It's Queensland's time to shine as gold prices soar
Market volatility has pushed the gold price to A$5269/oz
Spotlight is on domestic gold plays in Queensland
QXR has 100,000ha of gold projects in the Drummond Basin
Market volatility has pushed the gold price to record highs in both US and Australian dollar terms, as investors pile into safe haven bullion.
The price is sitting at a pretty at US$3403/oz (or A$5269/oz at the time of writing) and is predicted to rise even further.
Goldman Sachs is firmly in the bull camp, forecasting US$3700/oz by year end and US$4000/oz by mid-2026.
JP Morgan even reckons it will blast past those predictions by the middle of next year.
And with rising recession risks, worsening US-China trade tensions, and a global economy that's starting to wobble under the weight of tariffs, they could be right.
Today we're bring the focus home to Australia, looking at domestic gold projects, particularly in Queensland. The Sunshine State is better known for its coal endowment, but is home to the Ravenswood mine, which produces around 200,000oz annually.
That operation is up for sale by Indonesia's Golden Energy and Owen Hegarty's EMR Capital for about $2bn, with Indonesia's United Tractors or ASX listed Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) regarded among the frontrunners according to The Australian's Dataroom section.
This has drawn the attention of investors and explorers alike to Queensland, where current gold prices and historic underinvestment in exploration has spurred a swathe of activity.
Key Queensland explorers and developers
QX Resources (ASX:QXR) holds 100,000 hectares of gold ground within the fertile Drummond Basin of Central Queensland.
Around 85,800ha are held 100% by the company with the remaining 11,500ha on a JV (QXR 70%) with Zamia Resources.
The region has 8.5Moz gold endowment and a long history of ongoing mining, with potential for epithermal gold-silver deposits.
So far, the Big Red project is looking the most promising, with trenching in the March quarter defining two gold anomalous zones over 650m and potentially up to 1200m long.
Best result included 9m at 5.9g/t gold, with a drill target ready to roll once the right weather conditions roll in. QXR believes Big Red may be similar to the nearby Twin Hills deposit, which hosts 1Moz (23.1Mt and 1.5g/t gold) and Lone Sister, which hosts 480,000oz (12.5Mt at 1.2g/t gold).
Not to mention, the company has two gold mines on its grounds which closed when bullion was fetching less than $500/oz. With prices more than 10 times higher there is plenty of motivation to explore for extensions that could help reopen those deposits in a more attractive economic environment.
Gold the perfect copper sidekick
With a gold price like that, it's no surprise that QMines (ASX:QML) jumped at the chance to acquire Mount Mackenzie, which contains 129,000oz gold and 862,000oz silver within shouting distance of its Develin Creek copper project.
QML is on its way to becoming a 10,000–20,000tpa copper equivalent producer with a pre-feasibility study last year indicating its flagship asset at Mount Chalmers near Rockhampton could be turned into a 10.4-year project costing $191m with a 1.8-year payback and NPV of $373m.
And metal prices are giving the company a tailwind, particularly for gold, with the plan now to incorporate Mount Mackenzie into the Mount Chalmers mine plan.
'There's two deposits, with quite a bit of drilling down to 150m and it's just wide open everywhere,' managing director Andrew Sparke said.
'There's been a lot of sunk capital, there's about 60,000m of historic drilling, scoping and pre-feasibility studies have been completed so it's quite advanced.'
But what really caught the company's eye is that the scoping study had been done at $2000/oz.
'At A$5200/oz we saw a really good opportunity to upgrade those studies and incorporate them into our existing Mount Chalmers mine plan,' Sparke said.
'We see a lot of upside potential extending the know deposits down plunge and along strike.'
A PFS with an updated resource is in the works, which along with Develin Creek will double the scale of the Mount Chalmers PFS.
'This will be a nationally significant scale copper and gold operation,' Sparke said.
'We're also very well priced, QMines really is the next copper and gold producer off the rank, and so there's tremendous leverage here from a really low entry point into cashflow in the short to medium term.
'I really think we're going to see outsized returns in this junior/mid-tier copper development space.
'I think in the medium term copper really is the value bet. Gold has run, and copper is generally the next off the rank.'
Cannindah Resources (ASX:CAE)
Another copper company on the gold train is Cannindah, which last month found high-grade gold at its Mt Cannindah copper-gold project – including a stunning near 97g/t intercept.
