Latest news with #Alkane
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 ASX Growth Stocks With High Insider Ownership To Watch
The Australian market has shown mixed performance recently, with the ASX 200 closing slightly up by 0.1% at 8,361 points. While sectors like IT and Materials have led gains, Utilities have notably lagged behind, reflecting varied investor sentiment across different areas of the economy. In such a diverse landscape, growth stocks with high insider ownership can be particularly appealing as they often indicate strong confidence from those closest to the company in its potential for future success. Name Insider Ownership Earnings Growth Alfabs Australia (ASX:AAL) 10.8% 41.3% Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) 11.6% 98.8% Cyclopharm (ASX:CYC) 11.3% 97.8% Fenix Resources (ASX:FEX) 21.1% 53.4% Newfield Resources (ASX:NWF) 31.5% 72.1% AVA Risk Group (ASX:AVA) 15.4% 108.2% Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) 19.8% 65.9% Titomic (ASX:TTT) 11.2% 77.2% Image Resources (ASX:IMA) 20.6% 79.9% BETR Entertainment (ASX:BBT) 32% 121.8% Click here to see the full list of 98 stocks from our Fast Growing ASX Companies With High Insider Ownership screener. Here we highlight a subset of our preferred stocks from the screener. Simply Wall St Growth Rating: ★★★★★☆ Overview: Alkane Resources Ltd is an Australian company focused on gold exploration and production, with a market capitalization of A$457.18 million. Operations: The company's revenue primarily comes from its gold operations, generating A$206.19 million. Insider Ownership: 11.2% Earnings Growth Forecast: 48.9% p.a. Alkane Resources is experiencing strong growth prospects, with revenue expected to increase by 20.3% annually, outpacing the Australian market's 5.6%. Earnings are also forecast to grow significantly at 48.9% per year. Despite a decrease in profit margins from last year, Alkane maintains high-quality earnings and substantial insider ownership. Recent exploration results at Tomingley Gold Operations demonstrate comprehensive reporting and potential resource expansion, underscoring Alkane's commitment to long-term growth in the mining sector. Click to explore a detailed breakdown of our findings in Alkane Resources' earnings growth report. Our comprehensive valuation report raises the possibility that Alkane Resources is priced higher than what may be justified by its financials. Simply Wall St Growth Rating: ★★★★★☆ Overview: Flight Centre Travel Group Limited offers travel retailing services for both leisure and corporate clients across various regions including Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally with a market cap of A$2.90 billion. Operations: The company's revenue segments consist of A$1.38 billion from leisure travel services and A$1.13 billion from corporate travel services. Insider Ownership: 13.7% Earnings Growth Forecast: 23.6% p.a. Flight Centre Travel Group shows promising growth potential, with earnings expected to rise significantly at 23.6% annually, surpassing the Australian market's average. While revenue growth is moderate at 6.3%, it still exceeds market expectations. Insider confidence is evident through substantial recent share purchases, and a new A$200 million buyback program further supports shareholder value. However, profit margins have declined from last year, and dividends remain inadequately covered by free cash flows. Click here and access our complete growth analysis report to understand the dynamics of Flight Centre Travel Group. Upon reviewing our latest valuation report, Flight Centre Travel Group's share price might be too pessimistic. Simply Wall St Growth Rating: ★★★★☆☆ Overview: Mineral Resources Limited operates as a mining services company across Australia, Asia, and internationally with a market cap of A$4.71 billion. Operations: The company's revenue segments include A$16 million from Energy, A$1.05 billion from Lithium, A$2.36 billion from Iron Ore, and A$3.64 billion from Mining Services, with an additional contribution of A$28 million from Other Commodities. Insider Ownership: 11.7% Earnings Growth Forecast: 71.9% p.a. Mineral Resources is positioned for growth, with earnings projected to increase significantly at 71.92% annually, although revenue growth of 6.8% lags behind high-growth benchmarks but outpaces the Australian market average. Insider activity shows more buying than selling recently, albeit not in substantial