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Yilgarn gold exploration breakthrough

The Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia and CSIRO have produced new understanding of mineralisation in the Yilgarn province, 400km east of Perth.

Researchers found the formation of ancient gold deposits during the Archean period over 2.5 billion years ago also produced distinctive patterns of chemical alteration in the surrounding rocks.

Looking for these distinctive patterns will make it faster and more efficient for exploration companies to identify potential new deposits.

This could greatly assist exploration in the Eastern Yilgarn region, which despite sharing its Archean geology with the richly-endowed Eastern Goldfields, has produced fewer gold discoveries to date than expected.

Northern Star Resources Ltd, Gold Road Resources Ltd, Ramelius Resources Ltd, Evolution Mining Ltd, Blackham Resources Ltd, Echo Resources Ltd and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd were project sponsors.

“The new approaches developed from the project have challenged conventional wisdom, established new models for the genesis of mineral systems and provided insights into how we might navigate them,” Northern Star general manager exploration Jamie Rogers said.

Yilgarn gold exploration breakthrough

The Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia and CSIRO have produced new understanding of mineralisation in the Yilgarn province, 400km east of Perth.

Researchers found the formation of ancient gold deposits during the Archean period over 2.5 billion years ago also produced distinctive patterns of chemical alteration in the surrounding rocks.

Looking for these distinctive patterns will make it faster and more efficient for exploration companies to identify potential new deposits.

This could greatly assist exploration in the Eastern Yilgarn region, which despite sharing its Archean geology with the richly-endowed Eastern Goldfields, has produced fewer gold discoveries to date than expected.

Northern Star Resources Ltd, Gold Road Resources Ltd, Ramelius Resources Ltd, Evolution Mining Ltd, Blackham Resources Ltd, Echo Resources Ltd and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd were project sponsors.

“The new approaches developed from the project have challenged conventional wisdom, established new models for the genesis of mineral systems and provided insights into how we might navigate them,” Northern Star general manager exploration Jamie Rogers said.

Juniors see the money flow

A quick scan of the ASX today showed a willingness from investors to back junior companies in an array of activities with a number of handy capital raisings in progress.

Rox Resources Ltd $12.7 million (gold and nickel, Western Australia); Silver Mines Ltd $12 million (silver and gold, New South Wales); Kingston Resources Ltd $8.4 million (gold, WA and PNG); Core Lithium $7 million (lithium, Northern Territory) and Alpha HPA Ltd $7 million (HPA, Queensland) can now take their respective projects to the next step with some degree of certainty having funding available.

Traditionally, the end of May and June is a quiet time of the year, but 2020 so far is like nothing ever experienced and time will tell if positive sentiment in the mining sector tails off or not.

New Century gets exclusive on Goro

The successful acquisition of Goro, New Caledonia, operations would result in New Century Resources Ltd (ASX:NCZ) becoming a major supplier of nickel and non-DRC sourced cobalt for the EV industry.

“For NCZ, the potential acquisition will serve to diversify the company’s commodity exposure. There is also potential to leverage strategic stakeholder IGO’s [Ltd] insights and expertise; however, we are uncertain as to IGO’s experience with HPAL technology. Where this potential acquisition could pose concerns for investors is around NCZ’s cash flow. The company recently finalized a ~A$50m raising, which on our estimates should see it through the ramp-up of operations at its Century zinc mine. However, any concerns around cash flows at VNC (in our view) are likely to weigh on the stock, regardless of the longer-term valuation appeal of (potentially) entering the nickel space,” RBC Capital Markets analysts noted this morning.

Western Areas pitches for PAN

Western Areas pithces for PAN

Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) enters subscription agreement with Panoramic Resources Ltd (ASX:PAN) to acquire up to 19.9% of PAN’s pro-forma shares on issue upon completion of its fully underwritten capital raising.

Based on the capital raising issue price of 7c/share, the total cash consideration payable by WSA will be $28.6 million.

“This investment is consistent with our growth strategy and increases our exposure to the emerging New Energy Vehicles [NEV] market dynamic. We are encouraged by the development potential of the Savannah North orebody and believe that Panoramic’s decision to continue to invest in capital development will position the operation well for the projected upswing in nickel, copper and cobalt demand driven by the NEV thematic. The capital raising will ensure that the Savannah project is production-ready for when a decision is made to restart operations. We are also excited by the near-mine and regional exploration opportunities at the Savannah project,” WSA managing director Dan Lougher said.

WSA’s pitch for Savannah follows IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) terminating a $216 million takeover for PAN earlier this year.

Round 21 locked in

The West Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has handed out its Exploration Incentive Scheme’s (EIS) Co-funded Exploration Drilling Programme grants, with $5.23 million spread among 45 applicants.

Applicants have from July 1 2020 to June 30 2021 to undertake work using EIS funds.

The applicants’ 49 projects stretch from the Kimberley and Pilbara in the north, through to the Mid-West, Goldfields and the South-West regions, with almost one third of the successful general category applicants in the field for commodities related to battery minerals, including one vanadium project and two rare earth element projects.

