News

It's been an eventful week for Silver Lake and Red 5 Resources, as the Supreme Court of New South Wales has approved their merger bid.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued orders approving a scheme of arrangement under which Red 5 will acquire 100% of Silver Lake shares.

Silver Lake plans to lodge an office copy of the Court’s orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission today, making the scheme legally effective.

Once the scheme is implemented, Silver Lake will delist from the ASX, and new Red 5 shares will begin trading on June 20.

Silver Lake shareholders endorsed the merger earlier this week.

The merger will create a diversified mid-tier gold company, producing approximately 445,000 ounces per year, establishing the combined entity as a prominent mid-tier company.

In September 2023, Silver Lake acquired 11% of Red 5’s shares. Now, Silver Lake shareholders will receive 3.434 Red 5 shares for every Silver Lake share they hold.

In a presentation announcing the merger, both companies stated it would “provide Red 5 and Silver Lake shareholders with the opportunity to participate in a stronger combined group, delivering benefits not available on a standalone basis.”

The merged group’s management team will be led by Luke Tonkin from Silver Lake as managing director and chief executive officer. He will be supported by Richard Hay from Red 5 as chief operating officer and Struan Richards from Silver Lake as chief financial officer.

Upon finalizing the merger, the company will own four gold projects: King of the Hills (KOTH), Deflector, and Mount Monger in WA, and Sugar Zone in Ontario, Canada.

Spartan Resources has reported its "deepest intercept to date" at the newly discovered Pepper prospect within the Dalgaranga gold project in Western Australia.

The Pepper discovery was announced by Spartan in April, described as "a new high-grade gold lode" located about 90 meters south of the Never Never gold deposit.

The initial Pepper discovery intercept measured 17.52 meters at 15.86 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, including 9.22 meters at 27.89g/t of gold. This intercept displayed mineralization typical of the Never Never deposit, with similar grades and mineralogical characteristics.

Recently, Pepper has recorded an intercept of 25.24 meters at 16.66g/t, including three high-grade sub-intervals: 5.21 meters at 18.74g/t, 4.65 meters at 52.46g/t, and 5.44 meters at 12.39g/t of gold within the overall high-grade drill intercept.

Spartan stated that this new intercept confirms that high-grade gold mineralization extends more than 115 meters down-plunge.

"Just weeks after its discovery in April 2024, Pepper is already emerging as a significant new high-grade ore system immediately adjacent to our flagship deposit, the 0.95Moz Never Never gold deposit, discovered in 2022," said Spartan's managing director and chief executive officer, Simon Lawson.

"This latest drill intercept in DGRC1431-DT-W1 of 25.24 meters at 16.66g/t gold is the best and deepest Pepper drill intercept to date, and at 420.5 gram x meters, it is the fourth best intercept ever recorded at the Dalgaranga gold project, Never Never included."

A maiden mineral resource estimate for the Pepper prospect is expected to be completed as part of the scheduled mid-year resource update for Dalgaranga.

Spartan will continue drilling throughout the remainder of 2024, focusing primarily on expanding Never Never’s underground resource.

"Owning high-grade resources close to relatively new processing infrastructure is a great formula and the foundation behind many highly successful and resilient producers, past and present," Lawson said.

"What differentiates our opportunity—the Spartan story—is that we are generating excitement, momentum, and value by drilling and actively growing our high-grade gold resources through continuous discovery, right in front of our existing infrastructure."

Ramelius Resources is considering a merger with Westgold Resources and has submitted an application to the Australian Government Takeovers Panel.

According to the Australian Financial Review, no sitting panel has been appointed and no decision to conduct proceedings has been made yet. Ramelius head Mark Zeptner initiated merger discussions a few months ago, but Westgold declined as it is currently in talks to merge with Canada-based Karora Resources.

The panel's media release stated, "On 14 November 2023, Ramelius and Westgold entered into a mutual confidentiality deed which included a mutual standstill for a period of 12 months ending on 14 November 2024."

Westgold announced on 8 April 2024 that it had entered into an agreement with Karora to acquire 100 percent of Karora via a Canadian plan of arrangement.