volumes. The company trades below its estimated fair value and relative to peers, despite recent challenges such as index removals and strategic asset sales discussions involving its A$1 billion Bald Hill lithium mine. Click here to discover the nuances of Mineral Resources with our detailed analytical future growth report. Our expertly prepared valuation report Mineral Resources implies its share price may be lower than expected. Reveal the 98 hidden gems among our Fast Growing ASX Companies With High Insider Ownership screener with a single click here. Searching for a Fresh Perspective? This technology could replace computers: discover the 22 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks analysis only considers stock directly held by insiders. It does not include indirectly owned stock through other vehicles such as corporate and/or trust entities. All forecast revenue and earnings growth rates quoted are in terms of annualised (per annum) growth rates over 1-3 years. Companies discussed in this article include ASX:ALK ASX:FLT and ASX:MIN. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@
News.com.au
28-04-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
The latest billion dollar gold merger shows the M&A tap continues to flow
Alkane Resources has announced a merger of equals with TSX-listed Mandalay Resources Will create a $1bn player with 180,000ozpa gold equivalent production and $188m in cash That makes the combined group a legitimate contender in future M&A processes The newest billion dollar gold player on the ASX is setting itself up to build a stronger hand in the poker game brewing over Australia's gold scene. Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK), the owner of the Tomingley gold mine in New South Wales, and TSX-listed Mandalay Resources, which owns the Costerfield mine in Victoria and Björkdal mine in Sweden, announced the merger of equals yesterday. The combination, which will create a pro-forma $1.013bn gold producer with a primary Aussie listing, is the latest to emerge as gold prices bounce along at a near record price of US$3300/oz. While it's been in the works for months, the deal comes after a flood of activity such as Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST) $6bn takeover of Hemi gold project owner De Grey Mining, Ramelius Resources' (ASX:RMS) and Spartan Resources' (ASX:SPR) proposed $4.2bn merger, Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) rebuffing a $3.3bn takeover offer from its Gruyere JV partner Gold Fields and a host of project level acquisitions of assets spat out by overstuffed majors. After the deal clears shareholders and foreign investment approvals, the combined entity will have a pro-forma production profile of 160,000ozpa gold equivalent rising to 180,000ozpa from 2026, with $188m of combined cash in the bank. While their dispersed operations may have few obvious synergies, that as well as the enhanced liquidity will provide Alkane with inclusion to various indices including the GDX and ASX 300 – bringing passive investment flows into play – and make the company a more meaningful player when it comes to competitive M&A. "So that's one aspect that allows us to do inorganic growth," Alkane MD Nic Earner, who will become MD of the combined entity, said. "The second thing that allows us to do inorganic growth is … some of these non-funded developers, we could if we so chose pick one of those up and have a pathway through to development pretty easily. "Whereas if you pick that up as a smaller company, people are like, 'oh, you're going to have to do some sort of dilutive raising'. So it opens both of those avenues should the board choose to take them." Exploration muscle Earner added that each of the Tomingley, Björkdal and Costerfield assets, the latter also the largest antimony producer in the West, all have opportunities to extend their lives and expand their production profiles via exploration and infrastructure developments. While that may be in the order of 15-20%, Earner says at current gold prices, that is significant in terms of the cash they can generate. There are already some obvious takeover targets once the deal completes. Alkane already holds ~6% of WA gold developer Medallion Metals (ASX:MM8), while Mandalay's Costerfield sits up the road from gold-antimony exploration darling Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SX2) in Victoria. Earner and Mandalay president Frazer