Exploration spending holds at $3.9b

By Chloe Coutinho

Monday, 3 August 2026

Exploration & DiscoveryNews

Australia’s total mineral exploration expenditure held steady in 2025 as increased spending on gold and silver-lead-zinc offset declines across other commodities.

The MOU supports Metallium’s plan to develop a national network of e-waste processing facilities, strategically located near major e-waste collection hubs, rapidly expanding U.S. data centre industrial parks and regional industrial corridors with strong logistics and waste generation.

Rio Tinto says Rincon is expected to have a 40-year mine life.

InternationalNews

Rio Tinto secures $1.648b for lithium push

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has secured a $1.648b (US$1.175b) financing package from four international lenders to help fund the development of its Rincon lithium project in Argentina’s Salta Province.

In November, Tivan hosted a delegation from Japan, inclusive of Sumitomo, to visit the Speewah site and the Port of Wyndham and for project related meetings in Perth, WA and Darwin, NT.

Tivan awarded $7.4m for Speewah

Tivan awarded $7.4m for Speewah Tivan (ASX: TVN) has been awarded a $7.4m cash grant for the Speewah fluorite project, located in the Kimberley region of WA, under the Federal Government’s International Partnerships in Critical Minerals (“IPCM”) program. The IPCM program supports early to mid-stage critical minerals projects that contribute to building end-to-end supply chains with Australia’s international partners in the critical minerals sector. Eligibility criteria include applicants having plans to produce critical minerals listed in Australia’s Critical Minerals List, projects which are in...

Liontown finished the quarter with $420m cash balance and 20,912dmt of saleable concentrate on hand.

Liontown working its way out of the red

Liontown working its way out of the red Liontown (ASX: LTR) is nearing a break-even point as the miner ramps up its underground production and with the open pit nearing completion at its Kathleen Valley operations. The underground operations achieved a 1mtpa run-rate in September, six months after first stoping. 225kt of underground ore was mined in Q1 FY26, marking a 105% increase from Q4 FY25. Liontown also saw a 77% increase in open pit ore mined for the quarter with a total of 292kt mined at a weighted average grade of 1.3% lithium oxide. Liontown managing director and chief...

DigiTech’s exponential growth has seen the number of modules on offer — which focus on robotics, automation and coding — grow from one to eight, with each one aligned to the Australian curriculum.

Resources sector locks in commitment to DigiTech

Resources sector locks in commitment to DigiTech An industry-developed STEM program in WA has received an $815,000 funding commitment from some of the state’s leading resources companies. BHP (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), Woodside Energy, Chevron and CITIC Pacific Mining have collectively pledged the money to ensure the continued growth of the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) school-based Digital Technologies Program (DigiTech). First launched in 2020 at a handful of Pilbara schools, the DigiTech program now reaches more than 6000 students from pre-primary to Year 10 across 165 schools that span the length...