The Pre-Start
NHC ($4B) - New Hope extended its on-market share buy-back for another year
BMN ($1B) - Bannerman reported a $1m net loss and closed the half with $89m
WIA ($848m) - Wia's Kokoseb drilling extended high-grade shoots to at least 400m below the pit shell, returning 20.7m at 5.77 g/t gold from 579m
CRN ($503m) - Coronado produced 15.9Mt Met coal in FY25 and lodged its Form 10-K (US annual report)
BHM ($360m) - Kingfisher signed a 10-year agreement with Broken Hill, granting exclusive access to treat KFM’s Broken Hill ore at the 750ktpa Rasp plant
TM1 ($301m) - Terra Metals drilling at the Dante project intercepted continuous Ti–V–Cu–PGM reefs, supporting its 2025 MRE
TGM ($278m) - Theta Gold issued contracts to PICM and RM Process to deliver Phase 2 of the TGME gold project
AEU ($164m) - Atomic Eagle declared a maiden ore reserve of 39.6Mt at 320ppm U₃O₈ (28Mlb) for the Muntanga uranium project, with a feasibility study showing 2.2Mlb pa and post-tax NPV₈ US$243m
KAI ($135m) - Kairos' final Main Hill Extension drilling at Mt York returned 8m at 3.81 g/t gold from 128m, backing an updated MRE & PFS progression
GL1 ($134m) - Global Lithium lodged the mine development & closure proposal for the Manna lithium project
CZR ($77m) - CZR extended shallow gold mineralisation at Top Camp over 650m strike, with RC assays including 51m at 1.3 g/t Au from 93m
CRS ($68m) - Caprice's AC drilling at the Island Gold project defined multiple Vadrians-style targets south of Vadrians, hitting 8m at 1.3 g/t gold from 56m
AQD ($68m) - AusQuest reported RC assays from the Cangallo porphyry copper-gold project defining a continuous +1,500m strike, 250–500m width, >400m depth and multiple >0.5% Cu intervals
CXU ($67m) - Cauldron added 13.6Mlb eU₃O₈ to Yanrey, lifting inventory to 55.6Mlb
PXX ($52m) - PolarX reported wide, surface-hosted gold zones at Ridgeline, Humboldt Range, including 22.9m at 1.2 g/t Au and 1.5m at 37.3 g/t
WCN ($46m) - White Cliff advised that Rod McIllree ceased as a director
COB ($41m) - Cobalt Blue's Kwinana Cobalt refinery is advancing after samples of cobalt sulphate met pCAM trace‑metal and physical specifications
GA8 ($39m) - GoldArc won ballots for two tenements 7km south of Two Boys and 2km east of Pioneer at Higginsville
High Grade It
Gold rose this morning, after tumbling more than 4% in the previous session, as traders weighed a stronger dollar against demand for safer assets (Bloomberg)
Energy traders have spent days scrambling for alternative sources of supply to Asia on concerns a prolonged conflict could choke off flows (FP)
Lithium prices in China plunged 13% as weaker sales from major EV manufacturers and escalating tensions dampened demand prospects (Reuters)
US LNG producers rush to seize on surging gas prices triggered by Iran conflict (FT)
Canada is moving closer to deploying investments to accelerate the development of critical minerals deposits, with a C$2.6B commitment (Bloomberg)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Rio Tinto should pay 55% more to complete its acquisition of Energy Resources of Australia, according to investor Richard Magides (AFR)
Vale Base Metals is working to get its nickel-and-copper business ready for a potential IPO by midyear (Bloomberg)
A Brazilian court blocked Equinox Gold from transferring mineral rights for gold mines it sold to Chinese miner CMOC as part of a US$1B deal (Reuters)
Rattlin’ the Tin
BTR ($471m) - Brightstar secured a US$120m senior secured Nordic bond (12.5% coupon, 4-year tenor, issued at 94% par), which, with a prior $193m equity raise, funds the construction of Goldfields and advances Sandstone to FID
HRN ($221m) - Horizon Gold raised $30m at $1.20 to fund an 80,000m drilling campaign at Gum Creek, WA, with major shareholder Zeta Resources and directors taking ~$7.7m
AVL ($106m) - Australian Vanadium raised $7.5m at 26c (15% discount), with RCF Private Equity Fund I subscribing $1m to fund its pit-to-battery strategy and the Kalgoorlie VBESS opportunity
Word on the Decline
One for the mining services world. If you read about National Plant & Equipment’s attempt to secure new capital to refinance its exisiting debt in Dataroom last week, one thing is missing that we heard a month earlier
National Group ran a roadshow in Asia at the end of January to secure US$400m senior secured first lien bond. It did not go well.
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In the Weeds
In charts: How serious is the Middle East gas price shock? (FT)
Lion Selection (March Presentation) 7 o’clock. Boom underway since April 2025
The Regret Trade (Campbell Ramble) Oil and Dollars Up, Everything Else Down
Investing in gold is like playing musical chairs with money (AFR op-ed)
Ray Dalio (All In Podcast) Ray advocates for a 5-15% gold allocation
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Ownership and Oversight
New section, let us know what you think. Board changes, insider selling, substantial shareholder moves.
WGX ($7.6B) - L1 Capital trimmed its stake in Westgold to 7.1% from 9.3%
KCN ($2B) - Kingsgate director Peter Warren sold 60k shares on-market at $7 per share, reducing his holding to 0.2m shares
MLX ($1.3B) - Metals X's director Patrick O'Connor sold 0.8m shares on-market at an average of $1.51, leaving him with 0.3m shares
BMN ($1B) - Bannerman promoted its CEO Gavin Chamberlain to MD and appointed Danny Goeman as an independent non-exec director
29M ($725m) - 29Metals director Nick Cernotta bought 125k shares on-market at $0.40, lifting his holding to 0.5m shares
AAR ($504m) - 1832 Asset Management sold $0.55m of Astral Resources on-market, ceasing to be a substantial holder
GRR ($255m) - First Sentier Group bought shares on-market, lifting its stake in Grange to 6.1%
TER ($117m) - TerraCom appointed Stephen Barber as non-executive director
YRL ($89m) - Ed Eshuys lifted his stake in Yandal to 9.96%
LAT ($36m) - Precision lifted its stake in Lat66 to 7.7%
IR1 ($35m) - Iris appointed Chris Evans as non-exec chair, Peter Marks moved to non-exec director and Tal Paneth resigned
Devil’s in the Detail
Brightstar’s Nordic bond this morning is interesting - we welcome the emergence of this instrument in our sector. It clearly fills an important gap for project financing.
When you see the 12.5% coupon, just remember that’s rarely the “real” cost of debt.
In Brightstar’s case, the bonds were issued at 94c on the dollar, so it only receives US$112.8m but must pay interest on US$120m.
Effective cash coupon: 12.5% on 94% issue price ≈13.3% p.a.
Then the amortisation schedule pushes the real costs higher again with principal repayments pulled earlier than a traditional bullet. We can’t be stuffed opening Excel this early in the morning, but our thumb suck is ~14.2% p.a. real economic cost of debt.
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Stocks mentioned: EQX.TO, LUN.TO, AFM.TO, LRV, MAG, HBR.L