The company has emerged as one of the most intriguing pure-play copper explorers on the ASX in recent times – even Chile's State copper giant Codelco has been keeping tabs – but now has the added advantage of high grade gold and silver being present at the Sunshine State deposit.
Recent gold hits that piqued the company's interest ranged from around 3g/t to 96g/t in some drill holes.
While copper remains the key focus for Cannindah, the gold opportunity will be followed up – particularly with the precious metal trading at record highs. That could make project economics for the copper much more attractive, with the gold hits also pointing to the large scale potential of the broader system.
'The copper will remain the focus but it will certainly be something we look at in terms of the larger scale system at the project,' managing director Tom Pickett said.
'Typically, when you see these gold coming in with the copper, it can point to a larger scale porphyry system which is what we've always been suggesting is the case at Mt Cannindah.'
Porphyry systems usually occur in clusters, making eventual mining more feasible and cost-effective.
That would be another bonus for Mt Cannindah, which already holds a resource of 14.5Mt at 1.09% copper equivalent and is similar in mineralisation style to giant orebodies like Newmont's Cadia.
'It you're going to invest dollars in the ground and you're also seeing some gold coming into it, it just gives you a higher level of confidence,' Pickett said.
'I think the gold price is good for the industry because it will add a bit of momentum to exploration activity which hopefully translates into some more mining activity and good action in Queensland.'
Pacgold (ASX:PGO)
Just this week, PGO delivered a maiden resource for the Alice River project, consisting of 12.2Mt at 1.2g/t gold for 474,000oz gold at 0.5g/t Au cut-off within a global resource of 26.7Mt at 1.01g/t gold for 854,000oz gold.
Of that resource, 5.6Mt at 1.4g/t gold for 250,000oz is in the indicated category, demonstrating potential for significant upside and near-term resource expansion and consolidation.
'Having now confirmed the mineralisation style is robust, utilising an interpretation of broader more continuous gold zones, we have been able to demonstrate very large tonnages of gold mineralisation with approximately 500,000oz gold contained within the first 400m from surface making a bulk tonnage open pit operation an obvious first option,' MD Matthew Boyes said on Tuesday.
A 10,000m RC drilling program intended to covert inferred resources to a higher confidence category is ongoing.
It certainly looks promising, with this being the first full drill season for three years and only 5% of the mineralised strike drill tested to date.
Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN)
The company has quietly built a resource in excess of 900,000oz on a gold equivalent basis at its Ravenswood Consolidated project in North Queensland, near the historic gold mining town of Charters Towers and on the doorstep of the multi-million ounce Ravenswood gold mine.
The company has caught the eye of Hedley Widdup's Lion Selection Group (ASX:LSX), and the innovative approach taken by its managing director Dr Damien Keys, who brings 'been there, done that' credibility after his involvement in Spectrum Metals' remarkable Penny West gold discovery in WA, the catalyst for a $208 million takeover by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS).
Who else has gold in QLD?
Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) has the Dulcie Far North (DFN) and Red Mountain projects, having sold their stake in the Kavaklitepe gold project in Türkiye last quarter to streamline the portfolio to focus on domestic gold opportunities.
A 40 hole RC drilling program just wrapped up at DFN aimed at expanding the resource with an upgrade to the existing 5.14Mt at 1.30g/t gold for 210,000 ounces of gold resource expected in H2 2025.
At Red Mountain, the company secured a $275,000 grant from the Queensland Government's Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) for 400m of diamond drilling – aimed at unlocking the project's primary gold potential, with associated copper and molybdenum mineralisation at depth.
Ark Mines (ASX:AHK)
Ark has been focused on its Sandy Mitchell rare earths deposit in Queensland, but this week announced high-grade gold in rock chips from its Pluton project in North Queensland, where it's been exploring while the wet season restricts access to Sandy Mitchell.
Rock chip sampling returned grades up to 25g/t gold and 34g/t silver.
'What's not to love about 25 grams per tonne?' executive director Ben Emery said.
'Even the 3 gram per tonne sample average is very nice.
'There's a lot of work still to be done at Pluton and we don't want it to distract from Sandy Mitchell and the great story Ark is developing there, but Pluton has potential that we can't ignore and makes a good wet season field option.'
