This Week’s Big Stories

Dundas Expiry Triggers Five-Way Scramble for Released Ground

Five applicants have piled onto a block of recently expired ground in the Dundas area: Peg Resources, Amery Holdings, Mining Equities, Forrestania Resources and Voyage Minerals. The history explains the rush. This ground has been pegged 53 times in nearly 101 years, with earlier scrambles clustering around 1970, 1980 and 1981. The draw now looks to be lithium: the Earl Grey pit at Mt Holland (Wesfarmers and SQM) sits about 80 km away in the southern Yilgarn. Amery and Mining Equities are no newcomers either, holding 53 and 77 tenements in the region respectively, and the surrounding ground is already tightly held by the likes of Charger Metals, Flynn Gold and Rubix Resources.

Catalyst Metals moves to close out its Vango takeover

Catalyst shifted more than a hundred tenements around its corporate structure this week, the administrative tail end of its $66 million takeover of Vango Mining. Vango brings a 1 Moz resource at 3.3 g/t gold across 40 km of strike in the Marymia-Plutonic belt, ground that has carried fragmented ownership for years despite its prospectivity. Paired with Catalyst’s earlier merger with Superior Gold, which delivered the adjacent Plutonic mine and its 3 Mtpa mill, the strategy is straightforward: feed higher-grade ore from targets like K2, Trident and Old Highway into the Plutonic plant to drive unit costs down. The consolidated belt reportedly holds around 7 Moz.

CGN Resources cements its Leonora footprint with Desdemona

CGN picked up 20 tenements covering roughly 16,000 hectares, almost all transferring from Kin West, completing its acquisition of the Desdemona Project from Patronus Resources (formerly Kin Mining). The deal was all-scrip, about $500,000 in shares, structured to keep CGN’s cash intact. That landholding now puts CGN at around 386 km² in the Leonora Gold Province, along strike from Gwalia and King of the Hills. With roughly $2.5 million preserved for drilling, the company is lining up maiden RC programs at the Christmas Well and Panhandle prospects, both barely touched since the early 2000s and shallow enough to give CGN a walk-up drill target without the cost of starting from scratch.

Contested Ground

Wildcat Resources Lodges 7 Pilbara Applications

WILDCAT RESOURCES LIMITED and WILDCAT (TABBA) PTY LTD lodged 7 new applications in the Pilbara mineral field.

Dundas Mineral Field Sees 7 New Applications

PEG RESOURCES PTY LTD, AMERY HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, FORRESTANIA RESOURCES LIMITED, and VOYAGE MINERALS PTY LTD lodged 7 new applications in the Dundas mineral field.

Murchison Mineral Field Receives 7 Applications

KIMBERLEY INFRASTUCTURE PTY LTD, PARBO PADBURY PTY LTD, and THIRD EYE RESOURCES PTY LIMITED lodged 7 new applications in the Murchison mineral field.

North E Coolgardie Sees 5 New Applications

TECHGEN METALS LTD and PIPPIN, AARON JOHN lodged 5 new applications in the North E Coolgardie mineral field.

Dundas Tenement Expiry Triggers 4 Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Dundas mineral field, PEG RESOURCES PTY LTD, AMERY HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, and FORRESTANIA RESOURCES LIMITED lodged 4 new applications.

Ground Set to Expire This Week

Live tenements expiring in the next 7 days with no renewal applied for.

KARORA (HIGGINSVILLE) tenement expiring in DUNDAS M.F.

A 182-hectare Prospecting Licence, P 63/2100, held by major company KARORA (HIGGINSVILLE) PTY LTD, is set to expire on 2026-06-04 in the DUNDAS M.F. mineral field.

BLACK CAT (KAL EAST) tenement expiring in BULONG

A 135-hectare Prospecting Licence, P 25/2463, held by major company BLACK CAT (KAL EAST) PTY LTD, is due to expire on 2026-06-04 in the BULONG mineral field.

BRIGHTSTAR RESOURCES tenement expiring in MT. MARGARET

A 6,468-hectare Exploration Licence, E 38/3500, held by mid-tier company BRIGHTSTAR RESOURCES LIMITED, is set to expire on 2026-06-08 in the MT. MARGARET mineral field.

BLACK CAT (PAULSENS) tenement expiring in WEST PILBARA M.F.

A 3,332-hectare Exploration Licence, E 47/1773-I, held by mid-tier company BLACK CAT (PAULSENS) PTY LTD, is due to expire on 2026-06-07 in the WEST PILBARA M.F. mineral field.

TECHGEN METALS tenement expiring in MARBLE BAR

A 1,960-hectare Exploration Licence, E 45/5506, held by mid-tier company TECHGEN METALS LTD, expires on 2026-06-02 in the MARBLE BAR mineral field.

ABEH PTY LTD tenement expiring in COOLGARDIE

A 1,960-hectare Exploration Licence, E 15/1674, held by mid-tier company ABEH PTY LTD, is set to expire on 2026-06-03 in the COOLGARDIE mineral field.

BRIGHTSTAR RESOURCES tenement expiring in MT. MARGARET

A 1,176-hectare Exploration Licence, E 38/3504, held by mid-tier company BRIGHTSTAR RESOURCES LIMITED, is due to expire on 2026-06-08 in the MT. MARGARET mineral field.

TECHGEN METALS tenement expiring in MARBLE BAR

A 784-hectare Exploration Licence, E 45/5511, held by mid-tier company TECHGEN METALS LTD, expires on 2026-06-02 in the MARBLE BAR mineral field.

MATSA GOLD tenement expiring in MT. MORGANS

A 784-hectare Exploration Licence, E 39/1760, held by mid-tier company MATSA GOLD PTY LTD, is set to expire on 2026-06-04 in the MT. MORGANS mineral field.

HAOMA MINING NL tenement expiring in MARBLE BAR

A 392-hectare Exploration Licence, E 45/3940, held by mid-tier company HAOMA MINING NL, is due to expire on 2026-06-06 in the MARBLE BAR mineral field.

For more information on these stories or anything else going on WA this week, check out NextMaps, for all the mining news that’s fit to print: https://nextmaps.com.au/

Disclaimer

Tenement expiry dates, applications, transfers, and status changes are based on currently available data and may not reflect real-time outcomes. There is often a 4–6 week delay for Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration to process, lodge, and gazette dealings, meaning ground referenced as “expiring”, “relinquished”, or “transferred” may already have been renewed, surrendered, amended, or otherwise dealt with but not yet publicly reflected.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a definitive statement of tenement status, ownership, or availability. Coverage is not exhaustive. No guarantee is given that ground identified will become available, or as to the timing of any such availability. Users should verify all tenement details and dealings directly with official government sources before making any commercial or exploration decisions.

All commentary and interpretations are based on public data and are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Live spatial overlays highlighting tenement drops and upcoming compulsory or voluntary surrenders are available on NextMaps, derived from the MTO dealings feed and the DASC.

This Week’s Big Stories

Five Applicants Lodge Seven Dundas Filings as Voyage Books a Four-Block Slice

The Dundas mineral field absorbed seven new exploration applications in a single week, split across five separate parties of very different sizes. Voyage Minerals took the largest position with four applications across 5,580 hectares, including E63/2581, E63/2582 and E63/2583. Amery Holdings came in second with three applications spanning 17,980 hectares (of which E63/2587 sits in Dundas per the DMPE records). The remaining filings come from mid-tier explorers Forrestania Resources (71 tenements statewide, including the new application over E63/2586) and Mining Equities (76 tenements statewide), plus micro-scale Peg Resources, which holds a single tenement to its name. The line-up is what makes the week unusual in Dundas: a one-tenement micro, two mid-tier portfolios in the 70s, and two acquisitive players logging multi-block weeks have all filed into the same field at the same time. Four of the seven applications line up with the expiry of E63/2039, previously held by Global Uranium and Enrichment Ltd, which dropped on 18 May 2026.

Anglo American Exits Four South West Yilgarn Blocks Totalling 42,160 Hectares

Anglo American Exploration (Australia) Pty Limited is shedding four tenements covering 42,160 hectares, including E70/6546, E70/6431, and E70/5489. Reports suggest that Anglo operates on strict global exploration thresholds: when tier-one targets fail to materialize on a defined timeline, ground is dropped regardless of early-stage promise. The departure follows what seems to have been a multi-year evaluation of the region, though specific research partnerships or methodologies are not confirmed in registry records. For juniors currently eyeing these expiring blocks, the opportunity is real: ground that a major has systematically evaluated and walked away from arrives with a degree of negative screening already done, which is its own form of signal. Whether that screening was exhaustive or simply budget-constrained is the question worth asking before re-pegging.

