Latest news with #NickWoolrych
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CAML to acquire New World Resources for $118m
Central Asia Metals (CAML), a UK-incorporated base metals producer, has entered into a definitive scheme implementation deed with Australian miner New World Resources (NWR) to acquire the latter for approximately A$185m ($118.7m). The cash consideration of A$0.05 per share represents a significant premium, ranging from 78.6% to 150%, over various benchmarks including NWR's last closing price and volume-weighted average prices up to 20 May 2025. CAML will take full ownership of the Antler project, a high-grade copper deposit in Arizona, US, as part of the transaction. The project is expected to yield an average of around 30,000 tonnes per annum of payable copper equivalent throughout its 12-year operational life. NWR's most recent mineral resource estimate for the Antler project reported a total of 14.2 million tonnes with a copper equivalent grade of 3.8%. The transaction is contingent upon several conditions including regulatory approvals from the US and North Macedonia, an independent expert's endorsement and no material adverse changes to NWR's operations. Additionally, the scheme requires the approval of NWR shareholders and the Australian Court. CAML CEO Gavin Ferrar said: "The addition of this high-grade copper project in a tier-one jurisdiction will significantly strengthen our portfolio. We have been impressed by the strength of NWR's team and aim to work with them to integrate the Antler Project, complete the DFS [definitive feasibility study] and work towards a construction decision. 'In addition, the manageable capital expenditures of the Antler Project would provide us the opportunity to fund its development whilst ensuring we maintain a strong financial position." CAML plans to fund the acquisition through existing cash reserves and a new $120m (£89.45m) credit facility, with the transaction not subject to financing or due diligence conditions. The transaction is due to be implemented in September 2025, subject to the conditions of the scheme being satisfied or waived. NWR's Board has recommended the transaction, considering it the best outcome for shareholders compared with other proposals and the risks of independently developing the Antler copper project. The directors, holding approximately 2.56% of NWR shares, intend to vote in favour of the scheme, in line with the independent expert's ongoing approval. NWR managing director Nick Woolrych said: 'The Board decided to pursue this transaction despite receiving exceptionally strong interest from multiple Tier-1 project financiers and strategic partners, which reflects the quality of the Antler Copper Project and its inherent strategic value in the global copper landscape.' In February 2025, NWR received the US federal permit regarding the mine plan of operations application submitted for its Antler project. "CAML to acquire New World Resources for $118m" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
News.com.au
22-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: M&A brewing as New World rises on $185m US copper takeover
New World Resources soars ~70% on $185m takeover from London-listed Central Asia Metals Aurumin has entered into binding term sheets with Newcam Minerals Omega Oil and Gas has confirmed that an extensive oil & gas system is present across its Taroom Trough acreage Your standout resources stocks for Thursday, May 22, 2025 New World Resources (ASX:NWC) M&A activity is heating up in the resources sector and it is not restricted to gold stocks. New World has fielded an offer from London-based Central Asia Metals and directors unanimously recommend a vote in favour of a scheme implementation deed valuing the company at $185m. Investors share the enthusiasm of directors, sending NWC shares 71.43% northward to 4.8c, a two-year high, with more than 237m shares changing hands. It closed up 66% at 4.65c. The all-cash offer of 5c per share represents a 95.7% premium over the 30-day volume weighted average price of the company's shares and is 150% higher than the issue price of its March 2025 capital raise. 'We believe this transaction represents an exceptional outcome for New World shareholders, delivering certainty of value at a significant premium,' New World's managing director Nick Woolrych said. 'The board decided to pursue this transaction despite receiving exceptionally strong interest from multiple Tier-1 project financiers and strategic partners, which reflects the quality of the Antler Copper Project and its inherent strategic value in the global copper landscape. 'Ultimately, the board believes that this transaction offers a superior risk-adjusted outcome compared to a standalone development of the Antler Copper Project, allowing shareholders to crystallise their investment at a significant premium without the risks associated with a longer-term standalone financing and development pathway. 'We believe that CAML will be a great steward for the Antler Copper Project moving forward, bringing their strong balance sheet and extensive underground mining and operating expertise to the table, together with New World's established US operations team, to bring this high-quality underground copper asset into production.' Central Asia Metals is a London-based base metals producer with operations in Europe and Central Asia – the SASA underground zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia and Kounrad SX-EW copper project in central Kazakhstan. It also owns an 80% interest in CAML Exploration, a subsidiary formed to progress early-stage exploration opportunities in Kazakhstan, and a 28.4% interest in Aberdeen Minerals Ltd, a privately-owned UK company focused on the exploration and development of base metals opportunities in northeast Scotland. CAML brings extensive experience in developing and operating underground mines of a similar size and scale to New World's Antler Copper Project and is committed to continuing the rapid advancement of Antler towards development. An independent expert will be appointed by the company to determine if the offer is in the best interests of its shareholders. The offer will then be put to a vote by New World shareholders at a scheme meeting with the company's directors saying they will vote in its favour. 