Bourchier acknowledged those would be companies in the "upper quartile" of opportunities to look at. However, they said future M&A decisions, if any, would be up to the miner's incoming board, which will include two nominees from Alkane (including Earner), three from Mandalay and an independent chair in Barrick director Andy Quinn. Gold prices could, ironically, become a barrier to future deals as developer valuations follow producers higher. "You can go back to the development path of Bellevue for instance. They were very open to a sale transaction but the valuations they received meant that they were pushed into a development pathway," Earner noted. "You can have the best will in the world but just not agree on value. And I'm not saying that's with one of those other parties, what I'm saying is that it's a difficulty at the moment as everybody and their shareholder base hopes for more value to come." But the desire to build scale and cash flows at a time of record gold prices does mean more consolidation is on the horizon. "What (the gold price is) really doing is differentiating between those who are generating cash and those that aren't. And that drives the M&A landscape a lot," Earner said. "In our particular case, if you look at the amount of free cash that we'll be generating and you look at where our market cap is, you can see a lot of value and a lot of upside in our stock. "I do expect consolidation in the sector." Bourchier said there remained undervalued gold stocks in the market, with a sense of disbelief keeping the valuations of explorer and developers suppressed, while he shares the opinions of bullish commentators that generalist money had not yet flowed into the gold equity market. "Even irrespective of all that scale and size matter in this industry, getting that capital market scale moving up a level will get us more attention," he added. Antimony kicker Mandalay, which has seen its shares lift 115% in the past year in Toronto, has received a two-pronged boost in recent times. It's on track to produce 85,000-95,000 gold equivalent ounces this year. That includes 1050-1150t of antimony from Costerfield, the only material commercial producer of the critical mineral outside China, Russia and Tajikistan. That's been a massive bonus, with export controls from China in September last year, followed by a complete ban on exports to the US in December, sending prices up from ~US$13,000/t at the start of 2024 to over US$55,000/t today. It makes Costerfield a strategic asset for the West, with the price rise seeing the share of revenue generated by the commodity at the mine lift from around 10% to ~30%. For the combined group it will make up around 12-15% of revenues, Earner said. Bourchier stressed that the company would be a gold company with an antimony "side angle". Yet the strategic significance of the Costerfield asset remains stark. How Costerfield works is that half of its gold is recovered from a gravity circuit, and is sent to Melbourne for refining. The other half reports to a concentrate with both gold and antimony which is shipped to China, Oman and Mexico for processing. Used in artillery and solar panels, the commodity became a key talking point after China issued export controls, ostensibly in response to US restrictions on the export of semiconductor parts and technology. "Russia, Tajikistan and China produce 87-90% of all the world's antimony. That means, ironically, Costerfield, Mandalay, and now MergeCo, are the largest producer of antimony in the Western world," Bourchier said. "There's a lot of mom and pops in Bolivia, a little bit in Turkiye, some in Peru, but as far as the largest recognised producer – not companies that plan or hope to produce like maybe Southern Cross or Perpetua or Larvotto – but actual producer for the last 15 years, is us. "That's partly a reflection of how limited that world is, and because of the strategic angle of antimony. "Because of the geopolitical situation it's given an extra amount of attention to our company, and not just because of the revenue and the extra cash we generate from that, but also because of the importance and significance of that critical mineral." Earner, who previously worked as a general manager at developer Larvotto's Hillgrove site, said the combined company would maintain the market knowledge built by Mandalay, with key executives including chief operating officer Ryan Austerberry to join the enlarged group.
