Evolution Mining agreed to pay a 60% premium to swallow a copper explorer it didn’t need to buy outright. In British Columbia, a different backer chose the opposite move: keep funding a junior’s drill program rather than acquire it, and one of those holes just returned 200 grams of gold per tonne over half a meter of core.
Evolution Mining Agrees to Acquire Carnaby Resources for A$213 Million
Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN) agreed on July 27 to acquire 100% of Carnaby Resources Limited (ASX: CNB) through a court-supervised scheme of arrangement valued at approximately A$213 million (US$149 million), offering Carnaby shareholders A$0.77 per share in an all-scrip deal. Carnaby holders will receive 0.0682 Evolution shares for every Carnaby share held. Carnaby stock jumped 60% to A$0.77 the day the deal was announced.
The deal gives Evolution the Greater Duchess copper-gold project, located near its existing Ernest Henry operations in north-west Queensland. That proximity is the point: Evolution gets a derisked, geographically adjacent ore source it can feed into processing capacity it already owns, rather than building a new mine from scratch.
RBC Capital Markets analyst James Redfern called the deal an additional source of high-quality copper-gold ore for Ernest Henry, maintaining a “sector perform” rating on Evolution with an A$11.50 price target.
The transaction still needs Carnaby shareholder approval, targeted for October 28, along with Australian Competition and Consumer Commission clearance targeted for November 3 and court approval targeted for November 4. Completion is targeted around mid-November 2026. As consideration, Evolution is issuing 20,780,002 new shares, an all-scrip structure that dilutes existing Evolution shareholders rather than drawing on cash.
Dundee-Funded Westhaven Gold Hits 200 g/t Gold at Shovelnose in BC
Dundee Corporation (TSX: DC.A) reported on July 28 the fourth batch of assay results from the ongoing 35,000-meter resource infill drilling program at Westhaven Gold Corp.’s (TSXV: WHN; OTCQB: WTHVF) Shovelnose gold and silver project in southern British Columbia. Hole SNR26-113 returned 0.52 meters grading 200 grams per tonne gold and 141 grams per tonne silver. Hole SNR26-99 cut 27.51 meters at 14.47 g/t gold, including a nested 2.07 meters at 107.5 g/t gold. The intervals are downhole lengths, not true widths; Dundee’s release estimates true widths at roughly 70 to 80 percent of the reported figures.
The program has now drilled 73 of a planned run of holes, about two-thirds of the total meterage, and is feeding an updated mineral resource estimate meant to support a prefeasibility study targeted for the second half of 2027. Dundee is the one paying for it: the company can earn up to a 60% interest in Westhaven’s four Spences Bridge Gold Belt properties by spending up to C$85 million, with a minimum C$30 million committed in the first phase, including the fully funded 50,000-meter 2026 drill program at Shovelnose.
Xali Gold Ties New Peru Assays to a Historical Study Built on $700 Gold
Xali Gold Corp. (TSXV: XGC) reported on July 28 the completion of assay results from underground and surface sampling at its Pico Machay gold project in central Peru. Surface Channel 1 returned 2.92 grams per tonne gold over 31.5 meters, including 13.76 g/t over 4.5 meters. Of 119 surface samples collected, 67 returned more than 0.5 g/t gold, helping the company define ten exploration targets, four of which overlap with zones previously identified by prior operator Aquiline Resources.
Pico Machay carries real jurisdiction risk. It sits in Peru’s Western Cordillera, a region the company describes as having a mining-friendly local community, but Peru remains subject to the permitting delays and community-relations uncertainty that come with any exploration asset there. The project’s own historical engineering studies, Xali Gold notes, were built around a long-term gold price assumption of $700 an ounce. Gold has traded near $4,000 an ounce this month.
Kingfisher Metals Confirms Barrick Placement Has Closed
Kingfisher Metals Corp. (TSXV: KFR; OTCQB: KGFMF) confirmed on July 28 that its previously announced private placement with Barrick Mining Corporation (NYSE: B; TSX: ABX) has closed, with Barrick’s subscription for 15,470,934 units at C$1.35 each now complete for gross proceeds of C$20,885,761. Barrick now holds 9.9% of Kingfisher on a non-diluted basis and up to 14.1% on a partially diluted basis, matching the terms outlined when the deal was first announced on July 21.
