Barry FitzGerald: Euroz analyst takes a liking to WA explorer Benz
Euroz Hartleys resources analyst Kyle De Souza has shown he has a dab hand at writing headlines for his research reports.
His recent tome on the dual-listed gold explorer Benz Mining Corp (ASX:BNZ) was titled 'BNZ: Spartan had a baby. Named it Benz.'
It was a neat way of highlighting that Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) of Dalgranaga/Never Never/Pepper fame in WA – and now the subject of a friendly takeover by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) – sold Benz its non-core but advanced Glenburgh and Mt Egerton gold projects in WA's Gascoyne for shares and some cash, giving Spartan 14.9% of Benz.
Announced in November last year and taking effect in mid-January, the acquisition has led to Benz motoring from 26c a CDI (Toronto is its home market) in November to 34c in mid-January, and 53c mid-week for a market cap of $134 million.
Now Benz should have been motoring anyway on the strength of its 1Moz high-grade gold resource at its Eastmain project in Quebec due to gold prices taking off this year. But it is the unfolding potential at Glenburgh – 285km east of Carnarvon – that has fired up interest in the stock.
Glenburgh: A history
Glenburgh was considered a development option back in 2015 for Spartan when it was known as Gascoyne but it was pretty much parked up when Dalgaranga in WA's Murchison region was developed. Benz picked up Glenburgh with a restated 510,000oz resource grading 1g/t gold.
But it was recognised as being underexplored with the potential for more high-grade shoots, which is what Benz is now pursuing in an aggressive and fully-funded drilling program, with impressive results starting to flow (including 10m at 12.9g/t from 299m).
De Souza is a big wrap for Glenburgh, saying 'grades and thicknesses like this continue to demonstrate the capability for this project to exceed expectations.' He has an 81c target price on the stock.
(The firm was lead manager to a Benz equity raising at 40c and has disclosed it has received fees for corporate advice).
When Garimpeiro says De Souza is a big wrap for Glenburgh he wasn't joking. In his June 30 research note on the stock De Souza mused that it can be hard to differentiate in the junior explorer world between what is a real 'discovery' and what is not.
'Whilst some get lucky on 'one hit wonders' – most end up with subsequent 'dusters' and erosion of wealth,' he said.
'The real value in exploration is picking companies with assets that have the potential to sustain production profiles of more than 100,000ozpa for more than 10 years.'
Price target lift
In De Souza's eyes, Benz is one of them, saying their discovery 'should not be overlooked', especially in the contest of Glenburgh's existing 500,000oz resource also providing a solid base.
'We model an average 102,000ozpa and 7-year life of mine based on what we believe the company has in the ground – and thus, a 10 year LOM at more than 100,000ozpa doesn't seem unreasonable,' he said.
De Souza pointed to Glenburgh's thick intersections from surface and the high grade underground kickers yet to be tested at depth.
'We maintain our Speculative Buy recommendation but increase our price target from 60c to 81c. The FY2025 is set to be a transformational year for Benz,' De Souza said.
No surprise in knowing that Benz CEO and former new developments specialist for US gold giant Barrick, Mark Lynch-Staunton, is also keen as mustard on Glenburgh's potential.
Announcing the recent high-grade exploration hits, Lynch-Staunton said Glenburgh has the potential to host a significant gold system, and the latest results strongly supported that view.