Great Western Exploration Drops Massive Yerrida Landholding

Great Western Exploration has surrendered four tenements in the Murchison mineral field covering 92,380 hectares (almost 1,000 square kilometres), with E51/2127, E51/2128, and E51/2129 confirmed in the DMPE records. The blocks formed part of GTE’s Diorama and Baroo project areas within a broader Yerrida North package. GTE has operated as a prolific land-banker in Western Australia, carrying a large portfolio of early-stage conceptual targets. Statutory holding costs and minimum expenditure commitments on ground at this scale are increasingly difficult to justify in the current capital environment, and GTE appears to be prioritising drill-ready positions. For prospectors and juniors, this is one of the week’s larger acreage releases: the Yerrida basin is regarded by industry sources as prospective for VMS and sedimentary-hosted base metals, and the ground is now open.

Contested Ground

Wildcat Resources Lodges 7 Pilbara Applications

WILDCAT RESOURCES LIMITED and WILDCAT (TABBA) PTY LTD lodged 7 new applications in the Pilbara mineral field.

Dundas Mineral Field Sees 7 New Applications

FORRESTANIA RESOURCES LIMITED, MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, PEG RESOURCES PTY LTD, AMERY HOLDINGS PTY LTD, and VOYAGE MINERALS PTY LTD lodged 7 new applications in the Dundas mineral field.

Murchison Mineral Field Receives 7 Applications

KIMBERLEY INFRASTUCTURE PTY LTD, PARBO PADBURY PTY LTD, and THIRD EYE RESOURCES PTY LIMITED lodged 7 new applications in the Murchison mineral field.

Mt Margaret Mineral Field Gets 6 New Applications

REDCLIFFE PROJECT PTY LTD, MCAULAY, DARREN MICHAEL, and NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS RESOURCES PTY LTD lodged 6 new applications in the Mt Margaret mineral field.

Dundas Tenement Expiry Leads to 4 Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Dundas mineral field, FORRESTANIA RESOURCES LIMITED, MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, PEG RESOURCES PTY LTD, and AMERY HOLDINGS PTY LTD lodged 4 new applications.

Mt Margaret Tenement Expiry Draws 3 Applications

After 1 tenement expired in the Mt Margaret mineral field, NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS RESOURCES PTY LTD and TURNER RIVER HOLDINGS PTY LTD lodged 3 new applications.

Pilbara Tenement Expiry Sees 3 New Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Pilbara mineral field, WILDCAT RESOURCES LIMITED, FMG RESOURCES PTY LTD, and MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD lodged 3 new applications.

Kimberley Tenement Expiry Leads to 3 Applications

After 1 tenement expired in the Kimberley mineral field, C2 MINERALS PTY LTD lodged 3 new applications.

Ground Set to Expire This Week

Live tenements expiring in the next 7 days with no renewal applied for.

Northern Star tenement expiring in Kurnalpi

A 4-hectare Prospecting Licence held by major company Northern Star (Carosue Dam) Pty Ltd in the Kurnalpi Mineral Field is set to expire on 2026-05-29.

Black Cat tenement expiring in Ashburton M.F.

A 2,156-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Black Cat (Paulsens) Pty Ltd in the Ashburton Mineral Field is due to expire on 2026-05-29.

Black Cat tenement expiring in Ashburton M.F.

A 2,156-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Black Cat (Paulsens) Pty Ltd in the Ashburton Mineral Field is due to expire on 2026-05-29.

Nanjilgardy Resources tenement expiring in Yilgarn M.F.

A 1,372-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Nanjilgardy Resources Pty Ltd in the Yilgarn Mineral Field is set to expire on 2026-05-26.

Marda Operations tenement expiring in Yilgarn M.F.

A 980-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Marda Operations Pty Ltd in the Yilgarn Mineral Field is due to expire on 2026-05-29.

Black Cat tenement expiring in West Pilbara M.F.

A 980-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Black Cat (Paulsens) Pty Ltd in the West Pilbara Mineral Field expires on 2026-06-01.

DC Mines tenement expiring in Yalgoo M.F.

A 588-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company DC Mines Pty Ltd in the Yalgoo Mineral Field is set to expire on 2026-05-31.

Northam Resources tenement expiring in South West M.F.

A 392-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Northam Resources Limited in the South West Mineral Field is due to expire on 2026-05-26.

Northam Resources tenement expiring in South West M.F.

A 392-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Northam Resources Limited in the South West Mineral Field is due to expire on 2026-05-27.

Northam Resources tenement expiring in South West M.F.

A 196-hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier company Northam Resources Limited in the South West Mineral Field is set to expire on 2026-05-26.

For more information on these stories or anything else going on WA this week, check out NextMaps, for all the mining news that’s fit to print: https://nextmaps.com.au/

Disclaimer

Tenement expiry dates, applications, transfers, and status changes are based on currently available data and may not reflect real-time outcomes. There is often a 4–6 week delay for Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration to process, lodge, and gazette dealings, meaning ground referenced as “expiring”, “relinquished”, or “transferred” may already have been renewed, surrendered, amended, or otherwise dealt with but not yet publicly reflected.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a definitive statement of tenement status, ownership, or availability. Coverage is not exhaustive. No guarantee is given that ground identified will become available, or as to the timing of any such availability. Users should verify all tenement details and dealings directly with official government sources before making any commercial or exploration decisions.

All commentary and interpretations are based on public data and are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Live spatial overlays highlighting tenement drops and upcoming compulsory or voluntary surrenders are available on NextMaps, derived from the MTO dealings feed and the DASC.

Know a tenement’s exploration history and prospectivity potential in minutes, not days.

If you’ve ever tried to research a WA tenement properly, you know the drill: hunt down the A-numbers, log into WAMEX, download a stack of PDFs one by one, open each report, search for what’s relevant, and try to piece together a coherent picture of what’s been done and whether it’s worth pursuing.

It’s slow, tedious, and easy to miss something.

Today we’re launching AI Prospectivity Reports on NextMaps. Enter any WA tenement or AoI, select a target commodity, and within minutes you’ll have a full desk study synthesised from every WAMEX report that covers that ground. A desk study that used to take a geologist a day or two now takes 10-20 minutes. That’s the honest version of what this does. This isn’t just feeding a pile of PDFs into an LLM. The pipeline does significant work to extract, structure, and ground the analysis in real data before a word of the report is written.

See an example

Here’s a real focused lithium report generated for a tenement south of Greenbushes, one of the world’s premier hard-rock lithium districts.

View the report →

What’s in the report

Each report is generated from the actual historical exploration data on file with DMPE, not generic geology. Here’s what you get:

• Prospectivity assessment: a structured analysis of how promising the tenement is for your target commodity, based on all available exploration history

• Geological summary: stratigraphy, structure, alteration, and mineralisation from historical work programs

• Work history: what methods have been used, what was found, and what was interpreted

• Compiled dataroom: drillhole collars, assay results, geology logs, and surface geochemistry, structured, collated and ready to use, not buried in numerous a-file CSVs

• WAMEX archive: the original A-file PDFs, packaged and ready to download

• Register intelligence: tenure history, compliance status, holder transfers, and spatial context from the NextMaps data pipeline, compiled automatically, not manually.

A note on scope

The report is only as comprehensive as the exploration history on file. A tenement with no prior work won’t produce a rich report, but it will tell you that clearly too, which is useful in itself.

Free to get started

Every NextMaps account (free to create, no card required) includes:

• A survey report on any tenement: full geological and work history orientation

• A focused report on a commodity of your choice: prospectivity assessment with drillhole and geochemistry data

• A tenement datapack: a complete due diligence report covering title history, compliance and expenditure records, dealing history (objections, forfeitures, surrenders, renewals), 50+ years of exploration activity, geochemistry statistics, MINEDEX occurrences, native title status, and land access restrictions

That’s three complete outputs before you spend anything.

Create your free account →

Find it in the NextMaps toolbar - look for the “AI Report” button in the top navigation dropdown.