Courier-Mail
28-04-2025
- Business
- Courier-Mail
Alkane and Mandalay in gold merger
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. A merger of equals between Alkane and Mandalay will create a powerhouse gold and antimony producer Dart Mining has signed option agreements with Infinity Lithium for two non-core projects in Victoria Western Gold Resources has raised $1.05m to move its Gold Duke project towards production Your standout small cap resources stocks for Monday, April 28, 2025 High prices are seeing an increase in M&A activity in the gold sector with the latest involving the merger of two producers, ASX-listed Alkane Resources and TSX-listed Mandalay Resources. Another gold-related play has seen Dart Mining sign an options agreement with Infinity Lithium for INF to potentially acquire two non-core DTM gold prospective properties in Victoria. The yellow metal has come off its high of US3500/oz early last week and was trading just under $3300 at the time of writing but the market fundamentals remain in place for continued strong prices. Commbank mining expert Vivek Dhar even predicts that gold could rise to US$3750/oz by the end of the year. 'Even though gold prices and central bank gold purchases have shown virtually no correlation in the last two years to the end of 2024, the anticipation of more central bank buying, combined with extraordinary safe‑haven demand, may see gold rise to $US3750/oz by year‑end,' he said in a note. 'The risk that gold rises above our forecast can't be ruled out either but our expectation for price growth to slow relative to what we've seen so far this year is tied to the risk that Trump continues to walk back current trade policy and that gold has already priced in significant uncertainty.' The merger of equals Alkane and Mandalay is set to create a powerhouse gold and antimony producer with three high-performing mines across Australia and Sweden – Alkane's Tomingley in NSW and Mandalay's Costerfield in Victoria and Bjorkdal in Sweden. It will create a billion dollar gold producer that will also bring Australia's only operating antimony mine to the ASX. Costerfield is the only domestic producer of the critical mineral. The combined company will operate as Alkane Resources and will produce an estimated 160,000 gold equivalent ounces in 2025, growing to more than 180,000oz in 2026. There is also the likelihood of plenty more with Alkane's massive, pre-development Boda-Kaiser gold-copper project not far from Tomingley. Mandalay shareholders will receive just under eight Alkane shares for each Mandalay share … resulting in Mandalay and Alkane shareholders owning a respective 55% and 45% of the combined entity. The new Alkane will hold a robust proforma cash balance of $188m as of March 31, 2025. Investors welcomed the arrangement with ALK shares as much as 4.94% higher to 78.7c. From 61c on April 7, ALK shares increased to 83.5c on April 22, a 12-month high. Alkane's managing director Nic Earner will lead the Australian-based executive team while the board will include nominees from both companies, with Andy Quinn as chair. 'The transaction will take Alkane to a new level, bringing together two companies with complementary assets and a shared vision for growth,' Earner said. 'Mandalay's two high-quality mines match the attributes of Tomingley: a proven history of consistent production, cash generation and exploration upside. 'The combination of assets, leadership and supportive long-term shareholders enhances our scale and financial strength, and positions us well to continue to pursue additional growth opportunities.' 'We are excited to have found a like-minded partner committed to the same principles,' Mandalay president and CEO Frazer Bourchier said. 'The transaction aligns with our vision to create a mid-tier gold and antimony producer with mines in premier operating jurisdictions and with our strategy for continued growth.' As it intends to concentrate more fully on gold and antimony in Queensland, Dart Mining has signed option agreements with Infinity Lithium which could see the latter acquire two of its non-core gold-prospective projects in Victoria. The agreements could see Infinity Lithium acquiring 100% of its Mitta Mitta tenement package in eastern Victoria and entering an earn-in joint venture on the Corryong gold-copper-silver-molybdenum exploration project in the same region. Both are in the highly prospective southern part of the Lachlan Fold Belt (LFB), a geological region known for its long history of mineral production, complex geology and potential for new discoveries. The belt is home to more than 105Moz of gold and millions of tonnes of copper. INF has a 60-day exclusivity period in which it can enter into a 100% purchase agreement in respect to Mitta Mitta and a JV to earn up to 80% in Corryong. The agreement has seen INF shares as much as 40% higher to 2.8c and DTM shares up by 11% to 0.5c. DTM executive chairman James Chirnside said the board was delighted to enter into the option agreements with Infinity Lithium. 