Australian small caps opened on the front foot on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) up 16.80 points, or 0.49%, to 3,442.60.
The index opened at 3,446.60, also marking its early high, compared with Wednesday’s close of 3,425.80.
Against the firmer market backdrop, rare earths and gold exploration news dominated the small-cap corporate flow, with Lindian Resources, Critical Resources, Dalaroo Metals and Askari Metals all advancing project work.
Lindian advances downstream rare earths strategy
Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN, OTC:LINIF) has entered a strategic partnership with rare earths processing specialist Carester SAS covering development of an oxide separation facility in Kazakhstan and a long-term offtake arrangement.
Carester and Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) Coffey will progress a definitive feasibility study for an 8,000-tonne-per-annum rare earth oxide solvent extraction and separation facility at Stepnogorsk, targeted for completion by the end of 2026.
Lindian has also secured an initial 10-year binding offtake agreement, with two five-year extension options, under which Carester will purchase 70% of mixed heavy rare earths compound production and hold a right of first refusal over 70% of mixed heavy rare earth carbonate production.
The strategy would increase Lindian’s exposure to higher-value separated rare earth products including neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.
Critical Resources defines New Zealand gold-antimony targets
Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR, FRA:9S70) has defined three priority gold-antimony targets at its Silver Peaks Project in Otago, New Zealand, following a review of more than 1,250 historical soil and stream-sediment records.
The targets — Lamb Hill–Three O’Clock, Stone Burn South and the Northern Soil Anomaly — sit within the company’s 497.69-square-kilometre Silver Peaks permit.
Stone Burn South and the Northern Soil Anomaly are immediately south of OceanaGold’s more than 10-million-ounce Macraes gold camp.
Critical Resources plans fieldwork to verify the historical anomalies and better understand the controlling geology before considering geophysics or drilling.
Dalaroo begins maiden Bondoukou drilling
Dalaroo Metals Ltd (ASX:DAL)has started maiden reverse circulation drilling at the Bondoukou Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, with about 12,000 metres planned across the Wilfred, Mag and Ali targets.
An initial 24-hole, 4,200-metre orientation phase will test high-grade soil anomalies and prospective structures along an approximately 7-kilometre gold-anomalous corridor.
Previous soil sampling returned results as high as 23.26 g/t gold.
The initial drilling is expected to take two to four weeks, with assays anticipated in early fourth-quarter 2026. Results will guide a potential follow-up program of around 7,800 metres.
Askari builds Uis drill pipeline
Askari Metals Ltd (ASX:AS2, FRA:7ZG) is progressing several exploration programs at its Uis Critical Metals Project in Namibia as it works towards drilling a portfolio of polymetallic pegmatite targets prospective for tin, tantalum, lithium, rubidium and caesium.
A soil geochemical survey at EPL 7626 is approaching 75% completion, while trenching is underway at the Kestrel target and geological mapping and rock-chip sampling continue elsewhere.
Among the larger interpreted targets are K10 at 3.1 kilometres of strike, GP at 2.4 kilometres and Tawny at 2.2 kilometres.
Askari is also planning RC drilling at the high-priority DP, PS, K9 and OP targets as it refines its next round of exploration.