Who it’s for

• Exploration geologists doing pre-application due diligence

• Consultants looking to get a quick handle on their clients’ ground and prospectivity

• Junior companies assessing ground before committing to a field program

• Investors wanting independent context on tenements in a portfolio or deal

• Prospectors deciding whether ground is worth pegging

Questions? Reach out at owen@nextmaps.com.au, I read everything

Owen

NextMaps

If you’ve spent any time on WA prospecting forums or Facebook groups, you’ve probably seen the same question come up repeatedly: “How do I know if I can prospect on this land?” The answer is almost always the same: “Use TENGRAPH.” People will mention sites and apps like NextMaps, Trilobite, or DetectorMaps, but the advice nearly always comes back to TENGRAPH for one key reason: fresh tenement applications. That advice is correct. It just only covers part of the picture.

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What Is TENGRAPH?

TENGRAPH is the Western Australian government’s online mining tenement mapping system, operated by DMPE (Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration, formerly DMIRS/DEMIRS). It is the authoritative WA mining tenement map, displaying tenure boundaries directly from the Mineral Titles system. You’ll find every major tenement type on the map:

• Prospecting licences (P)

• Exploration licences (E)

• Mining leases (M)

• Miscellaneous licences (L)

• Retention licences

• Pending applications

You’ll also see it referred to as TENGRAPH Web, TENGRAPH Online, DMIRS TENGRAPH, the WA tenement map, or the WA mining lease map. For basic viewing, it’s free, only requiring a quick user registration.

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What TENGRAPH Shows You

Open any tenement in TENGRAPH and you’ll see the official tenure boundaries, tenement number (E45/5827, M70/1234, etc.), holder name, grant and expiry dates, tenement type, area, status information, and basic conditions. For checking the authoritative tenure record, it’s essential.

Why Prospectors Still Use TENGRAPH for Applications

This is the main reason experienced operators still tell people to check TENGRAPH first. Most mapping platforms source their tenure data from DMPE WFS feeds and daily DASC downloads. Those datasets are official, but they are not live for newly lodged applications. Fresh applications usually take around two business days to appear in external spatial feeds after lodgement. Until DMPE processes and publishes the spatial geometry, the application only exists inside TENGRAPH itself. That means a brand-new application may already exist, the ground may already be contested, and external apps still won’t display it yet. For checking fresh applications on WA ground, TENGRAPH remains the only live source.

Where TENGRAPH Starts to Struggle

TENGRAPH is excellent for checking records manually. Problems appear when you need ongoing monitoring, research workflows, or field usability.

• No alerts. If a tenement expires, gets surrendered, transfers ownership, or receives a status change, TENGRAPH will not notify you. You either check manually every day or risk missing it.

• No expenditure intelligence. TENGRAPH shows minimum expenditure commitments, but it doesn’t surface actual expenditure performance, compliance trends, underperforming tenements, or potential surrender candidates. For explorers targeting future ground opportunities, that information matters.

• Limited holder research. You can search by holder name, but building a full picture of a company’s WA footprint is slow and fragmented. Researching a holder across multiple projects usually means repeating searches and assembling the map manually.

• Poor export workflow. Getting tenure data into GIS or spreadsheets often requires moving between TENGRAPH, Mineral Titles Online (MTO), and manual exports. Workable, but inefficient for regular analysis.

• Limited mobile usability. TENGRAPH technically works in a mobile browser, but it was not designed for field use.

Where Continuous Monitoring Matters

While fresh applications remain a TENGRAPH strength, status monitoring is a different story. When tenements expire, surrender, withdraw or become compulsorily surrendered, DMPE publishes those events through public RSS notification feeds. Experienced consultants know to check that feed around 4:30pm, when daily surrenders and withdrawals typically appear. Any exploration licence application lodged between 4:30pm and 8:30am the following morning is treated as received at 8:30am, meaning a window of roughly sixteen hours where ground can be contested before the working day begins. Multiple applicants inside the same window means the ground goes to ballot. Miss that window and you may find yourself out entirely.

The information is public, but most people aren’t parsing a raw RSS feed many times a day to find it.

NextMaps sources these changes from both DASC data and DMPE RSS feeds, covering full surrenders and expirations, partial surrenders, and individual block releases, and displays them visually on the map as they come through. These updates may not yet be reflected in the tenement WFS layer. Instead of watching a raw feed, you get a visual picture of what’s moving and an email in your inbox when something changes in your area. For anyone holding ground adjacent to active tenements, catching a partial surrender or block release early can be the difference between a competitive application and missing the window entirely.

NextMaps distinguishes between voluntary and compulsory partial surrenders. Voluntary partial surrenders are open for application immediately. Compulsory surrenders carry a release date and moratorium period before the ground becomes available. Knowing which you’re looking at determines whether you need to act now or wait.

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TENGRAPH vs NextMaps

Feature                      TENGRAPH    NextMaps
---------------------------  ----------  ----------
Live application visibility  Yes         No
Expiry and surrender alerts  No          Yes
Overnight monitoring         No          Yes
Holder portfolio mapping     Limited     Yes
Expenditure intelligence     No          Yes
GIS-ready exports            Limited     Yes
Mobile field usability       Limited     Yes (browser only)
AI prospectivity reports     No          Yes

How NextMaps Fits Into the Workflow

NextMaps uses the same underlying DMPE tenure datasets as its base layer, then adds monitoring, research, and intelligence workflows on top.

Tenement alerts. NextMaps offers three alert types depending on what you’re watching. Draw an area of interest to monitor new applications and changes across a region, AOI alerts check the DMPE WFS layer, so new applications typically appear within two business days of lodgement. Set a holder alert to get instant notifications when specific companies lodge applications, surrender, or withdraw tenements. Or monitor individual tenement IDs directly for instant alerts on surrenders and withdrawals. Holder and specific tenement alerts are checked continuously via RSS feed.

Holder research. Search any company holder to immediately view their full WA tenure footprint, grant timelines, expiry timelines, and spatial coverage on one map. Useful for researching ASX explorers, assessing a project area, or keeping tabs on competitor activity. Note that ASX companies often hold tenure through multiple subsidiary entities, their latest annual report is usually the best place to find the full list before searching.

Expenditure compliance layers. Tenement Intelligence layers help identify underperforming tenements, compliance risk, and potential surrender candidates. This is data that doesn’t appear in standard TENGRAPH workflows and is particularly useful for explorers targeting future ground opportunities.

Datapacks. For any tenement or custom area, download a due dilligence report and bundled GIS-ready export containing tenure boundaries, drillhole collars, geochemistry, geology, and WAMEX report footprints, packaged and ready to load into QGIS, ArcGIS, or your database of choice, without the usual MTO workflow overhead.

AI prospectivity reports. For ground you’re seriously considering, NextMaps can generate an AI prospectivity report and dataroom, drawing on the full WAMEX archive for that tenement or area of interest. It surfaces historical drilling results, geochemical trends, and exploration activity that would otherwise require manually reading dozens of old reports.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it spelled TENGRAPH or tenegraph? TENGRAPH is the official spelling. “Tenegraph” is a common misspelling used on forums and search engines.

Is TENGRAPH live? For fresh applications, yes. TENGRAPH is currently the only live source because new application geometry is not immediately published through external feeds. For expirations, surrenders, and status changes, DMPE RSS feeds update rapidly and can be monitored automatically.

Is TENGRAPH the same as Mineral Titles Online? No. TENGRAPH is the mapping interface. Mineral Titles Online (MTO) handles transactions and administration, including licence management, expenditure reporting, compliance submissions, and document access. Most WA explorers use both.

Is there a TENGRAPH app? No dedicated mobile app currently exists.

How do I check mining tenements in WA? Most explorers use a combination of TENGRAPH for authoritative application checks, and monitoring platforms like NextMaps for alerts, research, and ongoing tracking.

The Bottom Line

TENGRAPH remains the authoritative source for checking newly lodged tenement applications in Western Australia. For fresh applications, nothing replaces it. But exploration workflows extend well beyond manual application checks. Monitoring expiries, tracking surrenders, researching holders, assessing expenditure compliance, exporting GIS-ready data, and catching overnight status changes all benefit from tools built for continuous monitoring and analysis.

Use TENGRAPH to verify applications. Use NextMaps to monitor everything that happens afterwards.

