Sunday Edition: 7th June

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.

Public service announcement: the ASX market is shut tomorrow for a public holiday.

So it’s a 4 day trading week ahead of us...

Below you can find short overviews of all the content we wrote last week, plus links to each full note.

Further down, there’s also some links to other interesting stuff we came across on our travels around the internet.

Yesterday’s Saturday note: Tax loss selling is back, which is actually a good sign

Quick Takes: PR1, OD6, BKB, LKY, AVM, AW1, ILA, VKA

Deep Dives: HTG, BKB, WAU

Other content: EMD, CAY, PFE, HAR, WCE, OD6, PNN, SS1, ONE

PR1 adds Three-Star US Navy Admiral (retired) Jeff Trussler to advisory board, US funding engagement progressing.

PR1’s carbon nanotube fibre (CNTF) thermal management tech is being developed for potential use in AI data centres and defence systems.

Trussler’s most recent role was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare and Director of Naval Intelligence (2020-2023).

So he has operated at the most senior levels of the US military and intelligence.

Vice Admiral Jeff Trussler’s career within the highest levels of the US military could open the right doors for PR1.

(source)(source)(source)(source)

OD6 appointed US permitting specialists to advance its Nevada fluorspar project.

Generally these consultant appointments are not that big of a deal - but for US critical minerals it can be.

A big reason small cap Canadian mining company Ares Mining received a US$250M fluorspar purchase contract from the Pentagon was because its project (also in Nevada) is the only fully-permitted, ready-to-restart fluorspar mine in the United States. (source)

The thing with that Pentagon deal is that if no acidspar produced, Ares does not get paid.

We think IF OD6 can push permitting forward and put itself in a position to be an alternative supplier, it could become eligible for similar deals.

It’s hard to see the DoW put all its eggs in one basket (one small Canadian listed company) for the supply of a critical mineral that it is 100% reliant on imports for.

Maybe the consultants can also help with OD6 getting FAST41 status for its project.

FAST-41 is a special accelerated USA permitting and development framework for projects considered “critical” and essential for US national security. (more on Fast-41 status here)

(source)

BKB hit 1,169g/t silver grades on an extensional hole at its US silver project.

Those results dropped a few days after BKB received a non-binding Letter of Support from Export Finance Australia to fund a rapid restart of its project in Texas, USA - more on that other bit of BKB news in the Deep Dive section below.

BKB’s project has ~A$150M of existing on-site infrastructure, including:

• A modern plant + refinery (built 2011-2012)
• A 24,000 sq. ft. warehouse
• An assay lab
• Existing power lines + an on-site substation
• Full water rights
• 160km of existing underground workings
• Four production shafts

(source)

This week’s BKB hits came from outside of the project’s existing resource footprint - which is a good indicator BKB could increase the size of its resource following the current round of drilling.

There is still ~4km of strike across the project that could allow BKB to extend its resource.

So hopefully BKB’s resource grows when the maiden JORC resource is delivered this year.

(source)

LKY hits 6% rare earths oxides next door to $17BN MP Materials in California, USA.

The hits came from LKY’s project ~5km away from MP’s Mountain Pass mine - the USA’s only rare earths mine.

The big takeaway for us is that LKY has now proven its targeting technique can zero in on rare earth mineralisation which makes the targets near the border with MP’s mine that much more interesting for us.

Those other targets are only a few kilometres from MP’s mine:

(source)

AVM hit 220g/t silver from its Mexican silver project next to $14BN First Majestic Silver.

33.9m of silver averaging 220g/t next door to First Majestic from AVM’s highest-grade and least-drilled project.

(source)

All up AVM has three silver projects in Mexico with ~116M ounce silver equivalent in JORC and non-JORC resource estimates.

This particular project has a 22.4M ounce silver equivalent non-JORC resource estimate. AVM is currently in the middle of a 4,500m diamond drill campaign aiming to convert that resource into JORC compliance.

AVM is planning to deliver this maiden JORC resource later in the year.

(source)

Watch more: Building a 100 Million Ounce Silver Portfolio in Mexico | Advance Metals CEO Adam McKinnon Interview

AW1 expands the USA’s biggest indium deposit - more assays due in the next week.

AW1 resampled its old drillcores and all of the intercepts became bigger (which we hope means the biggest indium resource in the US could actually get a lot bigger).

(source) (source)

AW1 also confirmed a second diamond rig would be on site, with the next batch of holes drilling step-out holes across the ~4km of magnetic anomaly.

(source)

ILA started manufacturing its drug for Marburg disease study and FDA submission.

