Rio Tinto PLC has welcomed a long-term power agreement that will keep Australia’s largest aluminium smelter operating until 2038, backed by A$1.1 billion of investment and a transition to 100% renewable electricity from 2033.
The agreement between Tomago Aluminium, the Australian Government and the New South Wales Government provides a pathway for the smelter to remain internationally competitive after its existing electricity contract expires on December 31, 2028.
Eureka Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:EGH, FRA:UM7) is expanding its Western Australian portfolio with the $18.4 million acquisition of Mandurah Coastal Holiday Park, a 168-site mixed-use residential community about 70 kilometres south of Perth.
The off-market acquisition comprises 71 occupied land lease homes, 4 park-owned rental dwellings, 24 cabins and motel units and 69 powered caravan and camping sites, with approval already in place for another 66 land lease or long-term rental homes.
Bailador Technology Investments Ltd (ASX:BTI) has reported a $6.9 million net profit after tax for FY26 and declared a fully franked final dividend of 3.5 cents per share, following a year in which its technology portfolio delivered a positive return despite weakness across the broader sector.
The technology expansion capital fund generated a 2.8% portfolio return after fees and tax, while post-tax net tangible assets (NTA) per share increased by $0.06 year-on-year after adding back dividends and shares issued under its dividend reinvestment plan (DRP).
SportsHero Ltd (ASX:SHO, OTC:NIROF) has struck a supply agreement with global gaming brand Razer that will add more than 1,000 gaming-related digital products and services to its HeroPlay platform, broadening the company’s reach beyond mobile casual gaming into console, PC and other mass-market gaming segments.
The agreement covers gaming top-up vouchers and e-pins for titles and platforms including Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Free Fire, PUBG, Razer Gold, PlayStation Store, Xbox and Roblox.
GBM Resources Ltd (ASX:GBM, OTC:GBMRF, FRA:36G0) has confirmed that the key gold-hosting breccia sequence at its Twin Hills Gold Project in Queensland extends at least 700 metres south of the existing 309 mineral resource, expanding the area considered prospective for further gold mineralisation.
Step-out drilling at the Stella prospect has intersected the prospective Milled Matrix Breccia (BXM) horizon in the first deep holes drilled outside the existing mineral resource envelope, supporting GBM’s revised geological model for a broader mineralised system across Twin Hills.
Gold’s ability to protect portfolios during market stress, preserve purchasing power and deliver competitive long-term returns is strengthening the case for Australian investors to treat the precious metal as a strategic portfolio holding rather than a short-term defensive trade.
A new State Street Investment Management white paper, Gold for Australian investors: A portfolio diversifier with staying power, argues that relatively modest allocations can materially improve portfolio characteristics. Its modelling found that adding between 2% and 10% gold to a hypothetical Australian multi-asset portfolio between April 2010 and June 2026 improved cumulative returns while reducing maximum drawdowns.
Google’s latest smartwatch is pushing wearable technology further into territory once reserved for the doctor’s surgery, promising to detect changes associated with blood pressure, insulin resistance and breathing without needles, cuffs or laboratory tests.
Unveiled on August 12, the Pixel Watch 5 introduces a suite of new “Health Guardian” features designed to monitor subtle physiological changes over time rather than simply count steps or record workouts.
Solis Minerals Ltd (ASX:SLM, TSX-V:SLMN, OTCQB:SLMFF) has completed the first three diamond drill holes at its 100%-owned Mandacaru Lithium Project in Brazil and has begun a fourth, while preparations are complete for a 2,500-metre drilling program at the Cinto Copper Project in Peru.
The first three Mandacaru holes were drilled to planned depths of around 200 metres, with drilling now underway at PDH-08.
Infinity Metals Ltd (ASX:INF) has expanded its Swansea Copper Project in Arizona by 47%, securing additional ground over structures interpreted to host extensions and repetitions of the high-grade copper mineralisation historically mined at the project.
The company has staked 16 additional mineral lode claims and 4 placer claims, all 100%-owned, alongside the 34 claims already held under an option agreement. The enlarged tenure now covers more than 5 kilometres of strike across interpreted mineralised structures, historical workings and mineral occurrences.
Legacy Minerals Holdings Ltd (ASX:LGM) has identified multiple large, previously untested gold-silver targets at the Mascotte Prospect within its Mt Carrington Project in New South Wales, with drilling already underway to test the strongest anomalies.
Ground-based induced polarisation (IP) surveys outlined several chargeability targets adjacent to known Mascotte mineralisation and outside Mt Carrington’s existing 1.6-million-ounce gold-equivalent mineral resource.