[Set up a tenement alert on NextMaps →]

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This Week’s Big Stories

Greatland Completes Telfer Handover as Newmont Exits

Newcrest USA Inc. has transferred 15 tenements, including the core M45/33 mining lease, to Greatland Pty Ltd, formalizing the handover of the Telfer and Havieron projects in the Paterson Province. Registry records indicate Greatland is receiving a package of tenements in the same transaction, though the precise count is subject to final DMIRS confirmation. According to public announcements, Greatland acquired the assets for up to US$475 million (comprising roughly $207.5M cash, $167.5M in shares, and contingent payments), with company disclosures noting a $120M equity package from Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo underpinning the deal. The strategic logic, per company guidance, is a stated two-year production plan to extend Telfer’s processing operations through FY27, bridging to Havieron’s targeted underground production in FY28 and making use of what technical reports describe as a 20Mtpa dual-train plant. For Newmont, analysts suggest the divestment tidies a post-Newcrest portfolio that carried more Pilbara exposure than the major wanted. For Greatland, the transfer paperwork marks the moment a junior-to-mid-tier operator inherits one of Australia’s most complex operating mine-plus-development combinations.

Wyloo Formalizes Yangibana JV, Then Eyes the Exit

Gascoyne Metals Pty Ltd has transferred nine tenements, including L09/71, to Wyloo Gascoyne Pty Ltd, cementing the registry footprint of Wyloo’s operating position at the Yangibana Rare Earths Project. According to company disclosures, Wyloo secured its stake by canceling roughly A$123M in Hastings Technology Metals exchangeable notes, converting that debt into a 60:40 unincorporated JV with Wyloo as operator. Industry context suggests Yangibana is among Australia’s most advanced NdPr-focused developments, with a notably high ratio of the magnet-critical oxides relative to total rare earth output. What makes the tenement transfer more than routine: shortly after taking operator control, Wyloo reportedly mandated Bank of America to run a strategic sale process over the 60% interest. The read here, according to industry sources, is that converting distressed debt into direct project ownership created a cleaner, more marketable asset structure, one that could appeal to processors or offtakers seeking non-Chinese rare earth supply. Whether Forrest ultimately sells or retains the position, the L09/71 transfer confirms Wyloo holds the keys. The tenure is now structured for a transaction if the price is right.

MCA Nominees Beefs Up Music Well Ahead of Augustus Sale

MCA Nominees Pty Ltd has applied for 12 tenements in the Mt Margaret mineral field, including P39/6604 and P39/6610, adding to a portfolio the DMPE registry already shows at 67 P-type tenements in the field. According to company disclosures, these acquisitions complete consolidation of the Music Well Gold Project, a package described in public announcements as covering approximately 1,345 sq km. The ground sits near active gold operations: the Mt Margaret expiry-rush context places Thunderbox (operator: Thunderbox Gold, 10km) and Hub (operator: Redcliffe, 12km) as the closest producing mines. Per an ASX announcement, MCA has executed a binding Share Purchase Agreement to sell 100% of Music Well Gold Mines to Augustus Minerals for A$275,000 in cash. That headline price looks modest, but Augustus is buying scale in a corridor that industry sources characterize as prospective for multi-million-ounce gold endowment. For Augustus, the deal delivers an immediate, large-footprint land position without the years of ground-floor staking. For MCA, it is an exit after a methodical accumulation campaign across the Mt Margaret field.

Contested Ground

8 New Applications in Kimberley

RED CENTRE RESOURCES PTY LTD, C2 MINERALS PTY LTD, and AILAKIS, RODNEY are among the applicants for 8 new applications lodged in the Kimberley mineral field.

6 New Applications in Mt Margaret

MCAULAY, DARREN MICHAEL, REDCLIFFE PROJECT PTY LTD, and NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS RESOURCES PTY LTD are among the applicants for 6 new applications lodged in the Mt Margaret mineral field.

6 New Applications in Pilbara

MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, ACCELERATE RESOURCES LIMITED, and GREATLAND EXPLORATION PTY LTD are among the applicants for 6 new applications lodged in the Pilbara mineral field.

5 New Applications in Murchison

MEEKASAN PTY LTD, 1 MEEKATHARRA SG50 PERTH PTY LTD, and YARRI RESOURCES PTY LTD are among the applicants for 5 new applications lodged in the Murchison mineral field.

Pilbara Tenement Expires, 4 New Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Pilbara mineral field, PATERSON EXPLORATION PTY LTD, WILDCAT RESOURCES LIMITED, and BALL, BRENDON PHILLIP JOHN are among the applicants for 4 new applications.

Mt Margaret Tenement Expires, 3 New Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Mt Margaret mineral field, NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS RESOURCES PTY LTD and TURNER RIVER HOLDINGS PTY LTD are among the applicants for 3 new applications.

Kimberley Tenement Expires, 3 New Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Kimberley mineral field, C2 MINERALS PTY LTD is among the applicants for 3 new applications.

Coolgardie Tenement Expires, 3 New Applications

Following the expiry of 1 tenement in the Coolgardie mineral field, MCCLAREN, KYM ANTHONY, MINING EQUITIES PTY LTD, and MCAULAY, DARREN MICHAEL are among the applicants for 3 new applications.

Ground Set to Expire This Week

Live tenements expiring in the next 7 days with no renewal applied for.

Great Western Exploration tenement expiring in Wiluna

A 9,016 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier GREAT WESTERN EXPLORATION LIMITED in the WILUNA mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-24.

Carnegie Gold tenement expiring in Ularring

A 1,960 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier CARNEGIE GOLD PTY LTD in the ULARRING mineral field is due to expire on 2026-05-19.

Great Western Exploration tenement expiring in Wiluna

A 1,960 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier GREAT WESTERN EXPLORATION LIMITED in the WILUNA mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-24.

Antipa Resources tenement expiring in Marble Bar

A 1,372 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier ANTIPA RESOURCES PTY LTD in the MARBLE BAR mineral field is due to expire on 2026-05-22.

Pilbara Gold Exploration tenement expiring in West Pilbara

A 1,176 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier PILBARA GOLD EXPLORATION PTY LTD in the WEST PILBARA M.F. mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-24.

Antipa Resources tenement expiring in Marble Bar

A 980 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier ANTIPA RESOURCES PTY LTD in the MARBLE BAR mineral field is due to expire on 2026-05-22.

Antipa Resources tenement expiring in Marble Bar

A 588 hectare Exploration Licence held by mid-tier ANTIPA RESOURCES PTY LTD in the MARBLE BAR mineral field is due to expire on 2026-05-22.

Zuleika Gold tenement expiring in Broad Arrow

A 183 hectare Prospecting Licence held by mid-tier ZULEIKA GOLD LIMITED in the BROAD ARROW M.F. mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-23.

Zuleika Gold tenement expiring in Broad Arrow

A 181 hectare Prospecting Licence held by mid-tier ZULEIKA GOLD LIMITED in the BROAD ARROW M.F. mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-23.

Zuleika Gold tenement expiring in Broad Arrow

A 171 hectare Prospecting Licence held by mid-tier ZULEIKA GOLD LIMITED in the BROAD ARROW M.F. mineral field is set to expire on 2026-05-23.

For more information on these stories or anything else going on WA this week, check out NextMaps, for all the mining news that’s fit to print: https://nextmaps.com.au/

Disclaimer

Tenement expiry dates, applications, transfers, and status changes are based on currently available data and may not reflect real-time outcomes. There is often a 4–6 week delay for Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration to process, lodge, and gazette dealings, meaning ground referenced as “expiring”, “relinquished”, or “transferred” may already have been renewed, surrendered, amended, or otherwise dealt with but not yet publicly reflected.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a definitive statement of tenement status, ownership, or availability. Coverage is not exhaustive. No guarantee is given that ground identified will become available, or as to the timing of any such availability. Users should verify all tenement details and dealings directly with official government sources before making any commercial or exploration decisions.

All commentary and interpretations are based on public data and are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Live spatial overlays highlighting tenement drops and upcoming compulsory or voluntary surrenders are available on NextMaps, derived from the MTO dealings feed and the DASC.

Over the past few months I’ve been integrating the WA MTO Tenement Register directly into NextMaps.

Not just as raw records, but as a fully spatial intelligence system layered across the entire state.

Expenditure, ownership changes, encumbrances, forfeiture notices, expiry timing, heritage activity, application competition, ground release patterns, all updated daily and viewable in geographic context.

The raw data itself has always been public.