'The terms of the arrangements allow Dart to continue with its focus on progressing its other projects in Queensland and Victoria,' he said. 'The arrangements allow for Infinity Lithium to rapidly expand its footprint in Victoria – it really is a win for both parties.' For INF, the agreement with Dart follows the acquisition last month of four advanced gold assets in Victoria from Highland Resources, a subsidiary of private company Jubilee Metals. That acquisition comprised multiple drill-ready targets also in the LFB, offering immediate exploration opportunities while it awaits approval of a mining licence application for its flagship San José lithium project in Spain. INF executive chairman Adrian Byass said the agreements gave the company the opportunity to carefully assess its next move. If it decides to go ahead, the Mitta Mitta project adjoins existing INF tenure and would consolidate prospective geological host rocks as well as historical goldfields that have produced in excess of 160,000oz gold. 'That some project tenements under option immediately adjoin recently acquired existing tenure provides outstanding synergies,' he said. 'The opportunity to potentially expand our existing gold-copper-silver portfolio with opportunities such as walk-up drill targets extending high-grade results in the Lachlan Fold Belt and combine our immediate exploration focus is highly attractive.' Professional and sophisticated investors have demonstrated confidence in the push by Western Gold Resources to move its Gold Duke project towards production by supporting a $1.05m capital raising. Funds raised through the placement of 24.78 million shares at 4.25c each will be used to finalise negotiations and select a gold processing option, update the September 2024 scoping study, and finalise stage 1 grade control and infill drilling plans. Gold Duke is a shovel-ready project with a resource of 3.25Mt at 2.1g/t for 214,000oz of contained gold. WGR's planned stage 1 development will focus on the production of 34,000oz of gold from the Eagle, Emu, Gold King and Golden Monarch deposits. Based on the gold price of ~$3500/oz in September 2024, this would generate an estimated undiscounted accumulated cash surplus of $38.1m with capex estimated at between $2.1m and $2.5m. This could be hugely conservative as the combination of rising gold prices and the weakness of the Australian dollar against the US dollar has nudged the Australian price of the precious metal up close to the $5150/oz mark. Managing director Cullum Winn said the capital raise significantly strengthened the company's financial position and enhanced its ability to progress Gold Duke through its initial stage 1 development. 'The timing is particularly favourable, coinciding with strong gold market conditions as we advance discussions on gold processing and we welcome to the register the strongly performing Investius Microcap Fund,' he added. Shares have increased 14% to a daily high of 5.7c. (Up on no news) Metal Bank, which holds a portfolio of advanced copper, cobalt and gold exploration projects in Australia and in the Middle East, has advanced 30% to 1.3c. Earlier this month the company was granted $275,000 as part of the Queensland Government's critical minerals Collaborative Exploration Initiative program to further assess the graphite potential at the Millennium cobalt-copper-gold-graphite project near Cloncurry in the state's northwest. Grant-supported work will include additional diamond drilling, re-assaying of previous drill samples and preliminary metallurgical work. MBK has a 51% interest in Millennium and the right to earn up to 80%. Thick high-grade graphite intersections were returned in late 2024 within and adjacent the existing JORC 2012 inferred resource at Millennium of 8.4Mt at 0.09% Co, 0.29% Cu and 0.12g/t Au. The work programs will aid in understanding of the scope, distribution and economic implications of the graphite at Millennium that has now been defined over 2km of strike and has returned considerable grades in drilling up to 56m at 18.29% TGC. MBK has a 75% interest in the advanced Livingstone Gold Project in WA which holds a JORC 2012 resource estimate of 2.81Mt at 1.36g/t Au for 122,500oz along with the 8 Mile, Wild Irishman and Eidsvold gold projects in South East Queensland. It also holds the Wadi Al Junah project and exploration licence applications in Saudi Arabia along with three granted copper projects in Jordan A big mover has been Tambourah Metals, up as much as 54% to 4c on volume of more than 34 million after extending gold mineralisation at the high-grade Tambourah King lode system within its namesake project in WA. All 11 holes in an RC drilling program intersected the ~10m wide Tambourah King structure that extends over a strike distance of 200m and remains open to the north and south. Results include: 3m at 2.99g/t gold from 36m and 2m at 3.68g/t from 47m; 3m at 2.93g/t Au from 73m; 5m at 1.35g/t Au from 92m; 2m at 1.25g/t Au from 93m and 5m @ 1.46g/t Au from 100m. An EIS drilling grant of up to $180,000 to co-fund drilling of historical high-grade gold targets at Tambourah will start this quarter. The project is within the Tambourah Goldfield, is 85km southwest of Marble Bar and comprises a series of shallow workings developed on north-south oriented quartz lodes over 3km of strike. 