The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (XSO) edged lower in the latest session, slipping 7.50 points, or 0.22%, to 3,424.90.
The move extended recent weakness across the junior end of the market, with the index down 55.10 points, or 1.58%, over the past five trading days.
Despite the softer tone across small caps, company newsflow has remained active, with gold, rare earths, critical minerals and biotech updates giving investors several project-level developments to digest this morning. You can read about the following and more throughout the day.
Nexus Minerals builds Clement case at Wallbrook
Nexus Minerals Ltd (ASX:NXM, FRA:YAK) has reported further strong RC drilling results from the Clement Prospect within its Wallbrook Gold Project, about 140 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The latest assays represent the third tranche of results from a roughly 22,000-metre mineral resource estimate definition program currently underway at Wallbrook.
Results have been received for a further 23 drill holes and four drill hole extensions, covering 4,849 metres at Clement.
Nexus said the drilling had returned broad gold mineralisation across a series of stacked sub-vertical lodes.
A total of 33 drill holes for 6,121 metres have now been completed and reported at Clement, supporting the prospect’s potential to host a shallow maiden mineral resource and contribute to growth in the broader Wallbrook resource inventory.
St George hits thickest Araxá intercept to date
St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ, FRA:S0G, OTC:SGQMF) has reported further high-grade rare earths and niobium assays from diamond drilling at its 100%-owned Araxá Rare Earths and Niobium Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The company said the latest 23 diamond drill holes confirmed extensive high-grade mineralisation from surface, including the thickest mineralised interval drilled at the project so far.
The standout result came from AXDD120, which returned 199.5 metres of continuous mineralisation from surface within a broader interval grading 2.86% TREO and 0.44% Nb₂O₅.
Within that interval, the hole included 60 metres at 3.96% TREO and 0.52% Nb₂O₅ from surface, 15 metres at 3.30% TREO and 0.97% Nb₂O₅ from 36 metres, and 28.8 metres at 1.76% TREO and 0.70% Nb₂O₅ from 116.2 metres.
St George said the results reinforced the scale and continuity of the Araxá mineral system, which it describes as the largest and highest-grade carbonatite-hosted rare earths resource in South America.
Recce receives $3.67 million R&D refund
Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:RCE, OTC:RECEF) has received a $3.67 million income tax refund from the Australian Taxation Office for the financial year ended June 30, 2025.
The refund comprises $3.57 million related to the company’s overseas R&D expenditure, along with $95,826 in interest paid by the ATO for the FY2025 period.
Recce is developing a new class of synthetic anti-infectives, with the refund adding non-dilutive funding to support its development activities.
Terrain confirms broad clay-hosted rare earth system
Terrain Minerals Ltd (ASX:TMX, OTC:TMXAF, FRA:T4Y) has confirmed a broad clay-hosted rare earth system at its 100%-owned Lort River Project, about 50 kilometres northwest of Esperance in Western Australia’s Albany-Fraser Belt.
Assays have been received from all 35 holes in a completed aircore drilling program, with total rare earth oxide values above 200 parts per million returned in 25 holes.
The results identified rare earth mineralisation from surface to 87 metres downhole.
The highlight came from hole LTAC028, which returned 8 metres at 3,349ppm TREO from 27 metres, with 33% heavy rare earth oxide content.
That interval included 6 metres at 4,230ppm TREO and a peak 3-metre section grading 5,568ppm TREO, with 37% HREO, 227ppm dysprosium oxide and 39ppm terbium oxide.
Terrain said the heavy rare earth proportion was significant relative to other Australian clay-hosted deposits, with dysprosium and terbium considered critical inputs for future-facing technologies.
International Graphite adds Xcelsior Capital CEO to board
International Graphite Ltd (ASX:IG6, FRA:H99, OTC:IGRPF) has appointed Liam Farley, chief executive officer of UK-based Xcelsior Capital, as a non-executive director.
Xcelsior is the investment partner of the Wogen group of companies and specialises in financial support for emerging critical metals and minerals producers.
The appointment follows Xcelsior’s cornerstone investment in International Graphite’s recent $4 million placement.
It also comes after International Graphite announced on June 25, 2026, that Wogen Pacific Limited would supply concentrate feedstock and provide product sales and market support for the company’s Collie Micronising Facility in Western Australia.
International Graphite said the Xcelsior investment had attracted further European interest, with the company increasing the size of the placement to welcome another critical minerals investor to its register.