Sunday Edition: 23rd August

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd and its associated entities may hold direct or indirect interests in securities referred to in this publication and may receive fees or other forms of consideration from entities mentioned. These interests and arrangements may create a potential conflict of interest in the preparation of this material.

The information contained in this communication is provided for general information purposes only and may relate to speculative investments. It does not constitute financial product advice, and has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any investment decision.

Any forward-looking statements are uncertain and not a guaranteed outcome.

Yesterday’s Saturday note: Everything becomes infinite, except the stuff we dig up

Quick Takes: WAU, HAR, AUZ, SS1, IVR, VKA (x2), PAT, PFE, OD6, LSR, EMD, BKB, CND

Deep Dives: TTM, ILA

Other content: ION, EIQ, SGQ, OD6, PAT, AVM, PNN, PUR, TG1, LSR, ONE, CND, AW1, RML

WAU defined gold targets north of $1.75BN capped Minerals 260.

No major discovery from this round of drilling but some targets worth following up with future drill campaigns.

All of the news this week was related to WAU’s ground to the north of MI6.

The ground that we are looking forward to seeing drilled the most is right next door to MI6’s 6.2M ounce gold deposit - literally bordering the resource.

That ground to the west of MI6 has never been drilled before...

(source)(source)

HAR expanded its US gold project - drilling starts this month.

HAR's project sits on California's Mother Lode gold belt and already has a 402k ounce at 5.1g/t gold resource estimate, a processing plant and a permit that allows gold production.

A big part of why we are Invested in HAR is because of the optionality its permitted and fully built processing plant gives it (compared to other stranded resources in the region).

So it's good to see HAR taking up surface and mineral rights on ground next to its project.

Good to have just in case more gold is found in that direction OR if HAR needs the ground as part of its “rapid restart” plan for the project.

(source)

AUZ confirmed the water licence for its NSW scandium project is current and valid.

AUZ is our newest Investment - its scandium project sits on the same mineralised intrusion as $3BN capped Sunrise Energy Metals, which recently received a US$400M funding commitment.

A water license may not mean much to markets people - but it's actually a dealbreaker for most projects in regional areas in Australia - sometimes water resources are so scarce, communities don't allow for it to go and get used in a mining operation.

So it's good to see AUZ de-risking an unglamorous (but very important) part of its project.

We note AUZ is also looking at potentially upsizing the potential output of its project - so this should de-risk that plan.

(source)

SS1 hit silver and antimony extensions to its 539M ounce silver equivalent resource.

SS1’s project is already the largest pre-production primary silver resource in the USA and on the ASX.

So, the giant silver hit is to be somewhat expected (98.3m at 120.3g/t silver equivalent).

The bigger surprise for us was the 86.9m at 0.1% antimony intercept.

For context, the ~US$4.4BN capped Perpetua Resources is developing the USA's only antimony reserve at a lower average grade of ~0.06% antimony.

So SS1 is getting some solid grades over some very big intervals now. Hopefully, that translates into a big antimony resource to go with its silver.

We think the antimony could become a big part of the SS1 story because it could unlock US government funding pathways for the project.

Similar to how Perpetua received ~US$2.9BN in funding from the US government for what is a primary gold project (which just so happens to have the biggest antimony resource in the US).

(source)

IVR lodged a Mining Lease application for its silver project in SA - full approvals targeted for next year.

After the Mining Lease, on the permitting front, IVR will also have environmental permitting to complete - with full permitting for its project targeted for 2027.

A big part of the reason we Invested in IVR was because MD Lachlan Wallace designed, permitted, financed and restarted the Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia while running Hillgrove Resources.

Kanmantoo is the most recent mining project to be permitted and brought into production in South Australia, the same state where IVR is developing its Silver Project.

Lachlan will know exactly what is needed to bring a project online and we are backing him to do it again with IVR.

(source)

VKA hit tungsten visuals from the first drill campaign on its project in Nevada, USA.

The drill samples showed scheelite (a mineral that is ~80.5% tungsten) which glows under UV light - the best interval a 12m continuous stretch of visible scheelite from 40m downhole.

Of course, visuals are not a substitute for lab assay results - and the first samples are now headed to the lab, with results expected in 4-6 weeks.