He said there was a dual-track approach to advancing the large-scale open pit potential at the Icon-Apollo deposits alongside the high-grade underground opportunities at the adjacent Zone 126 lens.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Telegraph
an hour ago
- Daily Telegraph
Best time to buy and sell homes: each Aussie suburb revealed
Don't miss out on the headlines from Property. Followed categories will be added to My News. Forget what your mate in real estate told you — new research has blown the lid off the housing market's best-kept secret: seasonal timing. The analysis of 10 years' worth of Aussie property sales by Ray White Economics has revealed the real estate calendar is far more explosive than anyone thought — and one season's bargain is another suburb's blowout. The data showed homebuyers generally landed the best deals right before and after Christmas, while sellers raked in more cash in autumn, when listings were lower and competition among buyers was higher. But don't start circling March or December on your calendar just yet — experts warned the perfect time to buy or sell varies wildly across the country, with some suburbs breaking all the rules. Search the interactive graphic below to see the best time to buy and sell houses in your suburb. . Property Cost of living pressures have failed to dampen unit sales, with a pair of developers clearing more than $200m in six months across two tower projects. FULL STORY Property The future of a luxury eco resort in the Gold Coast Hinterland will be decided within days. FIND OUT MORE
The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Brisbane-based Swyftx will buy Melbourne-based Caleb & Brown
Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx has sealed a mega deal to acquire a US-focused crypto brokerage targeting millionaires in Donald Trump's self-declared 'crypto capital of the planet'. The acquisition is believed to be worth between $100m and $200m. Brisbane-based Swyftx will buy Melbourne-based Caleb & Brown, which has built a business focused on rich US private investors who are increasingly piling into crypto assets after President Trump declared he wanted to make the country the world's crypto capital. Such investors have at least $1m in liquid assets. The acquisition, the largest crypto deal ever in Australasia, comes three months after Swyftx signed a deal to buy Easy Crypto, New Zealand's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Swyftx has successfully emerged from challenges in recent years, chiefly a failed merger in 2022 with rival Superhero to create a wealth management platform administering $1.5bn in cryptocurrency, direct equities and superannuation assets. The same year it sacked 90 staff, equivalent to more than one-third of its employees, amid the brutal downturn in trading volumes following the collapse of US-based crypto exchange FTX. Swyftx chief executive Jason Titman said the deal was 'laser-focused on supporting high rolling crypto investors in the US'. The US accounts for about a quarter of all global trade volumes in cryptocurrency. 'We're entering a golden age for digital assets,' said Mr Titman, who declined to value the deal except to say it was in the 'tens of millions'. 'There are a lot of the new breed of wealthy investors who want a service that is ultra client-centric, with around-the-clock access to broker expertise.' Mr Titman said the election of Mr Trump has sparked surging interest in crypto. 'There has been a 180-degree shift in the US since the Trump administration came in last November in terms of crypto,' he said. Trump's pick of Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to end a crypto crackdown introduced under President Biden. 'High net worth individuals are always sensitive to the regulatory environment and they don't want to be investing money in an asset class that has got some level of government risk,' he said. 'A lot of that political risk was taken out when the Trump administration was elected.' Caleb & Brown, which has more than $2bn of digital assets under custody, was founded by Rupert Hackett and Dr Prash Puspanathan in 2016. It is led by partner Jackson Zeng and employs 64 team members across Australia and the US. Mr Titman said a typical US client had generally made their fortune in traditional industries, such as property or medicine, but wanted exposure to crypto. 'They are understanding that Bitcoin that's gone up 1200 per cent over the last five years and is the fastest growing and a highest asset growth of all time and it is something that they want to participate in,' he said. 'Previously they might have invested in an office building, in equities, maybe some bonds, maybe some Forex currency trading. They have millions of dollars of free investable cash and that's the customer base that we now have access to.' Swyftx, founded in a Brisbane bedroom in 2017 by young entrepreneurs Angus Goldman and Alex Harper, will employ just under 300 team members on completion of the deal. It is now one of the region's largest digital asset brokerages with more than 1.2 million customers. Mr Titman's career, which has spanned accountancy, hotel development and e-commerce, said Swyftx was moving beyond its start-up roots into the corporate big league or what he termed from 'hoodies to suits'. Mr Titman said he expected to see a collection of cryptocurrencies, known as stable coins, eventually replacing traditional cash for investment and trading. He said Swyftx was looking at several other acquisitions. 'There is a larger plan coming together here for Swyftx. Part of it's organic, part of it's partnerships and part of it's mergers and acquisitions,' he said. 'This is our second transaction after Easy Crypto and it is about getting a different customer base. It also fast tracks our move into the US, which I've been interested in doing for some time.' Read related topics: Donald Trump Glen Norris Senior Business Reporter Glen Norris has worked in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo with stints on The Asian Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and South China Morning Post. Economics The message from business to Anthony Albanese's challenge is not to overcomplicate the process, but there has to be a real appetite for change. Business Business leaders have demanded Anthony Albanese delivers a broad reform package at August's roundtable. 'Of course the PM should be worried … Why would we want to be the 15th or the 16th or the 17th of anything?' asked Paul Schroder.