The company is focused on the Dittmer project, where it has successfully identified an extension to the historic high-grade orebody and is currently engaged in studies with the aim of re-opening the mine, which operated during from the 1930s to 1950s at a reported gold head grade of 151g/t gold.
Prior to 2020 when BMR acquired the tenements, the mine area had never been drill tested, and drilling by the company to date has recognised that the historically mined Duffer Lode has been displaced at depth with a repetition identified within 30m of the historic mine workings.
Ballymore is systematically applying modern exploration methods to test these historic gold fields with the aim of identifying extensions to the historic workings that provide bulk gold and copper targets.
Stage five underground drilling is underway, targeting infill as well as step-out drilling around the historic mine.
The company only picked up its QLD gold assets – Blackjack and Far Fanning projects – in November last year but has wasted no time accelerating plans to get into production.
Far Fanning has a resource of 2.3Mt at 1.84g/t gold for 138,000oz of gold, while the 340,000tpa Blackjack plant is on care and maintenance.
Refurbishment work is underway, with all components scheduled for delivery by May 2025. Mechanical completion of the Blackjack plant remains on schedule for Q2 2025, with commissioning activities to commence immediately after, keeping NMR on track to restart gold production in Q3 2025.
An honourable mention also goes to Antares Metals (ASX:AM5), which has also got copper-with-a-hint-of-gold at their Surprise project in Mt Isa, where up to 1.3g/t gold was returned in first phase drilling. 1500m of phase 2 RC drilling is now underway.
And, while primarily a silver explorer, Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) also has copper and has reported hits of up to 1.85g/t gold at its namesake project in QLD.
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SBS Australia
37 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Europe, Indonesia or Japan? Can Australia find other allies to rely on if the US disappears?
Donald Trump's comments, in particular, that Canada should become America's 51st state and threatening to abandon European allies over defence spending have raised concerns about the US' reliability. Source: SBS, AAP For decades, the United States has been a reliable ally to Australia, whose protection has helped to ensure peace in the region. But US President Donald Trump's unpredictable and tough treatment of his nation's allies has raised questions about whether Australia can still afford to lean so heavily on America as a security partner. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters the government will make decisions in Australia's national interest and fund the defence capability it needs . The comments came after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth requested Australia increase its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last weekend. Australia's defence budget makes up roughly 2 per cent of GDP, which the government plans to increase to 2.35 per cent by 2034. While most experts do not believe the US will withdraw from the Indo-Pacific, Trump's actions raise questions about whether Australia should be seeking to cooperate more with other nations. In May, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, raised the prospect of a formal defence agreement between the trading bloc and Australia. In response, Albanese said he would consider the proposal but noted a similar agreement was already in place with other European countries such as Germany. Without the US alliance, Peter Dean, director of foreign policy and defence at the United States Studies Centre at The University of Sydney, says Australia would need to massively increase its defence spending or accept it can't defend its own sovereignty. "If you look at the mismatch between the scale of our territory and the scale of our ability to defend it — it's one of the most glaring mismatches in the world," he says. "[You would] effectively be just hoping for the best." Dean says Australia needs to work hard to maintain its security and that a "community of nations" is necessary to support open and free trade, promote a rules-based international order, and counter the use of coercion, aggression, and military force to achieve political objectives. "If you don't have that community of nations, the example of what's happening in Ukraine is very poignant to everybody," he says. 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One of the potential problems with a China-dominated region, Dean says, is its desire to "rule by law" and the way in which China would go about setting and enforcing laws. "China particularly wants a hierarchical order where it sits on top and everyone else sits underneath," he says. In contrast, Australia and other like-minded countries support a "rule of law" system in which a community of nations jointly sets the rules through treaties, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. But Sam Roggeveen, the director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute, says the US has done very little to address China's dramatic military modernisation since the end of the Cold War. No matter who's in charge in the US, I don't think that will rescue Australia from having to think much more independently about its security. "The harsh truth for Australia and for other allies in the region is that the Americans aren't going to do the heavy lifting for us, and want us to do it ourselves." Dean says the alliance with the US is critical for national security, and forming an agreement with other countries would be very difficult. A strategic alliance involves countries committing to help each other out during a crisis, or to act in accord to address a common threat. This would preferably be set out in a treaty. Australia has an alliance with the US and New Zealand, but despite being part of the British Commonwealth, it does not have a formal agreement with the United Kingdom. Given the geographical distance, Dean believes military support from the UK would likely depend on what other conflicts are happening in its part of the world. 