'I commend the entire New World team who have done an exceptional job advancing the Antler project to date,' New World's chairman Richard Hill said. 'The CAML scheme is the culmination of many years of hard work and delivers certain value for shareholders at a significant premium.' Earlier this month, New World Resources announced a substantial increase in the contained metal and the confidence level of the JORC MRE for Antler following a successful exploration drilling program and a comprehensive exploration review. The total MRE, inclusive of newly defined mineralised zones, now stands at 14.2Mt at 3.8% copper equivalent. Contained CuEq metal increased by about 16% to 543,000t, including a 27% increase in contained silver and a 15% increase in contained gold. That confirmed Antler's position as one of the highest-grade copper projects globally. Aurumin (ASX:AUN) Also on the transaction front, Aurumin has entered into binding term sheets for two strategic arrangements with Newcam Minerals Pty Ltd that advance AUN's path to gold production and unlock value from non-core assets. The first agreement is valued at $4m and will see Newcam earn up to 50% interest in the Johnson Range and Mt Dimer gold projects via staged expenditure with the intention of forming a joint venture over the gold rights. Exploration and development will be led by Newcam during the earn-in period and Aurumin can elect to be free-carried to net profit. A term sheet has also been entered for a $1m cash sale of the non-gold mineral rights across Aurumin's Sandstone tenure, streamlining the company's portfolio and strengthening its balance sheet. Together, these transactions support the near-term development of the 64,700oz at 2.51g/t Au Gwendolyn deposit, which is on a granted mining lease and recently underwent its first drilling in more than a decade. Newcam, which can begin exploration expenditure immediately, is a private company with a multiple mineral portfolio including gold and iron ore assets in WA's Mid West. With its own drilling, mining and haulage fleet, Newcam is a fully integrated mine operator, ready to deploy its experienced team and quality equipment onto new projects. 'Subject to completion, these transactions are strategically transformative. With gold trading above A$5000/oz, securing a fully funded, non-dilutive pathway to production at Johnson Range will be a major milestone for Aurumin,' Aurumin's managing director Daniel Raihani said. 'The joint venture with Newcam, once executed, will unlock value from both Johnson Range and Mt Dimer, while the $1 million cash sale of non-gold rights at Sandstone strengthens our balance sheet and sharpens our focus as a pureplay gold developer. 'We're pleased to be working with a partner that brings proven capability and a production mindset, and we look forward to delivering further results as assays from Gwendolyn are returned. 'This is the first drilling at Johnson Range in over a decade, and our new management team is hitting the ground running at a time when the outlook for gold could not be stronger.' Investors have welcomed the arrangement with AUN shares as much as 28.8% higher to 8.5c, a new high of two years, on volume of more than 36m. Johnson Range is 200km north of Southern Cross and includes the Gwendolyn deposit, a near-term development opportunity on a granted mining lease and within haulage distance of multiple processing centres The Central Sandstone Gold Project is 520km northeast of Perth and has a total resource of 886,000oz as well as iron ore opportunities. Aurumin fielded an approach last year from Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR), owner of the Sandstone projects formerly held by Alto Metals and Gateway Mining (ASX:GML), to JV its Sandstone assets. Omega Oil & Gas (ASX:OMA) The Taroom Trough in Queensland's Bowen Basin has been drawing attention due to its potential to feed oil and particularly gas to the energy hungry east coast of Australia. One ASX-lister making noise in this region is Omega Oil and Gas which has confirmed that an extensive oil and gas system is present across its acreage after completing a cased hole logging program at Canyon-2 well with shares jumping 24% to a daily high of 26c. High-quality, pulsed neutron logs were acquired in the well, which sits 15.7km from the Canyon-1H horizontal well that flowed significant quantities of oil with gas during testing. This tool was not run back when Canyon-2 was first evaluated following drilling in 2023. Omega Oil and Gas (ASX:OMA) noted that open hole logs obtained at the time were subject to difficult hole conditions causing 'stick-slip' and subsequently were sub-optimal quality. By contrast, the new logs are of very high quality and have confirmed an extensive oil and gas petroleum system within the project area. They indicated a thicker and higher-quality pay interval within the Canyon Sandstone interval, which corresponds with the zone tested in Canyon-1H, and some additional zones with good reservoir qualities that had not previously been identified. The logs also allow clear distinction between oil-bearing and gas-bearing intervals, allowing the company to select intervals for the diagnostic fracture injection test, which is essentially a mini fracture stimulation test. Canyon-2 penetrated the Canyon Sandstone 167m shallower than at Canyon-1. Notably, the enhanced reservoir properties observed from log analysis may indicate that reservoir properties are likely to improve further in the eastern part of the Canyon project area where the prospective Permian interval is up to 800m shallower than at Canyon-1. 