Highlights

  • The tenements are held by Aybull S.A., and Octava held no interest at 30 September 2026.
  • Octava has a binding but conditional share sale agreement giving it an option over up to 100% of Aybull.
  • The option grant costs US$100,000 cash and US$200,000 in Octava shares, with the shares needing shareholder approval.
  • Stage One (70%) costs US$100,000 cash plus US$250,000 in cash or shares, exercisable within 12 months.

Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) has reported a September 2026 quarter in which it entered a conditional option agreement over the West Sierra Grande fluorspar project in Argentina, progressed its Byro critical minerals project in Western Australia, and launched a placement and share purchase plan to fund the work. The business reports 1.47 quarters of funding at current spending.

West Sierra Grande Option

The project lies in Rio Negro Province, 17 km west of Sierra Grande, and covers about 400 km² of exploration ground with four historic fluorspar mines. The tenements are held by Aybull S.A., and Octava held no interest at 30 September 2026.

Octava has a binding but conditional share sale agreement giving it an option over up to 100% of Aybull. The option grant costs US$100,000 cash and US$200,000 in Octava shares, with the shares needing shareholder approval. Stage One (70%) costs US$100,000 cash plus US$250,000 in cash or shares, exercisable within 12 months. Stage Two (the remaining 30%) costs US$300,000 cash plus US$550,000 in cash or shares, and requires a JORC indicated or better resource of at least 500,000 tonnes at 30% calcium fluoride or higher within 24 months of Stage One. Conditions precedent include due diligence within 60 business days, tenements in good standing, approvals and no material adverse change, all to be satisfied or waived within four months. Nothing has completed yet.

Byro And Other Projects

At Byro, 555 km² of licences about 220 km south-east of Carnarvon, Octava completed its 100% acquisition in April 2026. A 14 July 2026 Exploration Target, based on 16 aircore holes drilled in February, estimates 4.93 to 7.39 billion tonnes with total rare earth oxide of 207 to 431 ppm, lithium oxide of 159 to 331 ppm and vanadium pentoxide of 173 to 359 ppm. The company stresses this is conceptual, that there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource, and that further work may not lead to one. Bioleaching testwork by CSIRO and BiotaTec in 2025 reported strong recoveries, which the CEO put at 70 to 80%.

Octava dropped its Tasmanian Federation Project in June. At East Kimberley, Future Metals (ASX:FME) can earn up to 70% by funding at least $2 million over four years, with Octava free-carried to a decision to mine; no exploration occurred this quarter.

Capital Raising

Octava is raising $1.8 million before costs through a placement of about 99.9 million shares at $0.018, a 10% discount to the 23 September 2026 close, with one free option for every two shares exercisable at $0.035. Tranche 1 (29,878,930 shares, about $538,000) was issued on 6 October 2026. Tranche 2 (70 million shares, about $1.26 million) requires shareholder approval at the 2026 annual general meeting. A share purchase plan of up to $0.5 million will allow eligible holders to buy up to $30,000 each at the same price, also subject to approval, with a proposed close around 18 December 2026.

Cash Position

Closing cash was $322,000 at 30 September, down from $356,000. Net operating outflow was $174,000, exploration spending was $45,000, and a $136,000 research and development incentive was received. The company has no debt. It estimates 1.47 quarters at current outgoings of $219,000 a quarter, says outflows will rise, and relies on the placement, share purchase plan and option funding, while noting it can manage discretionary spending.

Next Steps

Planned for the December quarter are completing West Sierra Grande due diligence, geological and structural mapping, an airborne magnetic survey and finalising the next bioleaching program. Shareholder approvals for Tranche 2, the share purchase plan and the issue of options and performance rights are due at the 2026 AGM.