Hot Chili rattles tin for $8.9 million

Hot Chili raises $8.9 million

is poised to deliver resource estimates at the Cortadera and San Antonio copper-gold projects, Chile, after announcing a placement and rights issue to raise $8.9 million.

“With each hole, the Cortadera discovery has expanded delivering six world-class, copper-gold drill results already and still remaining open,” Hot Chili managing director Christian Easterday said.

“We look forward to continuing our push to rapidly grow Cortadera while also working towards establishing a new and expanded, combined development plan for our coastal copper-gold assets in Chile.”

Chalice fills the cup with $30 million

Tim Goyder will sell about 20% of his holding in Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) to “facilitate meaningful investment from several parties”.

Goyder’s 10 million shares will be sold at $1.05/share, as major institutional and sophisticated investors back Chalice’s $30 million raising for drilling at the Julimar nickel-copper-PGE project, near Perth.

RC and diamond drilling to test the full extent of the 1.6km long x 0.7km wide mineralised system ahead of a potential maiden resource, while preliminary metallurgical testwork, initial mining, processing, environmental and economic scoping studies are also part of the plan.

Chalice reported that firm commitments in excess of $75 million were received for the raise, such is the excitement right now at Julimar.

“The company is now in an even stronger financial position and, while I have sold a small part of my holding, I am very excited by the potential of our projects and I remain fully committed to the company,” Chalice executive chairman Tim Goyder.

SolGold closes in on Alpala PFS in Ecuador

Alpala PFS on the way

SolGold will take a cautious approach to restarting work at the Alpala project this weekend.
There has been a strong push from locals within the Cascabel community, Ecuador, for work to continue during COVID-19, however, with a PFS on the 55-year, 10mt copper and 21.7 moz gold project expected to be released in the coming months a lot of SolGold’s work is currently being done off-site.
“We’re working cautiously to make sure no-one is contaminated,” SolGold executive director exploration Jason Ward said this morning. Cascabel hasn’t been severely impacted by the coronavirus like other parts of Ecuador where there are reportedly 30,000 cases.
Meanwhile, the Government is working to have the Mining Cadaster back online in Q4 (possibly in Jan/Feb 2021 pending election outcomes). There are “roughly” 700 applications in the backlog (since January 2018), which can be potentially pushed through within 60 days of the Mining Cadaster going live again.

St George to raise $3.6 million

St George Mining Ltd hopes to raise $3.6 million through issuing new shares at 8c/each in a private placement.

The funds will be used for ongoing exploration at Mt Alexander in Western Australia’s Goldfields where the company has been successfully chasing nickel-copper sulphides.

While a mutli-rig campaign targeting new nickel-copper sulphides at Mt Alexander is expected to start in late May, mine development studies are also progressing.

Get a full update on St George’s progress at this year’s Australian Nickel Conference in October

Perseus set for ASX200

COVID19 has not disrupted Perseus Mining Ltd’s development of Yaouré.

The Yaouré gold mine, Côte d’Ivoire, is poised to become the company’s third producing asset in West Africa when first gold is poured in late 2020.

Before then, it is predicted that Perseus will gain entry into the ASX200 next month as it looks towards increasing gold production to more than 500,000 ozpa in 2021/2022.

Organic growth through exploration and successful M&A will be the pillars of Perseus’ next stage of growth, managing director Jeff Quartermaine said this morning.

Predictive goes for gold in Guinea

A maiden gold resource at Kaninko, Guinea, by mid-2021 is the target for Predictive Discovery Ltd after announcing a placement and entitlements issue to raise $9 million.

“This fundraising is a transformational step-change for Predictive, setting us up for the largest drilling program in the company’s history…,” Predictive managing director Paul Roberts said.

Funds from the capital raising will be used to conduct 50,000m of drilling at Kaninko.

Click on page 50 of Australia’s Paydirt May edition to read about Predictive’s plans.

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Cardinal gets EPA permit for Namdini

Another key milestone has been ticked off by Cardinal Resources Ltd at the Namdini gold project, Ghana.

The company was granted an EPA permit by the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency.

It is another important step for Cardinal as it looks towards development of the 5.1 moz gold project in the country’s north.

EPA approval comes during a time the company continues to work with the Special Purpose Committee to review all strategic alternatives after Nord Gold approached Cardinal in March to potentially participate in Namdini.

Based on $US1,550/oz gold prices assumptions, a pre-tax NPV of $US1.44 billion was estimated at Namdini. This morning gold was $US1,700/oz.

Newcrest goes big in Ecuador

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) chief executive Sandeep Biswas is expecting a quick restart to activities at Fruta de Norte, Ecuador, once COVIS-19 related restrictions are lifted.

Today, NCM announced the acquisition of the gold prepay and stream facilities and an offtake agreement in respect of Lundin Gold Inc.’s Fruta del Norte mine for $460 million.

“… they are a great management team and managed that well. When the green light is given I am pretty sure that it won’t take them that long to get back up to where they were before, which was very good commissioning and a well-run business,” Biswas said.

Cobre Panama geared for May restart

First Quantum Minerals (FQML) is hoping to get clarity on when operations can restart at Cobre Panama can return to normal after MINSA – Panama’s Ministry of Health – ordered the shutdown of operations earlier this month due to the coronavirus.