(source)

VKA also upgraded its tungsten grades with X-ray ore sorting this week.

Assays on the material X-ray ore sorting was used on came back at up to 1.91% tungsten oxide (over 3x the feed grade) with recoveries of ~93%.

Those are ridiculous grades in the tungsten world - for context, the $1.6BN tungsten producer EQ Resources mined grades of just 0.11 to 0.16% last quarter.

The X-ray lights up the dense tungsten bearing rocks, letting VKA’s tech automatically separate ore from waste before it hits a processing plant.

Here is how it looks from a flowsheet perspective:

(source)

PAT raised $3M at 5.5c/share to primarily fund drilling at its silver project in Peru.

We participated in the PAT raise, increasing our position.

It was good to see PAT Executive Chairman Hugh Warner come in for ~$140,800 too.

PAT says it is now funded to drill its silver project in Peru and progress exploration at its copper discovery in Zambia, ~18km from $8BN Sinomine's Kitumba copper development.

The silver price is looking pretty good again, so hopefully drilling aligns with a big rally in silver prices...

PFE started drilling at its US antimony-silver project.

This is the first ever drilling at the project, which PFE picked up in late October last year.

PFE will be drilling where there are historic silver and antimony mines from the early 1900s but no modern exploration since then.

PFE is drilling ~10 holes with a diamond rig which should take around six weeks, with assays reported as they come to hand.

(source)

OD6 kicked off a US OTC listing to boost US investor access to its fluorspar project in Nevada.

Good to see OD6 ticking off some of the milestones in our “US critical minerals playbook”.

We think the more of these boxes a company can tick off, the better they can position themselves to capture US capital and attention.

Here’s the list, with a link below to the complete playbook below:

Check out Our playbook for small ASX stocks advancing US critical minerals projects

LSR added a third Chilean copper project - maiden drilling next year.

The new copper exploration project has ~8,000m of historical drilling done by First Quantum ($37BN) and Hudbay ($17BN).

Some of those holes hit grades up to 1.03% copper equivalent from surface down to ~700M.

Hudbay withdrew from Chile altogether before it even received the assays from its final drilling program, and the central part of the ~6km porphyry corridor has never been drilled.

A nice pick up with a low upfront cost (US$30k at signing) and the bulk of the payments long-dated OR if the option actually gets exercised.

(source)

EMD unlocked more treatment capacity at its Queensland and WA psychedelic care clinics.

EMD recruited the 15 new therapists who started training in Perth this week.

Once approved they will fit the category required by therapists to prescribe psychedelic treatments.

Perth's existing capacity is substantially utilised with patient waitlists, so more therapists means more treatments through clinics EMD already runs.

Well timed capacity upgrades just as it looks like Big Pharma is getting into psychedelic therapies (~US$1.5 trillion Eli Lilly entered the space with a US$3.8BN acquisition last month).

(source)

BKB hit 2,990g/t silver at its silver project in Texas, USA.

The result came from re-assayed old holes from BKB’s project.

Again, grades in old drillcore is assaying higher then previous records - which we hope means BKB can convert its 17.5Moz at 289g/t silver foreign resource estimate into a JORC estimate AND upgrade it both in terms of size and grade at the same time.

Usually foreign resource to JORC conversions can mean a resource gets smaller.

So far, it looks like BKB could do the opposite.

Those old holes were also only ever assayed for silver, so the new results including gold up to 0.8g/t and lead up to 30% could also add to the resource.

(source)

CND - US major Anadarko confirms 2027 offshore well in Peru, south of CND.

Anadarko is owned by US$86BN US major Occidental - the company majority owned by Berkshire Hathaway (so basically Warren Buffet’s oil and gas vehicle).

Occidental (Anadarko) is one of four supermajors (alongside TotalEnergies, Chevron and Repsol) that came into offshore Peru AFTER CND picked up its ground.

Anadarko committed to drill on its blocks just south of CND's ground - backed by a ~US$40M 3D seismic survey, the biggest ever shot off Peru's Pacific coast.

Drilling activity in the region is good for everyone with exposure offshore in Peru - including our Investment CND.

