The Drill Down
Friday 22 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
Treasurer Reinforces Australia-First Position to Protect Interests in Rare Earths
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has stood by his decision to order Chinese entities off the Northern Minerals register and to back Arafura Rare Earths as a key player in breaking Beijing's grip on critical minerals supply. Arafura will contribute up to 500 tonnes of rare earth oxides to a strategic reserve accessible by the US and Western allies, and has locked in non-China offtake agreements. Chalmers said he would do whatever it takes to protect Australia's foreign investment interests after China criticised the intervention.
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Our Take
Chalmers is drawing a hard line: Northern Minerals, Arafura, and now a 500-tonne strategic reserve with Western-only offtake. For ASX-listed rare earths developers outside Chinese influence, the policy trajectory is clear and the capital implications are material.
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Commodity Prices
Precious Metals (USD/toz)
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Gold
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$4,534
-0.21%
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Silver
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$77
+0.26%
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Platinum
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$1,959
+0.25%
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Palladium
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$1,378
-0.96%
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Base Metals & Commodities
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Copper USD/lb
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$6.42
+0.76%
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Nickel USD/lb
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$8.49
-0.66%
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Zinc USD/lb
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$1.61
+1.02%
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Lead USD/lb
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$0.91
+0.76%
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WTI Crude USD/bbl
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$98.20
+0.20%
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Prices updated as of 22 May 2026, 3:48 pm AEST
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Market Movers
Winners & Losers — ASX Markets
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Cobre Limited
No specific catalyst today. Cobre is advancing a 40,000m drilling programme at the Ngami Copper Project in Botswana's Kalahari Copper Belt under a $40M earn-in with BHP. Broader copper sentiment is likely providing a tailwind.
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Rapid Critical Metals Limited
Commenced RC drilling at the Webbs Silver Project in northern New South Wales, testing the southern extension of the ore body and a newly discovered parallel lode. A new exploration licence application has also been lodged to extend the company's district-scale position.
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Asara Resources Limited
Reported further outstanding drill results from the Massan deposit at the Kada Gold Project in Guinea, building on a recent $60 million institutional placement to fund an aggressive 80,000m drilling programme in 2026.
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American Rare Earths Limited
No specific catalyst identified. The only recent announcement was a procedural cleansing notice. The selloff may reflect broader profit-taking across ASX-listed rare earths names after the sector's recent run.
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Strickland Metals Limited
Received an ASX "please explain" for its recent share price falls. The company released a workstream pipeline update that flagged delays at its Rogozna gold-base metals project in Serbia. Strickland raised $55M in February to fund 70,000m of drilling at Rogozna in 2026.
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Orion Minerals Limited
Announced a $15.4 million raise to advance its Prieska Copper Zinc Mine and Okiep Copper Complex projects in South Africa's Northern Cape. Dilution from the placement is likely weighing on shares.
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Market data as of 22 May 2026, 4:10 pm AEST
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This Week's Poll
How much would you pay per month if The Drill Down wasn't free?
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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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Reuters
US Moves Closer to Prohibitive Tariffs on Russian Palladium
The US Department of Commerce has issued a final countervailing duty determination of 109.1% on Russian palladium, on top of a 132.83% anti-dumping duty finalised in April. The duties, backed by a petition from Sibanye-Stillwater and the United Steelworkers union, take effect if the International Trade Commission confirms injury to US producers. Nornickel, the world's largest palladium producer with roughly 40% market share, expects 2026 output to fall to 2.42-2.47 million ounces, potentially a 20-year low.
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Our Take
A combined 241% duty wall on 40% of global palladium supply forces a complete rerouting of trade flows. Russian metal will find other buyers, but the US market tightens immediately. South African and North American PGM producers are the obvious beneficiaries.
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The West Australian
Perth Mint Shatters Annual Record With $40 Billion Exported So Far in FY26
The Perth Mint has exported more than $40 billion in bullion and minted products so far in FY26, shattering its previous annual record with two months still remaining. The government-backed refinery processes approximately 75% of Australia's freshly mined gold and has benefited from record Australian dollar gold prices that surged from around $4,000 to above $7,000 per ounce over the past two years.
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Our Take
$40 billion with two months left in the fiscal year puts Perth Mint on track to comfortably top $45 billion. At these prices, gold is quietly closing in on iron ore as Australia's most valuable export commodity.
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CNBC
Perpetua Resources Secures $2.9 Billion US Loan for Idaho Gold and Antimony Mine
Perpetua Resources has secured a $2.9 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank to advance its Idaho gold and antimony mine, one of the largest government-backed mining loans in recent US history. The financing reflects Washington's accelerating push to build domestic antimony supply as reliance on Chinese sources draws scrutiny.
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Our Take
A $2.9 billion government-backed loan de-risks the project's financing stack considerably and sends a clear signal that antimony is now a strategic priority at the federal level. Investors in competing antimony and critical minerals projects should take note: this is the scale of intervention Washington is prepared to make.
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Mining.com
Critical Metals Secures 15-Year Offtake Agreement From REalloys for Rare Earth Supply
Critical Metals has secured a 15-year offtake agreement with REalloys, upgrading from an initial 10-year letter of intent the parties signed in October. The deal provides long-term revenue visibility for rare earth materials as Western buyers accelerate diversification away from Chinese supply.
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Our Take
Extending a 10-year LOI to a 15-year binding offtake is a meaningful step toward bankability, and long-duration rare earth supply deals are still rare enough to warrant attention. For investors, offtake of this length signals REalloys is serious about securing non-Chinese supply, which strengthens the commercial case for Critical Metals' project pipeline.
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AFR
ASX Mining Stocks Set to Rocket to Record Highs as Iron Ore Prices Remain Resilient
Resilient iron ore prices are driving earnings across the Australian resources sector, with analysts tipping mining stocks to push the ASX to record levels. The commentary points to continued strength in bulk commodities underpinned by solid Chinese demand.
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Our Take
Iron ore's resilience continues to do a lot of heavy lifting for the broader ASX, and as long as Chinese demand holds, the major diversified miners will keep generating the cash flows that support elevated valuations. The risk, as always, is that a demand miss from China reprices the entire sector quickly.
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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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