The problem is that actually interrogating it properly has historically been fragmented, slow, and non-spatial. Useful signals were buried across PDFs, register entries, disconnected systems and manual workflows.

That’s the gap these new layers are designed to close.

Instead of simply showing tenement boundaries, NextMaps now surfaces behavioural signals:

Where money is moving.

Where companies are quietly retreating.

Where competition is building.

Where drilling is likely coming next.

Where ground is opening up before the market notices.

Below are some of the more interesting examples that emerged while building the system.

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Distress Often Appears in the Registry Before It Appears in the Headlines

One of the strongest examples came from the former Kalium Lakes Beyondie SOP project.

The Distressed Tenements layer aggregates multiple registry risk factors:

• Active forfeiture notices

• Rent overdue

• Expenditure compliance issues

• Encumbrances

• Upcoming expiry pressure

E69/3594 lit up almost perfectly.

By the time the company entered administration, the underlying tenement position was already showing the strain:

mortgaged ground, overdue obligations, compliance pressure, underspend.

The registry was telling the story before most people would ever read a balance sheet.

That same principle applies more broadly across WA exploration. Administrative pressure tends to leave spatial fingerprints long before formal outcomes occur.

Exploration Spend Becomes Much More Interesting When You Normalise It

Absolute exploration spend can be misleading.

Large companies naturally spend more. Large tenement packages naturally absorb more capital.

The Exploration Intensity layer instead ranks tenements by exploration spend per hectare within their tenure type, which immediately changes what becomes visible.

One example that stood out was Rio Tinto ground adjacent to the Winu copper discovery.

Following the Sumitomo JV transaction, exploration intensity on nearby tenure increased sharply relative to prior years, placing the tenement into the top percentile of comparable ground.

That kind of shift matters.

Not because it guarantees discovery, but because behavioural changes often precede announcements. Exploration programs rarely expand aggressively without a reason.

The layer is designed to surface exactly those shifts in intent.

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Sometimes the Most Interesting Ground Is the Ground Nobody Is Touching

The Opportunity Signal layer approaches the problem from the opposite direction.

Instead of asking:

“Who’s spending aggressively?”

It asks:

“Who has stopped?”

The model looks for combinations of:

• Weak expenditure compliance

• Low exploration intensity

• Long hold duration

• Rent issues

Individually those signals mean very little.

Together, they often highlight tenure that has become strategically stale:

projects sitting dormant inside major belts, long-held landbanks receiving minimal attention, or ground that may quietly become available through JV, sale or lapse.

Around Sunrise Dam, for example, there are broad areas of tenure inside a proven gold district that exhibit exactly this pattern.

Fatigue and opportunity are often the same thing viewed from different perspectives.

Heritage Spend Can Quietly Predict Drilling

One of the more interesting patterns to emerge from the expenditure data was the relationship between heritage survey activity and subsequent drilling.

In WA, Aboriginal heritage work is often one of the final stages before ground disturbance approvals are secured.

That means expenditure profiles sometimes reveal drilling intent months before rigs mobilise.

The Pre-Drill Signal layer looks specifically for exploration licences where heritage survey expenditure spikes sharply while broader exploration spend remains relatively flat.

A strong retrospective example came from Dreadnought Resources’ Mangaroon project.

Before significant drilling results along the Minga Bar shear zone were announced, expenditure had already shifted heavily toward heritage survey activity, effectively signalling that access preparation was underway.

The timeline looked like this:

heritage access work → mobilisation lag → drilling → results.

Not every heritage spike converts into discovery.

But the lead indicators are often sitting in the register long before the market focuses on the project.

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Ownership History Tells a Bigger Story Than Most People Realise

A tenement boundary tells you what ground a company holds.

The ownership trail tells you what they’re actually doing with it.

Several new layers now track:

• Recently transferred tenure

• Ownership age

• Active mortgages and caveats

Viewed spatially, these patterns become surprisingly informative.

Quiet portfolio reshuffles become visible. Strategic consolidation starts standing out. Long-held dormant positions become obvious. Financing structures and encumbered projects emerge geographically instead of remaining hidden in register entries.

Examples range from Rio Tinto tenure transfers into Greatland structures to Agnew Gold Minings long held dominant tenement position near Leinster.

Previously, understanding this context required manually digging through register records one-by-one.

Now it can be assessed spatially across the entire state.

Competition Leaves Spatial Signals Too

One company pegging ground is normal.

Several companies pegging the same area simultaneously is where things become genuinely interesting.

The Application Hotspots layer aggregates pending applications into district-scale grid cells and highlights where multiple distinct applicants are competing inside the same area.

The result is effectively a live heatmap of exploration attention across WA.

What starts becoming visible is not just activity, but behavioural clustering:

• Early-stage rushes

• Emerging geological concepts

• Discovery follow-on behaviour

• Quiet staking wars

Combined with standard start-date filtering, the layer allows rapid movement from district-scale competition patterns down to the individual applications themselves.

No Tengraph trawling or manual GIS setup required.

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Ground Release Happens in Waves, Not Individual Tenements

Another thing that becomes obvious once registry activity is mapped spatially is that tenure release rarely occurs randomly.

It clusters.

The Ground Release Zones layer aggregates expiring and recently released ground into district-scale cells, highlighting where supply is beginning to enter the market.

Some cells represent imminent risk:

tenure approaching expiry with no renewal lodged.

Others represent recently released ground:

surrenders, expiries and reopened areas.

Importantly, there is usually a lag between surrender and formal gazettal, meaning areas showing elevated “pre-release” risk may already contain effectively exiting ground before it becomes obvious publicly.

Viewed spatially, broader patterns begin emerging:

• Companies retreating from districts

• Failed exploration concepts unwinding

• Fresh opportunity windows opening

• Turnover around active discoveries

Instead of monitoring isolated tenements manually, you can now observe the release cycle at district scale.

The Registry Has Always Contained Signals. NextMaps Is About Making Them Visible.

The broader goal here is not simply to display more data.

It’s to transform static registry information into a behavioural intelligence system for WA exploration.

Most platforms stop at showing boundaries.

These layers aim to show intent, pressure, competition, fatigue, momentum and opportunity, all spatially, and often before those trends become obvious publicly.

Every layer discussed above is now live inside NextMaps.

Still free to use.

www.nextmaps.com.au

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This Week’s Big Stories

Rio Tinto Adds 145,700 Hectares in Multi-Commodity Pilbara Push

Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Limited is acquiring five new tenements this week, including E69/4405, E69/4406, and E45/7297, adding 145,700 hectares to a portfolio that already spans 71 tenements (59 exploration, 11 miscellaneous licence, 1 prospecting) across the Pilbara mineral field. The E69-prefix blocks sit in a corridor that, according to industry literature, was historically explored for Nebo-Babel style nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation. Industry context suggests the same ground is now attracting renewed interest for scandium potential, a critical metal used in aerospace alloys and solid oxide fuel cells, among other applications. The regional commodity thesis has reportedly shifted as scandium supply chains tighten globally. Rio’s move to add ground here fits a recognisable major-tier playbook: accumulate regional scale while the commodity case is still being established by smaller operators, then control the footprint if the district matures into a development decision. With 71 tenements already on the books and another five added in a single week, Rio is not dabbling. Whether the E69 blocks ultimately prove out for scandium or revert to base metals will depend on work programmes that are still ahead, but the land position itself is now substantially larger.

Chalice Quietly Closes the Chapter on its Kimberley Frontier Nickel Dream

CGM (WA) Pty Ltd has surrendered three tenements — E80/5343, E80/5270, and E80/5269 — covering 105,400 hectares of what industry sources describe as West Kimberley ground. Corporate registry records indicate CGM (WA) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chalice Mining. According to company disclosures, Chalice assembled this position around 2019 as part of a roughly 1,800 km² consolidation called the King Leopold Nickel Project, targeting magmatic nickel sulphides within the Ruins and Hart Dolerite — a play that, at the time, was riding momentum from Buxton Resources’ nearby Merlin discovery. The corporate calculus has since shifted dramatically. Chalice’s subsequent Julimar find and the resulting Gonneville Nickel-Copper-PGE project have, by all public accounts, become the company’s dominant focus, with company guidance pointing to a targeted Final Investment Decision around 2028. Chalice had already begun rationalising its Kimberley exposure — reportedly selling the Hawkstone project to Stavely Minerals for approximately $1.4 million in 2023. This latest surrender of all three remaining E80 blocks reads as the final chapter on the Kimberley frontier play. The pattern is consistent: shed the speculative periphery, concentrate resources on commercialising what appears to be a genuinely generational discovery in the Wheatbelt.

