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Herald Sun
17-07-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Reward outweighs risk for these West African gold miners
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. West Africa has been the best place to explore for gold in the past 15 years And if you can handle the risk, the rewards remain rich according to SCP Resource Finance Many Peaks among the smallest stocks to catch SCP's eye Despite a higher sovereign risk profile, the West African gold space punches well above its weight in terms of discovery and corporate activity. ASX 200 producers Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) and West African Resources (ASX:WAF) have established themselves among the lowest cost and most consistent gold miners on the ASX, paving the way for others to follow. A new report from SCP Resource Finance analyst Justin Chan described West Africa as the most dynamic region over the past 15 years for gold discoveries, new mine builds, M&A and the emergence of new mid-tier miners. 'What makes West Africa special is the combination of geology, year-round exploration/construction, fast permitting, and 'low-hanging fruit' that enables companies to find and build a mine within one gold price cycle, enabling investors to avoid the 'washing machine cycle' of projects stalling in bad markets or waiting for permits,' he said. 'Moreover, while Africa has its challenges, the silver lining is we think the executives and operators in Africa are serious and driven to achieve a discovery, build a mine, or transact quickly; Africa is no place for 'lifestyle' companies.' Punching above its discovery weight Unlike more mature jurisdictions, Chan pointed out that it was still possible for explorers to find open-pittable deposits with attractive grades, metallurgy and low capital intensity in West Africa. 'The numbers speak for themselves: more than 70 million ounces have been discovered in West Africa from 2010-2024 versus 37Moz in Canada, 30Moz in Australia and 30Moz in the USA over the same period per S&P Market Intelligence,' he said. That's despite West Africa attracting a third of the spend of those other jurisdictions. Major discoveries in recent years include Predictive Discovery's (ASX:PDI) 5.5Moz Bankan in Guinea and Montage Gold's 6Moz Koné project in Côte d'Ivoire, the latter of which is in construction. Last year, Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) reported an initial resource of 2.5Moz for its Afema project in Côte d'Ivoire just five months after completing the acquisition. The resource has since increased to 3.6Moz. Rapid builds SCP said despite the high rate of discoveries, mine builds had outpaced them over the past 10 years. New builds in the past five years have included West African's Sanbrado in Burkina Faso, Perseus' Yaoure in Côte d'Ivoire, Orezone's Bomboré in Burkina Faso, Tietto Minerals' Abujar in Côte d'Ivoire, Fortuna Mining Corp's Séguéla in Côte d'Ivoire, and Endeavour Mining's Lafigué in Côte d'Ivoire and Sabodala-Massawa in Senegal. Just over two weeks ago, West African confirmed it had poured first gold at its Kiaka mine in Burkina Faso, ahead of schedule and under budget and just 3.5 years after acquiring the project from B2Gold. SCP said the builds had cleared 'two generations' of projects from the development pipeline. 'We think projects that can start building in the 2026-2028 window are in the sweet spot: we think nearly all the Africa focused producers will be or are actively looking for projects within this window, and nearly all of them have built mines recently, thus are not afraid of a buy and build,' Chan said. Deals flowing M&A has also progressed at a frenetic rate. In the past five years, Perseus Mining acquired Orca Gold and Orecorp, Cardinal Resources was swallowed by Shandong Gold, Azumah Minerals was consumed by Ibaera Capital, Oklo Resources was picked up by B2Gold, Chesser Resources annexed by Fortuna and Tietto mopper up by Zhaojin Capital. And that's just on the ASX. In Toronto, SEMAFO merged with Endeavour, Fortuna collected Roxgold, Chifeng Jilong took over Golden Star Resources and AngloGold Ashanti made away with Centamin. SCP expects Perseus to be an active acquirer with its 17.8% stake in Predictive Discovery in focus. Chan also sees West African as a natural acquirer that would benefit from jurisdictional diversification now that its second mine build is done. SCP's other top candidates to be potential predators were Allied Gold Corporation, Robex Resources Inc (ASX:RXR) and Montage, but considered Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG), Orezone, Galiano Gold, Fortuna and the Chinese miners as other potentially active players. Montage, backed by Lundin and Zijin, has recently