Regrettably, in early April a worker at Cobre Panama succumbed to the virus. FQML has reacted strongly and implemented strict protocols and safety measures to protect its valued staff members. The company has even gone as far as telling contractors on site that fines of up to $3 million (per day) will be issued if any of their employees are not properly tested for COVID-19 before entering the mine. Last night, Alberto Casas, executive director and head of CSR for Latin America (Panama, Peru & Argentina) at FQML told attendees on a Zoom briefing hosted by Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) Remi Piet that over 4,000 rapid tests for COVID-19 had been done at Cobre Panama to date.

Casas said he was hoping that by the end of the week a clearer indication on when work at Cobre could restart, subject to strict safety measures being adhered to. With a relatively new government in place and mining a new industry in Panama, a cautious approach is being taken by government during this situation.

“They have no idea it [mining] is an essential industry,” Casas said.

No place like home for Saracen

While its peers have gone offshore to build their gold businesses, Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX:SAR) elected to expand domestically and has celebrated record quarterly production of 158,132/oz and banked record net mine cashflow of $141 million from its westaustralian assets. “There’s no place like home,” Saracen MD Raleigh Finlayson said in presenting the company’s March 2020 quarterly results

No place like home for Saracen

While its peers have gone offshore to build their gold businesses, Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX:SAR) elected to expand domestically and has celebrated record quarterly production of 158,132/oz and banked record net mine cashflow of $141 million from its westaustralian assets. “There’s no place like home,” Saracen MD Raleigh Finlayson said in presenting the company’s March 2020 quarterly results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Pse-nDgkQ

Paydirt Remote with Pilbara Minerals

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Paydirt Remote with Mincor Resources

Paydirt Remote with Venture Minerals

Paydirt TV with HotChili

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Paydirt Remote - Chalice Gold Mines

Paydirt TV - Paydirt at Indaba - Part 3

IGO pads up for Century raise

Pictured: IGO Managing Director Peter Bradford

IGO Ltd has taken a significant stake in Queensland zinc producer New Century Ltd.

Through an investment of $27 million, IGO is taking up to an 18.4% stake and “entering a strategic relationship for ongoing collaborative assessment of Century exploration potential and other resource assets within the clean energy metals sector”.

IGO’s participation is part of New Century’s wider $51.1 million capital raising.

“This fully underwritten capital raising provides important working capital for Century, which is now an established top-10 zinc mine globally and in the final stages of operational ramp up to nameplate 12 mtpa capacity,” New Century managing director Patrick Walta said.

Resolute's African vision realised

Pictured: Resolute Managing Director John Welborn

Resolute Mining Ltd has maintained its FY2020 guidance thanks to a comprehensive response to the COVID-19 situation.

During a presentation to investors and analysts today, Resolute managing director John Welborn happily reported that the company had “at this stage we do not have any confrimed cases” of COVID-19 across its organisation, which includes its mine sites in West Africa and offices in Perth and London.

Check out our next edition of Paydirt Remote as editor Domininc Piper goes one-on-one with Welborn.

Chalice strikes again at Julimar

Pictured: Chalice Managing Director Alex Dorsch

Today’s highlight was from JRC006: 41m @ 2.6 g/t Pd, 0.4 g/t Pt, 0.5% Ni, 0.4% Cu and 0.03% Co from 39m (sulphide), including: 31m @ 3.3 g/t Pd, 0.5 g/t Pt, 0.7% Ni, 0.5% Cu and 0.04% Co from 40m.

And, 29m @ 1.9 g/t Pd and 0.4 g/t Pt from surface (oxide), including, 11m @ 3.8 g/t Pd and 0.7 g/t Pt from surface.

Chalice MD Alex Dorsch features in the May edition of Australia’s Paydirt and explains why such a potentially signficant deposit just one hour drive from Perth has remained untouched until now. Chalice’s success has encouraged the likes of Mandrake Resources (ASX:MAN) to apply for ground near Julimar. For more visit www.paydirt.com.au and contact kateb@paydirt.com.au for a #free three month #magazine

Sandfire gest ROD for Black Butte

Sandfire Resources Ltd now has all the necessary permits in hand for the development of underground mining of the Johnny Lee deposit at the Black Butte copper project, Montana, USA, to proceed.

The final Record of Decision by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to grant a Mine Operating Permit (MOP) for Black Butte has been received by Sandfire this morning.

“With this final permit now in place, we can move to complete the final elements of the Black Butte project feasibility study and financing considerations. The final timing of that will be advised in due course once we have a clearer insight into the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our work programmes,” Sandfire managing director Karl Simich said in an announcement this morning.

For more news trend with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram and continue to visit www.paydirt.com.au

Blackstone banks $6.8 million

Pictured: Blackstone Managing Director, Scott Williamson

Blackstone Minerals Ltd managing director Scott Williamson said in the April edition of Australia’s Paydirt that his company wasn’t at the mercy of “conventional capital markets” given the relationship struck in December with the world’s second largest nickel-rich cathode materials manufacturer – EcoPro.

EcoPro subsidiary EcoPro BM from Korea has signed a binding agreement to take 40 million shares at 17c/share, representing a 62% premium to Blackstone’s last traded price.

