Noble Helium Ltd (ASX:NHE, OTC:NBHEF, FRA:GN1) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Earth Source Hydrogen Limited (ESH), giving the company access to around 40,000 square kilometres of helium-prospective acreage in Western Australia’s Southern Carnarvon Basin.
The acquisition covers 100% of ESH’s issued share capital, including its Australian subsidiaries and two existing Special Prospecting Authorities (SPAs), SPA-47 AO and SPA-44 AO.
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK, OTC:ALKEF) has delivered record FY26 profit and revenue in its first year as a three-mine gold and antimony producer, prompting the board to declare the company’s first dividend and approve an on-market share buy-back of up to A$50 million.
Net profit after tax for the year ended June 30, 2026, rose 592% to A$228.7 million, while revenue increased 257% to A$935.8 million. Basic earnings per share climbed 224% to 17.69 cents.
Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has confirmed shallow, high-grade supergene gold mineralisation at the Think Big deposit within its 100%-owned Feysville Gold Project near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, following completion of a 92-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program.
The 5,229-metre in-fill program, undertaken by proposed development partner Mineral Mining Services Pty Ltd (MMS), returned a series of strong near-surface intersections including:
The Australian sharemarket is expected to open lower today after Wall Street sold off overnight as US bond yields climbed, Walmart disappointed investors and oil prices pushed higher.
ASX futures at 4.55am AEST pointed to a decline of 23 points, or 0.3%, at the open.
Employment dropped by 15,800 against expectations for a 12,000 increase, while weaker labour force data pushed the Australian dollar and bond yields lower.
Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in July as employment fell, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) labour force data.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP, OTC:ZIZTF) shares surged 17% to $2.97 in early trade after the buy now, pay later group reported a sharp rise in FY26 profit and guided to further cash earnings growth in FY27.
The mid-cap company was among the market’s strongest early performers after statutory profit for the 12 months to June 30 rose 46% to $116.4 million.
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX:SUL) shares have surged 15% to a 5-month high of $14.56 after the retailer delivered FY26 net profit after tax ahead of market expectations, putting the stock on course for its strongest trading day in 6 years.
The company reported net profit after tax of $226 million, beating consensus forecasts by 11%, helped by a stronger performance from Rebel and a lower corporate tax rate.
Fortescue Ltd (ASX:FMG) shares have swung between gains and losses after the Andrew Forrest-chaired iron ore miner reported underlying profit and dividends below market expectations.
Shares were 0.8% higher at $18.16 at 10.25am AEST, recovering from an early fall that saw the stock trade near $17.68 in the opening minutes.
Magnum Mining and Exploration Ltd (ASX:MGU, OTC:MGUFF) has moved its wholly owned Parker Gold-Copper Project in Arizona closer to first-pass drilling after the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determined the company’s exploratory drilling Notice to be complete.
The regulatory milestone allows Magnum to progress the required reclamation financial guarantee process and final drilling preparations, with first-pass drilling planned subject to regulatory and operational requirements.
McLaren Minerals Ltd (ASX:MML, FRA:U770) has reported further strong assay results from its 2026 drilling program at the wholly owned McLaren Titanium Project in Western Australia, with 179 holes averaging 4.96% heavy minerals (HM) across 2,835 metres of sampled intervals.
The results came from complete sampled intervals averaging 15.8 metres thick, with every reported interval starting at surface and no HM cut-off applied.
EV Resources Ltd (ASX:EVR, OTC:EVRSF, FRA:R1EA) has expanded the drill-ready target inventory at its 70%-owned Los Lirios Antimony Project in Oaxaca, Mexico, after mapping confirmed four previously unrecognised mineralised feeder vein systems and four new hydrothermal breccia targets.
The exploration campaign also defined continuity of the San Benito–Cofradía mineralised corridor over about 900 metres of strike and 200 metres in width, while 31 channel samples have been submitted for laboratory analysis.
Dart Mining NL (ASX:DTM, OTC:DRTMF, FRA:IQR) has agreed to acquire an 865km² exploration package in Western Australia’s Yamarna district and secured firm commitments for a $2 million placement to fund exploration across the new project and its existing portfolio.
The acquisition covers one granted exploration licence and seven exploration licence applications, split between the 320km² Yamarna South project and the 545km² Yamarna North project. The tenure lies around 25km west of the 8-million-ounce Gruyere Gold Mine.
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) remains on schedule to deliver first rare earths monazite concentrate production from the Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi in Q4 2026, with mining ramping up and construction advancing toward front-end commissioning in late October.
Ore is now being mined and stockpiled ahead of commissioning, with production drill-and-blast underway and initial blasts completed. The haul road is finished, while grade control sampling and development of the run-of-mine pad and heavy mining equipment laydown areas are progressing.