FE Metals’ Post-Wittenoom Pivot in the Pilbara

FE Metals Pty Ltd is picking up four new Pilbara tenements this week, including E47/5415, E47/5416, and E47/5417. DMPE registry records indicate FE Metals operates as a subsidiary of Macro Metals (ASX:M4M). The new applications arrive in the wake of a reputational bruising: the company’s contracted geologist inadvertently lodged an exploration licence application within the degazetted Wittenoom Asbestos Management Area, the site of Australia’s worst industrial disaster. According to industry sources, the application was withdrawn in March by managing director Simon Rushton, who stressed the company had no intention of working the contaminated ground. The episode reportedly prompted calls for legislative changes to permanently close the zone to pegging. The new E47 blocks represent a return to uncontentious greenfield ground. DMPE registry records place E47/5415 near Windarra Well, and the broader E47 corridor sits well clear of the asbestos zone, according to industry sources. Analysts would read this as a straightforward portfolio reset: rebuild a credible Pilbara footprint on clean ground while the Wittenoom episode fades from the news cycle. Four tenements is a modest start, but the direction is clear.

Contested Ground

8 Applications Lodged in Coolgardie

Eastern Coolgardie Goldfields Pty Ltd, Northern Star (South Kalgoorlie) Pty Ltd, Yarri Resources Pty Ltd, Talonx Resources Limited, and Hawker Geological Services Pty Ltd lodged 8 new applications in the Coolgardie mineral field.

4 Applications Lodged in North Coolgardie

Resource Mining Pty Ltd, Joseph Robert Bradley, and Yerilla Nickel Pty Ltd lodged 4 new applications in the North Coolgardie mineral field.

3 Applications Lodged in Pilbara

Abeh Pty Ltd and Albemarle Wodgina Pty Ltd lodged 3 new applications in the Pilbara mineral field.

3 Applications Lodged in Mt Margaret

Dargan Maurice John Camin and Berma Prospecting Pty Ltd lodged 3 new applications in the Mt Margaret mineral field.

Ground Set to Expire This Week

Live tenements expiring in the next 7 days with no renewal applied for.

Rumble Resources 6,664 ha expiring in Marble Bar

Mid-tier holder Rumble Resources Limited has 6,664 ha in the Marble Bar mineral field that is set to expire on 12 May 2026.

Marda Operations 1,764 ha expiring in Yilgarn

Mid-tier holder Marda Operations Pty Ltd has 1,764 ha in the Yilgarn mineral field that is due to expire on 7 May 2026.

FQM Australia 392 ha expiring in Phillips River

Mid-tier holder FQM Australia Nickel Pty Ltd has 392 ha in the Phillips River mineral field that is set to expire on 6 May 2026.

Warrigal Mining 61 ha expiring at Mt. Magnet

Mid-tier holder Warrigal Mining Pty Ltd has 61 ha in the Mt. Magnet mineral field that is due to expire on 9 May 2026.

AusQuest 15,680 ha expiring in Warburton

Junior holder AusQuest Limited has 15,680 ha in the Warburton mineral field that is set to expire on 11 May 2026.

Lightning Minerals 6,664 ha expiring at Mt. Malcolm

Junior holder Lightning Minerals Ltd has 6,664 ha in the Mt. Malcolm mineral field that is due to expire on 11 May 2026.

Galan Lithium 4,900 ha expiring in South West

Junior holder Galan Lithium Limited has 4,900 ha in the South West mineral field that is set to expire on 9 May 2026.

Cosmo Gold 3,332 ha expiring at Mt. Margaret

Junior holder Cosmo Gold Limited has 3,332 ha in the Mt. Margaret mineral field that is due to expire on 10 May 2026.

Calidus Blue Spec 2,352 ha expiring at Nullagine

Junior holder Calidus Blue Spec Pty Ltd has 2,352 ha in the Nullagine mineral field that is set to expire on 9 May 2026.

Blue Ribbon Mines 2,156 ha expiring in South West

Junior holder Blue Ribbon Mines Pty Ltd has 2,156 ha in the South West mineral field that is due to expire on 9 May 2026.

For more information on these stories or anything else going on WA this week, check out NextMaps, for all the mining news that’s fit to print: https://nextmaps.com.au/

Disclaimer

Tenement expiry dates, applications, transfers, and status changes are based on currently available data and may not reflect real-time outcomes. There is often a 4–6 week delay for Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration to process, lodge, and gazette dealings, meaning ground referenced as “expiring”, “relinquished”, or “transferred” may already have been renewed, surrendered, amended, or otherwise dealt with but not yet publicly reflected.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a definitive statement of tenement status, ownership, or availability. Coverage is not exhaustive. No guarantee is given that ground identified will become available, or as to the timing of any such availability. Users should verify all tenement details and dealings directly with official government sources before making any commercial or exploration decisions.

All commentary and interpretations are based on public data and are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Live spatial overlays highlighting tenement drops and upcoming compulsory or voluntary surrenders are available on NextMaps, derived from the MTO dealings feed and the DASC.

If you’re running a multi-tenement exploration project in WA, you’ve almost certainly hit this scenario: you’ve drilled hard on your best licences, overspent on two of them, and undercooked expenditure on the others. Now the anniversary is coming up and you’re staring at a compliance problem.

This is exactly what combined reporting groups are designed for, but they only work if you’ve set them up correctly and apply for exemptions on time. Here’s how it all fits together.

What Is a Combined Reporting Group?

Combined Reporting Group (CRG) is a formal arrangement under section 115A of the Mining Act 1978 (WA) that allows contiguous tenements with a common project to be reported together. It’s not automatic, you must apply to DMIRS and receive Ministerial approval.

CRGs are designed primarily for exploration and prospecting licences (E and P), where annual minimum expenditure conditions apply. Mining Leases (M) sit largely outside the grouping framework, although some MLs do carry prescribed expenditure conditions in their own right (early-stage, suspended, or special-purpose MLs in particular).

To qualify, the tenements need to:

• Be contiguous or nearly contiguous

• Share a common geological target or project

• Have the same holder or operator

• Have all overdue Form 5s lodged and up to date before the application

Once approved, the group is assigned a common anniversary date. You’ll lodge a single combined exploration narrative on that date, but every tenement in the group still needs its own individual Form 5 (Operations Report) each year. Combined reporting doesn’t replace the Form 5 obligation; it just allows you to seek exemptions based on the group’s pooled expenditure.

How Expenditure Pooling Works

Here’s the key mechanism. Under section 102(2)(h) of the Mining Act and Regulation 58A, if the group’s aggregate exploration expenditure meets or exceeds the sum of all individual tenement commitments, you can apply for an exemption certificate (Form 18) for any tenement that fell short.

In plain terms:

Combined Minimum Expenditure = sum of each tenement’s annual commitment

Group Aggregate Spend = sum of each tenement’s reported exploration expenditure

If Group Spend ≥ Combined Minimum, you have grounds to seek exemption for under-spent tenements.

A Worked Example

Say you hold three exploration licences with annual commitments of $100k, $150k and $200k, a combined obligation of $450k. In a given year:

Tenement | Commitment | Reported Spend | Position
---------|------------|----------------|----------
A        | $100,000   | $80,000        | –$20,000
B        | $150,000   | $180,000       | +$30,000
C        | $200,000   | $190,000       | –$10,000
Total    | $450,000   | $450,000       | Neutral

Tenements A and C individually fall short, but the group total meets $450k exactly. You can apply for Form 18 exemptions on A and C under s.102(2)(h), citing the aggregate spend against the combined commitment. DMPE will consider whether the aggregate criterion is satisfied, and if it is, exemptions are typically granted.

What Counts as “Exploration Expenditure”?

This is where most operators trip up. Combined group expenditure isn’t an exemption category, it’s an allocation mechanism. It can only allocate eligible exploration spend, and it doesn’t widen the definition of what counts.