“Korea is our funding source, so we don’t have to worry so much about the conventional capital markets; we have someone much bigger ready to help us, we’re lucky there,” Williamson told Paydirt.

“We are focusing on that and trying to get some deals done there. As soon as we get funding out of Korea then there will be no stopping us because the market will realise we don’t have to worry about fluctuations in share prices.”

The binding agreement means a structure is in place for EcoPro and BlackstoneMinerals to work in partnership (through an additional investment via a JV agreement) to develop a downstream processing facility in association with Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE project, northern Vietnam.

“Our maiden resource in late Q2 and scoping study in late Q3 is really when the market will wake up and realise that our nickel mine works in any nickel price environment because we have nickel sulphides, which works in any price environment and laterites require at least $US20,000/t,” Williamson said.

Read more about Blackstone in the April edition of Australia’s Paydirt. For access to a FREE three-month digital subscription contact kateb@paydirt.com.au or visit https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/

Northern Star employee tests positive to COVID-19

Pictured: Australia’s Paydirt magazine April 2020 edition

An employee at Northern Star Resources Ltd’s Pogo operation has tested positive to COVID-19 in Alaska.

The employee is on rostered leave and is being cared for by family and Northern Star’s medical providers. It has been reported that the Pogo employee has not developed serious symptoms or complications so far. He tested positive four days after completing a 12-day roster at the mine.

Pogo continues to operate a planned, with Northern Star identifying 14 potential close contact employees who have been notified and will spend the next 14 days in mandatory isolation. Northern Star has already implemented at COVID-19 Response Plan.

The case at Pogo comes after Paydirt’s April edition was released last week, with the cover story addressing industry’s response to the COVID1-9 crisis and impacts on industry.

For the time being Paydirt is offering free digital access to our magazines.

Visit https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/ to request access

Is uranium back?

Pictured: Former Paladin chief executive John Borshoff

As the April edition of Australia’s Paydirt is almost ready to hit the stands, we take a look back 10 years and find that John Borshoff graces the cover of April edition in 2010.

Borshoff, the then chief executive of Paladin Energy Ltd, was flying on the back of two uranium mines in Namibia and Malawi, respectively.

Paladin was trading at above $3.40/share during that time such was the interest in the uranium sector, however, 12 months later the devastating incident at Fukushima, Japan, turned the industry upside down.

There as been no recovery in the uranium sector and only a brave judge would attempt at predicting when there will be one.

Nevertheless, news that the world’s largest operating uranium mine – Cameco’s Cigar Lake – was being forced into care and maintenance by Canadian authorities triggered a spot price response in the market.

With the uranium price at $US27/lb, players in the space, including Australia’s yellow cake stalwarts, received some positive reactions even in difficult market conditions.

Uranium companies are used to challenging conditions and in our May edition we will explore if there is a new dawn approaching for the yellow cake industry.

www.paydirt.com.au

Paydirt Remote with…You #stayhome

Pictured: Paydirt Media – Editor, Dominic Piper

On a weekly basis, the Paydirt editorial team sets a plan and attempts to execute it within a set timeframe.

For the best part of our upcoming April edition we managed to do that, with a slight change to the cover story.

Our intention was to celebrate a section of the sector (no need to guess which one) which has been flying up until recently, however, we simply couldn’t ignore the present situation.

Australia’s Paydirt and GMJ editor Dominic Piper gets industry insights into the health and economic impacts COVID-19 is having on the mining sector and how companies are adjusting.

Just as the magazine hits the press, markets were enjoying a mini rebound on the back of some reported breakthroughs in suppressing the coronavirus spread.

Hopefully the momentum continues on both fronts (and people’s well-beings are protected) and as Paydirt has found companies continue to be active in the field and are finding traction in the market upon successful results.

While we have captured some upbeat stories in our latest magazine – available in print and digitally – we have also boosted our capacity in the digital world with one-on-one video interviews that will be available on YouTube and our social media platforms.

Stick with us as we endeavour to “bring the people to the people”.

https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/

Legends in the making

Pictured: Mark Creasy and Brad Underwood, managing director of Galileo Mining

As Legend Mining Ltd entered a trading halt, neighbouring company Galileo Mining Ltd was the beneficiary of a share price spike late last week.

The reason for interest in Galileo is because the company has a similar style of prospect to Legend’s Mawson discovery made last year in the Fraser Range.

Galileo managing director Brad Underwood told Paydirt that what Legend is doing at Mawson, is what his company intends to do at Lantern.

Aircore drilling of magnetic targets north of the Lantern is currently underway, however, from tomorrow drilling will be sidelined due to restrictions associated with COVID-19.

Nevertheless, Galileo has activities to get on with at Lantern, which Paydirt will detail in our May edition.

https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/

Nickel flourishes this week

Pictured: Core from the massive sulphide intersection at Poseidon’s Golden Swan lode

It certainly is unusual days when in a glum market some of the standout announcements on the ASX have come from nickel players.

This morning, Poseidon Nickel NL revealed the discovery of high-tenor massive nickel sulphides in the first hole of a drill programme designed to test a recently identified EM anomaly.

