The Drill Down
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · Part 2
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Presented By
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ASX: KAO
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Namibia's Copper Belt.
Ready to Drill.
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69.6%
Peak Cu Grade
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40km
Mineralised Trend
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89%
Cu Recovery
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Two fully permitted copper projects in Namibia, an emerging exploration jurisdiction on the radar of global miners. The Chalkos Project carries peak surface grades of 69.6% Cu and 2,030 g/t Ag across a 40km mineralised trend. Drilling commences soon.
Discover Kaoko
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Lead Insight
Royal Gold Announces Restructuring of Hod Maden Project Interests
SSR Mining has sold its 20% stake in the Hod Maden gold-copper development project in Turkey to Lidya Madencilik for an uncapped 4.0% NSR royalty, while Royal Gold halved its equity from 30% to 15% in exchange for a new 2.5% NSR. Lidya, the mining arm of Istanbul-based Calik Holding, now controls 85% of Artmin and has assumed operatorship. The high-grade underground project carries an estimated $910 million in remaining development capital and a projected 13-year mine life.
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Our Take
Lidya Madencilik now controls 85% and operatorship of one of Europe's highest-grade undeveloped gold-copper projects, with $910M in remaining development capex to fund. This is the same Calik Holding subsidiary that partnered with Alacer Gold on the Copler mine, sold the Gediktepe mine to ACG Metals in a $290M reverse takeover, and has been the go-to local JV partner for every major foreign miner entering Turkey for 15 years. The question now is who Lidya brings in next to share the technical and capital load - because their track record says they rarely build alone. My bet is ACG Metals - they already have the Lidya relationship, they are on an aggressive copper M&A hunt, and Hod Maden fits the thesis perfectly.
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Commodity Prices
Precious Metals (USD/toz)
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Gold
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$4,474
-0.18%
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Silver
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$74
+0.74%
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Platinum
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$1,922
-0.66%
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Palladium
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$1,368
+1.22%
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Base Metals & Commodities
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Copper USD/lb
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$6.20
-0.25%
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Nickel USD/lb
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$8.51
+1.17%
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Zinc USD/lb
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$1.59
+0.60%
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Lead USD/lb
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$0.89
+0.40%
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WTI Crude USD/bbl
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$103.85
-0.15%
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Prices updated as of 20 May 2026, 3:49 pm AEST
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Market Movers
Winners & Losers — ASX Markets
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True North Copper Limited
IP geophysics extended the Aquila copper-cobalt-silver discovery approximately 500m north at the Mt Oxide Project in northwest Queensland, growing the total strike to more than 1.5km. The system remains open along strike and at depth.
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Maronan Metals Limited
Secured a $22 million strategic placement from Kinterra Capital at 35.08 cents per share, giving Kinterra a 19.99% stake. Proceeds take the pro-forma cash position to approximately $36.6 million, fully funding an expanded 2026 drilling programme and PFS on a larger-scale project.
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IGO Limited
No specific catalyst identified. Lithium exposure is likely providing a tailwind as spodumene prices continue to recover.
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Siren Gold Limited
NZPaM declined the company's mining permit application for its Sams Creek gold project in New Zealand. The underlying exploration permit expired on 25 March 2026, with the mining permit application the only instrument keeping the project live. Siren is reviewing its options, including a potential appeal.
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WA Kaolin Limited
No new catalyst. Shares continued to sell off following yesterday's collapse after completion of the $16.1 million entitlement offer at $0.01 per share.
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WIA Gold Limited
Announced a $92 million placement at $0.46 per share to advance its Kokoseb gold project in Namibia, with proceeds funding DFS completion targeted for H2 2026 and continued regional exploration.
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Market data as of 20 May 2026, 4:10 pm AEST
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This Week's Poll
What best describes you?
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This Week's Research
Q3 FY26 ASX Producer Recap
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Twelve mid-tier ASX gold producers, one commodity environment and the spread between best and worst AISC is now wider than the gold price was 18 months ago. That dispersion is the story. Inside: the five Tier-1 calls, the bond market re-opening for lithium, the US$110/kg policy floor decoupling Lynas from China spot, and the Q4 catalyst calendar.
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Today's Stories
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U.S. Department of Energy
DOE Announces Over $45 Million to Support Domestic Critical Mineral Supply Chains
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $45.7 million across 19 projects to strengthen domestic critical minerals manufacturing, including pilot-scale facilities for processing magnesium and rare earth elements. The USGS estimates more than 95% of US rare earth supply comes from foreign sources, with at least 14 critical minerals sourced exclusively from abroad.
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Our Take
$45 million across 19 projects sounds like progress until you compare it to the $764 million Sinomine is raising for two mines. Washington is funding pilot plants while Beijing is building supply chains.
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ABC News
Plans to Revive WA's Once-Booming Nickel Plants to Cash In on High Gold Prices
Surging gold prices are driving plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars retrofitting three mothballed Western Australian nickel plants to produce gold bars. The move reverses a pattern from the 1960s nickel boom when Kalgoorlie gold plants were converted for nickel. WA's nickel industry collapsed in 2024 just as the Australian dollar gold price ran from about $4,000 to above $7,000 an ounce.
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Our Take
Converting shuttered nickel capacity into gold production is WA's version of picking the higher-margin trade. At $7,000 gold, the retrofit economics write themselves.
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Bloomberg
Sinomine Seeks $760 Million for African Lithium, Copper Projects
Sinomine Resource Group is seeking up to 5.2 billion yuan ($764 million) through a private placement in China to fund its lithium sulfate plant in Zimbabwe, a copper mine in Zambia, and a cesium and rubidium project in Jiangxi province. The raise comes as Zimbabwe has introduced export controls on lithium concentrate and Sinomine increases investment in its Kitumba copper mine to accelerate ramp-up to approximately 38,000 tonnes of copper per annum.
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Our Take
While the West debates supply chain policy, Sinomine is raising three quarters of a billion dollars to build lithium and copper capacity in Africa. The gap between talk and capital deployment keeps widening.
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The Australian
China and US Entities in Showdown as Billionaire Chases Big Rare Earths Pay Day
Chinese entities including Shenghe Resources are circling Andrew Forrest's Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia as the Fortescue founder seeks to offload a 60% stake via a Bank of America-led sales process. US companies are also in the race, creating another foreign investment flashpoint for the Albanese government. Canberra is monitoring the process closely, with a government source noting lessons from the Northern Minerals situation.
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Our Take
Chinese and American bidders competing for a rare earths asset controlled by Australia's highest-profile mining billionaire. Canberra's call on this will signal how far the Northern Minerals precedent extends.
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ASX Announcement
WIA Gold Raises A$92 Million to Advance Kokoseb Development
WIA Gold raised $92 million via placement at $0.46 per share, representing a 5.9% discount to 10-day VWAP and an 8.0% discount to the last traded price of $0.50. The proceeds strengthen the balance sheet ahead of DFS completion targeted for H2 2026 at its Kokoseb gold project in Namibia, with funding now in place to advance development activities and continue regional exploration.
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Our Take
A $92 million raise at this stage signals institutional confidence in Kokoseb as a large-scale African gold development. DFS completion in H2 2026 is the next inflection point.
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Kamoa Capital
kamoacap.com
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This newsletter is for general information, education & entertainment. Kamoa Capital is not licensed and does not know your circumstances. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice — seek professional advice and read any PDS before acting. We aim for accuracy but make no guarantees and accept no liability. Views are opinions only and may include forward-looking statements that may not occur.
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