'We're pleased with these results that have continued to identify extensions to the Tambourah King gold mineralisation,' Tambourah Metal's executive chairperson Rita Brooks said. 'We are now preparing the next part of the drill program to confirm and model a preliminary inferred gold resource.' This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Western Gold Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, they did not sponsor this article. Originally published as Resources Top 5: Alkane and Mandalay to merge as gold activity heats up
The Market Online
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Market Online
Alkane to merge with Canadian Mandalay in golden bid for ASX300 status
By: Sonia Madigan Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK) and Mandalay Resources Corporation (TSX:MND) will merge their companies and three operating mines in a bid to see their gold production increase to more than 180,000 ounces next year and push for a market cap above A$1 billion. The 'merger of equals' transaction has been declared through a 'definitive arrangement agreement' which will see Alkane acquire all the shares of Mandalay. The name and ASX-listing Alkane Resources will stay and the merged company will seek a new listing on the TSX. The deal to drive market cap above $1 billion Under the arrangement, Mandalay shareholders will receive 7.875 shares of Alkane for each Mandalay share held. The companies reported it was about increasing scale and trading liquidity, with the implied market cap of the combined entity expected to be A$1,013 million. With that, the companies are hoping to make the ASX300. The initial production goal for this year will be 160,000 g/t. Alkane trading up on recent intercepts Prior to this announcement, Alkane had a market cap of $454 million and last closed at 75c – up from 61c since April 7, when it announced it had struck high grade gold intercepts in drilling at Tomingley Caloma and Roswell in Central West NSW. These grades included 3.1 metres at 196.95g/t from 115m deep, including a metre at 589g/t from 116m down. Combined entity to be Australia-based The executive team will be Perth-based, led by Alkane's Managing Director Nic Earner. Today's ASX announcement said the transaction would create 'a diversified Australian centric gold and antimony producer with a portfolio of three operating mines and a strong balance sheet'. 'Alkane's established Tomingley gold mine (Australia), currently ramping up after a major capital expansion, will complement the well established and stable production from Mandalay's Costerfield underground gold/antimony mine (Victoria, Australia) and the Björkdal underground gold mine (Sweden).' Taking Alkane to a 'new level' Alkane's Nic Earner said the deal would 'take Alkane to a new level, bringing together two companies with complementary assets and a shared vision for growth'. 'Mandalay's two high-quality mines match the attributes of Tomingley: a proven history of consistent production, cash generation and exploration upside,' he said. 'The combination of assets, leadership, andsupportive long-term shareholders enhances our scale and financial strength, and positions us well to continue to pursue additional growth opportunities.' Mandalay's CEO and President Frazer Bourchier said the company had the support of its major shareholders. The combined entity will have a cash balance around C$166 million. Join the discussion: Find out what everybody's saying about this stock on the Alkane Resources Bullboard, and check out the rest of Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
Daily Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Alkane and Mandalay in gold merger
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. A merger of equals between Alkane and Mandalay will create a powerhouse gold and antimony producer Dart Mining has signed option agreements with Infinity Lithium for two non-core projects in Victoria Western Gold Resources has raised $1.05m to move its Gold Duke project towards production Your standout small cap resources stocks for Monday, April 28, 2025 High prices are seeing an increase in M&A activity in the gold sector with the latest involving the merger of two producers, ASX-listed Alkane Resources and TSX-listed Mandalay Resources. Another gold-related play has seen Dart Mining sign an options agreement with Infinity Lithium for INF to potentially acquire two non-core DTM gold prospective properties in Victoria. The yellow metal has come off its high of US3500/oz early last week and was trading just under $3300 at the time of writing but the market fundamentals remain in place for continued strong prices. Commbank mining expert Vivek Dhar even predicts that gold could rise to US$3750/oz by the end of the year. 