Westgold's managing director and CEO, Wayne Bramwell, said the merger with Karora would create a new mining powerhouse, combining Beta Hunt with Big Bell, the emerging Bluebird, and the iconic Great Fingall mine under one Australian management team.

The news of the potential Ramelius–Westgold merger comes amidst a busy period for mergers and acquisitions. Recently, BHP made three takeover bids for Anglo American but chose to walk away after Anglo rejected its latest offer, which valued each Anglo share at 0.8860 BHP shares, totaling $74 billion.

Gold Road Resources chairman, Tim Netscher, praised the company’s safe and profitable year, celebrating over 1,000 days without a lost-time injury at the Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia.

Speaking at Gold Road’s annual general meeting, Netscher noted that despite facing complex and uncertain times in 2023, Gruyere continued to operate effectively, leading to record gold sales of 161,472 ounces.

“These sales generated record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of $250.1 million,” Netscher said. “Record free cash flow generation of $140.2 million allowed us to continue making two dividend payments to shareholders during the year – the third consecutive year of interim and final dividends.”

Netscher also commended the company’s handling of sustained adverse weather events in the Goldfields region of WA in 2023.

“I must commend all parties for the professional management of operations at Gruyere earlier this year when the north-eastern Goldfields area was hit by significant and sustained rain in March. This forced the temporary cessation of open pit mining activities and the closure of access routes to Gruyere,” he said.

“The team’s performance in safely ramping down operations and then resuming to record mining rates following the rain was a tremendous achievement. I am confident that this team will successfully catch up on the production lost during this event, making me optimistic about achieving our annual production guidance.”

Additionally, 2023 marked a decade since Gold Road discovered the Gruyere deposit, and in April, Gruyere produced its one-millionth ounce of gold.

AngloGold Ashanti has wrapped up its first quarter of 2024, marking consistent gold production despite challenges.

Despite heavy rains and flooding in Western Australia in March, the miner reported a 2 percent year-on-year increase in gold production for the first quarter. The Tropicana gold mine area received an unprecedented 350mm of rain over 72 hours, nearly 50 percent above its average annual rainfall. This led to restricted mining from open pits until surface water could be cleared through pumping and evaporation. Fortunately, there were no safety incidents, and the mine infrastructure remained intact.

Despite the adverse weather's impact, production dropped by about 15,000 ounces, with AngloGold closing the quarter at 581,000 ounces compared to 572,000 ounces in 2023. The company anticipates peak gold production in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Alberto Calderon, AngloGold's CEO, expressed satisfaction with the year's outset, highlighting strong safety performance and overall portfolio success. Operations in Brazil saw improved performance, particularly in production control and stability. Geita and Kibali also performed well, while Obuasi's ramp-up progressed as planned.

In safety achievements, AngloGold recorded no fatalities at its mines for the eleventh consecutive quarter. The company's total recordable injury frequency rate for the first quarter of 2024 stood at 1.08 injuries per million hours worked, notably lower than the International Council on Metals & Minerals' most recent average of 2.66 injuries in 2022.

Regis Resources Advances Duketon Gold Project with Approval for Garden Well and Rosemont Underground Mines

Regis Resources, under the leadership of managing director and CEO Jim Beyer, celebrates the approval for the development of the Garden Well and Rosemont underground mines in Western Australia. Beyer sees this decision as a pivotal step towards significantly expanding the company's gold resources.

"The development of these underground mines marks a crucial milestone in Regis' pursuit of its underground growth strategy," stated Beyer. "Our goal of operating four to five underground mines at Duketon, with an annual gold production target of 200,000–250,000 ounces, is well within reach."

Ongoing exploration activities hint at further mineralization down plunge at Rosemont and Garden Well, promising to prolong mine life and augment reserves.

"With Garden Well Main and Rosemont Stage 3 underground mines, we will soon oversee three distinct underground mining areas," explained Beyer. "Drawing on our historical understanding of Duketon orebodies and recent exploration outcomes, we are confident in our ability to expand our underground mining operations."

Regis' dominant presence in the Duketon greenstone belt underscores its success in discovering and enlarging underground reserves. Between 2019 and 2022, targeted exploration and resource definition drilling programs bolstered Duketon's reserves by almost 170%.

Despite these expansions, Regis maintained a steady production rate of 151,000 ounces of gold from its Duketon mines during the same period.

