Nex Metals Exploration (ASX:NME) has spent the past quarter reshaping itself: it has sold its stake in a joint venture, formed a new gold Partnership with an Aboriginal corporation, and produced bench-scale test results suggesting gold can be recovered from old tailings in Western Australia. The central point for ASX:NME is that these are early, low-cost steps funded from a very small cash balance.

What the company does

Nex Metals is a Goldfields explorer with its office in Osborne Park, Perth. Its website lists the Kookynie Gold Project, about 180 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie, the Yundamindra Gold Project, and the Kookynie Tailings project, which is a metallurgical research effort rather than a mine.

Tailings test work

On 6 August 2026 the company reported metallurgical results on Kookynie tailings. A direct cyanidation test recovered 52 per cent of the gold; adding carbon-in-leach processing and light grinding lifted overall recovery to 71 per cent. Sample head grades were 0.94 and 0.96 grams per tonne of gold. The tests also found scheelite, a tungsten mineral, at 0.063 per cent tungsten trioxide.

These are bench-scale results, and the company says its flowsheet remains subject to further testing. They are not a mineral resource, and the tungsten has not been shown to be commercially viable. On 25 August 2026 Nex said it and its partner had applied for a 100-hectare general purpose Lease about 10 kilometres east of the tailings to host processing infrastructure; the application still needs approval.

The WTAC joint venture

On 21 May 2026 Nex announced a gold exploration joint venture with Wangkatja Tjungula Aboriginal Corporation (WTAC). The June quarterly describes a binding term sheet under which Nex would hold 40 per cent and WTAC 60 per cent. The venture’s first project, West Point Gold Copper near Meekatharra, was announced on 31 July 2026; a second, East Scotia Gold, followed on 14 August and was expanded on 2 September. West Point rests on a tenement application still awaiting approval and on historical drilling that the company says is not reported under the JORC Code, so its reliability is uncertain. The company retracted and amended that announcement on 19 August 2026.

Arika sale and cash

Nex completed the divestment of its Arika joint venture interest on 5 June 2026. A company updates summary of the earlier announcement described consideration of $2.5 million in cash plus 70.8 million Arika shares; the Quarterly Report records $500,000 received so far.

The quarterly report for the three months to 30 June 2026, lodged on 31 July, shows cash of $418,000. Operating spending was $205,000, almost all administration, with no direct exploration payments because WTAC funds joint venture exploration. The company estimated 5.7 quarters of funding, counting a $750,000 unsecured Facility from Allen’s Business Group. The estimate is management’s.

Risks

Cash is small relative to the ambitions, so further funding is a realistic possibility. The tailings and joint venture projects are at an early stage, Egyptian access and approvals are uncertain, and the tenement and lease applications may not be granted.