Carnaby Shareholder Vote, Westhaven’s Next Assay Batch, and Xali Gold’s Resource Update to Watch
Carnaby Resources shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Evolution Mining acquisition on October 28, with ACCC clearance targeted for November 3 and court approval targeted for November 4; completion is targeted around mid-November. Westhaven and Dundee still have roughly a third of the planned 35,000-meter Shovelnose program left to drill, with results feeding toward a prefeasibility study targeted for the second half of 2027. Xali Gold has said it’s working toward an updated resource estimate at Pico Machay, without giving a specific date.
Sources
- ASX Announcements: Carnaby Resources Scheme Implementation Deed, July 27, 2026
- Capital Brief: Carnaby Resources Shares Jump 60% on Evolution Mining Acquisition, July 27, 2026
- GlobeNewswire: Dundee Corporation Announces Further Results of Infill Drilling at Westhaven’s Shovelnose Gold and Silver Project, Southern British Columbia, July 28, 2026
- GlobeNewswire: Xali Gold Continues to Demonstrate the Scale and Grade of Gold Mineralization at Pico Machay, July 28, 2026
- Newsfile Corp: Kingfisher Announces Closing of Strategic Investment from Barrick, July 28, 2026
Editorial Disclosure
This roundup is based entirely on publicly available information including company press releases, ASX regulatory filings, and financial news coverage. Securities discussed include Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN), Carnaby Resources Limited (ASX: CNB), Dundee Corporation (TSX: DC.A), Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSXV: WHN; OTCQB: WTHVF), Xali Gold Corp. (TSXV: XGC), Kingfisher Metals Corp. (TSXV: KFR; OTCQB: KGFMF), and Barrick Mining Corporation (NYSE: B; TSX: ABX). aktiego.com has not received any compensation from any company mentioned, their management, investor relations representatives, or any third party. No staff member or principal of aktiego.com holds a position in any security mentioned at the time of publication. The Evolution Mining/Carnaby Resources transaction had not closed as of this article’s publication date. It remains subject to Carnaby shareholder approval (targeted October 28, 2026), Australian Competition and Consumer Commission clearance (targeted November 3, 2026), and court approval (targeted November 4, 2026), with completion targeted around mid-November 2026; any of these steps could delay or change the terms of the deal. The transaction is all-scrip and dilutive to existing Evolution shareholders, who are having 20,780,002 new shares issued as consideration. RBC Capital Markets’ rating and price target on Evolution are attributed to Capital Brief’s reporting and have not been independently verified by aktiego.com; aktiego.com is not a registered investment advisor and does not verify analyst research independently. Drill intervals reported for Westhaven Gold’s Shovelnose project are downhole lengths, not true widths; Dundee Corporation’s own release estimates true widths at approximately 70 to 80 percent of the reported intervals. No updated resource estimate has yet been published for the current 2026 infill program; the prefeasibility study Dundee and Westhaven are targeting for the second half of 2027 is not guaranteed. National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) is the Canadian securities disclosure standard governing how mineral projects and resource estimates are reported. The qualified person named in Dundee’s release, Robin Hopkins, P.Geo., is described in the release as independent of Dundee. Xali Gold’s Pico Machay project has a historical resource that has not been converted into a current NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate; the historical figures and the $700/oz gold price assumption underlying prior engineering studies cited in this article are not current economic estimates and should not be read as such. Peru carries jurisdiction risk including permitting timelines, community relations, and currency exposure that can affect project economics and timelines. The qualified person named in Xali Gold’s release, Joanne Freeze, P.Geo., is also the company’s President and CEO, a related-party relationship worth noting when weighing the review. Gold price levels referenced in this article are approximate and reflect trading levels in July 2026; they are subject to change. These are speculative investments carrying significant risk including potential total loss of capital. Coverage on aktiego.com is provided for informational and educational purposes only. aktiego.com is not a registered investment advisor. Nothing in this article constitutes financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For more information, please see our full DISCLAIMER.