been busy building stakes in Côte d'Ivoire explorers Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE), African Gold (ASX:A1G) and Sanu Gold. Robex recently listed on the ASX and Orezone last week lodged a prospectus for a $75 million ASX listing, which would loosen its paper to pick up Aussie companies. The next generation 'We think the window is wide open for West African gold explorers, with the gold price consolidating above US$3000/oz, risk capital available for high quality management teams, and a competitive M&A environment for build-ready projects,' Chan said. In the report, Chan initiated coverage on Turaco, with a buy rating and $1.20 price target, and already covers Canada's Newcore Gold, which is advancing the Enchi project in Ghana. SCP expects that Turaco could become one of the next 150,000-200,000oz per annum producers in the region with a resource of 4-5Moz and permits and a final investment decision in hand by the end of next year. 'We also highlight our top picks of the explorers – Sanu in Guinea; Aurum, Awalé and Many Peaks in northern Côte d'Ivoire; and African Gold and Kobo in central Côte d'Ivoire,' Chan said. 'We think these companies have the right combination of ground, quality management and attractive locations to potentially make a discovery and move to production this cycle.' No resource? No worries Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) has the smallest market cap of the ASX-listed companies mentioned in the report and is the only one yet to report a resource. However, the company has been making rapid progress since acquiring the Ferké gold project from Turaco last year, which has caught the attention of SCP. Chan said the mineralisation at Many Peaks' Ouarigue target is hosted in a tonalite intrusive unit, which is a similar host setting to the multimillion-ounce Bankan and Fekola deposits. 'We like what we've seen so far for two reasons,' he said, pointing to the consistency of the tonalite mineralisation and the high-grade zone. On Tuesday, Many Peaks reported that drilling had extended mineralisation along strike and at depth, with increasing widths of the mineralised zones intersected reinforcing the potential for a bulk tonnage target. New results included 87m at 1.67g/t gold from 221m, including 29m at 3.46g/t gold; and 84m at 1.53g/t gold from 58m, including 2m at 18.1g/t gold and 8m at 2.11g/t gold, including 2m at 7.43g/t gold. On Wednesday, Many Peaks raised $13.5 million in a heavily supported private placement at 72c per share, a 5% premium to the company's 15-day volume-weighted average price. The funds will be used to complete drilling and studies for the preparation of an initial resource estimate. SCP forecasts an initial resource of 300,000-700,000oz of gold at 1-2g/t gold. 'That doesn't include the higher-grade zone – thus we think circa 500,000oz is a good target for an initial MRE at Ouarigue South with potential to expand along strike to the north and south.' At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Many Peaks Minerals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article. Originally published as West Africa can't be ignored for investors looking to play the gold boom
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
West Africa can't be ignored for investors looking to play the gold boom
West Africa has been the best place to explore for gold in the past 15 years And if you can handle the risk, the rewards remain rich according to SCP Resource Finance Many Peaks among the smallest stocks to catch SCP's eye Despite a higher sovereign risk profile, the West African gold space punches well above its weight in terms of discovery and corporate activity. ASX 200 producers Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) and West African Resources (ASX:WAF) have established themselves among the lowest cost and most consistent gold miners on the ASX, paving the way for others to follow. A new report from SCP Resource Finance analyst Justin Chan described West Africa as the most dynamic region over the past 15 years for gold discoveries, new mine builds, M&A and the emergence of new mid-tier miners. 'What makes West Africa special is the combination of geology, year-round exploration/construction, fast permitting, and 'low-hanging fruit' that enables companies to find and build a mine within one gold price cycle, enabling investors to avoid the 'washing machine cycle' of projects stalling in bad markets or waiting for permits,' he said. 'Moreover, while Africa has its challenges, the silver lining is we think the executives and operators in Africa are serious and driven to achieve a discovery, build a mine, or transact quickly; Africa is no place for 'lifestyle' companies.' Punching above its discovery weight Unlike more mature jurisdictions, Chan pointed out that it was still possible for explorers to find open-pittable deposits with attractive grades, metallurgy and low capital intensity in West Africa. 