PRO MEDICUS LIMITED (ASX:PME) has secured a 7-year, A$23 million contract with St. Luke’s Health System in the US for the deployment of its cloud-based Visage 7 enterprise imaging platform across 3 states.
The agreement, signed through wholly owned US subsidiary Visage Imaging Inc, will cover Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Workflow and is based on Pro Medicus’ transaction-based licensing model, providing scope for potential upside over the contract term.
Yield Guild Games (YGG) and Minds by Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd (Unlisted (AU):AB1) have named the winners of the inaugural VibeBlitz game jam, with Idle Tactics: Ascension taking first place after a four-week global competition focused on AI-assisted game development.
Hosted through YGG’s vibecode.game platform, the competition attracted more than 250 participants and resulted in 72 playable game submissions, with developers using a Game Designer Mind from Minds by Animoca Brands to help overcome design, gameplay and balancing challenges.
Innovaero Technologies Limited is seeking to raise A$40 million through an initial public offering (IPO) as the Australian aerospace and defence manufacturer prepares to list on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX.
The Perth-based company has lodged its prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and plans to issue 80 million new shares at A$0.50 each.
Sports Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SEG) has agreed to acquire New Zealand audio business MediaWorks for NZ$130 million (A$107.4 million), in a transaction expected to materially lift earnings and create a trans-Tasman media group reaching more than five million listeners each week.
The acquisition is expected to be 59% accretive to SEG’s earnings per share before synergies, with around A$5 million in annual synergies identified.
Janus Electric Holdings Ltd (ASX:JNS) will release its FY26 full-year financial results on August 27, giving investors their next look at the company’s performance as it scales its heavy-vehicle electrification business and expands its order book in North America.
The company will hold an investor briefing at 10.30am AEST on the same day to provide an update on its progress following release of the results. Shareholders wishing to participate are required to pre-register for the call here.
Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ) has significantly expanded its Tillex Copper-Silver Project in Ontario’s Timmins mining district through the acquisition of 94 adjoining mineral claims, while securing firm commitments for a $3.5 million placement to fund an accelerated exploration program.
The acquisition adds around 16 square kilometres of ground immediately surrounding the existing project, increasing the total Tillex landholding to about 18.6 square kilometres and extending the interpreted prospective Tillex trend to around 2.4 kilometres.
Australia’s superannuation sector is preparing to put its cyber defences through a major stress test, with 15 funds set to participate in a coordinated exercise designed to simulate a significant attack on the industry.
The Gateway Network Governance Body (GNGB) will run its annual Operation Honey Bee exercise on August 19, bringing together more than 50 participants from superannuation funds, administrators, gateway operators, regulators and government agencies. The 2026 event will be the fourth iteration of the sector-wide exercise and its largest to date.
Anteris Technologies Pty Ltd (ASX:AVR, NASDAQ:AVR) made progress on its pivotal PARADIGM Trial during the June quarter, enrolling and treating its first US patients after securing Medicare reimbursement eligibility for qualifying procedures.
The company also expanded recruitment across international sites, with patients now being recruited in the US, Denmark and the Netherlands, while regulatory clearance was secured in Canada and France.
Actinogen Medical Ltd (ASX:ACW, OTC:ATGGF) will host a Clinical Trials Science Forum webinar today examining the future of Alzheimer’s disease treatment, as the company advances its lead drug candidate Xanamem® toward a pivotal clinical trial readout expected in November 2026.
The live webinar, beginning at 11am AEST, will bring together Alzheimer’s disease specialists to discuss changes in diagnosis and treatment, including the growing use of anti-amyloid therapies, blood-based biomarkers and the characteristics physicians are seeking in next-generation treatments.
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (ASX) closed yesterday at 3,570.80 points, up 0.60% or 21.30 points for the session.
The index has gained 4.33%, or 148.30 points, over the past five trading days, reflecting a strong recent run for the small-cap end of the Australian market.
Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) has strengthened its geological understanding of the Yarraloola Copper Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara after locating and reviewing core from 7 historical diamond drill holes, including mineralised intersections that will help guide a planned 2026 drilling campaign.
The historical core is held at the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) Core Library and includes three holes containing mineralised intercepts. The standout result is from YD2, which returned 32.7 metres at 0.7% copper, 0.3% lead, 0.4% zinc and 16.3 g/t silver from 54 metres. The historical drilling was not analysed for gold.
Pathkey.AI Ltd (ASX:PKY) subsidiary Chipforge has secured its first commercial customer contract, bringing forward the commercialisation of its AI-powered chip design platform and generating the platform’s first customer revenue ahead of its general release.
