern Mali, supporting resource definition work ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate and planned start of mining activities in early 2027.
The results come from pre-production infill drilling in the northern area of the Kobada mineral resource estimate (MRE), as well as follow-up drilling at Kobada South, where the company is targeting near-surface oxide mineralisation to provide additional mining flexibility.
Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX:HAS, OTC:HSRMF) has secured a $1 million strategic investment from Malaco Mining Sdn. Bhd., adding balance sheet flexibility as it advances its rare earths strategy across Australia and Thailand.
The investment will be completed through a placement of 2,739,726 fully paid ordinary shares at $0.365 per share, with the shares to be issued under Hastings’ existing placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1A.
Conneqt Health Ltd (ASX:CQT) has taken a key step toward expanding its cardiovascular health technology platform, lodging an FDA Pre-Submission package for SphygmoCor Cloud, its next-generation Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) platform.
The company is looking to begin the pathway to 510(k) clearance in the US, with written feedback from the US Food and Drug Administration expected in August 2026.
Vection Technologies Ltd (ASX:VR1) has secured around $2.3 million in new AI-related contracts across five sectors, extending its recent order momentum to about $7 million since the start of April 2026.
The new orders comprise about $990,000 in one-time contracts and a $1.3 million annual recurring revenue contract, with around $2 million to be recognised in FY26 and $300,000 in FY27.
Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) has confirmed a high-grade tungsten system at the Granite Creek target within its Croesus Project on New Zealand’s South Island, with first-pass sampling returning up to 16.63% tungsten trioxide (WO₃) from an in-situ quartz-scheelite vein.
The standout result came from channel sample A1419, which returned 0.41 metres at 16.63% WO₃ across the true width of an exposed quartz-scheelite vein. The sample was taken perpendicular to the vein and is considered to represent the true width at the sample location.
Renascor Resources Ltd (ASX:RNU, OTC:RSNUF, FRA:RU8) has started processing graphite through its hydrofluoric acid-free purification flowsheet at its purified spherical graphite (PSG) demonstration plant in Adelaide, marking a key step in the company’s downstream battery materials strategy.
The introduction of graphite and reagents into the integrated purification flowsheet represents the start of processing under operating conditions at the Australian Government co-funded facility.
Minbos Resources Ltd (ASX:MNB, OTC:MNBRF, FRA:OMB) has signed a US$13.8 million Phase 2 construction contract with Portuguese and Angolan construction group Grupo Arliz to advance the Cabinda Phosphate Fertilizer Plant (CPFP) in Angola through to dry commissioning.
The contract covers the remaining construction works at the plant, including structural steel, mechanical installation, electrical and instrumentation works and process control systems.
Axel REE Ltd (ASX:AXL) has validated the potential for in situ recovery (ISR) of ionic rare earth elements at its Woolrich deposit within the 100%-owned Caladão REE-Gallium Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, after column leach testing recovered up to 560ppm soluble total rare earth oxides (TREO).
The result, achieved in column leach test CLT-01 using a mild magnesium sulphate solution at pH 4.0, exceeded the best previous diagnostic result and supported the company’s view that Woolrich is amenable to low-acid, low-impact ISR extraction.
Critical Minerals Group (ASX:CMG) has secured binding subscriptions to raise $1.5 million before costs through a strongly supported two-tranche placement, with funds to be used toward its integrated vanadium supply chain strategy.
The company will issue 20,689,655 new fully paid ordinary shares at $0.0725 per share to sophisticated, professional and other exempt investors.
Askari Metals Ltd (ASX:AS2, FRA:7ZG) last week outlined a broadened exploration pipeline at its Uis project in Namibia, after identifying seven new prospective pegmatite targets across two licences.
Executive director Gino D’Anna told Proactive that the company had used in-house hyperspectral analysis to generate the new targets across EPL 7345 and EPL 8535, adding further depth to Askari Metals’ exploration plans ahead of RC drilling expected to begin next month.
Defence Australia is treating data and artificial intelligence as core elements of national security, with sovereign AI capability increasingly viewed as central to military readiness.
The shift is being supported by the One Defence Data program, which is designed to move Defence away from fragmented information environments and toward a connected data ecosystem capable of supporting faster, better-informed decision-making.
Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:RCE, OTC:RECEF) has secured Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval to advance its Australian clinical trial of RECCE® 327 Topical Gel (R327G) for diabetic foot infections (DFI) to a pivotal Phase 3 study, marking a key step in the company’s global registration strategy.
The approval covers a protocol amendment that broadens the trial beyond mild DFI patients to include moderate infections, materially expanding the eligible patient pool. Mild and moderate cases together account for around 80% of DFI presentations.
Lightning Minerals Ltd (ASX:L1M) has started a 600-sample soil geochemistry program at the Western Zone target within its flagship Mt Turner Gold Project in North Queensland, marking the next stage of target generation ahead of planned Phase 2 drilling in July.
The Western Zone is the second major gold target area identified within the broader Mt Turner project and sits immediately west of the Mt Turner copper porphyry system.
Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML, OTCQB:RLMLF) has been admitted as a member of the US Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC), giving the company access to a broad range of US defense supply chain initiatives and potential funding programs targeting the critical minerals sector.
Membership supports RML's engagement with the US Department of Defense and related critical minerals programs as it advances a US-focused antimony and tungsten development strategy aligned with national security priorities.
Provaris Energy Ltd (ASX:PV1, OTC:GBBLF, FRA:WS90) has completed a $1 million placement to support key 2026 technical milestones across its compressed hydrogen and liquid CO₂ storage and transport development programs.
The placement was backed by new and existing sophisticated and professional investors and will provide funding for the next phase of work at the company’s Robotic Innovation Centre in Norway, as well as ongoing development activity with partner Yinson.
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) has moved closer to first production at its Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi, with mining readiness, construction, infrastructure and operational preparation all advancing as the company targets first production in Q4 2026.
The company said front-end commissioning remained scheduled for October 2026, with practical completion targeted for mid-November 2026.
Far East Gold Ltd (ASX:FEG) has moved to 51% ownership of its flagship Idenburg Gold Project in Papua Province, Indonesia, as new high-grade surface results along the Sua trend reinforce the broader exploration potential of the project.
The company has completed Stage One under the Conditional Share Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of Idenburg, giving it majority ownership of a project that hosts a JORC 2012 inferred mineral resource of about 780,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 3.1 g/t gold.