"Since the initial resource announcement at Rosemont in 2019, we have consistently elevated the value of our underground reserves," noted Beyer. "This upward trajectory in our underground operations is a trend we aim to sustain well into the future."

Chalice Mining Limited (ASX: CHN) is delighted to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its 100%-owned Gonneville PGE-Ni-Cu-Co Project, situated on Chalice-owned farmland approximately 70km north-east of Perth in Western Australia. This development marks a significant stride towards optimizing the Project amid a challenging commodity price landscape.

The discovery of the extensive Gonneville orthomagmatic palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide deposit by Chalice in early 2020 has been a focal point. Over the past four years, an extensive drilling campaign encompassing more than 1,200 drill holes spanning approximately 320,000 meters has been executed to delineate the Resource, which remains open to the north-west and down-dip.

Since the last Resource update in March 2023, meticulous modeling efforts have honed in on reinterpreting high-grade sulphide zones within the Resource, enabling exploration of selective mining methodologies in greater detail. Notably, the updated MRE includes separate modeling of high-grade palladium, nickel, and copper zones to enhance delineation of mineralogical domains. Previous Resource models predominantly assumed bulk open-pit mining methods with considerably larger block sizes.

Furthermore, the integration of 56 additional drill holes serves to bolster confidence in the Resource and extend its depth down-dip to approximately 1,100 meters. The Resource comprises a mixture of oxide, transitional, and fresh mineralization. Sulphide mineralization within the pit is delineated at two distinct Net Smelter Return (NSR) cut-offs, one reflecting the initial emphasis on a high-grade, selective mining starter case, and another indicative of potential future expansion into bulk open-pit mining.

As of April 23, 2024, the updated Resource for the Gonneville deposit is presented in Tables 1 and 2, with key variances between the March 2023 and April 2024 estimates highlighted in Table 3.

Commenting on the updated Resource, Chalice Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Alex Dorsch, remarked:

"The remodeled high-grade sulphide Resource marks the initial phase in the recalibration of the development strategy for the Gonneville Project. The refined high-grade model serves as a foundation for designing a more selective, smaller scale starter project.

"The starter project blueprint aims to prioritize higher grades initially, thereby enhancing recoveries and overall margins, with the aim of fortifying the project's resilience in a conservative commodity pricing environment. Additionally, the reduced scale of the starter project translates to lower development capital costs and consequently a diminished risk profile.

"Crucially, the scaled-down starter project design allows for potential expansion into a larger scale bulk mining operation contingent upon prevailing economic conditions. Initial selective mining preserves the flexibility for future expansion, as mined material can be stockpiled for subsequent processing. This phased development approach mitigates risk, optimizes capital deployment, and maximizes flexibility.

"Encouragingly, recent step-out drill holes have confirmed further Resource growth at depth and unearthed additional exploration upside, reaffirming Gonneville's status as a world-class mineral system of generational significance.

"We eagerly anticipate finalizing the revised Scoping Study Starter Case in the ensuing months and advancing the Pre-Feasibility Study, slated for completion in mid CY25. Armed with the enhanced Resource model and a robust cash position, Chalice is well-positioned to advance this distinctive critical minerals project."

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Westgold Resources’ Bluebird–South Junction project has surged by 134 percent, equivalent to 474,000 ounces (oz) of gold.

Situated 15km southwest of Meekatharra, Western Australia, the Bluebird underground gold mine forms part of Westgold’s Meekatharra operations.

In late 2019, Westgold initiated underground activities at Bluebird, resulting in the extraction of over 137,000oz of gold. This contributed to a total recorded gold production of 784,000oz at Bluebird and 1.18Moz across the combined Bluebird–South Junction project.

The mineral resource of the Bluebird–South Junction project now stands at 6.4 million tonnes, averaging 3.1 grams per tonne (g/t) for 827,000oz of gold.

Wayne Bramwell, Westgold's managing director and chief executive officer, stated, “Expanding our largest mines to enhance productivity and profitability is a primary goal for Westgold, and our ongoing investment in drilling is adding both scale and value for our shareholders.”

