What does the Newmont takeover mean for the Aussie gold industry?

newmont, gold, newcrest, industry, mining

With the Newmont takeover of Australian gold miner Newcrest now given the green light by the board, Australia’s gold landscape is set to change forever.

Newcrest has a strong portfolio of assets which the US gold giant is evidently keen to get its hands on, such as the Brucejack gold and silver mine in Canada, the Lihir gold mine in PNG, Cadia Hill in NSW, and the Telfer mine in WA – both among Australia’s largest gold mining operations.

Newmont already owns the Boddington mine in WA and the Tanami mine in the NT, so the takeover will put the company in control of four out of six of Australia’s largest gold mines.

But industry experts from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) are speculating that not all of Newcrest’s assets will make the cut, and will be divested before the dust settles.

Newmont chief executive officer Tom Palmer told AFR that he considers only two of Newcrest’s assets “tier one”, which are Cadia Hill and Lihir.

“Those assets are tier one, world-class by any measure. So, they are firmly in the portfolio,” he told AFR.

When the ink dries, this will give Newmont a portfolio of ten tier one assets.

Palmer also showed a keen interest in Newcrest’s Canadian assets, Brucejack and Red Chris, which are located nearby its own Saddle North project. Palmer called this combination of gold assets a “golden triangle”.

“I would call the golden triangle a tier one district,” he said.

That’s not to say that all everything else faces divestment, but it seems that Newmont will be considering its new assets very carefully.

“We are certainly looking for value over volume,” he said.

“So as we work our way through understanding the portfolio, we will be making judgements about what our go-forward portfolio is.”

newcrest, cadia hill, mine — Newcrest’s Cadia Hill is the second largest gold mine in the country.

If shareholders vote in favour of the Newmont takeover, foreign ownership of Australian gold assets will rise above the 50 per cent line, industry analysts from Surbiton Associates have revealed.

“In the early 2000s, the control of the Australian gold industry stood at 80 per cent,” Surbiton managing director Sandra Close said.

“It dropped to just under 30 per cent Australian control as overseas gold companies bought up Australian operations, and it was when the Aussie dollar was down around 50 (US) cents, so it was pretty cheap for them to buy the operations.

“Over time a lot of those operations were sold, so we’re currently looking at 60 per cent Australian control in the gold industry.

“But the recent announcement with Newmont and Newcrest, and we’ll be watching that closely, if that did go ahead it would mean Australian control would fall just below 50 per cent again.

“Whether we’d see yet another round of acquisitions as we did in the early 2000s is a pretty interesting question.”

The spot price of gold is currently trading at US$2015.60 per ounce.

Putting South Australia on the global copper map

TOM PARKER

The Carrapateena operation in South Australia. Image: OZ Minerals

BHP has shed more light on its plans for South Australia after recently acquiring OZ Minerals and its Prominent Hill and Carrapateena copper mines.

“Globally, BHP has the largest copper endowment of any company, based on ownership interest,” BHP chief operating officer Edgar Basto said at the 2023 Austmine Conference.

“In South Australia we have Olympic Dam, which is one of the world’s most significant deposits of copper, gold, silver and uranium. Olympic Dam is a fully integrated processing facility from ore to metal.

“We also added to our copper assets in SA with the acquisition of OZ Minerals, bringing their mines at Carrapateena and Prominent Hill into our portfolio.”

Basto also highlighted BHP’s Oak Dam copper project in SA, where the company was recently given the green light to commence its next phase of exploration.

“Oak Dam is an exciting prospect and potential growth option,” he said. “We’re undertaking further exploration to better define the resource and inform our future planning.

“Anyone who is familiar with the geography of the Gawler Craton will at once see the opportunity that all of this presents.”

Basto said it is important to not look at these mines and projects individually but rather synergetically, with the potential to “build a copper province that could put SA on the global copper map”.

Basto will oversee the integration of Prominent Hill and Carrapateena into BHP’s portfolio, through which he has three core objectives.

“Firstly, (I’m focused on) delivering safe and reliable operations at Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena,” he said.

“Secondly, (I’m focused on) integrating the BHP and OZ Minerals businesses with a focus on people and culture. And thirdly, (on) developing options to build a copper province here in South Australia.”

Basto said for South Australia to realise its copper opportunity, collaboration is needed between the local mining industry and state and federal governments to support policy choices and investments that can enable South Australia to compete on the global marketplace.

“Let me provide some global perspective,” Basto said. “According to Geoscience Australia, Australia is ranked number two in the world for copper resources but number eight in the world for mined copper production.

“Last year, BHP produced more than 1.5 million tonnes of copper globally.

“This year, we expect to produce around 200 thousand tonnes from Olympic Dam. And around 115 thousand tonnes from Carrapateena and Prominent Hill.

“Here in South Australia, we have nearly 70 per cent of Australia’s copper resources but we produce just under 30 per cent of Australia’s mined copper production.

“The Gawler Craton has huge un-tapped potential… just imagine for a moment that we can develop a mining hub centred around a smelter that brings even more of SA’s high quality copper to global customers.”

BHP is putting plenty of eggs in the South Australia basket, with a committed vision to maximise the state’s copper future.

