Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Ausgold Ltd, Eqt Corp, Crude Oil, Forum Energy Technologies , VanEck Oil Services ETF, Coyote Copper Mines, Hanwha Solutions, Steadright Critical Minerals, Cleantek Industries and more

• Gold fever continues Down Under as Ausgold Ltd (AUC AU) enters into a Scheme with OceanaGold Corp (OGC CN).
• OceanaGold is offering 0.03365 new shares for each Ausgold share, or an indicative Offer price of A$1.36/share, a 28% premium. A capped cash option is afforded, also at A$1.36/share.
• Post merger, Ausgold shareholders would hold ~7.9% (if 100% scrip consideration). A key shareholder and directors (collectively holding 9.1%) are supportive. December completion expected.  Clean deal. Interlopers possible.

• Cleanaway Waste Management received a non-binding takeover proposal from EQT at A$3.13/share, with an 18% spread.
• Potential suitors include SGH, KKR, BlackRock, and others, with a possible bidding war increasing the final price.
• Historical industry transactions suggest a final takeout price of A$3.50-A$3.70/share, translating to 11.3-11.8x EBITDA.

• Oil prices gained yesterday in response to President Trump’s threat to bomb Oman, an ally of the United States, if they try to “control” the Strait of Hormuz with Iran.          
• At the risk of famous last words, this will never happen, but if we are wrong, President Trump, with respect, will have opened a floodgate difficult to close.                         
• In any event, as before, we would be sellers of the prompt NYMEX crude oil contract if it reaches our trading range peak of roughly $88.00 per barrel.               

• Forum Energy Technologies (FET) is executing a comprehensive operational and strategic transformation under its ‘FET 2030’ plan, targeting a doubling of corporate revenue, quadrupling of EBITDA, and tripling of free cash flow by focusing on high-barrier Leadership Markets and doubling share in Growth Markets.
• Operating performance through 1H26 demonstrates resilient commercial execution, highlighted by 2Q26 revenues expanding 8.4% sequentially to $226.2M, gross margin expanding to 31.54%, and EBITDA margin reaching 12.65%, underscoring structural operating leverage despite a subdued global rig count environment.
• FET trades at an attractive valuation of 1.4x EV/Sales and 5.0x EV/Gross Profit, backed by a strong balance sheet and robust cumulative Free Cash Flow generation ($64.4M in 2025 and $84.0M in 2024), positioning the company for multi-year re-rating as international and subsea expansion accelerates.

This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.

• WTI swung daily as shifting U.S.-Iran signals repeatedly changed the risk premium, while a record inventory build briefly pressured prices before renewed sanctions fears.
• WTI options volatility fell while managed money added longs and cut shorts, pointing to improving bullish conviction despite continued demand for downside protection.
• Energy ETFs attracted broad inflows, while VLO offered the cleanest exposure to a distillate-led refining rally despite a sharp valuation re-rating.

• We remain bullish (as of our 4/21/26 Compass) on the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), and Russell 2000 (IWM).
• As long as last Wednesday’s (Aug. 12) bullish gaps remain unfilled and hold as support on semiconductors (SOXX, SMH), generative A.I. (CHAT), memory(DRAM), neoclouds(NCLD), and momentum(MTUM), bulls are in control
• Specifically, we are bullish as long as price is above last Tuesday’s highs on the aforementioned ETFs. On SPX, we will remain bullish as long as support at 7580-7629 holds.

• Coyote Copper Mines was formed when Copper Bullet Mines Inc was reversed into First and Goal Capital Corp in April 2026.
• Founder and CEO, ex-broker Dan Weir, painstakingly pieced together 66km² of claims by tracking down the owners and substantial staking at the heart of the Copper Triangle, right beside copper majors like Rio Tinto, BHP, Asarco, South32, Capstone and KGHM.
• This copper district contains multiple giant porphyry copper systems formed during the Laramide orogeny.

• Hanwha Solutions (009830 KS) has been downtrending since April 2026 (after peaking in Feb 2026). In the last 2 weeks the stock staged a strong rally, potentially a directional change.
• The rally has been triggered by a combination of strong Q2 earnings and leadership confidence affirmed via Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan acquisition of 23,153 additional shares.
• After the 17th August holiday, the stock pulled back slightly on August 18th, it may be worth considering entering LONG position on this pullback (speculative trade).

• NSM Capital, Steadright’s 76.5% owned Moroccan entity, has secured a full 32% carried interest in the TitanBeach Project with Shan Tang Mining and signed an agreement with a state-owned construction firm.
• On August 12th, Steadright received the Mining License for the TitanBeach One Project through NSM Capital Sarl, a key de-risking moment on the path to development.
• Since our last note, SCM expanded the TitanBeach land package by ~32km2 (free of NSR).

• CTEK reported Q2 revenue of $5.1M (+53% YoY) vs. our $5.0M estimate, while adjusted EBITDA came in at $1.4M (28% margin, +83% YoY) compared to our estimate of $1.6M.
• During the quarter, CTEK delivered 20 units under the HALO international program and completed its first commercial sale into the South American Market (read our note here).
• The remaining 40 units will be delivered over the coming quarters.