'The Canyon-2 cased hole logs have provided confirmation of an extensive oil and gas province with encouraging signs pointing toward commerciality,' managing director Trevor Brown said. 'The Canyon-2 DFIT program will add to our understanding of stacked pay potential and allow important regional correlations – further de-risking the play.' Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) Looking to grow its antimony position, Trigg Minerals this week executed an s covering the Antimony Canyon Project (ACP) in Utah. With the ink barely dry, on Wednesday Trigg bulked up its capabilities by hiring experienced antimony downstream expert Wiehann Kleynhans. From 3.8c on May 16, shares of the $53.8m market cap company reached 5.6c, including a jump of 21.8% from the close on May 21. ACP is currently the largest and highest-grade antimony project in the US, with the Bureau of Mines reporting a foreign resource estimate of 12.7Mt grading 0.79% antimony for 100,300t of contained antimony. It also features several historical high-grade mines, including Emma mine averaging 1.5% antimony with considerable zones averaging 2.2%; Mammoth averaging 1.5% Sb with considerable zones averaging 2.4%; and Nevada averaging 2.2% Sb with considerable zones averaging 3.6%. And what's more … Utah is the world's top mining jurisdiction according to the latest Fraser Institute Survey. Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) says the acquisition strengthens its antimony strategy, complementing its 1.52Mt resource at 1.97% Sb Wild Cattle Creek project in NSW and expanding its footprint across tier-one jurisdictions, while advancing both projects simultaneously supported by a healthy cash balance. To support the strategy, Kleynhans – an experienced geologist, resource and commodity analyst and dealmaker with deep experience in the antimony sector – has been appointed the company's vice president, US downstream operations, and will spearhead downstream and smelting processes at ACP. Hawsons Iron (ASX:HIO) Fresh testwork has backed the plan of Hawsons Iron to use 100% dry processing at its namesake Far West NSW project as it is a cleaner, cheaper alternative to the traditional wet method. An independent report from Stantec Australia confirms the dry circuit is not only viable but also cuts costs and improves environmental outcomes while also opening the door to potential value-add side products like silica sand. Shares of the $19.82m market cap company have been as much as 43% higher to 2c. The dry comminution testwork has been completed by the independent engineering consultants along with a mineral resource variability study. Stantec's Project Report provides confidence for further investigation into potential secondary products (eg hematite, silica sands) and flow on optimisation of mine design, processing and logistics. Detailed analytical work completed recently demonstrates a high level of geochemical and physical material consistency, throughout the current resource, particularly within the early phase of operations, which significantly contributes towards de-risking the project during its early years of operation. The company is collating engineering and cost data with the aim of releasing an updated prefeasibility study together with maiden ore reserves for the Hawsons iron project. 'The results are crucial for cost optimisation and smarter decision making as we head towards finalising the Hawsons process flow sheet by the end of the year,' CEO Tom Revy said. 'The next phase of detailed work will involve piloting of the material through GEBR Pfeiffer's test facility in Germany which will result in defining the project's final process design criteria." This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions.
News.com.au
05-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Trump's critical minerals obsession has shone a spotlight on US copper stocks
US-focused copper stocks see a clearer pathway to production as the Trump administration strives for critical minerals dominance New World Resources is in line to open its Antler mine within this term in 2027 Boss Nick Woolrych says the environment is looking bright ahead of FID on the Arizona project later this year Donald Trump's pledge to turn the United States into an energy and resources superpower places the development of new mines front and centre in the new administrations future legacy. The media's attention has largely been centred on the niche and China-dominated rare earths supply chain, one of the centrifugal forces of the trade war between the competing empires. But reviving the country's declining copper scene, which has seen US output crumble from 1.92Mt in 1997 to just 1.1Mtpa today, has been seriously placed on the radar as well. That's come in the form of two key executive orders, one investigating potential tariffs on external copper supplies and whether cheap output from China and elsewhere is crimping US competitiveness, and a key order on March 20 calling for the ramping up of domestic critical minerals supply chains. As a consequence the massive Resolution copper project in Arizona, owned by Rio Tinto and BHP and stalled for years amid a host of environmental and native title battles, has been placed on the FAST-41 list, smoothing a pathway to gaining approvals. And smaller, more nimble operators now have line of sight to reaching FID on copper mines of their own with the potential to get into production far quicker than the lumbering Rio development. One of those is New World Resources' (ASX:NWC) Antler mine, also in Arizona, one of the highest grade undeveloped deposits in copper equivalent terms on the ASX. On Monday, the developer delivered a new resource with a 25% increase in copper ore tonnes, with the deposit now grading 14.2Mt at 3.8% copper equivalent for 543,000t, with the silver and gold content of that resource also 27% and 15% higher respectively. Permitting is expected to be wrapped up within the year, with the regulatory environment looking more promising