Key Highlights

  • Handheld XRF readings at Krokodil reached up to 8.59 per cent copper in trenches, with 89 channel samples sent for laboratory assay.
  • Blaze Minerals reported cash of A$44,000 at 30 June 2026, equal to about 0.14 of a quarter of funding.
  • The company holds 70 per cent of B&J Geoconsultants, owner of the Dinokwe project, under an agreement to acquire up to 90 per cent.

Blaze Minerals (ASX:BLZ) is an exploration company that has turned its focus to copper in Botswana. Its Quarterly Report dated 28 July 2026 shows a tension common among explorers: encouraging field observations on one side and very little cash on the other. Visual and handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) readings from the Krokodil prospect provide useful screening data, but laboratory results were still pending, and cash at 30 June 2026 stood at A$44,000.

What Blaze is doing

Blaze explores for minerals in Botswana and Uganda. On 11 March 2026 it announced a binding agreement to acquire up to 90 per cent of B&J Geoconsultants, owner of the Dinokwe project, and the quarterly report states that it now holds 70 per cent. Dinokwe covers about 1,771 square kilometres in the Limpopo Mobile Belt across three granted licences and one application. The company's Kalahari and Molopo projects in Botswana saw no work during the quarter.

Krokodil: what has been reported

On 29 April 2026 Blaze announced a soil copper anomaly of up to 288 parts per million extending over about 1,000 metres by 100 metres. Mapping linked the anomaly to a fault zone, with copper and lead minerals visible in grab samples. Handheld XRF spot readings reached 5.52 per cent copper and 2.79 per cent lead on grab samples, and up to 8.59 per cent copper in trenches. Seven trenches totalling 443 metres produced 89 channel samples, which were sent to a South African laboratory for multi-element and gold assays.

Handheld XRF readings are screening measurements rather than laboratory assays, and crushed grab and composite samples returned lower values of about 1.03 per cent copper, 1.05 per cent zinc and 1.83 per cent lead. There is no mineral resource at Krokodil, and no drilling there has been reported.

Uganda assets

The Ntungamo project in Uganda is prospective for gallium and rubidium, which drilling in early 2025 confirmed. Three holes at the Mityana lithium project in December 2024 returned no significant results. Neither project was explored in the June 2026 quarter.

Cash and funding

Operating cash outflow for the quarter was A$322,000, including A$118,000 on exploration, and cash fell from A$379,000 to A$44,000, which the report equates to about 0.14 of a quarter. The company has no Debt facilities. Over 12 months, operating outflows of A$1.28 million and investing outflows of A$1.04 million were funded by A$1.95 million of financing. Blaze says it will manage its cash until a Capital raising is completed, and it lodged notices of proposed securities issues on 22 May and 26 June 2026.

Dilution is therefore a live issue. There were 2.925 billion shares on issue at the report date, plus 555 million listed Options exercisable at A$0.01 until 31 December 2027 and 400 million unquoted options at A$0.005.

What to Watch

Laboratory assays from the 89 channel samples and any funding announcement are the next milestones. Early-stage exploration seldom progresses to a resource, and the main risks for Blaze are funding, the pending laboratory results, licence and agreement conditions in Botswana, and low liquidity.