(source - article is originally in Spanish)(source)

Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM)

Our Investment Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) already has a 3.9M ounce gold and 26.1M ounce silver (JORC resource estimates) asset in Ecuador.

This week TTM announced a brand new discovery with a monster 33.5m at 6.6g/t gold hit.

A “shear hosted gold” discovery - different to the style of mineralisation across the rest of TTM’s multi million ounce resource - something that was previously missed by all of the old drilling on TTM’s project.

More drilling is now planned to chase down and define repetitions and lateral extensions to the newly found mineralisation in the coming 2 weeks.

More on what this means for TTM in a second.

First, why did gold go up so much this week? And why might it keep going?

The US Treasury announced it is DOUBLING buybacks of long term US debt:

What the hell does that mean?

10 second summary:

Because this move is the US Treasury signalling to the market it won't accept free-market set interest rates in the long term bond market.

Instead it will control its own destiny and buy debt from itself if it has to - to prevent interest rates from skyrocketing or worse... default.

Not technically money printing... but pretty close.

Of course the market will always see it as printing, because more paper currency is being pumped into the system.

Gold loves fiat currency being pumped into the system - so it makes sense it started running right after the Treasury news.

And looking at the gold price over the last three years, it caps off a VERY good few weeks for gold after 7 months of pain and self doubt (since “black January”):

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

When gold and silver prices have positive momentum, the market cares about, and rewards announcements from gold and silver companies.

So it's a good time for a small cap company to lob in a high grade gold drill result - or better yet, make a new gold discovery...

Which is precisely what TTM just did from its 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver project in Ecuador this week.

TTM just discovered a new style of mineralisation outside of the existing resource at its project.

With a monster hit OUTSIDE of its existing resource footprint - here is the hit - you don't see those grades over that thickness every day.

(source)

BUT the even bigger takeaway is how this is the first time TTM has hit “shear hosted gold” to the north west of its defined JORC resource - something that was previously missed by all of the old drilling on TTM’s project.

(source)

“Shear hosted” matters because it's a different style of gold to the high grade veins TTM has spent years drilling.

Veins are narrow and high grade.

Shear zones can carry gold over much WIDER intervals - and they usually form in clusters - so the next few drillholes in this part of TTM’s project will be interesting to watch.

Read more: Gold surges ~4% overnight. TTM announces brand new, shear hosted gold discovery - 33.5m at 6.6g/t gold drill hit.

Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA)

The current Ebola outbreak in central Africa has now ticked over to the second worst in history.

But when you measure it by the first 100 days of spread, the current ongoing outbreak is spreading five times faster than the previous two “biggest ever” outbreaks at the same early stage:

(source)

Sadly, it is raging in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable fuelled by poverty, insecurity, displacement and intense population movements.

(sources)

Key takeaway - unfortunately this outbreak is going to get a LOT worse over the coming months.

Because there are NO vaccines or treatments for this particular strain of Ebola.

During the last major Ebola outbreak, US government agencies deployed over US$70M in funding to develop and test a drug called Galidesivir against viral diseases.

Including against Ebola.

Galidesivir ALREADY has Phase 1 safety data (in humans) and effectiveness (in animals) against Ebola, Marburg and 20+ other viral diseases.

Our 2025 Biotech Pick of The Year, Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA), acquired Galidesivir in 2025.

(after the prior owner shifted strategic focus to other diseases).

ILA decided to develop the drug for the Marburg virus first.

Because Marburg is the only Category A bioterrorism threat (the highest level) with NO current vaccine or FDA-approved treatment.

There is no approved treatment and hence no biodefence treatment stockpile, and approval can be fast-tracked with the FDA

ILA’s animal trials for Marburg are due to start any day now with ILA going for accelerated FDA approvals in Q1 2027 (submissions).

BUT...

Then the major Ebola outbreak happened.

~17 weeks ago: this major Ebola outbreak started.

... and has quickly spread into what looks to become the worst outbreak in history based on the first 100 days of spread.

Six weeks ago: ILA secured full government and regulatory approvals to deploy Galidesivir in infected Ebola patients in Uganda - under a World Health Organization emergency use framework.

(source - Read the ILA announcement)

🚨 FRIDAY: ILA announced it has commissioned a SECOND manufacturing campaign of GMP-grade Galidesivir to "strengthen active outbreak and biodefence inventory".