The case law

Two cases define where the line sits. In GMK Exploration Pty Ltd v Big Bell Gold Operations [2016] WAMW 14, the Warden’s Court took a narrow view, only direct mineral exploration activities count toward the aggregate, excluding administration costs, land rent, and overheads. The WA Supreme Court took a broader approach in Brewer v O’Sullivan (No 2) [2017] WASC 269, holding that costs “in connection with exploration” can include Aboriginal heritage surveys, land rent, and certain overheads, not just drilling and sampling. Brewer is the more authoritative statement of the current law.

Mining costs are out, regardless of which case you’re working under

Even under the broader Brewer interpretation, mining and production costs are firmly excluded. They were never the question, and they don’t become eligible exploration spend simply because they happen on a tenement that also carries an expenditure condition.

The following don’t count toward your combined group aggregate:

• Ore extraction, haulage, and processing

• Crushing, screening, and beneficiation

• Plant construction and operation

• Stockpiling, blending, and product transport

• Mine workforce and production labour

• Royalties and production-related compliance costs

What does count:

• Drilling (RC, diamond, aircore)

• Geological mapping and sampling

• Geophysics and geochemistry

• Pre-production assaying and metallurgical test work

• Field logistics directly supporting exploration

• Data interpretation and Form 5 reporting

• Environmental and heritage surveys required to enable exploration

A useful heuristic comes from how wardens approach borderline costs: would the activity still be undertaken if no mining were occurring? If yes, it’s likely eligible. If no, it’s almost certainly out.

The MTO trap

If you’re pulling expenditure figures off MTO to build your aggregate, watch the bottom of the page. Mining Activities are summed separately and should never be pulled into a combined group expenditure calculation. It’s an easy mistake when you’re working from screenshots or copy-pasting figures, and wardens see it often enough to be unsympathetic.

Don’t pad the aggregate

The practical implication: don’t lump project overhead into your Form 5 aggregate to reach the threshold. Ensure every dollar you’re relying on for a combined-group exemption is a legitimate exploration cost, and keep documentation that supports each line item. DMPE has the power to audit Form 5 claims independently, and if the audited figure falls short of your declared spend, your exemption basis evaporates. Wardens regularly:

• Disallow mining or production costs

• Treat their inclusion as a compliance error or an attempt to inflate the aggregate

• Reduce credited expenditure, sometimes turning what looked like a comfortable aggregate into a material shortfall

• Grant only partial exemption, or refuse outright where the shortfall is material

No carry-forward

There is no mechanism to carry overspend forward into future years. Each year’s obligation is independent, surplus spend in Year 1 cannot offset a shortfall in Year 2. Exemptions are assessed annually, and must be applied for annually.

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The Form 18 Application, and Why the 60-Day Deadline Is Non-Negotiable

Expenditure shortfalls don’t automatically trigger forfeiture, but only if you seek exemption on time. The application must be lodged using Form 18 within 60 days after the tenement’s anniversary date.

Miss that window and you lose the right to apply, regardless of how much the group overspent. Wardens have been consistently unsympathetic to late applications, and DMIRS will initiate forfeiture proceedings for non-compliance.

A Form 18 application for a combined-group shortfall needs to:

• Cite section 102(2)(h) as the grounds

• Include a statutory declaration of aggregate spend across the group (as required by Regulation 54)

• List each tenement’s individual commitment and reported spend

• Show the group total meets or exceeds the combined minimum

There is no prescribed formula for how costs are apportioned across tenements within the group, DMPE and the courts want to see actual incurred expenditure, not arithmetic allocations by area or some other proxy.

Other Valid Exemption Grounds

Section 102(2)(h) isn’t the only route. If a tenement individually has reasons for underspending that are independent of the group, other subsections may apply:

(a) Title under dispute

(b) Time needed to evaluate results or raise capital

(c) Time required to erect plant or machinery

(d) Mining not possible due to ground conditions

(j) Other sufficient reason

These apply at the individual tenement level and don’t require combined group status. In practice, many compliance situations involve a mix, some tenements covered by the group aggregate, others with their own site-specific reasons.

Enforcement Is Getting Stricter

Recent decisions from WA Wardens and the Supreme Court have reinforced that:

• Combined group status is not a free pass, tenement obligations remain tenement-specific

• Meeting individual minimums does not bar you from applying for s.102(2)(h) exemptions (a point confirmed in Supreme Court proceedings involving major explorers)

• Even minor non-compliance can trigger forfeiture applications, DMPE has been taking a harder line in recent years

• Current holders can be held liable for past breaches if a tenement was transferred with outstanding compliance failures, so buy-side diligence matters

One particularly important point: if you voluntarily surrender or sell a tenement from a combined group, the remaining group should be reconstituted and any pending compliance issues resolved before transfer.

The Compliance Workflow

Here’s the process in practice:

1. Before you start exploring: Identify your tenement package and check contiguity. If combined reporting makes sense, apply early, before the first Form 5 is due.

2. During the year: Track expenditure by project and by tenement. Use actual cost codes, not estimates. Keep exploration cost centres separate from any mining or production cost centres, especially if you’re transitioning from one to the other on the same ground.

3. At year end: Calculate each tenement’s position against its commitment. Strip out any production-related costs before you total the aggregate. If the eligible aggregate meets the combined minimum, begin preparing Form 18 applications for any shortfalls.

4. Within 60 days of anniversary: Lodge Form 5s for every tenement. Lodge Form 18s (with statutory declarations and evidence) for any under-spent tenements.

5. After lodgement: If DMIRS requests an audit of any Form 5, cooperate fully and provide underlying documentation. Update your records once exemptions are granted or refused.

6. If refused: Seek legal advice and consider whether an appeal to the Warden’s Court is warranted. Act quickly, sitting on a refused exemption with a compliance gap is the fastest path to forfeiture.
   

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Keeping Track Across a Large Package

If you’re managing more than a handful of tenements, tracking individual obligations against eligible spend each year is genuinely complex. Expenditure commitments escalate, reporting dates vary, and the interaction between combined group status, individual Form 5 obligations, and the exploration/mining cost split creates real administrative overhead.

NextMaps tracks expenditure compliance across the entire WA tenement register using DASC EMITS data, giving you visibility over which tenements are trending underspent relative to their obligations before the 60-day window closes. If you’re doing due diligence on a tenement package, or trying to prioritise where to allocate exploration budget, the Expenditure Compliance layer gives you the picture at a glance.

This post is general information only. The WA Mining Act and related case law are complex, seek qualified legal advice before making compliance decisions on your tenements.

This Week’s Big Stories

The Potash Phoenix: Lake Way Assets Shifted to New SO4 Entity

A 45-tenement block totalling 54,165 hectares moved this week from Piper Preston Pty Ltd to SO4 Pty Ltd — the single largest administrative transfer to hit the Goldfields registry in recent memory. Industry veterans will recognise Piper Preston as the legacy operating shell of Salt Lake Potash, which collapsed into administration in October 2021 and stranded the near-complete Lake Way project. After roughly a year in purgatory, Sev.en Global Investments acquired the Lake Way project subsidiaries out of receivership in late 2022, and the ground is now being formally migrated to the newly minted SO4 Pty Ltd entity. The timing is deliberate: DMIRS registry records indicate SO4 achieved its first SOP production from the project in 2024, meaning the recapitalisation has moved from balance-sheet repair into operational reality. Stripping the legacy corporate shell away from the producing asset is textbook post-receivership hygiene — it cleans the title chain, simplifies future financing conversations, and draws a hard line under the insolvency era. With that housekeeping done, Sev.en’s focus shifts squarely to ramping Lake Way toward its stated target of up to 245,000 tonnes of sulphate of potash per annum. For anyone tracking Goldfields potash, the areas around L53/215, M53/123 and E53/2373 is the one to watch on the map as production momentum builds.

Greatland Feeds the Telfer Beast with Rio Tinto Ground

Greatland Paterson South Pty Ltd absorbed six tenements totalling 74,710 hectares from Rio Tinto Exploration this week, executing the next phase of a profound power shift in the Paterson Province. The transfer is the physical manifestation of the May 2023 farm-in agreement, under which Greatland committed $21.1 million to earn up to 75% of Rio’s under-explored regional tenure. But the strategic calculus has shifted materially since that deal was inked. Greatland is finalising a $475 million buyout of Newmont’s 70% stake in the Havieron deposit and 100% of the Telfer processing hub — a transaction that transforms the company from explorer to mill operator overnight. With Telfer entirely in-house, this Rio Tinto ground is no longer just a farm-in play; it is critical pipeline feed for a hungry, newly acquired processing beast. The Havieron deposit sits approximately 45 kilometres from the Telfer plant, and industry context suggests the Paterson South tenure is being positioned to explore for supplementary regional ore to maximise mill utilisation across multiple decades. Rio’s neglect of this ground is Greatland’s opportunity — pegging it now, before a Havieron production ramp validates the district, is the kind of optionality that looks cheap in hindsight. E45/5351 is the representative block to anchor on the map.