Titan Minerals Ltd (ASX:TTM, OTC:TTTNF) has identified a new zone of shear-hosted gold-silver mineralisation at the Dynasty Gold Project in southern Ecuador, returning 33.5 metres at 6.6 g/t gold and 55.5 g/t silver from a depth of 236.7 metres in drill hole CVDD26-199.
The intercept was returned from outside the current resource at the Brecha-Comanche target within the Cerro Verde prospect and is interpreted as associated with a shear zone within a broad northwest-trending structural corridor measuring about 1.6 kilometres by 800 metres.
The Australian sharemarket is expected to open higher on Thursday, with ASX futures pointing to a 28-point, or 0.3%, gain despite another weak session on Wall Street.
Investors will be balancing persistent concerns over elevated oil prices, global bond yields and geopolitical tensions against a busy domestic earnings calendar and the release of Australian employment data.
Stripe has agreed to acquire OpenRouter, the fast-growing marketplace and gateway for artificial intelligence models, as the payments company pushes deeper into infrastructure supporting the AI economy.
The deal was announced on August 19, 2026, making it one of the latest major transactions in the global technology sector. Stripe did not disclose the purchase price, although reports have valued the cash-and-stock transaction at about US$8 billion.
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (ASX:XSO) closed at 3,500.90, down 0.38% or 13.40 points yesterday.
The small-cap benchmark has lost further ground over the past 5 trading days, declining 1.62% or 57.60 points over the period.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is preparing to raise as much as A$5 billion through its first Australian-dollar bond sale, potentially setting a record for the country’s corporate debt market.
The Google parent is considering 3-year, 5-year, 10-year and 20-year tranches. The shorter maturities may be offered with fixed or floating interest rates, while the longer-dated notes would carry fixed rates.
WiseTech Global shares fell sharply after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) executed a search warrant on the logistics software company as part of an investigation into potential breaches of competition law.
Shares in WiseTech dropped 10% to a 2-week low of $38.72 in less than 10 minutes following news of the regulator’s action.
ADX Energy Limited (ASX:ADX, OTC:ADXRF) has applied for two new exploration permits covering a combined 787 square kilometres in the Sicily Channel offshore Italy, potentially expanding its acreage around the company’s 100%-owned CR 150.AU permit.
The applications for the d 368 C.R.-AU and d 369 C.R.-AU permits cover 573.3 square kilometres and 213.7 square kilometres respectively and are directly adjacent to ADX’s existing acreage.
Australian workers have gone backwards in real terms over the past year, with wage growth failing to keep pace with inflation.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed wages rose 0.8% in the June quarter, taking annual growth to 3.2%.
Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:RCE, OTC:RECEF) has secured Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval for a further protocol amendment to its pivotal Phase 3 trial of RECCE® 327 Topical Gel (R327G), adding a 208-patient active-controlled study arm in diabetic foot infections (DFI).
The new randomised, non-inferiority arm will compare R327G directly with physician-selected antibiotics currently used to treat DFIs, generating comparative clinical data as Recce advances the treatment through its international regulatory program.
ImpediMed (ASX:IPD) has secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its SOZO Digital Health Platform to assess patients at risk of sarcopenia, expanding the clinical applications of its bioimpedance spectroscopy technology.
The clearance makes SOZO the only FDA-cleared bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) solution for the clinical assessment of sarcopenia risk, according to the company.
ACDC Metals Ltd (ASX:ADC) has contracted FTE Drilling USA Inc for its maiden drilling campaign at the Mount Jackson Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, with up to 2,500 metres of reverse circulation drilling targeted to begin in Q4 2026.
The company is permitting around 15 drill holes across the Pegasus and three Shaft zones, where drilling will test extensions to known gold-silver mineralisation and, at 3 Shaft, assess a target that has never previously been drilled.
Canadian Phosphate Ltd (ASX:CP8) has extended the known strike of the Phosphate Main Zone at its Wapiti Phosphate Project in British Columbia by more than three kilometres, with all eight holes completed so far in the 2026 diamond drilling program intersecting the targeted horizon.
The company has completed 1,051 metres of drilling, representing about 1/3 of a planned 3,000-metre program, with drilling scheduled to finish in September. Samples have been sent to AGAT Laboratories, with initial assay results expected during the September quarter.
The US Treasury has moved closer to implementing landmark stablecoin legislation, proposing new rules that spell out when issuers and digital asset platforms will fall under the GENIUS Act.
Treasury released the proposed regulations on August 17, 2026, opening a 60-day public consultation on rules governing the issuance, offering and sale of payment stablecoins in the US.