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Dean says the US — by partnering with South Korea, Australia, Japan and other states — can aggregate enough power to balance China's influence and there is no "ready-made state" that could easily replace it. Without the US, Medcalf says China would likely seek to dominate countries one by one and break any alliance-like relationships. Even if Australia did more for its own defence, there would still be a good argument for maintaining a close relationship with the US because its military technology is among, if not the best in the world. But Roggeveen says Australia has to accept the US alliance is going to become less important over time. "With that in mind, we have to look geographically much closer to home," he says. While forming a new alliance may prove difficult, Medcalf says it would be possible for Australia to build coalitions with other nations to discourage things like coercive behaviour if there was some degree of confidence the US would still back them up. "It's really about using strategic partnership to make ourselves stronger, rather than building a kind of alliance where we expect to be standing shoulder to shoulder in war," he says. Australia is already part of several small groupings of nations with common interests in the Indo-Pacific, such as The Quad (a diplomatic partnership among the US, India, Japan and Australia) and AJUS (a trilateral partnership among Australia, Japan and the US). Defence cooperation has deepened via AJUS, while the security partnership AUKUS, which exists between Australia, the UK and the US, has laid the groundwork for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and other advanced capabilities. Australia has also entered into limited bilateral agreements with Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and others. Medcalf, who is undertaking nationwide consultations to understand Australian attitudes to security, says most of these countries have no prospect of being treaty allies of Australia. But partnerships with countries like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam may be possible. All of these countries, apart from Vietnam, are already American allies. "They have different levels of capability that they would bring to the table," he says. "But the ultimate question is how much risk are we all going to take for each other?" Due to the number of member states that would need to agree to it, Medcalf suspects an agreement with the EU would likely be quite vague in its language and commitment. It may focus on increased technology sharing, access to defence industry resources and possibly some intelligence sharing. There could also be some aspirational statements about the rules-based order, or the intent to discourage and oppose aggressive action. "But it would fall far short of anything resembling a treaty commitment," Medcalf says. Dean agrees it's more likely Australia and the EU would support each other diplomatically to uphold rules and standards both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Medcalf points out Australia and many northern European countries share common values, including freedom of expression, the rule of law and secularism in politics. "[Australia's political values] are much closer to countries like Denmark, Sweden and Finland than to any of our neighbours except New Zealand," he says. Australia has previously manufactured a Norwegian-designed naval strike missile and German-designed armoured fighting vehicles. The EU could offer access to other sophisticated capabilities such as warships, drones and sensors. "The risk is obviously an expectation that Australia becomes more involved in Europe security problems ... obviously that's about confronting Russia," he says. While Medcalf believes Australia should be helping countries like Ukraine to defend themselves, there are limitations. What we shouldn't be doing is ever raising the expectation that we could be a frontline military actor on the other side of the world. Medcalf says Europe is in a different region to Australia, and it would be difficult to deploy troops or aircraft to each other's front lines. But Europe is highly trade-dependent and large countries like Germany and France, in particular, have an interest in maintaining the security of shipping in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, he says, adding that a significant number of shipping companies are also European. Roggeveen says countries in Europe and other parts of Asia are so far away they are never going to share the same vital interests as Australia. But Indonesia's interests are largely the same as Australia's, given they are neighbours. 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However, Medcalf says the Southeast Asian country would be very reluctant to enter into a treaty-like commitment with Australia, although there is potential for more cooperation in areas such as military training. Singapore has long been a valuable diplomatic partner for Australia and already cooperates on military training and exchanging information, Medcalf says. "But Singapore is ultimately a very self-interested and neutral country and I think we would work with them as much as we could without the expectation that either would actually take a risk on the other's behalf." He says he would put Malaysia in a similar camp. South Korea is a militarily significant country because it has a lot of capability, Medcalf says. "They now export defence equipment to Europe," he says. "South Korea is one of the few countries in the world that is genuinely able to do rapid military manufacturing at scale." But the problem is it's overwhelmingly focused on defending itself against North Korea. "Yes, they're slightly concerned about ensuring that China doesn't dominate the