Delta’s Gascoyne Grab: Electrostate Absorbs ERL Tenure

Electrostate Malinda Pty Ltd swept up 15 tenements covering 155,000 hectares from ERL (Aust) Pty Ltd this week, the latest and largest consolidation move in Delta Lithium’s methodical Gascoyne land assembly. DMIRS registry records confirm Electrostate Malinda as the wholly owned Delta subsidiary holding the flagship Yinnetharra Lithium Project, making this transfer a direct extension of the company’s core position. Delta has been deploying capital aggressively across the region, executing joint ventures with Voltaic Strategic Resources and Reach Resources and paying $4.5 million in upfront consideration to expand its footprint around the Malinda maiden resource. The ERL acquisition mirrors the logic of their earlier 15-licence Aston Project pickup — systematically eliminating junior fragmentation along the Leake Springs Metamorphics rather than leaving gaps that could complicate future resource definition or attract competing consolidators. The thesis is straightforward: in an emerging lithium district, whoever controls the stratigraphy controls the timeline. By hoovering up legacy tenure from holders like ERL before the Gascoyne gets a re-rating, Delta is betting that unified control of this metamorphic package will be the structural advantage that separates a world-class, long-life operation from a collection of disconnected drill plays. E09/2967 is the anchor tenement for mapping this position.

Contested Ground

6 New Applications in Yilgarn Mineral Field

Forrestania Resources Limited, Dianne Elizabeth Allen, and Jake Thomas Larsen lodged 6 new applications for mining tenements in the Yilgarn mineral field.

5 New Applications in East Murchison Mineral Field

Avenira Gold Pty Ltd, Yandal Resources Limited, and Westar Graphite Pty Ltd lodged 5 new applications for mining tenements in the East Murchison mineral field.

4 New Applications in North Coolgardie Mineral Field

Resource Mining Pty Ltd, Yerilla Nickel Pty Ltd, and Joseph Robert Bradley lodged 4 new applications for mining tenements in the North Coolgardie mineral field.

4 New Applications in Pilbara Mineral Field

Aventine Resources Pty Ltd and Greatland Exploration Pty Ltd lodged 4 new applications for mining tenements in the Pilbara mineral field.

Ground Set to Expire This Week

Live tenements expiring in the next 7 days with no renewal applied for:

Regis Resources expiring 4,900 ha at Mt. Margaret

Major holder Regis Resources Limited is letting 4,900 hectares in the Mt. Margaret mineral field expire on 2026-05-01.

Golden Mile Resources expiring 10,780 ha in Yalgoo

Mid-tier holder Golden Mile Resources Ltd is relinquishing 10,780 hectares in the Yalgoo M.F. on 2026-04-29.

Golden Mile Resources expiring 9,996 ha in Yalgoo

Mid-tier holder Golden Mile Resources Ltd is letting 9,996 hectares in the Yalgoo M.F. expire on 2026-04-29.

Medallion Metals expiring 4,900 ha in Phillips River

Mid-tier holder Medallion Metals Limited is dropping 4,900 hectares in the Phillips River M.F. on 2026-05-03.

Gascoyne Metals expiring 2,352 ha in Gascoyne

Mid-tier holder Gascoyne Metals Pty Ltd is letting 2,352 hectares in the Gascoyne M.F. expire on 2026-05-03.

Carnegie Gold expiring 2,156 ha at Kunanalling

Mid-tier holder Carnegie Gold Pty Ltd is relinquishing 2,156 hectares in the Kunanalling mineral field on 2026-05-01.

Image Resources expiring 2,156 ha in South West

Mid-tier holder Image Resources NL is letting 2,156 hectares in the South West M.F. expire on 2026-05-01.

Siberia Mining expiring 1,960 ha at Kunanalling

Mid-tier holder Siberia Mining Corporation Pty Ltd is dropping 1,960 hectares in the Kunanalling mineral field on 2026-04-28.

Image Resources expiring 1,176 ha in South West

Mid-tier holder Image Resources NL is relinquishing 1,176 hectares in the South West M.F. on 2026-04-28.

Halls Creek Mining expiring 1,176 ha in Kimberley

Mid-tier holder Halls Creek Mining Pty Ltd is letting 1,176 hectares in the Kimberley M.F. expire on 2026-05-05.

For more information on these stories or anything else going on WA this week, check out NextMaps, for all the mining news that's fit to print: https://nextmaps.com.au/

Disclaimer

Tenement expiry dates, applications, transfers, and status changes are based on currently available data and may not reflect real-time outcomes. There is often a 4–6 week delay for Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration to process, lodge, and gazette dealings, meaning ground referenced as “expiring”, “relinquished”, or “transferred” may already have been renewed, surrendered, amended, or otherwise dealt with but not yet publicly reflected.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a definitive statement of tenement status, ownership, or availability. Coverage is not exhaustive. No guarantee is given that ground identified will become available, or as to the timing of any such availability. Users should verify all tenement details and dealings directly with official government sources before making any commercial or exploration decisions.

All commentary and interpretations are based on public data and are subject to change as new information becomes available.

Live spatial overlays highlighting tenement drops and upcoming compulsory or voluntary surrenders are available on NextMaps, derived from the MTO dealings feed and the DASC.

I’m a geologist by training, and like most geologists, I spent years doing desktop research the hard way.

Tabbing between DMPE (the 100th rebrand, previously DMIRS), WAMEX, Geoview, and a stack of ASX announcements. Cross-referencing tenure maps that were days behind reality. Digging through A-files trying to figure out whether a geochem anomaly was real or a unit error from 1987. Manually piecing together a picture that should take minutes and instead took hours.

I started building NextMaps to solve that problem, first for myself, then for anyone working in WA exploration.

Today NextMaps is a live platform: real-time tenement change tracking, historical geochem across 10+ million surface samples and 2.5 million drillholes, GSWA geological layers, heritage and land access overlays, automated datapack reports, a tenement marketplace, and an alert system that tells you when ground moves before the DMIRS WFS catches up.

It’s been a genuine full-circle moment. The same workflows that frustrated me as a geologist are the ones the platform is designed to eliminate.

So what is this newsletter?

This is where I think out loud about WA exploration, the data, the deals, the ground movements, and the industry dynamics that rarely make it into an ASX announcement.

Each week (or close to it), expect a mix of:

• Tenement watch: interesting ground movements, surrenders, and applications I’m tracking through NextMaps, with real examples from the data

• Data deep-dives: what the historical exploration record actually says about a project, a commodity, or a region

• Industry observations: on capital allocation, exploration trends, and the mechanics of how WA tenure works in practice

• Platform updates": new features, new data layers, and what drove the build decisions behind them

This isn’t a tips newsletter or a “how to be a geologist” newsletter. It’s closer to a field notebook made public, the stuff I find genuinely interesting as someone who spends a lot of time watching how ground moves and what the data says about where value might be hiding.

The WA exploration scene moves fast. Ground gets dropped and picked up within hours. Compulsory surrenders release thousands of hectares with a published date that most people miss. Historical drilling sits in WAMEX for decades before someone connects the right dots. Real-time visibility and clean data matter more than ever when capital is selective and the discovery cycle is compressed.

That’s the lens I’m writing from.

Who is this for?

If you work in WA exploration, as a geologist, prospector, exploration manager, or capital markets professional covering the sector, this is written for you.

If you’re an investor trying to understand what junior explorers are actually doing on the ground, this might be useful context.

If you’re just curious about how the sausage gets made in one of the world’s most active mineral exploration jurisdictions, welcome.

A place to start

NextMaps is free to access until at least 1 July 2026, no credit card required. If you want to see what I’m talking about in practice, head to nextmaps.com.au and have a look around.

And if you find this newsletter useful, the best thing you can do is share it with someone in the industry who’d get something out of it.

More soon.

— Owen Hackenberg

Geologist, GIS Wiz, Founder, NextMaps.