‘False and without foundation’: Focus cracks back at media reports suggesting its halted Coolgardie works

Focus Minerals (ASX:FML) has come out swinging against recent media reports surrounding the Coolgardie gold project early this morning, declaring any claims the Western Australian company has “halted” or “suspended” its flagship operation this month are “false and without foundation.”

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“The company confirms its Coolgardie operations are continuing as normal,” the WA explorer wrote in an update to its shareholders today. “Mining and processing activities are progressing well and as planned, and the Company remains focused on delivering strong operational performance.”

Added with the release was a reminder: “Shareholders and the market are reminded to rely only on official announcements released by the company on the ASX.”

The one-page Monday crackback – short, sharp, and to the point – came after a report was shared by “ad-hoc-news.de” late Sunday. The media report suggested Focus had suspended Coolgardie “due to high costs and low gold prices, despite a strong cash position from asset sales and recent operational growth.”

Throughout the “ad-hoc-news” write-up were links to other articles asking if investors should “sell immediately” or possibly buy instead, and questioning whether Focus had hit a turning point early in CY26.

Focus obviously wanted to get out ahead of the report (especially considering the company is suggesting it’s all inaccurate) before the markets opened.

When Monday morning’s bell does ring in the next hour, FML shares will hit the wire at $2.33 a pop. The explorer has had a soft month – as have many under issues caused by the Iran war – but is still up +1,036% YoY.

The $667 million company was just added to the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index in the bourse’s latest reshuffle, which came through in March.

Focus has been working in Coolgardie for some time now, with the Three Mile Hill Processing Plant the centrepiece of its operations. It also operates the Coolgardie project, which is located ~600 kilometres east of Perth, and recently produced 44.5 million tonnes @ 1.87 g/t gold for ~2.68Moz in FY24.

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