by the day. "The March 20 executive order is just one of about four or five that have come out in relation to critical minerals and securing the US' energy dominance again," New World CEO Nick Woolrych said. " Copper is a huge focus. Resolution is an industry changing project if that gets up, but I think for New World the main difference we have is we'll be producing critical minerals which are copper and zinc and a priority mineral – gold – actually during this presidential term." 2027 in focus The aim for New World is to deliver a definitive feasibility study by year's end and secure all of the company's necessary permits by February 2026. That would put it on track to become a copper, zinc and gold producer by 2027, with higher prices across its commodity suite likely resulting in major upside over the company's pre-feasibility study. New World's July 2024 PFS projected a capex bill of US$298m with a US$31.4m contingency included, generating US$115m of annual post tax free cash flow on an annual production capacity of 30,100 copper equivalent tonnes per annum. Drill down a bit deeper and that would include 16,400t copper, 34,500t zinc, 3600t lead, 533,300oz silver and 6000oz gold, at co-product assisted all in sustaining costs of US51c/lb. That was conducted using US$4.20/lb copper prices, around 50c below current US market prices, US$25/oz silver and US$2055/oz gold, the latter now over US$1000/oz shy of booming spot prices. With the new resource update around 90% of the mineralisation in the high-grade sulphide domain at Antler (11.5Mt at 4.3% CuEq) is in the measured and indicated resource categories. 36% is classified as measured, underpinning the first three to four years of the mine's life, during which the costs of developing the asset will be paid off. It all bodes well for New World's plan to revive a mine which has laid dormant for over 50 years after producing copper previously between 1916 and 1970. Woolrych says there will be more opportunities to grow the underground orebody at depth. "Seeing a significant portion of the early years of our mine life being in the highest classification of our resource is significant," Woolrych said. "There's a lot of disaster stories of underground mines where they haven't got that. And I think our resource update is probably going to put us in a pretty good stead." A decline is expected to be advanced later this year to provide even more clarity on the long-term future of the mine. "One of the highest grade holes ever drilled at Antler is the deepest hole drilled, but they're very expensive holes to drill from the surface," Woolrych added. " One of the reasons we're looking to advance our decline and get that started later this year is we are looking to drill from underground. For every metre we can drill from surface we can drill four from underground." Permitting pleasure Permitting is commonly a painful exercise in the copper and broader mining sector. S&P claimed last year that in the US it took an average 29 years to get from discovery to production. Only Zambia provides a more stressful experience. That's an entire generation of technological advancements passing the industry by. But the shift in sentiment and regulatory environment is moving the needle, Woolrych says, with miners now walking the happier side of the fine line between pleasure and pain. "This time last week the government announced that an EA, which previously would take 12 months, there's an opportunity for emergency approvals through the Bureau of Land Management and the National Energy Dominance Council, which is a newly established venture," he noted. "That one year could actually move to 14 days and two years could move to 28 days. So New World hasn't applied for that as yet, but we're certainly looking at how relevant that is for our project and whether we want to go down that emergency approval path." Even so, NWC has a leg up in that it already has a Determination of Adequacy from the Bureau of Land Management for its mine plan of operations, delivered in February, and just two of the 174 acres across the relatively small footprint is on Federal land. The rest is contained on private ground. Its development prospects are being recognised by brokers too. Argonaut's George Ross lifted his price target from 5c to 6.5c in an upgrade today, 132% upside on NWC's 2.8c share price. "Trump's tariff wars and support for domestic primary production are likely to benefits NWC's permitting timeline," Ross noted. The enthusiasm around the US permitting landscape has drawn earlier stage companies back into view as well. Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) soared over 100% on Friday after it got a shoutout from President Trump on Truth Social following the BLM's confirmation of its right to mine the Colosseum gold project in California. Located near the Mountain Pass rare earths mine, drilling for the critical minerals at Colosseum is now in the works. Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88) has, meanwhile, kickstarted its own maiden drilling program at the Pearl copper project in Arizona, planning to drill 14-16 holes for up to 1800m at the Odyssey and Ford prospects. "The US has made its intentions very clear, as it enters the 'Drill, Baby, Drill' era, to secure domestic energy and critical minerals supply chains, and G88 is in a prime position to capitalise on this strategy," its MD Damon Dormer said after the small cap kicked off its drilling program. "It has been well publicised that copper has been placed on the critical minerals list by Presidential Executive Order issued in March, and we have certainly noticed the increased attention copper projects in Arizona have drawn from the federal government in the US over recent weeks. "Given the important role domestic copper production will play in the US moving forward, we are also witnessing multiple new funding pathways becoming available through related government agencies such as the Department of Defense."
