Dilution Watch — 28 September 2026

The week in ASX capital raises and dilution, from the filings themselves. Every figure comes from ASX announcements as published on DilutionLens. This edition covers Monday 21 to Friday 25 September.

Twenty-seven companies announced cash raises between 21 and 25 September for about A$468M in disclosed proceeds, and it was a week of big cheques: seven placements of A$42M or more — A1M, SVL, WC8, USL, AUE, TGN and MEK — carried A$404.9M of it. The other twenty disclosed A$63.4M between them. Five of the seven stated a discount, from 0.9% to 16.9%; AIC Mines priced at the close and Meeka stated none. Two drew mostly on the extra 10% mandate rather than the 15%. The halt conveyor held: 16 companies halted citing a capital raise in the five sessions, against 17 and 11 in the two weeks before.

The week's biggest raises

• A1M — AIC Mines: existing major holder Hawke's Point agreed to subscribe A$70M for 88,050,315 shares at 79.5 cents (23 September), “the closing price of AIC Mines shares on ASX on 21 September 2026” — nil discount. The money funds the A$20M cash part of a A$120M purchase of the Mt Cuthbert copper project; the other A$100M is paid in 125.8M new shares at the same price, and the vendors end up with 12.4%. Both issues need a shareholder vote. On a 799.5M register the placement adds 11.0%, and placement plus consideration shares add about 27%. Dilution risk: Low.
• SVL — Silver Mines placed A$70M at 14.5 cents (21 September), “a 10.0% discount to the 5-trading day volume weighted average trading price to 18 September 2026”: 277,733,713 shares now under the 15% and 205,024,908 waiting for the AGM on 26 November. About 22% more shares on a 2.22 billion register; its latest quarterly's own estimate was 6.8 quarters of funding. Dilution risk: Moderate.
• WC8 — Wildcat Resources placed A$60M at 30.5 cents (21 September), a 10.3% discount to the 34-cent last trade on 18 September and 11.2% to the five-day VWAP — 183,606,558 shares under the 15% and 13,114,754 at a November meeting, for its Tabba Tabba lithium project. It has now used about 91% of its 15% placement capacity in 12 months. Dilution risk: Low.
• USL — Unico Silver placed A$60M at 76 cents (24 September), 10.1% under the 84.5-cent close on 21 September and 10.4% under the five-day VWAP. Of about 78.9M new shares, about 63.6M come from the extra 10% under 7.1A and 15.3M from the 15%. The company puts the register at about 721M shares afterwards, 12.3% more, and pro-forma cash at about A$110M. Dilution risk: Moderate.
• AUE — Aurum Resources placed A$52.5M at 55 cents (23 September), a 0.9% discount to the 55.5-cent close on 18 September and 2.4% to the 10-day VWAP: 53,874,546 shares under 7.1 and 41,580,000 under 7.1A. Strategic investors took A$32.3M and will hold about 25% together. The register grows 23%; it has grown 173% in 24 months, and options and rights already equal 22.1% of it. Dilution risk: Moderate.
• TGN — Tungsten Mining placed A$50M at 32 cents (22 September), a 16.9% discount to the 38.5-cent close on 18 September and 9.8% to the 15-day VWAP — the deepest of the seven. Almost all of it came from the extra 10%: 139,634,020 shares under 7.1A and 16,615,980 under 7.1. About 10% more shares. Dilution risk: Moderate.
• MEK — Meeka Metals placed A$42.4M at 10 cents (25 September) — 329,815,836 shares under the 15% now and 94,184,164, including A$40,000 from a director, at the AGM on 24 November. The announcement states no discount. It puts cash before the placement at about A$21M and expects about A$50M at quarter end. About 13.7% more shares on a 3.1 billion register. Dilution risk: Moderate.