'Even though gold prices and central bank gold purchases have shown virtually no correlation in the last two years to the end of 2024, the anticipation of more central bank buying, combined with extraordinary safe‑haven demand, may see gold rise to $US3750/oz by year‑end,' he said in a note. 'The risk that gold rises above our forecast can't be ruled out either but our expectation for price growth to slow relative to what we've seen so far this year is tied to the risk that Trump continues to walk back current trade policy and that gold has already priced in significant uncertainty.' The merger of equals Alkane and Mandalay is set to create a powerhouse gold and antimony producer with three high-performing mines across Australia and Sweden – Alkane's Tomingley in NSW and Mandalay's Costerfield in Victoria and Bjorkdal in Sweden. It will create a billion dollar gold producer that will also bring Australia's only operating antimony mine to the ASX. Costerfield is the only domestic producer of the critical mineral. The combined company will operate as Alkane Resources and will produce an estimated 160,000 gold equivalent ounces in 2025, growing to more than 180,000oz in 2026. There is also the likelihood of plenty more with Alkane's massive, pre-development Boda-Kaiser gold-copper project not far from Tomingley. Mandalay shareholders will receive just under eight Alkane shares for each Mandalay share … resulting in Mandalay and Alkane shareholders owning a respective 55% and 45% of the combined entity. The new Alkane will hold a robust proforma cash balance of $188m as of March 31, 2025. Investors welcomed the arrangement with ALK shares as much as 4.94% higher to 78.7c. From 61c on April 7, ALK shares increased to 83.5c on April 22, a 12-month high. Alkane's managing director Nic Earner will lead the Australian-based executive team while the board will include nominees from both companies, with Andy Quinn as chair. 'The transaction will take Alkane to a new level, bringing together two companies with complementary assets and a shared vision for growth,' Earner said. 'Mandalay's two high-quality mines match the attributes of Tomingley: a proven history of consistent production, cash generation and exploration upside. 'The combination of assets, leadership and supportive long-term shareholders enhances our scale and financial strength, and positions us well to continue to pursue additional growth opportunities.' 'We are excited to have found a like-minded partner committed to the same principles,' Mandalay president and CEO Frazer Bourchier said. 'The transaction aligns with our vision to create a mid-tier gold and antimony producer with mines in premier operating jurisdictions and with our strategy for continued growth.' As it intends to concentrate more fully on gold and antimony in Queensland, Dart Mining has signed option agreements with Infinity Lithium which could see the latter acquire two of its non-core gold-prospective projects in Victoria. The agreements could see Infinity Lithium acquiring 100% of its Mitta Mitta tenement package in eastern Victoria and entering an earn-in joint venture on the Corryong gold-copper-silver-molybdenum exploration project in the same region. Both are in the highly prospective southern part of the Lachlan Fold Belt (LFB), a geological region known for its long history of mineral production, complex geology and potential for new discoveries. The belt is home to more than 105Moz of gold and millions of tonnes of copper. INF has a 60-day exclusivity period in which it can enter into a 100% purchase agreement in respect to Mitta Mitta and a JV to earn up to 80% in Corryong. The agreement has seen INF shares as much as 40% higher to 2.8c and DTM shares up by 11% to 0.5c. DTM executive chairman James Chirnside said the board was delighted to enter into the option agreements with Infinity Lithium. 'The terms of the arrangements allow Dart to continue with its focus on progressing its other projects in Queensland and Victoria,' he said. 'The arrangements allow for Infinity Lithium to rapidly expand its footprint in Victoria – it really is a win for both parties.' For INF, the agreement with Dart follows the acquisition last month of four advanced gold assets in Victoria from Highland Resources, a subsidiary of private company Jubilee Metals. That acquisition comprised multiple drill-ready targets also in the LFB, offering immediate exploration opportunities while it awaits approval of a mining licence application for its flagship San José lithium project in Spain. INF executive chairman Adrian Byass said the agreements gave the company the opportunity to carefully assess its next move. If it decides to go ahead, the Mitta Mitta project adjoins existing INF tenure and would consolidate prospective geological host rocks as well as historical goldfields that have produced in excess of 160,000oz gold. 