“This is a very significant discovery in the context of Black Swan given it is only the second time significant massive sulphides have been intersected within the Black Swan disseminated channel since the discovery of the Gosling Lode in 1996,” Poseidon managing director Peter Harold said of the newly named Golden Swan lode.

Poseidon’s exploration success follows and Chalice Gold Ltd’s first drill hole at Julimar, 70km north-east of Perth, which intersected 19m @ 2.6% nickel, 1% copper, 8.4 g/t palladium and 1.1 g/t platinum from 48m, while Mincor Resources NL’s positive DFS on the restart to operations in Kambalda (see April edition of Paydirt) was a hit in the market yesterday.

You beauty! Bellevue funded through to 2021

Pictured: Bellevue Gold managing director Steve Parsons

With many companies battling to see the light that marks a new day, Bellevue Gold Ltd has moved to consolidated its development aspirations by aiming to raise $26.5 million.

The company has received firm commitments for the proposed share placement at 30c – 7.7% discount to the last trading day price of 32c/share – as it prepares to release a maiden indicated resource estimate this quarter from its namesake project in Western Australia.

An inferred resource at Bellevue of 6.1mt @ 11.3 g/t gold for 2.2 moz has already excited the market and the company aims to maintain the momentum it has generated in the past 2-3 years.

Infill drilling that will now take place is designed to add to the indicated resource and overall inventory through step-out and exploration campaigns at the two highly promising conductors at the Deacon lode, among other priority targets.

“To complete a raising such as this in any environment is an excellent achievement but to do it in the current market circumstances is exceptional. Under the current budget, we are funded through to mid calendar year 2021” Bellevue managing director Steve Parsons said.

Australia’s Paydirt and Gold Mining Journal have followed the Bellevue Gold story closely and will continue to do so in our upcoming April edition of Paydirt.

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Paydirt now open across 13 locations in Perth

A whirlwind week it has certainly been and we are starting to settle in at home.

Such is access to technology these days we at Paydirt are all still available to be contacted via mobile phone and email.

Call us for a chat and keep an eye on our website and social media streams.

No apologies for the shorts and singlet (or bathrobes) approach to working from our living rooms.

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Mining industry workforces included in WA exemptions

Pictured: AMEC Cheif Executive Officer, Warren Pearce.

Australia-wide border controls are set to come into full force as each state and territory moves to flatten the curve of the coronavirus.

Yesterday, West Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the State would implement strict border control measures as of 1:30pm (WST) tomorrow. Therefore, all arrivals into WA – unless specifically exempt – will need to self-isolate for the mandatory 14 days.

Exemptions will apply to essential services and workers, including health and emergency workers, defence and policing, flight crews and freight of essential goods, via ports and trucks – with strict guidelines put in place for monitoring and management.

Furthermore, mining industry workforces have been included in the exemptions, with FIFO charter flights all clear to continue operating under strict new guidelines now being developed.

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy will work alongside the WA Government to deliver a framework for the continuation of FIFO charter flights.

AMEC has also provided input into the framework.

Meanwhile, a $50 million Vital Resources Fund has been offered by BHP Ltd to help support regional Australian communities in its areas of operations.

BHP aims to deliver $100 million into small, local and Indigenous businesses by accelerating payments and reducing payment terms to seven days (from 30 days), and to employ a further 1,500 people to support its Australian operations.

South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference Postponment

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister about the restrictions that now apply for non-essential events (attended by over 100 people), the South Australian Resources and Energy Conference (SAREIC) has been postponed to a later date. We have been overwhelmed by the positive messages from the majority of companies and organisations that were committed to participate at the conference. We look forward to delivering a great outcome for all when SAREIC is held later this year.

View the Media Release for further information

Media Release SAREIC

FYI: Throwback Thursday

Pictured: FYI Resources Ltd Managing Director Roly Hill

It was 12 months ago that Paydirt was first introduced to the FYI Resources Ltd HPA story unfolding 200km east of Perth.

At that stage, FYI had completed a PFS on the project and was working on higher studies.

A DFS on an integrated Cadoux kaolin and Kwinana HPA project in Western Australia was delivered last week and while Paydirt was slow to the story initially, the magazine was quick to sit down with FYI managing director Roly Hill to see how the company will go about funding the $US189 million project.

FYI will feature in the April edition of Australia’s Paydirt along with extensive insights and company stories emerging in the battery minerals sector, gold space and in Queensland

Delivering certainty

Pictured: The Paydirt Family ready for banter

Walking into the office can be a chore when all around the world there is gloom, but being surrounded by family makes things that much better.

In the midst of sadness – not just events of past couple of weeks which have escalated – but at other times, the Paydirt Family bands together and runs the race together, which will happen again in the current environment.

We may be limited for various reasons in doing what we love to do – connecting and interacting with people and enjoying a laugh – our spirits are up and motivation levels high.

While meet and greets will remain infrequent, our phones are on to take calls and keyboards fired up for email replies, mainly for BANTER.

Reach out to us for a chat, we’d love nothing else that’s for CERTAIN!