ILA has an existing inventory of the drug available for its planned dose optimisation studies, with agreements with trial partners imminent.

This new manufacturing that has begun will support pivotal study and broader biodefence opportunities - which could enhance “outbreak response opportunities including current Ebola outbreak”.

(source)

In the past, ILA’s drug has had over US$70M of R&D invested into it - funded mostly by the US government (including the Department of War), for the treatment of various high consequence viral threat diseases including Marburg and Ebola.

The last time a major Ebola outbreak occurred, the US government started funding research using ILA’s drug. (source)

And right now it looks like the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda is starting to become a big concern for the rest of the world.

On May 17th, the WHO escalated the outbreak to a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC) - the organisation’s highest level of global health alert.

And the headlines just keep getting worse every week:

(source)(source)(source)

Read more: AFR - Ebola outbreak of the vaccine-resistant Bundibugyo strain in the DRC has escalated rapidly into a major global emergency amid intense local militia violence.

VKA - Chinese buyers continue buying American tungsten scrap.

VKA owns a tungsten project in Nevada - which has produced tungsten historically (in the 1950s).

VKA is aiming to get that project back into production with a rapid fast to market strategy.

This week we saw the following article in the Financial Times:

(source)

The investigation revealed Chinese traders are quietly accumulating tungsten scrap across the US, driving domestic prices up by over 200%.

If that article in the FT is anything to go by, VKA’s fast to market strategy could be playing out at the right time - just as the US is about to put a ban on supply from outside of the US.

On the 1st of January 2027, new US Defence Federal Acquisition Regulation kicks in, banning the Pentagon from buying:

“tungsten metal powders, tungsten heavy alloys, or any finished component containing tungsten heavy alloy if any step of the supply chain (mining, refining, separation, melting, fabrication) happened in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea”. (source)

Between them, those countries control ~90% of the global tungsten market.

Harvest Technology Group (ASX:HTG)

While HTG gave the market guidance that a new defence focussed executive team was in the works, this new defence focussed CEO appointment happened a lot quicker than we were expecting...

On May 27th, we added the defence (military tech) stock Harvest Technology Group (ASX:HTG) to our Portfolio.

We Invested in HTG now because it is pivoting its commercially tried, tested and revenue generating “communications link resilience” tech to an urgent new defence problem:

“Communications link resilience” in the battlefield for remote operated drones, robots, boats and vehicles.

12 months ago, another ASX company Elsight pivoted its own “comms resilience tech” into defence and went from 30c to (now) over $7.50.

The past performance of Elsight is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance of HTG.

On Monday HTG further accelerated into defence with the appointment of a new defence focussed CEO Veronica Bainton (ex-major US defence contractor Raytheon, ex-Optus Space and Satellite).

(Source)

“Veronica joins Harvest with an extensive background in defence, space and national security, underpinned by deep expertise in defence procurement, Australian Industry Capability (AIC), sovereign capability development, and government and industry engagement”

HTG is currently trading at 1.8c/share.

The HTG CEO and Exec chairman are now on new incentive packages, which fully vest if the HTG share price gets to 10c (this is a stretch target, more on this in the link below).

(read the announcement)

New HTG CEO Veronica has spent most of her career in sectors related to HTG’s defence pivot:

• Optus Satellite & Space Systems, where she led Team AUSSAT's bid for JP9102, the Australian Defence Force’s biggest ever satellite-communications program (~$4BN).
  As Director, Governance and Industry Engagement at
• Senior contracts and commercial roles at Raytheon Australia (the local arm of US defence contractor RTX)

(Satellite comms are now central to modern battlefield operations)

Also during her career she has held positions of:

• 
  Chair of NSW Space Research Network and roles on the board of the Space Industry Association of Australia
• Plus senior commercial and compliance roles at gold miner Newcrest Mining.

In our HTG initiation note in late May we pointed out that Exec Chair Jeff Sengelman, the former Australian Army two star Special Forces General, said his plan was to build a new, defence focussed executive team.

We had assumed this hiring process was still going to take some more time - starting following HTG’s recently completed $6.5M capital raise.

(can’t hire an elite executive team with no cash in the bank...)

But it looks like HTG has been running the process in parallel.

The new defence-focused HTG CEO started Monday, and has already been acting as an advisor to HTG for the last 3 months, so it looks like it's not a cold start. (source - LinkedIn)

So we have a quick post capital raise CEO appointment, who started Monday, with a 3 month head start as a strategic advisor.

A good setup for HTG to be able to deliver some quick traction in the defence sector (no waiting around for months as the CEO gets their feet under the table).