'That some project tenements under option immediately adjoin recently acquired existing tenure provides outstanding synergies,' he said. 'The opportunity to potentially expand our existing gold-copper-silver portfolio with opportunities such as walk-up drill targets extending high-grade results in the Lachlan Fold Belt and combine our immediate exploration focus is highly attractive.' Professional and sophisticated investors have demonstrated confidence in the push by Western Gold Resources to move its Gold Duke project towards production by supporting a $1.05m capital raising. Funds raised through the placement of 24.78 million shares at 4.25c each will be used to finalise negotiations and select a gold processing option, update the September 2024 scoping study, and finalise stage 1 grade control and infill drilling plans. Gold Duke is a shovel-ready project with a resource of 3.25Mt at 2.1g/t for 214,000oz of contained gold. WGR's planned stage 1 development will focus on the production of 34,000oz of gold from the Eagle, Emu, Gold King and Golden Monarch deposits. Based on the gold price of ~$3500/oz in September 2024, this would generate an estimated undiscounted accumulated cash surplus of $38.1m with capex estimated at between $2.1m and $2.5m. This could be hugely conservative as the combination of rising gold prices and the weakness of the Australian dollar against the US dollar has nudged the Australian price of the precious metal up close to the $5150/oz mark. Managing director Cullum Winn said the capital raise significantly strengthened the company's financial position and enhanced its ability to progress Gold Duke through its initial stage 1 development. 'The timing is particularly favourable, coinciding with strong gold market conditions as we advance discussions on gold processing and we welcome to the register the strongly performing Investius Microcap Fund,' he added. Shares have increased 14% to a daily high of 5.7c. (Up on no news) Metal Bank, which holds a portfolio of advanced copper, cobalt and gold exploration projects in Australia and in the Middle East, has advanced 30% to 1.3c. Earlier this month the company was granted $275,000 as part of the Queensland Government's critical minerals Collaborative Exploration Initiative program to further assess the graphite potential at the Millennium cobalt-copper-gold-graphite project near Cloncurry in the state's northwest. Grant-supported work will include additional diamond drilling, re-assaying of previous drill samples and preliminary metallurgical work. MBK has a 51% interest in Millennium and the right to earn up to 80%. Thick high-grade graphite intersections were returned in late 2024 within and adjacent the existing JORC 2012 inferred resource at Millennium of 8.4Mt at 0.09% Co, 0.29% Cu and 0.12g/t Au. The work programs will aid in understanding of the scope, distribution and economic implications of the graphite at Millennium that has now been defined over 2km of strike and has returned considerable grades in drilling up to 56m at 18.29% TGC. MBK has a 75% interest in the advanced Livingstone Gold Project in WA which holds a JORC 2012 resource estimate of 2.81Mt at 1.36g/t Au for 122,500oz along with the 8 Mile, Wild Irishman and Eidsvold gold projects in South East Queensland. It also holds the Wadi Al Junah project and exploration licence applications in Saudi Arabia along with three granted copper projects in Jordan A big mover has been Tambourah Metals, up as much as 54% to 4c on volume of more than 34 million after extending gold mineralisation at the high-grade Tambourah King lode system within its namesake project in WA. All 11 holes in an RC drilling program intersected the ~10m wide Tambourah King structure that extends over a strike distance of 200m and remains open to the north and south. Results include: 3m at 2.99g/t gold from 36m and 2m at 3.68g/t from 47m; 3m at 2.93g/t Au from 73m; 5m at 1.35g/t Au from 92m; 2m at 1.25g/t Au from 93m and 5m @ 1.46g/t Au from 100m. An EIS drilling grant of up to $180,000 to co-fund drilling of historical high-grade gold targets at Tambourah will start this quarter. The project is within the Tambourah Goldfield, is 85km southwest of Marble Bar and comprises a series of shallow workings developed on north-south oriented quartz lodes over 3km of strike. 'We're pleased with these results that have continued to identify extensions to the Tambourah King gold mineralisation,' Tambourah Metal's executive chairperson Rita Brooks said. 'We are now preparing the next part of the drill program to confirm and model a preliminary inferred gold resource.' This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. While Western Gold Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, they did not sponsor this article. Originally published as Resources Top 5: Alkane and Mandalay to merge as gold activity heats up