089321 0355

repard@paydirt.com.au

dominic@paydirt.com.au

giovanny@paydirt.com.au

kale@paydirt.com.au

christine@paydirt.com.au

mitchelle@paydirt.com.au

michaelw@paydirt.com.au

mark@paydirt.com.au

BHP Nickel West revs up

Pictured: Gary Frampton, Head of Business Development & Technical Projects, BHP Nickel West and Minister of Industry, Science and Technology Hon Karen Andrews

In just 2.5 years, BHP Nickel West has seen a stunning turnaround in demand for its commodity.

“As of today, 75% of the nickel we produce in our refinery is sold to the battery materials industries. It has been an enormous turnaround and I think if we can extend our thinking and vision of what it could mean for the whole supply chain then going further downstream to precursors…there are enormous opportunities for Australia,” Gary Frampton, Head of Business Development & Technical Projects, BHP Nickel West said.

Frampton was speaking at the official opening of the Future Battery Industries CRC, whereby the cathode precursor pilot plant at CSIRO’s headquarters at Curtin University is the flagship research project.

About $5 million has been invested in plant and trials so far, with an estimated $13.2 million to be spent over four years.

“This particular plant we believe the Future Batteries CRC can effectively be repurposed for the next stage of going downstream so that is conversion of metal sulphates into precursor materials, which is a combination of the metal sulphates to produce hydroxide materials for precursors,” Frampton said.

Full story to appear in April’s Australia’s Paydirt magazine

Luck of the Irish helps gold get going

For those that dare to look at the ASX, it is noticeable that Australia’s leading gold equities have experienced a momentary bounce back to start St Patrick’s Day.

We dare not look at the stock market again today in fear that the rise will be met with another Tweet that will trigger another plunge.

Nevertheless, in compiling our latest edition of GMJ we have managed to find a group of upbeat companies getting on with the job of exploring, mining and producing gold.

While face-to-face interactions are being limited right now, we will endeavour to deliver the people behind the stories to you through our long-standing GMJ and Australia’s Paydirt publications.

Our April editions are in the making, stay tuned https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/subscriptions/

De Grey rides high on new discovery

A new, potentially high-grade discovery has seen De Grey Mining Ltd shares run from 4c to 24c since early February.

The price spike comes on the back of a new high-grade gold discovery on the company’s Pilbara project, the Hemi prospect. De Grey has several drill rigs turning at Hemi as it scopes out the size of two parallel zones, Aquila and Brolga.

Drilling to date has confirmed Aquila as being at least 30m wide, 170m deep and 750m long which Brolga is bigger again with drilling continuing despite it already proving to be 200m wide, 170m deep and 160m long.

The company has redoubled its drilling efforts in the hope of producing an inferred resource for Hemi by June.

GMJ editor Dominic Piper spoke with De Grey technical director Andrew Beckwith about the discovery and its likely impact on the company’s wider development plans on Paydirt TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gypjwRdEHLw

For more on De Grey, Hemi and the entire Australian gold exploration sector, look out for the April edition of GMJ.

WAF gets the balls rolling in Bukina

Pictured: West African Resources, Executive Chairman Richard Hyde

A new ASX gold producer is on the horizon, with Burkina Faso-focused West African Resources Ltd (WAF) processing first ore from Sanbrado.

First gold is expected within four weeks.

“This is a major milestone for West African Resources and testament to the quality of our team and contractors. Commissioning activities will continue over the next four weeks with the first gold pour on track for early Q2 2020,” WAF executive chairman Richard Hyde said.

There is currently 360,000t of open pit oxide ore at 1.5 g/t stockpiled at Sanbrado, with first development ore from the underground expected in late March and first stoping ore on track for Q3.

WAF is aiming to produce 300,000oz gold in the first year of operations and an average of 217,000 ozpa in the first five years.

Given the security situation in Burkina Faso, this is a significant milestone for both company and country.

We look forward to getting a full update on Sanbrado from WAF at this year’s Africa Down Under Conference September 2-4 at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth

www.africadownunder.com #africadownunder #adu2020

Orion receives environmental tick

Pictured: Orion Minerals Ltd Managing Director, Errol Smart and Minerals Council South Africa and Minister for Mineral Resources & Energy Gwede Mantashe Speaking at Mining Indaba in Cape Town in February

ASX-listed South African developer Orion Minerals Ltd is a step closer to project development after receiving environmental authorisation for mining of the Vardocube resource on its Prieska copper-zinc project.

The authorisation is the final step towards granting of the full Mining Right for Vardocube, a south-eastern extension of the main Prieska deposit.

The rest of the Prieska project received its Mining Right in August 2019. Orion managing director Errol Smart said the granting was another “significant milestone” towards Prieska’s development.
“The award of this important authorisation is testament both to the commitment of the Orion leadership team to deliver this project and to the support of the South African authorities in facilitating new investment in a modernised mining sector,” Smart said.

Orion is at the forefront of a new era of junior development in South Africa’s mining scene which has been dominated by the major mining houses for generations. Smart has taken on a leadership role in the sector, working with the Minerals Council South Africa and Minister for Mineral Resources & Energy Gwede Mantashe to devise policies which will promote junior developments.

Speaking at Mining Indaba in Cape Town in February, Minister Mantashe said his Government wanted to grow junior participation and exploration expenditure to build a new generation of mining projects.