All we need now is a few new defence-focused partnerships/sales so HTG can hopefully start to emulate what its ASX peer Elsight did...

Elsight started small (a $475k deal in March 2025) (source), which got its tech into the defence ecosystem. Then, within 16 months, that small deal snowballed into 10s of millions of dollars in deals across North America and Europe.

Elsight’s share price went from 29c to $7.61, up over 2,500% as of Friday’s close in ~16 months (more on the Elsight comparison to early stage HTG later):

(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.

This shows the demand for “comms resilience tech” is there. HTG also has this tech.

Over to you Veronica...

Read more: HTG: Appoints new CEO (ex Raytheon, Optus Space & Satellite) to accelerate defence strategy

Black Bear Minerals (ASX:BKB)

Our current favourite investment themes are the global AI, robotics and military buildouts.

...and the critical minerals needed to build them.

Especially in the USA, which over 40 years outsourced nearly all of its mining and manufacturing to China.

Now the USA is scrambling to build it all back as fast as possible.

Confirming this urgency (yet again) - this week, the US President signed an Executive Order called: “Approving Critical Position Pay Authority for National Security Investment Workforce” (source)

Quite the mouthful.

Quick summary is that this Executive Order unlocks funds to rapidly hire mining and advanced materials experts as quickly as possible into key US government roles.

It literally refers to critical minerals and domestic mining as an urgent national security issue.

Also this week, came an even FASTER way to secure critical minerals supply:

The US, Japan, Australia, and India (the "Quad") just teamed up to announce a $20 billion plan to jointly fund critical minerals mining, processing, and recycling. (source)

The goal is to build a reliable supply chain for these materials and reduce dependence on China, which currently processes about 90% of the world's rare earths.

This week our USA Investment Black Bear Minerals (ASX:BKB) announced a non-binding letter of support from the Australian government to help fund the “rapid restart” of its silver mine...

that is located in the USA (a Quad member).

Silver is critical in AI, robotics and military - which is probably why the US government has silver on its Critical Minerals list.

Global silver demand reached 1.1 billion ounces in 2024, with industrial demand hitting a record 680.5 million ounces.

The silver market has been in deficit for 5 years straight...

BKB owns a silver project in Texas, USA with:

• a 17.6Moz silver foreign resource (average grade of 289g/t),
• already has ~A$150M of existing on-site infrastructure
• and produced silver as recently as 2012-2013.

5 months ago BKB announced the appointment of global engineering firm Ausenco to conduct a “rapid restart” assessment of the mine.

This week BKB announced that Ausenco has been awarded the next phase of the restart studies AND engagement from the Australian government to help fund the project.

A big part of our Investment thesis for BKB’s silver asset is to see BKB use the ~A$150M of existing on-site infrastructure and get the project back into production while silver prices are high.

Read more: Australian Government funding USA mining projects? All hands on deck for this urgent national security issue.

WA Gold (ASX:WAU)

Three months ago, the world's second largest gold company sidled up directly next to our $32M capped Investment WA Gold (ASX:WAU).

The $63BN gold monster Franco Nevada delivered a $220M financing deal (via equity and royalties on production) to WAU’s neighbour - the now $2BN capped Minerals 260. (source)

It looked to us like this deal gave Minerals 260 full license to spend hard on exploration in the region.

Three weeks ago, Minerals 260 made its first move - paying $7M for exploration ground in the region. (source)

That deal left our Investment WAU as the only company with 100% owned ground left in and around Minerals 260’s giant ~4.5M ounce gold deposit.

WAU is now quite literally surrounded from all sides by the $2BN Minerals 260, backed by the $63BN capped Franco Nevada.

And later this month WAU will be drilling its ground in the area...

Your move, Minerals 260...

Here is the ground Minerals 260 acquired, and all the ground WAU holds in the region:

(source)

We think the WAU’s ground could be much more valuable than the ones Minerals 260 paid $7M for.

Just like this guy did when refused to sell his house to property developers after all the land around him had been snapped up:

Hope he got a good price in the end by holding out...

And we think WAU ground is more valuable than other ground nearby, not just because we are biased WAU shareholders.

WAU’s ground sits over where Minerals 260 itself is interpreting potential extensions to its ~4.5M ounce deposit.

In fact, Minerals 260’s announcement from the 16th of February 2026 returned more strong assays on that western border next to WAU AND showed the next few planned holes were edging ever closer to the boundary with WAU:

(source)

WAU’s ground next door has never been drilled before...

WAU is expected to start drilling its targets to the north this month.

