History
Cauldron began as Scimitar Resources, a Northern Territory and Yanrey uranium explorer, tried gold and sand, and by 2026 had grown Yanrey to 55.6Mlb of resources.
2006-2008: Scimitar and the first Yanrey resource
The company began as Scimitar Resources, a uranium explorer. In January 2006 it was granted three exploration licences at its Eclipse Uranium Project in the Northern Territory, covering 3,735 sq km. It also had a gold farm-in at Vettersburg, where a 13-hole program found a new gold zone. Its main effort soon turned to Yanrey in Western Australia. A placement at $0.30 a share funded the first drilling there, and a second raising of up to $2.5 million at $0.50 followed in November 2006. A $5.1 million placement at $0.85 in 2007 brought in Canada's Mega Uranium, which took about 5%. Shares on issue rose from 5 million at the end of 2006 to 48.6 million a year later.
The 2007 aircore drilling (a light drilling method) at Bennet Well outlined two high-grade zones. In July 2008 it produced a first resource of 4.8 million pounds of uranium oxide (an inferred estimate, meaning lower confidence). Scimitar also signed farm-ins, in which partners fund work to earn a stake: one on the Marree project in South Australia with a Korean consortium led by KORES.
2008-2011: The Jackson merger and a search for funding
In December 2008 Scimitar agreed to merge with Jackson Minerals, which held uranium, gold and base metals assets in Australia and Argentina. It took on its first debt, a $2.3 million convertible note from Dempsey Resources, a Cape Lambert subsidiary. Jackson holders approved the scheme with 98.4% of votes, and it completed in June 2009 with Tony Sage as Executive Chairman and the company renamed Cauldron Energy. Shares on issue rose to 88.7 million by year end.
Funding was tight. The hoped-for $7.5 million convertible facility fell far short, and in August 2009 ASX queried a quarterly cash balance of $345,000. In November 2009 Chinese investors provided A$10 million, and Qiu Derong joined the board. Drilling then ran in Marree, Yanrey and Argentina, but Marree found only low-grade uranium. In 2011 CEO Terry Topping resigned, and Cape Lambert took a larger role. Cauldron sold Boolaloo and Beadell interests to Rumble Resources, and sold 5 million Saracen shares for $3.8 million after settling the Wallbrook royalty.
2012-2014: Yanrey grows, and a failed bid
In August 2012 all $11.3 million of convertible notes converted into 58.8 million shares at 20c. Drilling that October and November found new palaeochannels (ancient buried river beds that hold uranium) at Bennet Well East and South. In February 2013 the Yanrey resource rose about 300%, to 15.7 million pounds, and the exploration target (a conceptual range, not a resource) was raised to 30-115 million pounds.
Cauldron also bid for Energia Minerals with shares. Energia's directors rejected it, and it lapsed on 1 May 2014 with only 0.20% acceptances. Leach tests supported in-situ recovery (dissolving uranium underground and pumping it out). In 2014 Chinese investors agreed placements totalling A$15 million at A$0.118 a share, and the resource rose to 18.6 million pounds. Some investors then failed to pay, and a court fight followed.
2015-2019: Resource growth, then the uranium ban
By December 2015 the Bennet Well resource had grown to 30.9 million pounds. In January 2016 the Supreme Court of WA ordered the Joseph parties to pay $3 million plus interest. Cauldron recovered $2,530,539 by March 2016, and $1 million plus interest was still owed by Guangzhou City. Shares on issue reached 320.8 million by the end of 2016.
In June 2017 the WA Government banned uranium mining on future Mining Leases. Cauldron sought clarification and looked at other projects, and a lithium purchase and an Oceltip farm-in were both terminated in late 2018. Tony Sage left as chairman after almost 10 years of service. The record for 2019 shows only a move toward Victorian gold, with heads of agreement on Bullarto South and Blackwood.
2020-2023: Gold, sand and a reset
Small placements funded Blackwood gold drilling. In December 2020 Cauldron agreed to buy river sand leases in WA for 20 million shares plus payments. Underground drilling at Blackwood began in August 2021 and found only a couple of high-grade hits. Shares on issue rose to 931.6 million by the end of 2022, helped by placements and rights issues.
Ian Mulholland became chairman in May 2022, Michael Fry joined the board, and Jonathan Fisher became CEO that December. A rights issue priced at 0.7c followed. Cauldron sold its 51% Blackwood interest to Currawong Resources for $300,000 in 2023 and took on the Melrose nickel-copper project. A December 2023 scoping study assessed a 1.5 million-pound-a-year uranium operation, which would still need the WA ban to change.
2024-2026: Manyingee and a larger Yanrey
Parle Investments put in $2.025 million at 4.5c in February 2024. Aircore drilling that year found a discovery at Manyingee South. It was continuous over at least 3km, and a $4.024 million raising at 1.8c followed. In April 2025 a maiden resource of 11.1 million pounds took Yanrey to 42 million pounds. The sand deal was ended in September 2025, and Cauldron kept the Onslow tenements. It also signed a non-binding MOU with Uzbekistan's Navoiyuran. Shares on issue passed 2 billion by the end of 2025.
In February 2026 a maiden Manyingee North resource of 9.8 million pounds and an upgraded Manyingee South at 14.9 million pounds lifted the Yanrey total to 55.6 million pounds. Cauldron won state grants of up to $217,750 and agreed to buy five tenements from Wyloo. By 2 September 2026 the 2026 drilling had found mineralisation beyond the resource boundaries at both deposits, and cash stood at $3.68 million at 30 June 2026 with no debt. New resource figures were promised, and the WA uranium ban still stood.
Written from the 191 story beats below (2006 to 2 Sept 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.