For more on Mantashe’s Mining Indaba address and coverage of the entire week-long conference, subscribe to the March edition of Australia’s Paydirt.

West African Aussies hit exploration gold

Pictured: Tietto Executive Director Mark Strizek celebrates his company’s win in the Investment Battlefield final after receiving the tropgy from Eurasian Resource Group’s Jonathan Cordero.

Fresh from their visits to Cape Town last month for the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba, a host of ASX-listed West African explorers have released exploration results.

Mako Gold Ltd, Exore Resources Ltd and African Gold Ltd have all reported high-grade intercepts in the last two weeks as explorers look to follow in the footsteps of miners Perseus Mining and Resolute Mining and developers such as West African Resources and Cardinal Resources.

Leading the charge have been Oklo Resources Ltd and Tietto Minerals Ltd. Oklo raised $12.5 million on Monday to fund ongoing exploration of its Dandoko project in western Mali.

In late February, Oklo announced results from 21 RC and two diamond holes at Dandoko’s SK1 prospect, including hits of 34m @ 4.07 g/t, 22m @ 3.94 g/t and 11m @ 8.55 g/t.

Tietto has been travelling just as well with a hit of 13m @ 3.1 g/t reported from its AG South project in Cote d’Ivoire on February 20.

That intercept followed on from a successful week in Cape Town where Tietto took out the Investment Battlefield award at the Mining Indaba.

In a hotly contested final round decided by a panel of expert judges, West African gold explorer Tietto emerged victorious from the investment “boxing ring” which has become of one of the conference’s signature events.

“It was a lot of fun and has actually been quite useful in getting some recognition and just generally increasing the profile of the company,” Strizek told Paydirt.

“There have been a number of follow-up emails and so on that have resulted out of it, so we’re really quite chuffed.”

For more on Tietto and the rest of the West African gold sector, subscribe to the April edition of GMJ.

For more on the Mining Indaba, subscribe to the March edition of Australia’s Paydirt.

Code: Red 5

There are few companies the size of Red 5 Ltd doing what the wannabe multi-asset, mid-tier gold producer is doing.

With production from Darlot in hand and tipped to reach 110,000-120,000oz in FY2020 at $1,350-1,500/oz, Red 5 has set an ambitious programme of drilling totalling 152,300m during the same period.

The company has budgeted $27 million for its expansive drilling campaign, which will focus on underground resource development and grade control plus regional resource development at Darlot.

Meanwhile, two underground rigs have been dedicated to King of the Hills for resource development and grade control, with RC drilling ongoing at regional targets.

Red 5 believes that King of the Hills has the potential to be Australia’s next premier gold mine and Paydirt Media is on site today to see how the final feasibility study on the project is progressing.

The feasibility study is scheduled for completion in the September quarter.

Red 5 will be just one of the feature stories appearing in the April-June 2020 edition of GMJ.

For more on Red 5 and everything happening in the gold sector visit https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/subscriptions/

IGO and Encounter buddy up

Pictured: IGO managing director Peter Bradford with Encounter managing director Will Robinson

The March edition of Australia’s Paydirt includes coverage on Deloitte’s Tracking the Trends report, which highlights the top 10 trends that will potentially shape the mining sector in 2020.

According to Deloitte, one of the trends of 2020 will be the continuation of JVs.

In recent times cash strapped juniors have been hamstrung in kicking on with meaningful exploration programmes and execute the role of pathfinders to the next genuine Tier 1 discovery, while majors have focused on production and strong balance sheets to appease shareholders.

However, the penny appears to have dropped and companies with cash have demonstrated a willingness to partner with juniors with good prospects, but little cash to deploy to meaty exploration programmes.

“The sector is likely to see more JVs going forward, making this an important competency area firms will likely need to build,” Deloitte Australia Mining & Metals leader Ian Sanders tells Paydirt in the March edition.

One cashed-up company – IGO Ltd – has shown a penchant to explore base metals fields with juniors and today it has fully committed to Encounter Resources Ltd and the Yeneena copper cobalt project in the Paterson Province, Western Australia.

IGO will fund $15 million to earn 70% of Yeneena.

“The partnership with IGO is just what Yeneena needed. Deploying a suite of new exploration methodologies in 2019 has provided a whole new perspective on the mineral potential at Yeneena,” Encounter managing director Will Robinson said.

Exploration activity at Yeneena is expected to resume in April/May, with additional ground geophysics and geochemistry programmes planned, followed by aircore, RC and/or diamond drilling.

Visit https://www.paydirt.com.au/magazines/ for more coverage.

South Australia's Exploration sector on the rise

South Australia has longed for the next Olympic Dam or Carrapateena and that world-class discovery could be in the making right now.

ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge – a partnership between the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining and Unearthed Solutions – was launched yesterday to encourage global thinkers and innovators to interrogate South Australia’s open-file data and generate new exploration models and ideas for targeting.

The competition will run until July 31, with findings assessed by a panel of astute judges to determine winners in multiple categories.

All targets produced will be made available to the public, to incentivise exploration across the Gawler.