'The numbers speak for themselves: more than 70 million ounces have been discovered in West Africa from 2010-2024 versus 37Moz in Canada, 30Moz in Australia and 30Moz in the USA over the same period per S&P Market Intelligence,' he said. That's despite West Africa attracting a third of the spend of those other jurisdictions. Major discoveries in recent years include Predictive Discovery's (ASX:PDI) 5.5Moz Bankan in Guinea and Montage Gold's 6Moz Koné project in Côte d'Ivoire, the latter of which is in construction. Last year, Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) reported an initial resource of 2.5Moz for its Afema project in Côte d'Ivoire just five months after completing the acquisition. The resource has since increased to 3.6Moz. Rapid builds SCP said despite the high rate of discoveries, mine builds had outpaced them over the past 10 years. New builds in the past five years have included West African's Sanbrado in Burkina Faso, Perseus' Yaoure in Côte d'Ivoire, Orezone's Bomboré in Burkina Faso, Tietto Minerals' Abujar in Côte d'Ivoire, Fortuna Mining Corp's Séguéla in Côte d'Ivoire, and Endeavour Mining's Lafigué in Côte d'Ivoire and Sabodala-Massawa in Senegal. Just over two weeks ago, West African confirmed it had poured first gold at its Kiaka mine in Burkina Faso, ahead of schedule and under budget and just 3.5 years after acquiring the project from B2Gold. SCP said the builds had cleared 'two generations' of projects from the development pipeline. 'We think projects that can start building in the 2026-2028 window are in the sweet spot: we think nearly all the Africa focused producers will be or are actively looking for projects within this window, and nearly all of them have built mines recently, thus are not afraid of a buy and build,' Chan said. Deals flowing M&A has also progressed at a frenetic rate. In the past five years, Perseus Mining acquired Orca Gold and Orecorp, Cardinal Resources was swallowed by Shandong Gold, Azumah Minerals was consumed by Ibaera Capital, Oklo Resources was picked up by B2Gold, Chesser Resources annexed by Fortuna and Tietto mopper up by Zhaojin Capital. And that's just on the ASX. In Toronto, SEMAFO merged with Endeavour, Fortuna collected Roxgold, Chifeng Jilong took over Golden Star Resources and AngloGold Ashanti made away with Centamin. SCP expects Perseus to be an active acquirer with its 17.8% stake in Predictive Discovery in focus. Chan also sees West African as a natural acquirer that would benefit from jurisdictional diversification now that its second mine build is done. SCP's other top candidates to be potential predators were Allied Gold Corporation, Robex Resources Inc (ASX:RXR) and Montage, but considered Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG), Orezone, Galiano Gold, Fortuna and the Chinese miners as other potentially active players. Montage, backed by Lundin and Zijin, has recently been busy building stakes in Côte d'Ivoire explorers Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE), African Gold (ASX:A1G) and Sanu Gold. Robex recently listed on the ASX and Orezone last week lodged a prospectus for a $75 million ASX listing, which would loosen its paper to pick up Aussie companies. The next generation 'We think the window is wide open for West African gold explorers, with the gold price consolidating above US$3000/oz, risk capital available for high quality management teams, and a competitive M&A environment for build-ready projects,' Chan said. In the report, Chan initiated coverage on Turaco, with a buy rating and $1.20 price target, and already covers Canada's Newcore Gold, which is advancing the Enchi project in Ghana. SCP expects that Turaco could become one of the next 150,000-200,000oz per annum producers in the region with a resource of 4-5Moz and permits and a final investment decision in hand by the end of next year. 'We also highlight our top picks of the explorers – Sanu in Guinea; Aurum, Awalé and Many Peaks in northern Côte d'Ivoire; and African Gold and Kobo in central Côte d'Ivoire,' Chan said. 'We think these companies have the right combination of ground, quality management and attractive locations to potentially make a discovery and move to production this cycle.' No resource? No worries Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) has the smallest market cap of the ASX-listed companies mentioned in the report and is the only one yet to report a resource. However, the company has been making rapid progress since acquiring the Ferké gold project from Turaco last year, which has caught the attention of SCP. Chan said the mineralisation at Many Peaks' Ouarigue target is hosted in a tonalite intrusive unit, which is a similar host setting to the multimillion-ounce Bankan and Fekola deposits. 