Highlights

  • September cash stood at A$322,000.
  • A roughly A$1.8m placement is being pursued.
  • West Sierra Grande is subject to a conditional option.
  • Byro exploration remains at the target stage.
  • Due diligence and shareholder approvals are pending.

Octava Minerals Limited (ASX:OCT) explores critical minerals, including rare earths and other prospective mineral resources. Its September 2026 update combined a limited cash balance with a proposed share placement and a conditional option over the West Sierra Grande fluorspar project in Argentina. The company is also assessing its Byro mineralisation in Western Australia, where exploration findings have not yet established a Mineral Resource.

Capital raising and liquidity

For ASX:OCT, octava reported an operating cash outflow of A$174,000 for the quarter, mostly staff and administration costs, plus A$45,000 of exploration spending. It received an R&D incentive of A$136,000 and recorded A$107,000 of payments to directors.

ASX:OCT announced a placement of about A$1.8m at A$0.018 per share, involving roughly 99 million shares, with one option for every two shares issued. The options have a strike price of A$0.035 and a three-year life. The first tranche, 29,878,930 shares worth about A$538,000, was issued on 6 October 2026. The second tranche, 70,000,000 shares worth about A$1.26m, is subject to shareholder approval at the 2026 annual general meeting. A share purchase plan of up to A$0.5m, capped at A$30,000 per shareholder, is expected to close around 18 December 2026. Octava said the broker fee is 6 per cent, together with 19,975,786 adviser options.

Conditional fluorspar acquisition

For ASX:OCT, octava holds a binding conditional option to acquire up to 100 per cent of Aybull S.A., which controls the West Sierra Grande project in Argentina. The project covers 400 square kilometres and includes four historic fluorspar mines.

The option consideration is US$100,000 in cash plus US$200,000 in shares. Stage One, for 70 per cent, requires a further US$100,000 in cash and US$250,000 in cash or shares. Stage Two, for the remaining 30 per cent, requires US$300,000 in cash and US$550,000 in cash or shares, and is conditional on defining an indicated JORC resource of at least 500,000 tonnes grading 30 per cent calcium fluoride within 24 months. The option is also subject to 60 business days of due diligence and the project tenements remaining in good standing.

Byro exploration and pending work

At its wholly owned Byro project in Western Australia, which covers 555 square kilometres across two licences, Octava reported an Exploration Target of 4.93 to 7.39 billion tonnes of mineralised black shale. The reported grades range from 207 to 431 parts per million total rare earth oxides, 159 to 331 ppm lithium oxide and 173 to 359 ppm vanadium oxide. The company stressed that the target is conceptual in nature and that there has not been enough exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource.

Bioleaching testwork with CSIRO and BiotaTec reported strong recoveries over a 21-day leach, with the report also citing recoveries of 70 to 80 per cent.

Elsewhere, the East Kimberley joint venture with Future Metals, where the partner can earn up to 70 per cent, saw no exploration during the quarter. Octava did not exercise its Federation option in Tasmania in June 2026 after drilling failed to extend mineralisation.

For the December quarter, Octava plans to complete due diligence on West Sierra Grande, carry out geological and structural mapping, run an airborne magnetic survey, finalise the next bioleaching programme and undertake further Byro drilling aimed at a maiden Mineral Resource.

Its limited cash depends on completing the second placement tranche and the share purchase plan, both of which hinge on shareholder approval or take-up. The Argentine option depends on due diligence and tenement standing, and Stage Two payments depend on achieving a resource within 24 months. The Byro target is conceptual, bioleaching is unproven beyond the laboratory, and exploration outcomes remain uncertain.

A conditional acquisition is different from ownership of a producing operation. ASX:OCT has not established the required fluorspar resource at West Sierra Grande, and the remaining acquisition stages depend on defined conditions. Its Byro Exploration Target also represents a conceptual estimate rather than a declared Mineral Resource.

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