Bramwell added, “A 500,000-ounce increase in the mineral resource at Bluebird–South Junction, despite nine months of mining depletion, underscores the quality of this orebody and the success of our investment.”

Expansion opportunities at Bluebird–South Junction extend to deeper levels and along-strike in the zone between current drilling areas and the base of the South Junction open pit.

A drilling program commenced at Bluebird–South Junction in January, with three surface rigs and two underground rigs currently operational.

Noteworthy recent intercepts from Bluebird–South Junction include:

• 20.40m at 5.12g/t of gold from 278.90m in hole 24BLDD017
• 28.90m at 3.59g/t of gold from 244.64m in hole 24BLDD015
• 10.45m at 3.80g/t of gold from 788m and 3.98m at 10.80g/t of gold from 894.49m in hole 24SJDD001.

“Our expansion endeavors at Bluebird – South Junction are gaining momentum, with five drill rigs currently in operation,” Bramwell remarked.

“A new underground diamond drill platform aimed at exploring the upper reaches of South Junction is slated to begin this quarter.”

It was disclosed last week that Westgold is poised to broaden its portfolio significantly through a merger with WA gold miner Karora Resources.

Pantoro Limited is celebrating a historic performance in the March quarter, with a remarkable 8,298 ounces of gold produced solely from its Norseman project in Western Australia.

Throughout the entire March quarter, Norseman yielded a total of 19,235 ounces of gold, contributing to positive cash flow for Pantoro in both February and March. The Norseman processing plant surpassed expectations, processing 284,535 tonnes with an impressive recovery rate of 94.7%.

The company underwent significant transformations over the past three months, including a complete contractor transition in open pit operations, now managed by APS Mining and Civil. Additionally, RUC Mining Contractors secured the underground mining contract for the Scotia open pit, set to commence operations in May 2024.

Pantoro anticipates that the Scotia underground mine will become the primary production source by late 2024. The accelerated development of Scotia will lead to the pit opening four months ahead of schedule, aiming for an annual production of 100,000–110,000 ounces.

Taking over the Norseman project in February 2023 through a merger with former partner Tulla Resources, Pantoro has made significant strides. Since 2019, they've completed over 300,000 meters of RC and diamond drilling, defined ore reserves exceeding 958,000 ounces, constructed a new one million tonne per annum gold processing plant, and resumed production. Presently, the mineral resource stands at 4.8 million ounces of gold.

 Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) is thrilled to announce its outstanding performance in the March 2024 Quarter, achieving record-breaking gold production of 86,928 ounces. This figure surpasses the implied gold production guidance for the quarter, which ranged from 70,000 to 77,500 ounces. The company's production has exceeded all expectations, marking a significant milestone in its operational history.

The previous record for group gold production stood at 86,516 ounces, achieved in the June 2020 Quarter. Ramelius has now eclipsed this milestone, demonstrating its continued growth and operational excellence.

Moreover, Ramelius reported a robust financial performance, with a substantial increase in its balance sheet strength. The company's cash and gold reserves reached $407.1 million, a notable rise from $281.8 million in December 2023. This significant improvement is attributed to the generation of record free cash flow amounting to $125.3 million during the quarter. The previous record for free cash flow was $69.4 million in the June 2020 Quarter, underscoring Ramelius' financial resilience and efficiency.

As a result of its exceptional production and financial achievements, Ramelius anticipates that its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the quarter will be substantially lower than guidance. The AISC for the second half of FY24 is projected to be in the range of A$1,700 to A$1,800 per ounce, with the actual outcome expected to fall between A$1,375 and A$1,475 per ounce. This reduction in costs further enhances the company's profitability and operational sustainability.

In terms of operational performance, Ramelius reported the following breakdown of quarterly gold production:

- Mt Magnet (including Penny): 45,927 ounces

- Edna May (including Tampia, Marda, and Symes): 41,001 ounces

The company has ceased the practice of releasing a separate production update prior to its quarterly report, in line with its commitment to continuous disclosure obligations. Any significant deviations from guidance will be promptly communicated in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Ramelius Resources' remarkable performance in the March 2024 Quarter underscores its position as a leading player in the gold mining industry. With a strong production base, solid financial fundamentals, and a commitment to operational excellence, the company is well-positioned for sustained growth and value creation in the future.