ABS mineral exploration figures for the December 2019 quarter indicate that exploration in general across South Australia, with expenditure for the quarter up 36.4% from the previous quarter.

Expenditure on exploration in South Australia rose the highest out of any state in Australia for the December 2019 quarter.

Total exploration expenditure in Australia for the December 2019 quarter was $760.5 million, which was 30% higher than the December 2018 quarter.

South Australian Resources Energy & Investment Conference will be hosted at the Hilton Adelaide April 1-2

Battery powered jobs in WA

Pic caption: Hon. Bill Johnston has been a big supporter of the increasingly popular Africa Down Under Cup which will once again feature during Africa Down Under Conference September 2-4 2020.

Western Australia’s future battery industry recorded a 21% increase in employment in 2018-19, bringing the total number of operational jobs to 14,150 in the State, according to a new report. An additional 2,349 new regional jobs were also created.

The WA Government has been developing its future battery strategy since 2018, with export revenue from the State’s battery minerals contributing $6 billion in export revenue in 2018-19. During that period, rare earths featured heavily and exports were value at in excess of $355 million, while nickel represented 7% of total global share.

WA Mines Minister Hon. Bill Johnston said findings from the new report was evidence that the State’s Future Battery Industry Strategy is working.

“The strategy provides consistent and co-ordinated actions to ensure the WA Government is leading the nation’s growth in the uptake of opportunities across the whole global battery value chain, including mining, downstream processing and manufacturing,” Johnston said. “While the industry has recently faced challenges, the changing nature of technology and the decisions made by international car manufacturers indicate the long-term importance of the industry.”

As at December, almost $3 billion has been committed in regional investment in battery industry projects across the State and a further $22 billion in proposed regional projects.

Meanwhile, earlier this week Johnston expressed his enthusiasm to retain the portfolio of Mines and Petroleum amid speculation that he was one of the frontrunners to be WA’s next Treasurer should government win another term.

WA Treasurer Hon. Ben Wyatt will not contest the next election.

Tanzania sinks to bottom of Fraser table

The task in front of the Tanzanian Government to win back investor interest in its mining sector has been laid bare, with the East African country finishing at the bottom of the Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies.

The annual survey asks miners and explorers to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment. This year’s survey ranked Tanzania as the least attractive investment destination, replacing Venezuela at the bottom of the 76 jurisdictions ranked.

The news will come as a blow to the Tanzanian Government which is working to rebuild a reputation damaged by the introduction of strict new mining investment laws and a three-year stoush with the country’s largest foreign gold miner.

In February, the Government announced it had struck a deal with Barrick Gold Corp on a shared economic benefit agreement over the Canadian miner’s three gold mines in the country.

Speaking at the Mining Indaba in February, Tanzanian deputy minister of minerals, Stanslaus Nyongo said the legal reforms introduced by President John Magafuli in 2017 were designed to improve both the mining sector’s contribution to the Tanzanian economy and the investment environment.

There are more than a dozen ASX-listed explorers and developers active in Tanzania and all have welcomed the finalisation of the Barrick/Government deal.

“This is about breaking the deadlock. Both sides have called it an historical landmark agreement and I think that did resonate at Mining Indaba,” EcoGraf managing director Andrew Spinks told Paydirt.

For more on the Tanzanian situation and all the coverage from this year’s Mining Indaba, subscribe now to Australia’s Paydirt.

Positive outlook for Lycopodium

Leading stockbroking firm Hartleys Ltd has forecast a positive outlook for Lycopodium Ltd. In a research note, Hartleys recommended Lycopodium as a BUY on the back of $9 million net profits (after tax) for the first half of 2020. Hartleys 12-month price target for Lycopodium is $6.57/share up from the $5.72/share at the time the note was released. Despite project financing remaining challenging for companies with development aspirations, EPC contracts like the one it has at Yaoure for Perseus Mining Ltd in Cote d’Ivoire plus feasibility studies for Sandfire Resources NL (Botswana), Base Resources Ltd (Madagascar) and Orezone Gold Corp (Burkina Faso) will keep Lycopodium busy amid an active period in the tendering space. Once again, Lycopodium will be a key sponsor of this years Africa Down Under Conference, Perth, September 2-4 2020

Coronavirus fears lead to Battery Minerals Conference postponement

Growing uncertainty over the global spread of the coronavirus and its affect on international travel has resulted in Paydirt Media postponing the Battery Minerals Conference, due to be held in Perth on March 4-5. The conference has steadily grown over its five-year history, incorporating presentations and panel debates on a range of topics in the battery and critical minerals space from the EV revolution, to supply/demand dynamics, supply chain security and new energy generation and storage solutions.

The importance of the conference was highlighted by the large international contingent scheduled to participate in Perth this year with delegations from the EU, the UK and Asia confirmed to attend.

However, as concerns over the spread of the coronavirus extended outside of China, these international delegations have been forced to postpone their travel plans.

The organisers felt it appropriate to postpone the Battery Minerals Conference to allow these and other stakeholders the opportunity to fully participate. Paydirt Media is monitoring the coronavirus situation closely and once there is clarity on the containment of the virus, it will consult with stakeholders on finding an appropriate date to host the conference.

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