Key Highlights

  • Maverick Minerals plans 14 reverse circulation and aircore holes totalling about 4,900 metres at the Pokali East copper target in Western Australia's West Arunta region.
  • The company acquired a 90 per cent interest in the Pokali and Lyza project from Rincon Resources in August 2026, with historical results including 4 metres at 3.87% copper from 48 metres.
  • Cash at year-end was A$5.30 million after A$6.0 million of placements, though the accounts carry a material going-concern uncertainty.
  • The company also holds the Tampu kaolin and rare earth project in WA and a 75 per cent interest in the carbonatite-focused Viper project acquired in July 2026.

Maverick Minerals Australia (ASX:M96) has put copper drilling at Pokali East in Western Australia's West Arunta region on its near-term agenda, and the programme is the first the company has run there since buying the project. In an announcement dated 14 October 2026 it said it planned 14 holes totalling about 4,900 metres, to run for roughly three weeks.

A small explorer reshaping its portfolio

Maverick Minerals Australia Ltd has been listed on the ASX since 15 January 2008 and is classified in the Materials sector. The ASX describes it simply as a mineral exploration company, and its shares are ordinary shares.

Its long-held focus is the 100-per-cent-owned Tampu project in Western Australia, where it is working on kaolin and high-purity alumina, along with rare earth exploration. Tampu holds six granted exploration licences, and the company has progressed a scoping study and a high-purity alumina research programme. Two single-licence projects, Bonnie Rock and Earoo, were judged to have limited value and were being surrendered.

The West Arunta move

After the June 2026 year end, the company bought into the West Arunta region. A 75 per cent interest in the Viper project, formerly called Chobe, completed on 3 July 2026, targeting carbonatites and related mineralisation. A 90 per cent interest in the Pokali and Lyza project, acquired from Rincon Resources, completed on 24 August 2026.

Pokali is regarded as prospective for niobium, rare earth elements and iron-oxide copper-gold style deposits. The October drilling targets copper at Pokali East, with holes placed where rock-chip geochemistry coincides with geophysical anomalies, using ground gravity work processed by Perth consultancy Resource Potentials.

What the drilling needs to show

The programme combines reverse circulation and aircore methods on existing and new pads, all with heritage clearance, using contractor iDrilling. It seeks to test extensions of a mineralised corridor along strike and at depth.

Earlier results reported by Rincon on 2 October 2024 included 212 metres at 0.23 per cent copper from 2 metres and 4 metres at 3.87 per cent copper from 48 metres. No Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve has been estimated at Pokali East, so the drilling is early-stage testing rather than resource definition. Results will be released once assays are received and interpreted.

Financial position

The Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2026, released on 30 September 2026, showed a loss after tax of A$1.43 million, compared with A$0.91 million a year earlier. Cash at year end was A$5.30 million, up from A$0.61 million.

The increase followed A$6.0 million of placements before costs, plus A$206,340 from option exercises. Share issue costs charged to Equity were A$1.48 million, and 1,802,106,420 ordinary shares were on issue at 30 June 2026.

Maverick also recorded an Impairment of A$344,874 on the Bonnie Rock and Earoo tenements. Cash payments for exploration and evaluation were A$146,165 during the year, a modest sum. On 16 September 2026 it also issued 1,371,815 shares after holders exercised Options priced at A$0.002 each.

Risks and what comes next

The accounts carry a material uncertainty about the company's ability to continue as a going concern. Directors expect it to continue, citing its history of raising Capital and planned cost savings, but the notes say post-year-end acquisitions and exploration commitments will use much of the cash within twelve months.

Drilling may not find mineralisation of economic grade, and a company with this many Commodity targets, from kaolin to copper and rare earths, must spread limited funds across them. Further share issues are a realistic prospect, and a share count of 1.8 billion means dilution can be significant for existing holders.

The main near-term milestone is the release of assay results from Pokali East after the roughly three-week programme. The announcement did not give a fixed results date.