'We like what we've seen so far for two reasons,' he said, pointing to the consistency of the tonalite mineralisation and the high-grade zone. On Tuesday, Many Peaks reported that drilling had extended mineralisation along strike and at depth, with increasing widths of the mineralised zones intersected reinforcing the potential for a bulk tonnage target. New results included 87m at 1.67g/t gold from 221m, including 29m at 3.46g/t gold; and 84m at 1.53g/t gold from 58m, including 2m at 18.1g/t gold and 8m at 2.11g/t gold, including 2m at 7.43g/t gold. On Wednesday, Many Peaks raised $13.5 million in a heavily supported private placement at 72c per share, a 5% premium to the company's 15-day volume-weighted average price. The funds will be used to complete drilling and studies for the preparation of an initial resource estimate. SCP forecasts an initial resource of 300,000-700,000oz of gold at 1-2g/t gold. 'That doesn't include the higher-grade zone – thus we think circa 500,000oz is a good target for an initial MRE at Ouarigue South with potential to expand along strike to the north and south.'
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
New Found Gold Increases Previously Announced Bought Deal Financing to C$56 Million; Previously Announced Private Placement Remains at C$20 Million
The Base Shelf Prospectus is accessible, and the Prospectus Supplement will be accessible within two business days, through SEDAR+ VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Found Gold Corp. ('New Found Gold' or the 'Company') (TSX-V: NFG, NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce that due to strong demand, it has increased the size of its previously announced bought deal financing to C$56 million via the addition of a new hard dollar tranche of 4,370,000 common shares (the 'Common Shares') at a price of C$1.63 per Common Share for gross proceeds of approximately C$7 million. The previously announced charity flow-through common share tranche (the 'Charity Flow-Through Common Shares') of 21,400,000 Charity Flow-Through Common Shares at a price of C$2.29 for gross proceeds of approximately C$49 million remains unchanged, and together with the new hard dollar tranche comprises the offering (the 'Offering'). The Company has granted the Underwriters an option, exercisable at the offering price up to 30 days following the closing of the Tranche 1 (as defined below), to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Charity Flow-Through Common Shares issued in connection with the Offering. Each Charity Flow-Through Common Share will qualify as a 'flow-through share' within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Company previously entered into an agreement with BMO Capital Markets and SCP Resource Finance LP, on behalf of themselves and a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the 'Underwriters') led by BMO Capital Markets and SCP Resource Finance LP. Subsequent to the Offering, the Company also expects to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 12,269,939 Common Shares at a price of C$1.63 per Common Share of the Company for gross proceeds of approximately C$20 million (the 'Private Placement' and, together with the Offering, the 'Financing'). The Common Shares issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a statutory hold period of 4 months and one day. The Private Placement is subject to the Company receiving all necessary approvals, including shareholder approval and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the 'TSXV') and authorization of the NYSE American LLC (the 'NYSE American'). Eric Sprott has indicated his intention to participate in the Offering to maintain his approximate shareholdings and the Private Placement for such number of Common Shares that results in Mr. Sprott holding more than 20% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company. Following the closing of the Private Placement, the Company expects that Mr. Sprott will become a new 'Control Person' (as defined in the policies of the TSXV) and, therefore, the Company intends to obtain disinterested shareholder approval in accordance with the TSXV policies prior to the closing of the Private Placement. Keith Boyle, CEO of New Found Gold, commented, ' With a significant lead order by Eric Sprott on both the Offering and the Private Placement, the proceeds from the Financing will allow us to advance the Queensway Gold Project to the development stage. Mr. Sprott has been a highly supportive shareholder in the Company since its early days and we thank him for his continued