Read more: Surrounded. The 2nd biggest gold company in the world pushing money into WAU’s neighbourhood

Mining.com - Weda Bay Nickel halted Indonesian ore production after completely exhausting its slashed twelve-million-ton government quota, threatening a massive thirty-million-ton raw feedstock deficit for local smelters.

Reuters - Chinese nickel titans are scouting alternative projects in Africa and New Caledonia as policy changes and quota caps under Indonesian President Prabowo shake investment stability.

Gold.org - Global central banks resumed net gold buying in April, purchasing seventeen tonnes led by Poland and China, reversing a sizable sovereign sell-off seen in March.

FT - ECB (European Central Bank) has confirmed gold overtook US Treasuries as the top global reserve asset, capturing twenty-seven percent of central bank holdings amid widespread dollar diversification efforts.

Forbes - Political support for medical psychedelic therapy is climbing globally, fueled by President Trump’s research-accelerating executive order and shifting cross-partisan consensus on treatment-resistant mental healthcare.

Bloomberg - This opinion piece argues the recent political and regulatory momentum for psychedelics demands deeper institutional research to map the long-term mental health outcomes and responsibly scale broad commercial access.

Is Psychedelic Therapy Ready for FDA Approval?

(This discussion is relevant to our Investment EMD which already has links to the US)

US Department of Energy - The DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation announced US$134 million for two projects to demonstrate the commercial viability of extracting rare earths from industrial waste.

X (@travisk) - Uber founder Travis Kalanick posted this: Big Mining Energy 😮‍💨😅

Is the NVIDIA green ball rotation we’ve been talking about happening? We wrote about it a couple of weeks ago here: How early are we into the capital rotation?

Centre for Strategic and International Studies - China is dominating critical mineral supply chains before mines enter production, routinely outbidding Western firms for strategic global assets due to uncoordinated allied monitoring frameworks.

X (@SinaMin_CN) - Ian Zheng posted that the Nikkei's reported fifty percent drop in Japan's tungsten imports masks a total Chinese export ban, forcing desperate scrap substitution and threatening severe manufacturing shutdowns by late June.

AFR - Mineral sands, mining's least difficult child, is spearheading a rare earths revolution by transforming low-cost titanium and zircon byproduct streams into critical Western defence stockpiles.

Bloomberg - Aluminum hit a four-year high past US$3,700 as escalating Middle East hostilities disrupt local smelting operations, fueling the widest spot market premium witnessed since 2007.

(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.

Our Investment CAY is about to start mining its giant bauxite project in Cameroon (first shipments targeting Q3).

CAY also has a scoping study due for an aluminum refinery in country (bauxite is the raw material used to produce aluminum).

We think the refinery scoping study could be a nice surprise to the market given all of the hydroelectric power available in country, especially now with energy prices so high.

Bloomberg - China’s Huayou Cobalt is planning a battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery in Zimbabwe, accelerating local processing mandates as national mining revenues target a record US$7BN.

Lithium carbonate processing is energy intensive and Southern Africa, particularly Zimbabwe is regularly short of stable supply.

So this could be a nice backdrop for our Zimbabwean oil & gas Investment IVZ as it sets up to drill a well as early as next quarter, with commercialisation avenues already planned.

EnergyX Investor Webinar, May 28th 2026

This one is of note to our Investment PFE, which has a shareholding in EnergyX that was last valued in the privately listed company at US$30.5M.

HAR - Haranga Delivers Maiden JORC Resource of 2.46Mt @ 5.1g/t Au for 402koz Au at Lincoln - East Coast Research

WCE - West Coast Silver Releases Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate and Launches Dual Value Creation Plan - Redcloud

OD6 Metals Webinar (ASX: OD6) Quinn Fluorspar Project Update & Nevada Exploration Progress

Building a 100 Million Ounce Silver Portfolio in Mexico | Advance Metals CEO Leadership Talks | Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) positions Morro do Ferro as world-class rare earths

SS1’s Managing Director Andrew Dornan was on site checking out SS1’s drilling program, they posted a video walking through the core shed.

SS1 has 4 rigs on site with assays at the lab and plenty more on the way soon by the looks of it:

ONE posted the following on the back of the recent agreement with EPIC that will see Oneview run EPIC’s MyChart Bedside TV.

Remember EPIC is the market leader in hospital electronic healthcare records in the US (at ~55%) - so this deal could open the door for ONE to get itself into a big chunk of hospital rooms in the US.

Once in these new rooms which is often 95% of the battle to making the sale, ONE may be able to much easily upsell its own offerings alongside, resulting in increased ongoing revenues.

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.