region. Yes, they're a US ally but they would probably be reluctant to project much further beyond the peninsula," he says. Medcalf says South Korea also has quite deep-seated political problems domestically, and its politics can be unpredictable. Medcalf says Australia's relationship with India has advanced significantly over the past decade — with each country's navy training together frequently and sharing information. Both countries' air forces jointly monitor the Indian Ocean. "[India] will probably be — within the next few decades — one of the three biggest powers in the world militarily, alongside the US and China." However, Medcalf says India is diplomatically very neutral and greatly values its autonomy. They're not going to be forming permanent alliance-like relationships with anyone. While India does not want to witness China dominate the Indian Ocean and would likely align with other countries in the region to balance against China, Medcalf says if it came to war, there would be only very limited circumstances under which it would get involved. "I guess they would certainly contribute to patrolling the Indian Ocean and potentially limiting China's ability to operate there, but I don't think India is going to be taking a lot of risk on behalf of others," he says. India may also expect other countries to come to its aid if there were a conflict with China on its border. "And that would be something that I think would be difficult for other countries to think about." The Philippines is one of the countries that claim parts of the South China Sea, which has led to clashes with China over issues such as fishing rights, islands and territories, Medcalf says. "The Philippines has traditionally been quite a weak military power but they're beginning to modernise their forces and their location is strategically very important — they're right at the heart of the sea lanes of Asia." While the Philippines is an American treaty ally, under former president Rodrigo Duterte, it became closer to China. Medcalf says it would make sense for Australia to have the Philippines as a partner, but caution is needed when considering the limits of its power and whether another change in government could alter dynamics. It's yet another example of how it's a nice idea to try and stitch all of these relationships together into something larger but without the Americans involved somewhere along the line, it still becomes quite flimsy. Like Australia, Canada is a middle-sized power but in some ways, it is militarily weaker. It's also a long way away. But Medcalf points out Canada is technically part of the broader Pacific region as its western coastline borders the Pacific Ocean. It's also surprisingly active in the region — supporting the UN efforts in East Asia to prevent illegal trade with North Korea and the smuggling of parts or precursors for weapons of mass destruction. "There's something to work with there but all of this stuff is only going to work if it's more than simply putting all your reliance on one country — they would be a small part of a much bigger puzzle."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Tiny SA town buys disused primary school for $1.10, transforms it into op shop
If you have travelled along South Australia's Mallee Highway, there is a good chance you have driven past the tiny township of Geranium. Standing on the sleepy main street, there are remnants of what used to be a vibrant and bustling primary school. But beyond the bitumen road and through weathered school gates, a resident is putting smiles on people's faces one clothing rack at a time through her new opportunity shop. Set to the sound of a crackly Neil Diamond record, local of 40 years Marg Smith has made it her mission to turn sadness into spirit and help Geranium blossom once again. When Geranium Primary School closed its doors three years ago due to dwindling enrolment numbers, it shut a century-old chapter for the region. What was once a busy country town with one of the state's largest area schools now has a population of just over 80 residents. "My husband and our five children all went to school here, and I was [working] here when it closed, so it was tough." But through the hardships, Ms Smith has reinvigorated the space and turned an old design and tech room into a welcoming place for all. "The primary school was transferred to the community for $1.10 as an in-kind gesture from the state government … I think the 10 cents was for GST," Ms Smith chuckled. Since opening its doors just over a month ago, the store has welcomed people from far and wide. Interstate traveller Annette Swaby stumbled across the store accidentally. "We were travelling from Murray Bridge back home to Bairnsdale, Victoria when we came across the Geranium Op Shop," she said. "The people here are so friendly and nice, and it has been so delightful." Pinnaroo local Rita Francis travelled to Geranium for a special visit. After chatting with Ms Smith, the two women soon realised they had both grown up in the same village in Papua New Guinea. "How's that!" Ms Smith gasped. "I always used to love going to op shops because you just never knew what you might find, and now here in Geranium, you don't know who's going to walk through the door. While most of the money raised for the store will go towards facility maintenance and helping grow the community hub, Ms Smith hopes she can also donate funds to causes close to her heart. Ms Smith hopes the op shop will continue to lift up the community even as the town's numbers dwindle. "[The] primary school was once the focal place for Geranium, and now it's coming around full circle," she said. "I think we're a gem and a treasure. "We are small and we're getting smaller but just like Dr Seuss says, 'A person's a person, no matter how small' and so I think a community is a community, no matter how small."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Grilling season demand for Aussie beef outweighs Trump tariffs
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