The contract, with an Australian industrial automation company, is a US$50,000 fixed-fee, 10-week proof-of-value program under which Chipforge will design and demonstrate the intelligence unit for the customer’s automated cleaning and condition-monitoring system.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept the official cash rate unchanged at 4.35%, giving mortgage holders a reprieve after three rate increases this year while warning that stubborn inflation could still force further tightening.
The decision was unanimous and widely anticipated by economists and financial markets, with the RBA balancing signs of slowing economic and housing activity against inflation that remains above its 2%-3% target range.
Nanoveu Ltd (ASX:NVU, OTCQB:NNVUF, FRA:Q2L) has secured a US$300,000 (A$433,500) pilot order for its EyeFly3D™ glasses-free 3D mobile technology as part of a planned nationwide rollout in India with spatial computing company One Immersive Inc.
The companies have entered a mutually exclusive OEM agreement that will be fulfilled through Nanoveu subsidiary Fullveu Technologies (HK) Limited, with the pilot covering EyeFly3D films for Apple and Android devices.
Advance Metals Ltd (ASX:AVM, FRA:4MF, OTC:AVMLF) has extended high-grade silver mineralisation at its 100%-owned Gavilanes Project in Mexico by a further 55 metres to the south, with its fourth consecutive drill hole returning a strong silver intersection.
Diamond hole GV-26-004 returned 13.2 metres at 311g/t silver, including 6 metres at 612g/t silver, adding to evidence of continuity across a mineralised corridor extending for more than 750 metres of strike.
Beacon Minerals Ltd (ASX:BCN) has confirmed high-grade gold mineralisation at the Iguana deposit within its Lady Ida Project in Western Australia, with diamond drilling delivering multiple significant intersections that will feed into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate planned for Q1 FY2026/27.
The diamond program formed the final stage of Beacon’s FY2026 resource development drilling at Iguana and was designed to complement an extensive reverse circulation (RC) campaign by providing continuous core for geological, structural and geotechnical interpretation.
St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ, FRA:S0G, OTC:SGQMF) has increased the Mineral Resource Estimate at its 100%-owned Araxá Project in Brazil by 57% to 111.2 million tonnes at 3.57% TREO and 0.57% Nb₂O₅, further expanding what the company says is the largest and highest-grade hard-rock rare earths resource in South America.
The upgrade also establishes Araxá as hosting the world’s largest undeveloped Measured niobium resource, while Measured and Indicated resources have increased 155% to 75.2 million tonnes at 3.64% TREO, 0.69% NdPr and 0.58% Nb₂O₅.
An AI agent that independently exploited vulnerabilities in a gym booking system has drawn fresh attention to the cybersecurity risks emerging as artificial intelligence moves beyond answering questions to taking real-world actions.
The incident was originally disclosed by Australian AI executive Andrew Bird, who described giving an AI agent permission to book gym classes on his behalf.
Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR, FRA:9S70) has identified multiple arsenic-antimony-tungsten (As-Sb-W) soil anomalies across the Stony Creek target at its Lammerlaw Gold Project in Central Otago, New Zealand, sharpening the company’s focus on areas warranting further exploration.
Follow-up soil geochemistry returned arsenic values of up to 238 ppm, while anomalous responses were concentrated across an approximately 3.2-kilometre section of Stony Creek within a broader 5.4-kilometre sampling transect.
Provaris Energy Ltd (ASX:PV1, OTC:GBBLF, FRA:WS90) has received a modest valuation upgrade from RaaS Research, with the analyst lifting its base-case net asset value (NAV) to $0.14 per share as progress across the company’s compressed hydrogen and liquid CO2 (LCO2) technology programs moves toward key approval and testing milestones in the remainder of 2026.
RaaS now places Provaris’ NAV in a $0.10-$0.16 per share range, compared with its previous $0.09-$0.16 range, with the midpoint rising from $0.13 to $0.14.
Elk Range Mining Limited (ASX:ELK) has started trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) after completing a fully subscribed A$10 million initial public offering (IPO), providing funding to begin exploration at its Idaho Gold Project in the US.
The company issued 50 million new shares at A$0.20 each, raising A$10 million before costs. The funds will support Elk Range’s initial exploration strategy, led by a maiden drilling program at the Friday Gold Mine scheduled to begin in the September quarter of 2026.
Chartered Accountants ANZ (CA ANZ) is urging Australian cryptocurrency investors to make sure they understand their tax obligations as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) increases scrutiny of digital asset transactions.
