Resources Top 5: MEGA deal has RGL on track for Northern Zone gold kick-off

• Riversgold on track for mining at Northern Zone after signing an agreement with MEGA Resources 
• A high-grade carbonatite hard rock intrusion has been confirmed at Power Minerals’ Santa Anna rare earth project in Brazil
• Altech Batteries has signed a collaboration agreement with AMPower

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

Riversgold (ASX:RGL)

A right to mine and cooperation agreement with MEGA Resources paves the way for Riversgold to begin mining at the 80%-owned Northern Zone gold project near Kalgoorlie in WA.

The agreement will see MEGA pay 100% of the costs to develop and mine at Northern Zone, including paying for all ancillary activities – which incorporates haulage of material to the point of sale, maintenance of haul roads and processing costs. 

MEGA will also provide geological and engineering services and manage project approvals. 

In return, any profit generated will be split 50% to MEGA and 50% to the project owners Riversgold (ASX:RGL) and Oracle Power Plc (20%).

On a 50/50 basis, 10% of monthly profits generated will be reinvested back into expansion grade control and step-out drilling.

Northern Zone is just 25km from the Kalgoorlie Super Pit and has an exploration target of 2.5-4.8Moz. 

Previous drilling returned up to 12.27g/t and metallurgical testwork averaged 92.56% gold recoveries.

MEGA aims to break ground during the January quarter of 2026, subject to the partnership gaining all final tenement permissions, mining approvals and the signing of a binding ore purchase agreement with a third-party processing mill. 

“An extensive amount of drilling has occurred at Northern Zone since RGL took over the exploration efforts on the project in 2023,” chairman David Lenigas said.

“This transaction with MEGA Resources, after a thorough due diligence process by them, will now move this gold project along significantly. 

“We will be aiming to see MEGA’s mining equipment on site early next year.

“RGL plans to continue its drilling efforts in the meantime on the shallower (surface to 60 metre depth) gold mineralisation in the interim to expand on the gold mineralisation zones already drilled to date.”

In addition, RGL has received firm commitments to raise $1.8m via a single tranche placement to sophisticated investors.

This will allow it to continue exploration programs across its projects, including at the Northern Zone where drill planning is underway to test extensions of known gold mineralisation.

Power Minerals (ASX:PNN)

Confirming a high-grade carbonatite hard rock intrusion at its Santa Anna rare earth project in Brazil resulted in Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) climbing to a daily high of 10.5c, a lift of 10.53%.

Auger drilling had already flagged high-grade niobium and REE mineralisation at the project, and integrated geophysical, geochemical and geological information has now shown that significant REE mineralisation continues at depth, well below previous drilling.

Ongoing drilling also hit high-grade pockets up to 6.2% TREO and visual examination of the core identified carbonatite – boosting PNN’s confidence in mineralisation near-surface and at depth.

Mineralisation starts from the surface and Santa Anna has the potential to be a free-digging deposit.

Expansion drilling is underway with the aim of defining a maiden resource.

Drone-based magnetic and radiometric surveys will begin shortly to more accurately map the phases of the carbonatite complex and prioritise future drilling targets.

“Hard-rock carbonatite deposits occurring in alkaline complexes can contain elevated REE concentrations, which have the potential to make them more efficient and economical to mine when compared to other deposit styles such as REE in heavy mineral sands and ionic-adsorption clays,” PNN managing director Mena Habib said.

“We are excited about how our work at Santa Anna is progressing and the immense potential we are continuing to uncover.

“Our ongoing drilling campaign is enhancing our understanding of the local geology, as we move towards delivering an exploration target, followed by a potential maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate for the project.”

Santa Anna is well-positioned to be a major ex-China hard-rock critical minerals player as it is in a prime location with access to infrastructure and a strategic partnership with miner EDEM – the fifth largest bauxite producer in Goiás State.

Altech Batteries (ASX:ATC)

Entry into the grid battery market by Altech Batteries (ASX:ATC) will be fast-tracked by a collaboration with AMPower, a subsidiary of Chilwee Group – China’s third largest e-mobility battery manufacturer.

This will see sodium nickel chloride (SNC) batteries sold in Europe, Australia and the US.

AMPower produces conventional SNC batteries for the small Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) industrial market.

The products use the same chemistry but the primary difference is Altech’s batteries are designed for high performance energy storage systems. 

As well as producing SNC batteries for the UPS market, the parties will collaborate on development of SNC batteries for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

Each party will have the authority to distribute the co-developed products under its own brand.

“Altech is experiencing exceptional interest in our sodium nickel chloride solid-state battery technology, especially from customers seeking safer, more reliable alternatives to lithium-ion,” MD Iggy Tan said.

“Our collaboration with AMPower enables immediate production, and our offtake customers are eager to secure supply.

“By moving quickly to meet this demand, Altech is positioning itself as a leader in what we see as the next major wave in battery storage innovation.”

Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX)

US critical minerals explorer Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX) reached a 12-month high of 1c, a lift of 42.9% on the previous close, before a trading halt was implemented.

The halt will allow the company to provide clarification on the status of mining claims staked in California in proximity to the Mountain Pass gold and rare earths project of MP Materials and the Colosseum gold-REE project of Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR).

The 39 claims in the Mustang Project are around 3km east of Colosseum and about 10km northeast of Mountain Pass, and are in the southern end of the Walker Lane Trend.

“The potential upside is these new Mountain Pass permits have fault structures and outcrop, which should enable relatively easy assessment of gold, rare earths and other minerals,” RNX chairman Robert Kirtlan said.

“Field work will commence almost immediately to verify and confirm the geology of the project area and a ground magnetic program is also in train.”

Megado Minerals (ASX:MEG)

(Up on no news)

ASX-listed junior Megado Minerals (ASX:MEG) is focusing its efforts on the recently acquired 80% interest in the Iberian copper project in northern Spain and intends to begin drilling in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The project is targeting the North Spanish Oligocene region that saw copper oxide mining activity through to the 1970s.

Various workstreams are being progressed to facilitate drilling. These include:

• Reviewing exploration reports from the 1970s detailing results from expenditure totalling more than 70m pesetas (around A$16m in current day terms);
• Progressing activities associated with re-assaying more than 3,000 samples collected and stored during the 1970s exploration;
• Identifying locations of more than 30 historic mines and substantial copper occurrences across the belt; and
• Progressing on ground geological mapping to identify priority targets.

Up to August 18, 2025, seven Exploration Permits in Aragón were granted and MEG expects further permits to be granted before drilling starts.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Riversgold, Power Minerals and Altech Batteries are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.