In other words - ILA's drug is expected to treat infected humans, in a live outbreak, within the coming months.

Hopefully saving lives and preventing the spread of this currently untreatable strain of Ebola.

And, in parallel, creating the first opportunity to collect HUMAN efficacy, safety and virological data in infected patients.

You can't ethically deliberately infect humans with a deadly disease to test a treatment. Placebo control groups are unethical, and outbreaks to find test patients are rare and unpredictable.

ILA’s Galidesivir has already been proven SAFE for humans to take (Phase 1 trial) - so we are hoping it can actually get onto the field and do some real good for people asap - a low risk but potentially high reward treatment.

With the only cost to ILA being to supply the drug.

A human trial like this would usually cost ~$20M to $30M+.

(and it would be impossible to recruit trial participants - dose of Ebola to see if this drug works? Not very ethical.)

So right now is a rare and precious chance to collect real world HUMAN data on efficacy which is impossible in a non–outbreak scenario.

And most importantly, hopefully proving effective in stopping this horrific virus.

ILA’s SECOND manufacturing run of GMP-grade Galidesivir should mean that by Q4 this year, ILA will have ~700 to 800 treatment courses of Galidesivir made.

"Ready to respond to an active outbreak". (source)

Read more: ILA ramping up drug manufacturing to help fight “worst ever” Ebola outbreak

Bloomberg - A US bond selloff drove 30 year Treasury yields to 5.31%, the highest since 2007, as US$2TN deficits, AI linked corporate borrowing and inflation stuck at 3.4% pushed long end rates higher globally.

Bloomberg - Ray Dalio told investors to trim bonds and hold 10%-15% of portfolios in gold plus a little Bitcoin, warning a US$2TN deficit could trigger a US debt crisis within three years.

FT - Gold rose 2% to around US$4,612/oz and headed for its biggest monthly gain since 1999 after Bessent pledged to at least double long bond purchases, sinking the dollar and reviving the debasement trade.

Bloomberg - London copper's cash to three month spread widened to a $518.50 a tonne backwardation, the tightest since October 2021, as LME inventories fell for a 42nd straight day to about 205,000 tonnes.

AFR - BHP lifted net profit 9% to $US9.8BN on a 35% rise in received copper prices, paid its best dividend in four years and flagged accelerating a $9.7BN expansion of its South Australian copper mines.

WSJ - Big Oil's Iran war windfall put the five Western supermajors on track for US$75BN more free cash flow in 2026, with combined net debt tipped to fall US$70BN by 2028.

Bloomberg - China planned a closed loop recycling system for wind, solar and EV battery waste before 2030, including strict rules for scrapping EVs together with their batteries.

Given China is well ahead in this sort of thing and the West is playing catch up, this would be an even greater supportive backdrop for our Investment ION’s battery recycling work, when the West does decide to close the gap.

AFR - Moderna shares nearly tripled, adding $US44BN of market value, after its custom mRNA skin cancer vaccine with Merck delivered statistically significant results stopping melanoma returning, with US approval expected next year.

Bloomberg - Congo's Ebola outbreak passed 5,000 cases and 2,300 deaths across six provinces, with over US$420M mobilised and authorities tightening financial oversight as distrust undermines the response.

Bloomberg - Congo's Ebola outbreak is spreading fast beyond Ituri into North Kivu with treatment centres over capacity, and authorities requested 500,000 more Merck vaccine doses.

Bloomberg - Bloomberg Opinion warned humanoid robot makers still relied on Asian suppliers for actuators and gearboxes, arguing the US needed its own component base as shipments blew past 19k units in H1.

WSJ - Profiled the former furniture designer now running Fire Point, Ukraine's largest private defence company, which grew to 7,000 staff and US$1BN in revenue building drones that strike 2,100 miles into Russia.

FT - A Cato Institute fellow argued the US munitions crisis predates the Iran war, with 80% of THAAD interceptors and half of Patriots depleted, warning the $1.5TN budget push cannot rebuild stockpiles for years without prioritisation.

AFR - Pro Medicus signed $407M of new contracts and grew net profit 130% to $265.3M, with CEO Sam Hupert calling the company an AI gatekeeper, useful context for our Investment EIQ after its Pro Medicus convertible note agreement.