American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:ARR, OTCQX:ARRNF) has appointed Nick Lissolo as chief commercial officer (CCO), expanding his responsibilities across the company’s Nasdaq listing plans, US investor relations, commercial partnerships and development of the Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project in Wyoming.
Lissolo, who joined American Rare Earths in March 2026 as vice president of corporate development and strategy, has been promoted to the senior executive team with immediate effect as the company moves Halleck Creek from evaluation toward development.
Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) has expanded its position around the Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) gold target within the 100%-owned Mavis Lake Project in Ontario, Canada, staking two additional mining claim cells covering about 40 hectares.
The new claims sit along strike from the Red Hat gold showing and are interpreted to contain historical drill hole RH11-03, which historical records report intersected 9.174 g/t gold over 1.2 metres from 133.8 metres.
Etched has raised US$700 million at a US$21 billion valuation as the artificial intelligence chip start-up begins shipping its inference hardware to customers, stepping up its bid to challenge Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) in one of the fastest-growing areas of AI computing.
The latest financing was led by quantitative trading firm Jane Street, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Neo, Primary, Stripes, Positive Sum and Blackstone.
Noble Helium Ltd (ASX:NHE, OTC:NBHEF) has completed key site infrastructure at its Kinambo prospect in Tanzania, clearing the way for mobilisation ahead of the expected spudding of the first well in mid-September.
The company has completed the access road serving the Kinambo-1 and Kinambo-2 well locations, while construction of a 56-person accommodation camp has finished and commissioning is underway. Development of the two well pads is also progressing to schedule.
Copper’s physical market is showing signs of an increasingly severe supply squeeze even as mining equities remain cautious, according to RBC Capital Markets.
Spot copper advanced 4.3% to US$6.73/lb over the week while copper equities fell 2.6%, widening the disconnect between the commodity and producers.
Google has won a bankruptcy auction for a large collection of Spirit Airlines’ internal business data and software, agreeing to pay $10 million for assets it plans to use in product development and artificial intelligence training. The transaction remains subject to approval by a US bankruptcy judge.
The data includes employee emails, Microsoft Teams messages, spreadsheets, calendars and information covering areas such as marketing, productivity and airline operations. Court filings indicate the package contains around 100 million emails and 500 million Teams messages.
BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP, ASX:BHP) has reported a 9% increase in full-year attributable profit to US$9.83 billion, with stronger copper prices lifting earnings and making copper the group’s largest contributor to underlying EBITDA.
Revenue for the year to 30 June 2026 increased 15% to US$58.8 billion, while underlying attributable profit rose 30% to US$13.2 billion. Underlying EBITDA climbed 27% to around US$33 billion.
CSL Limited (ASX:CSL) investors shrugged off the company’s hefty loss, instead focusing on stronger-than-expected FY27 earnings guidance, while Brookfield’s improved bid has put Reliance back in the spotlight.
CSL shares jumped 15% to $154.43 in the opening minutes of trade. By midday, shares were 16.71% higher.
Reliance Worldwide Corporation (ASX:RWC) shares surged 22% to $4.42 after the plumbing products group confirmed it had signed a process deed with Brookfield Capital over an unsolicited takeover proposal worth $4.75 per share.
The latest non-binding, indicative cash offer values Reliance Worldwide at an enterprise value of more than $4 billion, although the proposed price remains above the company’s current share price and has been described by some analysts as appearing low.
Swipejobs has appointed investment banks UBS and Barrenjoey to work on a potential initial public offering (IPO), as the AI-powered jobs matching platform founded by billionaire Katrina Leslie considers a listing or trade sale.
The appointments follow reports in June that Swipejobs had engaged Rothschild to run a dual-track process for the business, which has been valued at more than $1 billion.
Orpheus Uranium Ltd (ASX:ORP, OTC:AGREF) has expanded its Marree Uranium Project in South Australia after being granted three new exploration licences covering a combined 2,735 square kilometres, strengthening its district-scale position in the uranium-rich Lake Eyre Basin.
Exploration licences EL 7144, EL 7145 and EL 7146 were granted to Orpheus’ wholly owned subsidiary Trachre Pty Ltd and complement the company’s existing and recently acquired tenure at Marree.
Xenitra Ltd (ASX:XEN) has expanded its healthcare business into specialised medical nutrition through a 3-year framework purchase agreement targeting A$5 million of Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) products.
The agreement, signed by recently acquired subsidiary Hong Kong Fukang Trade Limited with Joy Charm Limited, will run from August 12, 2026, to August 12, 2029.