support as we embark on this next chapter for the Company.' The gross proceeds from the Offering will be used by the Company to incur eligible 'Canadian exploration expenses' that qualify as 'flow-through mining expenditures' as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the 'Qualifying Expenditures') related to the Company's Queensway Gold Project ('Queensway'), on or before December 31, 2026. All Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers for the Charity Flow-Through Common Shares effective on or before December 31, 2025. The gross proceeds from the Private Placement will be used by the Company to advance its 100% owned Queensway Gold Project ('Queensway') and for general corporate and working capital purposes. The Charity Flow-Through Common Shares will be offered in all of the provinces and territories of Canada, excluding Quebec and Nunavut by way of a prospectus supplement (the 'Prospectus Supplement') to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated May 23, 2025 (the 'Base Shelf Prospectus'). The Charity Flow-Through Common Shares will also be offered by way of a U.S. prospectus supplement forming part of the Company's registration statement on Form F-10 in the United States. The closing of the Offering will consist of an initial tranche ('Tranche 1') that is expected to close on or about June 3, 2025 as well as a second tranche ('Tranche 2') that is expected to close on or about June 12, 2025. Tranche 1 will consist of 15,265,000 Charity Flow-Through Common Shares and 4,370,000 Common Shares to be issued pursuant to the Offering. Tranche 2 will consist of 6,135,000 Charity Flow-Through Common Shares to be issued pursuant to the Offering. Both closings are subject to the Company receiving all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV and authorization of the NYSE American. Access to the Prospectus Supplement, the Base Shelf Prospectus and any amendments thereto are provided in Canada in accordance with securities legislation relating to the procedures for providing access to a shelf prospectus supplement, a base shelf prospectus and any amendment to such documents. The Base Shelf Prospectus is, and the Prospectus Supplement will be (within two business days from the date hereof), accessible through SEDAR+ at An electronic or paper copy of the Prospectus Supplement, the Base Shelf Prospectus, and any amendment to these documents, may be obtained, without charge, from BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., Brampton Distribution Centre C/O The Data Group of Companies, 9195 Torbram Road, Brampton, Ontario, L6S 6H2 by telephone at 905-791-3151 Ext 4312 or by email at [email protected], and in the United States by contacting BMO Capital Markets Corp., Attn: Equity Syndicate Department, 151 W 42nd Street, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10036, or by telephone at (800) 414-3627 or by email at [email protected] by providing BMO Capital Markets with an email address or mailing address, as applicable. Copies of the Base Shelf Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement, when available, can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at and a copy of the registration statement and the Prospectus Supplement can be found on EDGAR at This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Charity Flow-Through Common Shares or the Common Shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. About New Found Gold New Found Gold holds a 100% interest in Queensway, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, a Tier 1 jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure and a skilled local workforce. The Company has completed an initial mineral resource estimate at Queensway (see New Found Gold news release dated March 24, 2025). A fully funded preliminary economic assessment is underway, with completion scheduled for late Q2/25. Recent drilling continues to yield new discoveries along strike and down dip of known gold zones, pointing to the district-scale potential of the 175,600 hectare project that covers a 110 km strike extent along two prospective fault zones. New Found Gold has a new management team in place, a solid shareholder base, which includes a 19% holding by Eric Sprott, and is focused on growth and value creation at Queensway. Please see the Company's SEDAR+ profile at and the Company's EDGAR profile at Keith Boyle Chief Executive Officer New Found Gold Corp. Contact For further information on New Found Gold, please visit the Company's website and contact us through our investor inquiry form or contact: Fiona Childe, Ph.D., Vice President, Communications and Corporate Development Phone: +1 (416) 910-4653 Email: [email protected] Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information
