ASX Appendix 5B: what it is, when it's due, and how Section 8 works
Appendix 5B is the quarterly cash flow report every ASX-listed mining exploration or oil and gas exploration entity has to lodge under Listing Rule 5.5 — alongside the quarterly activities report required by Rule 5.3. This guide covers what's in it, when it's due, and the Section 8 funding-runway calculation that triggers extra disclosure if you're running low on cash.
This is general information, not legal or accounting advice — check the current ASX Listing Rules Appendix 5B and your own advisers before lodging.
Who has to lodge it, and when
Any entity admitted to the ASX as a mining exploration entity or oil and gas exploration entity must lodge Appendix 5B every quarter, whether or not anything unusual happened. It's due within one month after the end of each quarter, or immediately once the figures are ready — whichever comes first. For an entity with a standard 30 June financial year, that means:
| Quarter ended | Lodgement due |
|---|---|
| 30 September | 31 October |
| 31 December | 31 January |
| 31 March | 30 April |
| 30 June | 31 July |
If a due date falls on a weekend, it moves to the Friday before, not the Monday after (Listing Rule 19.5). See the quarterly reporting calendar for the actual dates this year.
What's in the form
Appendix 5B follows a fixed structure — the same eight sections for every entity, every quarter:
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Operating activities | Receipts from customers, payments for exploration & evaluation, development, production, staff and admin costs |
| 2. Investing activities | Payments to acquire or proceeds from disposing of tenements, property, plant and equipment, and capitalised exploration & evaluation |
| 3. Financing activities | Equity raised, borrowings, and their repayment |
| 4. Net change in cash | Opening cash plus the above three, plus any exchange-rate effect, gives closing cash |
| 5. Cash reconciliation | Ties the closing balance to bank balances and deposits |
| 6. Related party payments | Amounts paid to related parties and their associates — needs explanation in the activities report if non-zero |
| 7. Financing facilities | Loan facilities and credit standby arrangements, drawn and undrawn |
| 8. Estimated cash available for future operating activities | The funding-runway calculation — see below |
Section 8: the funding-runway calculation
This is the part of Appendix 5B that gets the most scrutiny, because it's the number the market reads as "how long until this company runs out of cash." It's a fixed formula built from figures already reported earlier in the form:
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| 8.1 | Net cash from/(used in) operating activities (item 1.9) |
| 8.2 | Payments for exploration & evaluation classified as investing (item 2.1(d)) |
| 8.3 | Total relevant outgoings (8.1 + 8.2) |
| 8.4 | Cash and cash equivalents at quarter end (item 4.6) |
| 8.5 | Unused finance facilities available at quarter end (item 7.5) |
| 8.6 | Total available funding (8.4 + 8.5) |
| 8.7 | Estimated quarters of funding available (8.6 ÷ 8.3) |
| 8.8 | If 8.7 is less than 2 quarters: answer 8.8.1–8.8.3 (see below) |
If the entity had a net cash inflow from operations and investing exploration spend combined (item 8.3 is positive), item 8.7 is reported as "N/A" — the runway calculation only applies when you're burning cash.
When item 8.7 comes in under two quarters, three follow-up questions become mandatory:
- 8.8.1 — will current net operating cash flows continue, and if not, why not?
- 8.8.2 — what steps are being taken (or proposed) to raise further cash, and how likely are they to succeed?
- 8.8.3 — does the entity expect to keep operating and meet its business objectives, and on what basis?
These answers aren't a formality. ASX Guidance Note 23 explains that they go to Listing Rules 12.1 and 12.2: whether, in ASX's opinion, the entity's level of operations is sufficient and its financial condition adequate to warrant staying quoted and listed. When Section 8 shows under two quarters of funding, ASX says it will carefully examine the report and any recent announcements about the entity's capacity to keep operating. It may suspend trading if it has concerns (Listing Rule 17.3), is then likely to send a query letter (Listing Rule 18.7), and the letter and response are typically released to the market (Listing Rule 18.7A).
If a raising is still confidential. Answering 8.8.2 may mean referring to a capital raising or other funding that's still being negotiated. Guidance Note 23 says the proper course is not to “fudge” the answer. Instead, say the entity is in incomplete and confidential negotiations for a transaction that, if successful, will improve its financial position, and that it will request a trading halt or voluntary suspension if needed while it progresses them to the point of a fuller announcement.
Want to check your own figures? Try the Section 8 calculator.
Where this gets messy on a spreadsheet
Every item in Section 8 is pulled from earlier in the same form — 8.1 from item 1.9, 8.2 from item 2.1(d), 8.4 from item 4.6, 8.5 from item 7.5. The most common way this goes wrong on a manual spreadsheet is a figure getting updated in one place and not the other, so the runway number quietly stops matching the cash flow statement above it. Tenement Track pulls Section 8 straight from the same tracked expenditure that populates the rest of the form, so the two can't drift apart.