BRAZILIAN RARE EARTHS LTD (ASX:BRE) has replaced its previous Rocha da Rocha production and economic case with a standalone Monte Alto and Camaçari development scenario, outlining an after-tax net present value (NPV8) of US$6 billion, 90% internal rate of return and 1.1-year payback period.
The revised Scoping Study excludes the Sulista Project entirely after BRE withdrew the production target and financial forecasts released on August 13 because the proportion of Inferred Mineral Resources scheduled in years 9-14 did not provide a reasonable basis for those forward-looking statements. The underlying Monte Alto and Sulista mineral resource estimates remain unchanged.
Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) is backing a massive new artificial intelligence infrastructure project in Ohio that will give OpenAI access to around 8 gigawatts of computing capacity.
The PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County will be developed, owned and operated by SoftBank-backed SB Energy, with OpenAI leasing the facilities under a 20-year agreement. The project will be built partly on land associated with the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Kingfisher Mining Ltd (ASX:KFM) has confirmed high-grade lead-zinc-silver mineralisation at the Allendale Project near Broken Hill, with recent reverse circulation drilling returning grades of up to 10.37% combined lead and zinc alongside 23.2 g/t silver.
The 9-hole, 802-metre drilling program tested extensions to historically defined mineralisation at Allendale, which is 75%-owned by Kingfisher and 25%-owned by Broken Hill Mines.
The standout result came from hole 26ADRC_052, which intersected:
Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has secured a Land Use Agreement (LUA) with the Marlinyu Ghoorlie Native Title Claimant Group covering the Mandilla Gold Project and recently acquired Spargoville tenements, clearing an important pathway as the company advances a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Mandilla.
The agreement, executed through wholly owned subsidiary Mandilla Gold Pty Ltd, establishes protocols for heritage surveys, protection of identified sites and clearance procedures to support future mining activities.
SCX.ai is set to make its ASX debut on Friday, 21 August, giving investors exposure to Australia's developing sovereign AI infrastructure sector. The company is aiming to raise $40 million at $0.30 per share, implying a market capitalisation of approximately $75 million on listing.
The AI infrastructure company provides secure, Australian-based AI inference infrastructure through a vertically integrated platform combining purpose-built AI hardware, local data centres and proprietary software.
Kincora Copper Ltd (TSX-V:KCC, ASX:KCC, OTC:BZDLF) advanced drilling across two New South Wales projects during the June 2026 quarter while progressing new exploration targets, partnership discussions and the divestment of its Mongolian assets, leaving the company with approximately A$12 million in cash.
The copper-gold explorer and hybrid project generator continued partner-funded drilling with AngloGold Ashanti at the Nevertire South project and completed 9 drill holes at its 100%-owned Condobolin project.
OncoSil Medical Ltd (ASX:OSL, OTC:OCMLF) has secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its OncoSil™ targeted radiation device to treat distal cholangiocarcinoma (dCCA), giving the company US marketing authorisation and opening an estimated A$80 million annual addressable market.
The FDA granted Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) approval for OncoSil in patients with unresectable, non-metastatic dCCA, a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer for which treatment options remain limited.
The Queensland Government has begun deploying capital from its expanded $250 million Queensland Critical Minerals Fund, with a $20 million investment aimed at advancing development of one of the state’s largest undeveloped critical mineral deposits.
The investment is among the first from the strengthened fund, which received an additional $100 million in this year’s Queensland Budget as the Crisafulli Government seeks to accelerate development of the state’s critical minerals sector.
A $20 million investment from the QIC-managed Queensland Critical Minerals Fund (QCMF) will help accelerate development of unlisted Aeon Metals' Walford Creek copper, zinc, lead, silver and cobalt project in North West Queensland.
The funding will support a prefeasibility study (PFS), further drilling, environmental studies and project approvals, with work ultimately progressing towards a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and final investment decision.
JB HI-FI LIMITED (ASX:JBH) has reported record annual sales of A$11.06 billion and lifted its fully franked dividend by 22.5% to 337 cents per share, but weaker trading at the start of the new financial year has overshadowed the result.
Comparable sales in Australia fell 1.4% during the first 4 weeks of July, prompting investors to focus on the softer start to FY27 rather than the retailer’s record FY26 performance.
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) is facing a shareholder class action in the Supreme Court of Victoria over allegations its FY26 earnings guidance and market disclosures caused investors to suffer losses before a sharp downgrade wiped billions of dollars from its market value.
James Hardie manufactures and markets exterior home and outdoor living products and solutions across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America.
Bitcoin is struggling for momentum around US$63,000 as setbacks for cryptocurrency regulation in Washington and renewed outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds weigh on market sentiment.
The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading at about US$63,044 on August 17, having traded between roughly US$62,670 and US$63,310 during the session.