The rest of the week: NYR A$12M at 62 cents a CDI, 15.1% under the last trade, plus a A$2M SPP, with three options for every four CDIs and a further “piggyback” option for each one exercised. LMG A$8.5M — a A$5.1M placement at 1.5 cents and a 1-for-15 entitlement offer of A$3.4M, underwritten. PTX A$6.0M across an SPP and a placement. NXM A$5.4M at 5.3 cents, 8.6% under the close, 41,886,793 shares under 7.1 and 60,000,000 under 7.1A. VBX A$4.5M at 64 cents, 15.5% under the five-day VWAP, plus A$2.5M of its managing director's loan notes converting at the same price if the AGM agrees — on 0.12 quarters of funding by its latest quarterly's own estimate, the thinnest of the week's raisers. UM1 A$3.5M at 15 cents, 24.5% under the 15-day VWAP, plus a A$1M SPP and one option per two shares. BUY A$3.55M at 1.2 cents alongside a Liberian deepwater acquisition paid in 949M shares and up to 1 billion performance shares, on a 1.18 billion register. FG1 a 1-for-3 renounceable rights issue at 1.5 cents for up to A$3M, 21% under the last price, underwritten to A$1.5M. LKE A$3.0M from its at-the-market facility at 4.45 cents, a 4.6% premium to the 15-day VWAP. NVQ A$1.8M at 3.5 cents, conditional on its AGM because its placement capacity is restricted until 19 December. MCO a A$1.5M SPP. SLZ A$1.3M at 0.9 cents, 13.5% under the 15-day VWAP, with one listed and one unlisted option for every two shares. MHK A$1.2M at 9.5 cents. ENT A$1.2M at 0.2 cents, 33% under the close — 600M shares, 36% more on its register, 350M of them after a meeting. PR2 A$1.1M at 1.8 cents. And IOD, NYM, AOK, MDX and SAN A$2.8M between them.

New this week: the option expiry calendar

The option expiries page lists the option and rights classes on our register that expire in the next 30 days, free — today 88 classes across 71 companies, through 28 October. 79 are options that turn into shares only if holders pay the strike; 8 are performance rights or shares that convert on a condition rather than a price. A free account extends the view to 90 days. An expiry is the date a block of possible new shares either arrives on the register or disappears from it.

The halt conveyor

Sixteen companies halted for a capital raise in five sessions — 3DA, A1M, AUE, FLX, MEK, NYM, OCT, PR2, PTX, PV1, SLZ, SVL, TGN, UM1, USL and VBX — against 17 and 11 in the two weeks before. Twelve had announced by Friday. 3DA halted for a raise and announced instead that it had postponed its planned U.S. initial public offering. FLX and OCT halted on Thursday and announced this morning — Felix a A$5.54M placement and an SPP, Octava an acquisition and a raise. PV1 halted on Friday and is due back on Tuesday 29 September.

Thirty-eight retail offers are open

Holders in 38 companies have a retail offer running or announced — 21 share purchase plans, 13 entitlement offers and 4 rights issues. Last week's 38 included PR2's July entitlement offer, which closed in August, so like for like the count is one higher. Six came in this week: NYR's SPP (opening 12 October), LMG's entitlement offer (opening 30 September), FG1's rights issue, and SPPs from PTX, UM1 and MCO. The oldest still listed, LIT, was dated 30 July. Each company page shows the register those offers land on.

Placement capacity

The capacity page today lists 196 companies past 75% of their 15% allowance (192 last week), 135 past 90% (129), and 31 that have used all of it (30); 86 of the 196 have also drawn on the extra 10% mandate. It is our estimate from the filings, before any later ratification, and 1,409 companies carry one. Two of this week's raisers crossed 75% with their raise: WC8 (about 91% used) and SAN (about 99%). A thirty-second, NVQ, is at 100% and is not on the page — its A$1.8M placement waits for a shareholder vote for exactly that reason.

Chart of the week: where the seven big placements found their shares

The seven placements of A$42M or more issue about 1.52 billion shares between them, and the filings say which mandate each share comes from. About 877M (58%) sit inside the ordinary 15% and are issued now. About 245M (16%) come from the extra 10% under Listing Rule 7.1A — most of TGN's, most of USL's and 44% of AUE's — a mandate holders approve a year at a time at the AGM. The remaining 400M (26%) wait for a meeting: A1M's whole placement, and the second tranches of SVL, MEK and WC8. So roughly three shares in four in this week's biggest raises reach the register without a vote on that raise, and the AGMs in late November are where the rest are decided.

The market currently splits: 586 Minimal, 339 Low, 388 Moderate, 250 High, 175 Very high, and 112 Not rated — about one in four rated companies sits at High or Very high dilution risk.

Dilution Watch is compiled from ASX announcements (Appendix filings, quarterly cash reports and raise notices) as published on DilutionLens. General information only, not financial advice; no view is expressed on any company's future actions or securities.