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Red 5

黄金生产公司Red 5旗下金矿产量再创纪录

黄金生产公司 Red 5（ASX：RED）旗下位于西澳大利亚东部金矿区的King of the Hills（简称KOTH）金矿于2023年4月连续第二个月实现创纪录的黄金产量。

【澳股资讯平台 – 61 Financial 5月8日讯】黄金生产公司 Red 5（ASX：RED）周一发布公告，提供了最新的运营进展。

根据更新，Red 5旗下位于西澳大利亚东部金矿区的King of the Hills（简称KOTH）金矿于2023年4月连续第二个月实现创纪录的黄金产量。

2023年4月，KOTH从40万吨矿石中生产了18,633盎司（高于2023年3月的17,550盎司），平均头矿品位为1.54克/吨，黄金回收率达到创纪录的94.2%。

Red 5旗下露天矿和地下矿山以及加工厂在该月继续表现良好。截至2023年4月底，矿山库存（ROM）估计含有45万吨矿石，品位为1.2克/吨至1.3克/吨。

公司预计，5月将是采矿业的又一个强劲月份，但由于此前已预示的破碎机和磨矿的计划维修关闭，预计该月的黄金产量将低于4月。

此外，Red 5旗下尾矿储存设施5号（TSF5）的建设于2023年4月完成，并于2023年4月29日获得最终监管批准，开始向TSF5排放。

预期方面，公司预计23财年下半年的产量指引维持在9万至10.5万盎司，全部维持成本（AISC）为每盎司1750至1950澳元。

公司股价一年走势回顾：

text 【更多RED公告和股价走势请点击RED个股页面】

消息来源：

公司公告Record monthly gold production at King of the Hills

A farewell to OZ – BHP completes takeover

TIMOTHY BOND

BHP is now officially the parent company of OZ Minerals, with OZ set to be removed from the ASX today.

“This acquisition strengthens BHP’s portfolio in copper and nickel and is in line with our strategy to meet increasing demand for the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels to support the energy transition,” BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry said.

“Combining our two organisations will provide options for growth, bring new talent and innovation to unlock these resources in a sustainable way, and deliver value to shareholders and communities.”

The takeover will allow BHP to focus on safe and reliable operation of the Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena assets.

This week OZ shareholders received $28.25 per OZ share, marking the implementation of the scheme of arrangement. This follows approval of the $9.63 billion deal by the Federal Court earlier this month.

The revised offer was an increase on the original $8.4 billion offer made in August 2022.

OZ Minerals has a number of operations in Brazil, including the Santa Lúcia iron oxide copper-gold mineral deposit, the Antas copper-gold mine, and CentroGold, one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Brazil.

The acquisition gives BHP access to the company’s significant portfolio of future-facing minerals – namely copper and nickel – that are vital to the world’s push for clean energy.

In its final ever quarterly report, OZ Minerals produced 31,362 tonnes of copper and 46,722 ounces of gold.

“As this is the final production report from OZ Minerals, the board and management would like to thank all our stakeholders for their contribution to the company’s success,” OZ Minerals chief executive officer Andrew Cole said.

BHP has indicated that it intends to retain the majority of OZ Minerals’ workforce, particularly at Prominent Hill and Carrapateena.

Agreement to divest Mt Carlton gold mine for up to A$90M

金矿公司Evolution Mining以9000万出售Mt Carlton项目，股价走强

2021-10-05 13:44:38 (AET) by Edward Zhang 3367

金矿公司 Evolution Mining（ASX：EVN）已经与Navarre Minerals Limited（ASX: NML）达成具有约束力的协议，以高达9000万澳元的总价出售昆士兰州的Mt Carlton金矿。此外，Evolution还更新了指导方针，其22财年的产量将略微减少到67万至72.5万盎司的区间，以反映本次出售。

澳股资讯平台 – 61 Financial 10月5日讯，金矿公司 Evolution Mining（ASX：EVN）发布公告称，公司已经与Navarre Minerals Limited（ASX: NML）达成具有约束力的协议，以高达9000万澳元的总价出售昆士兰州的Mt Carlton金矿（包括Crush Creek项目）。

公司指出，对价总额将包括交易完成时支付的4000万澳元，达到累计的黄金生产里程碑时支付的2500万澳元，还有以5%与黄金价格挂钩（当该季度黄金现货平均价格高于每盎司2250澳元的情况时适用）的特许权使用费形式支付的2500万澳元。特许权使用费将自2023年7月1日开始收取，期限不超过15年。

此外，Evolution还更新了指导方针，以反映本次出售。根据最新的指引，该公司22财年的产量将略微减少到67万至72.5万盎司的区间。

Evolution还透露，公司同意参与NML的股权融资，将其在NML的持股比例最高或提升至19.9%（约2000万澳元），最终持股的份额将在其股权融资结束后确定。

公司执行董事长Jake Klein表示：“Mt Carlton是Evolution的第一个开发项目，自2013年投产以来为股东带来了出色的回报。鉴于公司专注于投资组合中增长型项目的主要资产，我们认为现在是将Mt Carlton交给一家新兴黄金生产商的时候。”

“NML可以专注于延长该业务的矿山寿命，公司保留的风险敞口也将使Evolution的股东受益于未来的成功运营。”

Evolution股价今日盘中涨至3.735澳元。截止发稿，股价上涨1.80%至3.685澳元。

text 【更多EVN公告和股价走势请点击EVN个股页面】

公司公告 Agreement to divest Mt Carlton gold mine for up to A$90M Download