The Northern Miner Aug 2 2021 Issue 16

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SPOTLIGHT ON AUSTRALIA / 14 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM

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OceanaGold to restart Didipio mine after new deal with the Philippines PERMITTING

T

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE AND TRISH SAYWELL

he Philippines has renewed the contract for OceanaGold’s (TSX: OGC; ASX: OGC) Didipio gold and copper mine for another 25 years, after almost two years of the operation being halted due to a dispute with a provincial government over the company’s license to operate. The renewed Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) applies retrospectively from June 19, 2019, and keeps financial terms and conditions unchanged, OceanaGold said. It does however provide an additional 1.5% of gross revenue to be allocated to regional communities and provinces that host the operation, the company noted on July 14. OceanaGold kicked off the renewal of the 25-year permit in 2018. After it expired in June 2019, the company kept Didipio operating under a temporary licence, but a blockade backed by the local government forced the Brisbane-based miner to suspend

| Contract renewed for 25 years

operations a few weeks later. It also had to lay off hundreds of workers. “The company’s first operational priority is the rehiring and training of its Philippine workforce, which will include a focus on safeguarding workers from the current risks associated with Covid-19,” OceanaGold said in a statement. The miner, which plans to restart Didipio “as soon as possible,” said operations will resume initially with the milling of stockpiled ore of about 19 million tonnes. Didipio, which began production in 2013, has an 11-year mine life based on proven and probable underground reserves of 21.2 million tonnes grading 1.51 grams gold per tonne, 0.38% copper and 1.78 grams silver per tonne, for contained metal of 1.03 million oz. gold, 80,000 tonnes of copper and 1.21 million oz. silver. OceanaGold aims to achieve full underground production capacity within 12 months. The mine, 270 km north of Manila, is a major direct and indirect employer

in the provinces of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya and a significant contributor of socio-economic benefits for the local and national economies. “The return of Didipio comes at a great time with commodity prices, particularly that of copper, clearly in a bull cycle,” Sam Pazuki, the company’s senior vice president of corporate development, wrote in an email to the Northern Miner. “We will provide additional details on the restart plans in the coming weeks, however, once fully operational, Didipio will produce approximately 10,000 ounces of gold a month and 1,100 tonnes of copper a month.” Brian Quast, a precious metals analyst at BMO Capital Markets, noted that idle concentrate at Didipio will improve the company’s balance sheet. “OceanaGold has an estimated US$50 million of copper concentrate on site at Didipio that the company has not been able to sell due to the delayed FTAA renewal,” Quast wrote in a research note. “With the renewal taking effect immediately, we expect OceanaGold to monetize this inven-

OceanaGold’s Didipio gold-copper mine in the Philippines. OCEANAGOLD

tory. This infusion of cash comes at a crucial time, with OceanaGold having net debt of US$163 million at Q1/21 and a capex-heavy remainder of 2021.” Quast has an outperform rating on the company and a target price of $3.25 per share. At presstime in Toronto OceanaGold was trading at $2.29 per share within a 52-week range of $1.58 and $4.01 per share. Farooq Hamed of Raymond James raised his target price following news of the FTAA renewal to $3.25 per

share from $3.00 per share and also has an outperform rating on the company. “With operational guidance expected shortly, we have made preliminary estimates of Didipio production starting in 4Q21 and ramping through 2022 with full mining rates being achieved in 4Q22,” he wrote in a research note. “Our preliminary estimates include production of ~8koz gold and 1.5kt copper from Didipio in 4Q21 and 2022 production of 92koz. gold and 12kt copper.” TNM PM40069240

Top Australian capital raises seek to create mining value FINANCING

| Companies raise funds to advance a suite of projects including copper, nickel, gold, silver, lithium, rare earths and uranium

A

BY HENRY LAZENBY

ustralia-headquartered miners have been tapping the capital markets in the year to July 14 to raise a total of US$2.33 billion, according to an analysis by The Northern Miner’s sister company MiningIntelligence. The financings offer the companies financial firepower to execute their value creation strategies. The Mining Intelligence data shows the money was raised via 36 rights offerings that attracted US$1.15 billion in capital and 81 private placements raising US$965.52 million, among other methods of capital raising. Leading the lineup is Regis Resources (ASX: RRL), which raised about US$155 million in April and

another US$348.5 million in May. The company had in April bought a 30% stake in AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU) Tropicana mine for A$903 million (US$688.3 million), increasing its production base by a third. Regis acquired the interest in Tropicana, located in the Great Victoria Desert, 330 km from Kalgoorlie, from IGO (ASX: IGO), and undertook an equity raising to fund the acquisition. Mining at Tropicana began in 2012, and the first gold was produced in September 2013. Since then, over three million ounces have been produced from the open pit. Gold production from Tropicana for 2020 was 463,118 ounces at a cash cost of A$806 per oz. and all-in sustaining costs of A$1,171 (US$893) per ounce.

In August 2020, Regis acquired a resource and tenement package from Stone Resources Australia (ASX: SHK), which included the Ben Hur JORC-compliant mineral resource — 5.8 million tonnes grading 1.6 grams per tonne gold for 290,000 ounces. The acquisition can add further life to the company’s Duketon operations and expands the company’s Duketon Greenstone Belt exploration program. In December 2020, Regis approved the development of a new underground mine under the current Garden Well open pit. This decision was based on a recently completed positive feasibility study on the Garden Well South underground gold project. Regis is targeting 355,000 to 380,000 oz. of gold production this year.

The company’s equity trading in Sydney is tracking in the red, losing about 27.3% in the analysis period. IGO (ASX: IGO) has raised the second-largest amount of capital during the first six months of 2021, bolstering the treasury by US$245.86 million in January. The company recently announced it had closed a transformational transaction to form a new lithium joint venture with Tianqi Lithium over its Australian lithium assets in a deal valued at US$1.4 billion. According to the transaction agreement, IGO and Tianqi have formed a new lithium joint venture owned 49% by IGO and 51% by Tianqi. The company See CAPITAL RAISINGS BY AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES / 3

Q&A WITH EVOLUTION MINING’S JAKE KLEIN ON KUNDANA ASSETS / 2


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