Horizon Gold Ltd (ASX:HRN, OTC:HZGLF) has returned a series of strong gold intercepts from reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its 100%-owned Gum Creek Gold Project in Western Australia, extending mineralisation at Howards, Heron South and Melbourne Bitter and strengthening the potential for resource growth ahead of updated estimates.
At Howards, drilling confirmed an 800-metre southern extension to known gold mineralisation, with gold intersected in every hole drilled on 100-metre-spaced lines across the extension.
The Australian small-cap market strengthened on Monday, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) closing at 3,567.00, up 16.50 points or 0.46% for the session.
The index has now gained 46.50 points or 1.32% over the past five trading days, maintaining positive momentum as investors continue to look across the smaller end of the market for growth opportunities.
NewPeak Metals Ltd (ASX:NPM, OTC:NPMFF, FRA:NPM) has strengthened the case for a large-scale gold-polymetallic system at its 100%-owned Las Opeñas Project in Argentina after a second drill hole returned more than 650 metres of continuous mineralisation from surface.
Hole LODH-027 returned 657 metres at 0.30 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) from surface, including 0.10 g/t gold, 0.51% zinc, 3.14 g/t silver and 0.14% lead. Higher-grade sections included 117 metres at 0.60 g/t AuEq from 77 metres, 202 metres at 0.50 g/t AuEq from 77 metres and 284 metres at 0.40 g/t AuEq from 77 metres.
Investors will have the opportunity to hear directly from a range of Australian small and mid-cap companies at the ASX SMIDcaps Conference on Wednesday, September 23, with the event bringing together listed companies, market experts and advisers in Sydney and online.
Held in partnership with Bell Financial Group, the conference will begin with a market update before moving into company presentations, rapid-fire investor sessions and a panel discussion examining opportunities across the small and mid-cap sector.
BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP, ASX:BHP) shares surged to a record intraday high of $67.72 on Monday, climbing as much as 3.9% from Friday’s closing price of $65.16, as soaring copper prices fuelled another strong session for the mining sector.
The rally extends a strong run for the mining giant, with investors increasingly focused on its exposure to copper as demand for the red metal accelerates alongside artificial intelligence infrastructure, electrification and energy-network investment.
Atomic Eagle Ltd (ASX:AEU, FRA:6QZ0) shares jumped as much as 17.4% in morning trade after the company struck terms with the Republic of Niger to re-establish its interest in the large-scale Madaouela Uranium Project.
The agreement gives Atomic Eagle a 60% interest and operational control of Madaouela, which hosts a foreign mineral resource estimate of 116.5 million pounds U₃O₈ at 1,282 ppm, while the Republic of Niger will hold the remaining 40%.
Bitcoin is holding above US$77,000 after one of its strongest weekly rallies in years, with a sharp return of institutional buying, improving liquidity conditions and more favourable US regulatory signals combining to revive the broader cryptocurrency market.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading around US$77,180 early on Monday, easing about 0.6% after reaching almost US$79,500 on Friday. Bitcoin has nevertheless retained most of the gains from a rally that lifted it from around US$64,000 at the beginning of last week.
OpenAI has slowed development of its most advanced artificial intelligence models after an unprecedented security incident involving Hugging Face and evidence that an upcoming model could reach what the company considers a critical level of cybersecurity capability.
The AI developer had temporarily slowed the pace of scaling, including a two-week pause in reinforcement learning training on its latest models intended for deployment, while it strengthened monitoring, alignment and security across its research environments.
Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML, OTCQB:RLMLF, FRA:NC3) has confirmed a major extension to gold mineralisation at Golden Gate South within its 100%-owned Horse Heaven Project in Idaho, with the first three holes of its 2026 diamond drilling program all intersecting near-surface gold.
The standout result was 305.7 metres at 0.64 g/t gold from surface in hole HH-GG26-003C, extending mineralisation at least two kilometres south of Golden Gate North and supporting what the company describes as “discovery status” for Golden Gate South.
Lightning Minerals Ltd (ASX:L1M, FRA:YZ1) has returned high-grade tungsten assays of up to 5.46% W from Phase 2 rock chip sampling at its 100%-owned Warby Tungsten Project in North Queensland, reinforcing earlier results and extending known mineralised veins to the southeast.
Five of the six rock chip samples assayed above 1.00% tungsten, with results including 5.46% W, 3.46% W, 2.51% W, 1.56% W and 1.31% W. The program also returned gold and tin, including a sample grading 2.22ppm gold, 1.31% tungsten and 0.21% tin, providing further evidence of polymetallic mineralisation at the project.
Pilbara Gold Ltd (ASX:PGL) has delivered further strong gold intersections from its flagship 2.1-million-ounce Mt York Gold Project in Western Australia, extending mineralisation at Main Hill and Main Hill Extension as its 2026 resource and PFS drilling campaign reaches the halfway point.
The latest results show mineralisation continuing below previous drilling and remaining open at depth, strengthening the company's case for resource growth ahead of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) targeted for early 2027. Five rigs are operating at Mt York, with a sixth expected to arrive in September.