Diggers & Dealers 2026: All the latest news from Day 2 of the annual mining forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder

That’s all for today’s conference. I’ve been reporting live from Osborne Park but you can read tomorrow’s edition of The West Australian for news and analysis from our man on the ground, gun resources reporter Adrian Rauso.

Daniel Newell and Rebecca Le May will return tomorrow with the online blog for day three of Diggers.

Dusci says Boss Energy is “highly leveraged to the uranium market” with 1.58m pounds of the stuff in inventory worth nearly $200 million.

Boss Energy boss Matt Dusci tips an annual deficit in uranium markets of more than 200 million pounds by 2045.

That’s partly predicated on ambitious demand modelling. Dozens of countries signed on an “aspirational goal” at the COP-28 in 2023 with a target to triple global nuclear capacity.

Big names Japan, the United States and United Kingdom backed the proposal. So too did countries without commercial nuclear power such as Jamaica and Moldova.

Boss Energy boss Matt Dusci is on stage to talk up the global uranium market.

Dusci’s fun fact as he is introduced to the stage is that he formerly played ultimate frisbee for WA — quite an impressive achievement.

Google says that’s “a non-contact, self-officiated team sport where players pass a flying disc to score in an opposing end zone”.

Attendees at the Goldfields Arts Centre in Kalgoorlie will be licking their lips as the clock counts down to 5:30pm when the “The Kal Tire Mining Traditional Bash” begins.

We’re told (once again by the master of ceremonies) that BMC Minerals boss Michael McClelland owns four barbecues and formely lived in the African nation of Eritrea.

He might need to take a look at Barbecues Galore — which went under earlier this year and was (sort of) rescued today by Victorian wholesaler Acom International.

BMC’s main project is the Kudz Ze Kayah silver and zinc deposit in Canada’s Yukon territory.

McClelland is targeting a final investment decision late next year though he needs key permits and construction financing.

“Of all the things that keep me up at night, (financing) is the least,” he said, adding there had been unsolicited approaches to fund the project.

Sinclair Gold boss Jeff Sansom has taken to the lecturn spruiking the Mt Henry gold project which was bought from Westgold earlier this year.

Yet our attention was grabbed by his introduction by master of ceremonies, Paul Howard of Canaccord Genuity, who declared Sansom is “a bit of a nerd actually”.

Apparently Sansom has a degree in applied finance and one in mineral economics — not sure whether that’s nerdy or just insightful.

Sansom also won a cupcake baking competition in a past life. Delicious!

As to the Mt Henry gold project, Sansom says “value comes from drilling the right holes” and he reckons the project was “criminally underexplored”.

“We’ve just scratched the surface here,” he said.

“What stands out to us is not what has been drilled but what hasn’t.”

Falcon Metals boss Tim Markwell also dropped some big names on his company’s share register, including mining executive Tim Goyder, who chairs Liontown and DevEx Resources.

Also non-executive chair of Minerals 260, he re-entered the back end of Australia’s rich lists this year.

“Macquarie turned up on the register earlier this year, and we have other funds like Paradice (Investment Management), Mckenzie (Investments) etcetera,” Mr Markwell told delegates.

“So a very strong register and I think that bodes well for the future.”

Falcon holds more than 6000sqkm in the Bendigo Zone of Victoria, which was a world-class gold province, Mr Markwell said.

The company was building “a lot of drilling momentum” around key targets, he said.

“The Blue Moon project is delivering high-grade hits and it’s a scale play,” Mr Markwell said.

“We’re here to find big deposits - and that’s what we’re driven to do.”

Before launching into Southern Cross Gold Consolidated’s aggressive exploration program for its Sunday Creek gold and antimony project in Victoria, president and chief executive Michael Hudson pointed out one of the world’s most famous gold bulls Pierre Lassonde was among major investors.

“He’s not seen on many registers, but he is the guy that literally wrote the book on gold mining, and he’s backing us,” Mr Hudson said.

Dropping some other notable facts, he said the project was not the only asset Southern Cross had some 60km from Melbourne, but also agricultural land.

“We bought something like 15 or 16 properties and have over 3500 acres of freehold ownership,” Mr Hudson said.

“We’ve got something like 200 acres of blackberries as well. Something you really need to do when you’re at least in this eastern part of Australia is to become a farmer at the same time as becoming a miner.”

The company had 11 drill rigs on site currently and was aiming for 24 rigs by the end of the calendar year, he said.

“We’re going very hard. The discovery hole was only made three and a half years ago ...

“So the elephant in the room is, isn’t Victoria a basket case and very hard to get anything done? Well, apparently not.

“Our decline was permitted in four months from the moment we put the application in to gaining approval.

“I stood up here and told you last year what was the best place to permit a mine in Australia, and I said Victoria. I got a laugh, and probably did again just then.”

Speaking of Andrew Forrest, Hastings Technology Metals chief executive Vince Catania told delegates how the billionaire’s retreat from a rare earths and niobium joint venture in WA’s Gascoyne region was a prime buying opportunity.

The Fortescue founder’s private company Wyloo took a 60 per cent stake in Hastings’ Yangibana rare earths project last year, in exchange for forgiving a $220 million loan issued to the explorer in 2022.

But he soon put it up for sale.

Mr Catania said the 12 month partnership achieved a “refresh” of the definitive feasibility study.

“What sets the Yangibana joint venture apart from many other rare earth players, we have spent up to $160 million on infrastructure,” the former Labor-turned-National State MP said.

“We now have purchased a hydromet plant ... (the project) has all the permits and approvals in place ... all the equipment sitting in a warehouse that is ready to be assembled when it comes to building the beneficiation plant.

“It’s a cheap buy for a great outcome when you’ve got a project that is completely shovel ready and only requiring just over $330 million to complete.”

After technically complex presentations by critical minerals and gold producers, Fenix Resources executive chairman John Welborn delivered a comparatively straightforward presentation.

“I believe I’m the only iron ore producer here,” the former Australian rugby union player said.

Mr Welborn said there was a lack of recognition of the potential of the Mid West, where Fenix Resources hauls the steel-making ingredient on public roads from Weld Range to Geraldton, a distance of some 500km.

“We export very high-grade direct shipping ore, and we’re expanding our business with an ambition to be a 10 million tonne a year producer,” he said.

“Our ambition is to be the new Western force in iron ore.

“It’s 20 years since the Western Force started their status as the premier rugby union team in Western Australia.

“Coincidentally, it’s about 20 years since Andrew Forrest stood on this stage and spoke about being the new force in iron ore.

“And there’s a lot of differences between Fenix and FMG. The similarity is in the commodity - we’re an iron ore producer - and the other similarity is the scale of our ambition.”

An agreement with China Baowu gives Fenix the exclusive right for 30 years to mine Weld Range, which is spreads across 40km of mining tenements and includes the Iron Ridge and Beebyn-W11 mines.