A Rich Life - A Rich Life covered Pro Medicus record FY2026 results, underlying profit was up 24% to $144.7M with 100% contract renewals, and highlighted its strategic investment in EIQ as part of a Visage ecosystem play.

FT - Alan Beattie argued Washington's $30BN in equity stakes, loans and guarantees has barely dented China's grip on rare earths, with the Australia deal the only overseas move showing some real teeth.

CNBC - Brent closed the week above $94 a barrel, up more than 5%, after Treasury Secretary Bessent vowed the toughest sanctions in history against Iran, a war that still keeps 8M barrels a day off the market.

SGQ - Araxa: Bigger, Better, World Class - MST Financial

OD6 - Advancing USA and Australian Critical Mineral Projects - AMEC WA Investor Briefing

PAT - High-Grade Silver & Critical Minerals - Zambia | Peru

AVM - Advance Metals (ASX:AVM) - Investor Webinar Recording - 20 August 2026 (Webinar with MD)

PNN - Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) - JMM East Coast Investor Lunch - July 2026 (CEO Investor lunch presentation)

PUR - Can Pursuit Become Argentina's Next Lithium Success Story? (CEO interview)

TG1 - Blue Devil 3D AEM and Intrusion Model incl Red Devil IP Model (Check out the blob... 3D model video)

SGQ - St George Mining's Araxá resource hits 111Mt, "right up there" with Mt Weld and Mountain Pass (Chairman interview)

SGQ - St George Mining: A $300M Path to Production? Thiago Amaral on Niobium & Rare Earths (Executive Director Thiago Amaral introduced the Araxá Rare Earths and Niobium Project in a CNN Brasil feature.)

SGQ - St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) | Araxá Resource Upgrade Puts Project on the Global Stage! #SGQ #ASX (Chairman update)

LSR - Lodestar Expands with 100% Owned Copper Gold Porphyry Project in Chile (Executive Director & CEO interview)

Silver - SILVER SUPPLY SHOCK? The Truth About How Much Silver Really Exists | Robert Kientz (Liberty and Finance)

Robots - China Humanoid Robots Shift to Industrial Utility (Bloomberg Television)

OD6 - flagged that US fluorspar prices rose more than 11% in the June quarter on tighter supply from China and Mexico plus strong HF acid demand from the AI and battery sectors, a tailwind for its Quinn project in Nevada:

AVM - shared a site visit video from its Yoquivo and Gavilanes silver projects in Mexico, where Yoquivo's resource recently doubled to 33M ounces silver equivalent and the first three Gavilanes holes each returned wide zones of high grade mineralisation:

ONE - reported a great start to Epic UGM conference, telling health systems it can operationalise Epic MyChart Bedside TV at scale and unveiling meal ordering directly within the Epic TV experience:

CND - shared this article on Anadarko's move to drill its first exploration well in Block Z-62 off northern Peru in 2027, after the largest 3D marine seismic survey ever run on Peru's Pacific coast, an investment of roughly US$40M already:

AW1 - posted a clip of MD Dave O'Neill explaining what makes West Desert different, covering the geology, its high grade indium advantage and how exploration success could support a significant US critical minerals operation:

PAT - shared some photos from the signing of its community agreement with the Pachamayo Community in southern Peru, another step toward exploration at its Tassa silver and gold project:

RML - welcomed backing from all levels of the US government for its Horse Heaven gold, antimony and tungsten project, from a second FAST41 designation to a site visit this week by the Forest Service, the Governor's office and local Senators' offices:

A word of caution...

While we aim to highlight developments in the small cap space, investing in early-stage and small cap companies - like those we cover - is inherently risky.

These companies often face funding challenges, regulatory hurdles, and market volatility. Announcements may reflect aspirations more than guaranteed outcomes.

Things can, and often do, change.

Just because a company has signed a deal, released drill results, or appointed a new director doesn’t mean success is assured.

Always assume delays, cost overruns, or results that don’t pan out.

We’re here to share insights, not offer personal financial advice - so please do your own research and speak with a licensed adviser before acting on anything mentioned.

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Bye for now.