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AU Financial Review
6 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
This commercial property giant has a $4b housing plan
Nick Lenaghan edits the property section, which covers all aspects, from residential real estate and housing and construction to commercial property – office, retail, industrial – and major ASX-listed developers and real estate investment trusts.
West Australian
7 hours ago
- West Australian
Castle strikes bold deal to expand West African gold play
ASX-listed Castle Minerals has gone all-in on West Africa, cutting a deal to acquire United Kingdom outfit Mineralis Limited and its seven gold exploration permits stretching 1842 square kilometres in one of Africa's hottest gold hunting grounds. The binding term sheet gives Castle a 90 per cent stake in Mineralis, which holds the right to earn up to 90 per cent in the Côte d'Ivoire permits. One permit is already granted, while a further six are in the application pipeline. The deal will see the vendor receive up to 10.5 million shares and 18 million three-year options exercisable at 12 cents, provided at least four permits are granted. Success-based rewards include 5.625 million performance shares plus $375,000 for a 500,000-ounce gold resource and a further 9.375 million shares plus $625,000 if the tally tops one million ounces grading more than one gram per tonne. The grounds all hug the southern Côte d'Ivoire–Ghana border and lie across the much-storied Birimian greenstone belt, which stretches through Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and the broader West African region. Six contiguous permits sit 25 kilometres north of Endeavour Mining's monster 4.6-million-ounce Tanda-Iguela gold discovery. Despite numerous mapped gold hits, the region has barely seen systematic drilling. The remaining permit sits to the south, squarely on the extension of the Bibiani–Chirano belt, 50km from Toronto-based Kinross Mining's 3.5-million-ounce Chirano gold mine in Ghana. It is in the same geological neighbourhood as Turaco Gold's 3.6-million-ounce Afema gold project. To fund the Côte d'Ivoire foray, Castle is completing $3.3 million placement for 55 million shares in two tranches at 6 cents each, barely a shade off its recent trading levels. The raise lifts its cash to $4.7 million before costs, with Mineralis shareholders also tipping in $270,000. In line with Castle's expansion plans, the company is refreshing its board of directors. Outgoing executive chairman Stephen Stone is sliding into a non-executive role, while former Gryphon Minerals and Teranga Gold executive Steve Zaninovich will step up as non-executive chairman. Two further director appointments include Malian project generator Mohammed Niare, who will head up in-country development, and seasoned operator Phillip Gallagher, who led the Didievi gold discovery in Côte d'Ivoire. Gallagher was previously CEO of Canyon Resources, which operates Cameroon's Minim Martap bauxite project. He is a vendor of the new project through his ownership of Mineral Holdings, which holds a 90 per cent stake in Mineralis. The company says a new CEO will be recruited in due course. Castle says the move to pick up the new leases is a major complement to its Ghanaian portfolio, which includes the promising Kpali and Kandia gold prospects, both hosted in the same Birimian rocks. A recent 2800m, 12-hole reverse circulation drilling campaign at Kpali lit up the boards with a string of juicy hits, headlined by 1m at a cracking 20.66 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 41m. Other highlights included 19m grading 2.93g/t gold, featuring a 4m section going 5.43g/t gold from 84m, and a 12m intercept running at 3.52g/t from 138m, with a 4m slice grading 7.17g/t gold from 140m. At Kandia, a 410-hole auger campaign kicked off earlier in the month to probe new targets along big regional structures, which cut across its ground and host other multi-million-ounce gold systems. Castle has fast-tracked a reverse circulation drilling campaign. The timing of Castle's decision to expand its West African interests appears spot on. Côte d'Ivoire is undergoing a gold exploration renaissance, with majors such as Barrick Mining, Endeavour Mining and Perseus Mining already operating multi-million-ounce mines including Tongon, Ity and Sissingué. Meanwhile, juniors such as Tietto, Montage and Turaco have racked up chunky resources of their own. In simple terms, Castle's strategy is to ride the Birimian wave. These rocks have proven to be the engine room of West African gold exploration, and by locking in ground on both sides of the Ghana–Côte d'Ivoire border, Castle is giving itself multiple shots at repeating the region's big discovery stories. With new ground, new leadership and fresh capital, Castle is lining up a busy 2025. Early exploration across the Ivorian permits will include mapping, sampling and geophysics, with drilling to follow as targets firm up. If just one of these West African targets delivers in line with its geological neighbours, Castle could find itself holding the keys to a company-making discovery. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
ASX 200 smashes historic milestone
Australia's sharemarket continued its record breaking run higher, passing the historic 9000 points barrier as a number of businesses beat market expectations. The ASX 200 index soared 101.1 points or 1.1 per cent to 9,019.10, while the broader All Ordinaries jumped 106.80 points or 1.16 per cent to 9,284.20 This was the seventh time in nine trading days that the ASX 200 hit a new high, with the market jumping from 8000 to 9000 points in just over 13 months. The Aussie dollar traded down 0.21 per cent to 64.23 US cents. Every sector on the ASX 200 finished higher during Thursday's run. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia On an overall strong day on the market, all 11 sectors finished higher, led by industrials, consumer facing stocks and the major banks. Shares in Super Retail Group soared 12.34 per cent to $18.57 on strong earnings update while Breville Group was up 4.93 per cent to $37 and Accent Group gained 4.73 per cent to $1.66. Commonwealth Bank shares gained 0.81 per cent to $173.80, Westpac finished 1.31 per cent higher to $38.73, NAB shares lifted by 0.86 per cent to $42.39 and ANZ outperformed its rivals, up 1.53 per cent to $33.92. Healthcare giant CSL also rebounded 2.4 per cent to $226 after a steep sell-off on its results earlier in the week. James Hardie continued its sell off down 9.44 per cent to $28.98, following Wednesday's results when it plunged 27.83 per cent to $32. The ASX 200 has passed 9,000 points for the first time, hitting an all-time record. senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda described Thursday's trading as a 'major milestone' for the ASX200, but he warned reporting season had been a 'mixed bag' to date. 'The catalyst for the move is slightly vague,' Mr Rodda said. 'Although reporting season is the big domestic story, results have been a pretty mixed bag. 'Big sell-offs in CSL and James Hardie can attest to the fact that, if anything, companies are being punished for misses more than they are being rewarded for beats.' He also warned market valuations and stretched valuations could deter buyers. In company news, shares in Super Retail Group – which includes the brands Rebel, Supercheap Auto and BCF – soared after posting record annual sales of $4.1bn as well as telling the market it had opened 31 new stores across its brands. Bramble shares rocketed to a record high of $26.30 up 13.22 per cent after announcing underlying profits soared 10 per cent to $US1.32bn ($2.05bn) as well as a $622m share buyback. Despite an overall positive day, investors punished any earnings misses. Picture Newswire/ Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia Bega Cheese jumped 7.68 per cent to $5.61 after telling the market its bulk segment had returned to profit, as well as lift to its branded business. Megaport, which initially plunged 17 per cent on its results, ended up 3.38 per cent down to $14.30 up during the day's trading after announcing revenues of $227.1m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $62.3m. Goodman Group slipped 1.4 per cent to $35.62 after posting a net profit of $1.67bn. This was compared with a net loss of $98.9m in the prior corresponding period. Sonic Healthcare was also among the heavily traded stocks with its shares plunging 12.84 per cent to $25.05 after providing lower-than-forecasted revenue, earnings and profits for the 2025 financial year. IPH shares took a beating down 19.50 per cent to $4.50 after chief executive Andrew Blattman warned of a decline in US market patent filings. The company reported $68.8m in statutory net profits which was up 13.2 per cent compared to the prior financial year.