Daily Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Buy, hold or sell CBA? The decision's not simple
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. The CBA clearly is overvalued on conventional metrics, but selling is not as simple as that 'Expensive' stocks can remain so for months – or even years The CBA's worthy peers could be cheaper alternatives Happy New Financial Year (NFY) – a time of quiet reflection on the next fiscal stanza between scrambling for receipts to justify Netflix as a tax deduction. As part of their soul searching, investors may resolve to take profits on shares that have done well. Like the New Year's resolution to drink only on weekends rather than days ending with a 'y', NFY intentions dissipate just as quickly. But there's one decision that won't go away – and its got nothing to do with joining a gym. Should they sell their shares in the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) after last financial year's shock 48% share romp? With the stock down about 5% over the last week, some investors already have lightened up on the bank, rather than with the barbells. Trapped in a 'virtuous cycle' A chorus of expert voices has decried the CBA is chronically overvalued: mainly the fund managers who sold too soon and trashed their 2024-25 performance. In summary, the world's most expensive bank is such because overseas institutions like Australia. The CBA – also the biggest ASX stock- is the obvious proxy for our great nation. As more instos pile into the CBA, there's more buying because of the need to maintain index weighting. The CBA now accounts for 10% of the ASX200 index. This is all very well until a typical bank-like event – such a housing downturn – disrupts this self-reinforcing loop. In the words of Atlas Funds Management's Hugh Dive: 'it's a virtuous cycle until it isn't'. One pillar, three 'stumps' CBA's $300 billion valuation makes its Four Pillars peers look more like three 'stumps'. On Morgan Stanley's numbers, the CBA trades on an estimated current-year earnings multiple of 29 times, compared with 20.4 times for its Westpac (ASX:WBC) , National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) . This compares with a sector average multiple of 12.5 times over the last decade. Of course, most retail investors hold the banks for their franked dividends. On this note, the banks trade on an average forward yield of 4.8%, or 5.8% grossed up (accounting for the franking). The CBA's yield has declined to a mediocre 2.7% (3.9% grossed up). Put in context, a risk-free 12-month CBA term deposit pays 4%. The case for buying To be fair, the CBA has kept its nose out of trouble – and inarguably it's one of the world's best managed banks. Our 'stronger for longer' housing boom sure does help. 'Expensive' shares can remain so for years. This is evidenced by this year's record-breaking run of radiology imaging play ProMedicus (ASX:PME) . Or, globally, AI hero Nvidia. So is the next stop for CBA is $200 per share. Or why not $300? The CBA's valuation could be supported if the Goldilocks economy thesis pans out, with tempering inflation enabling more rate cuts (as is expected). Meanwhile, the other three 'Four Pillars' have taken in turns to court disaster and controversy or lose share in the key home mortgage market. Banking on better returns elsewhere That said, the 'three stumps' are excellent banks by global standards. They also have a solid track record of recovering from despite their whoopsies. For those seeking consistent income, they work on a September balance date so pay their divs at a different time to the June-balancing CBA. Still unconvinced? The non-Big Four banks could be a credible alternative. That said, they may lack the relative prudential strength and have a higher cost of capital. Investors in the out-of-sorts Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) enjoyed a 40% bounce share bounce last financial year, secondly only to the CBA's 49% surge. MyState (ASX:MYS) is an exposure to the gentrifying Tasmania market, as well as the Rockhampton and Bundaberg regions. A pure-play business lender Judo Capital Holdings (ASX:JDO) enjoys higher interest margins than on a mortgage, but its risk managers need to be on top of their game. So far, they have been. PNG bank Kina Securities (ASX:KSL) trades on a PE of eight times and an 8% yield. Perversely for the impoverished island nation, Kina has capital adequacy that would put the Big Four to shame. This story does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decision. Originally published as Criterion: Buy, hold or sell CBA? Investors face their NFY resolution