The accounting body said the growing use of cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital assets meant taxpayers needed to pay close attention to how transactions were treated at tax time and maintain accurate records.
oOh!media has agreed to a revised $1.70-per-share takeover offer from global infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, valuing the outdoor advertising company at about $898 million on an equity basis and $1.04 billion including debt.
Under the proposed scheme of arrangement, shareholders will receive $1.68 in cash for each oOh!media share, as well as a 2-cent fully franked interim dividend already approved by the board.
FleetPartners Group Ltd (ASX:FPR) shares surged 11% to $3.85 after the company rejected a $3.60-per-share takeover proposal from SG Fleet and revealed it had received a higher indicative offer from Canadian rival Element Fleet Management Corp.
The FleetPartners board unanimously rejected SG Fleet’s indicative, non-binding and conditional proposal, saying it undervalued the company and was not in shareholders’ best interests.
D3 Energy Ltd (ASX:D3E, OTCQX:DNRGF) has completed drilling of the second well in its Nooitgedacht program in South Africa’s Free State, bringing the company closer to production testing aimed at assessing gas deliverability and helium and methane concentrations.
The NGT245 D well reached a total depth of 348 metres on time and budget and without safety incidents. Logging is underway ahead of production casing installation, while the drilling rig is currently installing casing at the first well, NGT245 E.
Sentinel Metals Ltd (ASX:SNM, FRA:QN5) has delivered a strong start to maiden diamond drilling at the Columbia Gold-Silver Project in Montana, USA, intersecting 46.8 metres at 5.5 g/t gold from 88.2 metres, including a high-grade core of 13.5 metres at 16.6 g/t gold from 105.5 metres.
The first hole, DDCO26-001, also returned 21.4 metres at 11.1 g/t gold from 97.6 metres, while drilling confirmed that gold mineralisation continues beneath the historically targeted oxide zone into fresh rock.
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) has moved to full ownership of the SARECO mixed rare earths carbonate (MREC) processing facility in Kazakhstan, giving the company complete operational and marketing control as it builds an integrated rare earths supply chain around its Kangankunde project in Malawi.
The company will acquire the remaining 49% interest in SARECO after initially planning to hold 51%, with the decision following legal, tax, technical and environmental due diligence. The definitive sale and purchase agreement has now been executed.
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) has reaffirmed that its Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi is operating under a valid mining licence, with government inspections finding no evidence of unauthorised extraction or illegal mining.
The clarification follows recent media reports concerning the project, with matters subsequently addressed in the Malawi National Assembly on August 7, 2026. Lindian's wholly owned Malawian subsidiary, Rift Valley Resource Developments Ltd, remains the lawful holder of mining licence MML0290/22, which is valid and in good standing.
Percheron Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:PER, OTC:PERCF) has appointed experienced biotechnology executive Dr Michael Baker as managing director and chief executive officer, with the leadership change coming as the company prepares to advance its lead oncology asset, HMBD-002, into a new clinical trial in the second half of 2026.
Baker will take up the role on October 5, 2026, succeeding Dr James Garner, who will step down as CEO and managing director on August 31, to pursue a new professional opportunity overseas. Garner will remain on Percheron’s board as a non-executive director from September 1, providing continuity during the transition.
Dalaroo Metals Ltd (ASX:DAL) has completed initial drill pads and access routes at its Bondoukou Gold Ridge Project in Côte d’Ivoire, clearing the way for a fully funded 12,000-metre maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling program targeting the Mag, Wilfred and Ali gold prospects.
Drilling is scheduled to begin no later than August 15, 2026, with the Phase 1 campaign expanded from 10,000 metres following the company’s recent capital raising. The program will comprise up to 102 holes across 11 drill fences and represents the first direct drilling test of the three priority targets at depth.
Pilbara Gold Ltd (ASX:PGL) has secured unconditional mineral rights over 367 square kilometres of prospective ground surrounding its 2.1-million-ounce Mt York Gold Project in Western Australia, substantially expanding its district-scale exploration position.
The Mineral Rights Agreement (MRA) with PLS Group Limited gives Pilbara Gold rights to explore three granted exploration licences and one application for gold and base metals, excluding lithium and tantalum.
Komatsu Ltd is extending its autonomous equipment capabilities beyond haulage through a new partnership with AIM Intelligent Machines, pointing to a future where bulldozers, excavators and other earthmoving equipment can increasingly operate without onboard drivers.
The company and its subsidiary EARTHBRAIN Ltd have entered a strategic partnership with US-based AIM to develop autonomous operation technology for bulldozers and hydraulic excavators, initially targeting construction markets in the US and Japan.