The Pre-Start
Whitehaven welcomed today’s NSW Supreme Court decision to dismiss proceedings brought forward by a Nathan Tinkler entity, relating to the issue of 34m milestone shares & its 2012 Boardwalk acquisition (WHC)
Emerald reported half-year revenue of $257m and profit after tax of $73m, cash, bullion and listed investments of $373m (EMR)
Coronado reported FY25 revenue $1,950m, a net loss of $432m and adjusted EBITDA of -$144m on saleable production 16Mt. FY26 guidance si for 16–17Mt, mining cash costs $88–96/t and capex $150–175m (CRN)
IMDEX reported record 1H26 revenue of $247m, normalised EBITDA of $78m, declared a 1.69c interim fully franked dividend, and had net debt of $27m (IMD)
Alkane’s deep drilling at Tomingley extended a hole to 1,392m, intersecting an east-dipping seismic reflector with gold-arsenic breccias and visible gold (ALK)
BCI reported 77% construction completion at Mardie, available funds of $601m & estimated $400m to complete, with first salt on ship targeted for Dec 26 (BCI)
West Coast Silver’s aircore scout drilling at the Elizabeth Hill project returned near-surface hits, including 3m at 787g/t Ag from 1m (WCE)
Anax’s DFS update for the Whim Creek copper project shows pre-tax NPV7 of $501m, free cashflow $723m, IRR 98%, 10-year mine life and $91m development cost with non-binding funding offers up to $57m (ANX)
Future Metals commenced a detailed engineering assessment of the Savannah plant under an MOU with Zeta to test use for the Panton PGM project, finding it structurally sound but needing refurbishments (FME)
Emerald appointed Josh Redmond as COO effective immediately (EMR)
Ganfeng has formally started production at the Mariana lithium brine project in Salta at 20,000 tpa of lithium chloride, triggering TNR Gold’s 1.5% NSR (TNR.V)
Awalé hit 2.0 g/t AuEq over 72m from 238m at Odienné (ARIC.V)
High Grade It
Iron ore giants face billion-dollar hit from China-backed price switch, with Fastmarkets and Platts pricing going head to head (AFR)
Institutional investors have turned long the Australian dollar for the first time in more than a year (Bloomberg)
Japan has mined Pacific Ocean mud for rare earths to counter China’s chokehold (FT)
B2Gold founder and CEO Clive Johnson is retiring in June and will be succeeded by the company’s CFO Mike Cinnamond (G&M)
SQM’s lithium partnership with Codelco churned out slightly more of the battery metal than forecast last year, at 233kt (Bloomberg)
The DRC’s president replaced the chair & CEO of state miner Gecamines, a major shake-up that comes at a time when negotiations with Washington over a minerals deal take shape (Reuters)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
LunR will issue US$670m in shares to acquire a LoM silver stream over Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte mine, giving it 100% of payable silver with step downs after 12.2Moz and 20Moz delivered (LUNR.V) stock +20%, LUG will distribute the shares to its holders
Atlantic Lithium said discussions with a potential suitor ended without agreement after it received a conditional non-binding 1005 acquisition proposal, and noted speculation over ratification of the Ewoyaa lithium project lease (A11)
Forrestania will hold a general meeting on 27 March approve share issuance for multiple acquisitions, including Gibraltar ($2.5m initial, up to $2.7m additional)(FRS) Gibraltar acquired a month ago for peanuts and FRS already has an agreement with Westgold earmarked to bring in $36m for its stockpiled ore…
Sandfire made a Stage 1 payment of $31.5m and issued 4.6m shares to Havilah, and deposited $15m exploration funding for strategic alliance work around the Kalkaroo copper-gold deposit (HAV)
Malabar’s Maxwell mine in NSW is being tipped as the next big asset that could come up for sale in the coal sector, for a rumoured $1B (Australian) WHC, SMR mentioned
Westhaven and Dundee have closed an C$85m earn-in that gives Dundee the right to earn up to 60% of the Shovelnose and wider Spences Bridge portfolio, with an initial C$30m commitment and a 50,000m drill program (WHN.V)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Faraday Copper is raising up to C$100m at C$4.20 per share in a strategic private placement backed by the Lundin Family and BHP, with proceeds funding Copper Creek advancement and the San Manuel acquisition (FDY.TO)
EQ Resources completed a three-year €15m prepayment facility and a five-year marketing agreement to sell 3,500t of WO3 worth about $678m, with proceeds to refinance €15m and €5m repaid from cash (EQR)
Word on the Decline
The bidder was described as “not otherwise associated with Atlantic Lithium”, so you can comfortably rule out Assore (28% shareholder who bid twice for Atlantic Lithium in late 2023 for 33 pence/sh), and Elevra, the JV partner at Ewoyaa.
Our money is on this being a bid from a Chinese company:
Ganfeng and Zijin are possible, but we think it’s much more likely to be a bid from Huayou, which is as aggressive as anyone in African lithium, then Tianqi, which is constrained from any further investment in Australia. Sinomine also screens well as it looks beyond Zimbabwe’s policy tightening. Chengxin and Yahua are credible second-tier buyers seeking jurisdictional diversity too.
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In the Weeds
Be it ever so humble there is no place like gold (Alyosha) Awesome read. Does anybody else get nervous from universal gold love? (at least in the short term!)
Jan Fund Performance (MrQuick) Jan obvs closed at a great time for a 1-month cut-off… But strong resources + tech sell off make the outperformance look stark
Decoding Discovery in Leapfrog Geo - live event (Seequent)
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Devil’s in the Detail
Sunstone copped a 20% protest vote yesterday on what should have been a non-event, a 30 for 1 share consolidation.
Why oppose something so trivial? It looks like shareholders using the only lever available to vent frustration at the lack of a deal, despite months of chatter about one being close.
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