Latest news with #SimonLill
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Kristie Batten: Former De Grey chair thinks Ballard's Mt Ida has much more gold to give
One of Australia's top mining journalists, Kristie Batten, writes for Stockhead every week in her regular column placing a watchful eye on the movers and shakers of the small cap resources scene. The dust has barely settled from Northern Star Resources' $6 billion takeover of De Grey Mining, but De Grey's former chair Simon Lill already has his sights set on his next success, the newly listed explorer Ballard Mining (ASX:BM1). 'I get asked, why have I joined Ballard? And my answer is, my daughter wants me to retire, but it was actually just too good an opportunity,' Lill told reporters on the sidelines of Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie last week. 'The money came together fairly easily, so we're now well capitalised, well cashed up with lots of opportunities, and it's going to be an exciting, I'm going to say six months, but probably 18 months for the company.' Ballard was spun out of Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) and raised $30 million before listing on the ASX last month. Joining Lill on the board is former Calidus Resources chief operating officer Paul Brennan as managing director, former Ramelius Resources chief financial officer Tim Manners as finance director, and former Gold Fields VP Australasia Stuart Mathews and Delta MD James Croser as non-executive directors. Delta retained a 46% stake in the company, escrowed for two years, while the company's 'rock star share register' also includes Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources as substantial shareholders. Mt Ida underexplored Ballard's Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia's Goldfields has a resource of 10.3 million tonnes at 3.33 grams per tonne gold for 1.1 million ounces. 'We've got a million ounces here already without really trying, and it's just still scratching the surface, so who knows how big that can become?' Lill said. The project features 26km of two continuous, underexplored shear zones. 'It's amazing, I think, in general, in the broader Kalgoorlie region in the northeastern Goldfields, how much gold is still being discovered, and yet, I look at Ballard and that first discovery was in 2001 and it's hardly been touched since then,' Lill said. 'So it's not like we've done anything brilliant, but it's been a good discovery and we're going to keep adding to it. 'Even with my previous history at De Grey, we had 2 million ounces before we discovered Hemi, and we couldn't get any interest, but it was well known that there was gold in the region, so I think there's still going to be a lot more gold discovered.' The company has kicked off a 130,000m drilling program with four rigs. Around 80,000m of infill and extensional drilling is planned at the 930,000oz Baldock deposit, where the most recent program added 256,000oz in resources at an all-in cost of less than $25 an ounce. Baldock has more than 7km of strike to the north, with an average drilling depth of just 43m, which will also be aggressively tested. Ballard is targeting a resource update, targeting the addition of 400,000-500,000oz, and maiden reserve in the June 2026 quarter. Optionality The Baldock deposit sits on granted mining leases, meaning that Ballard could 'go mining fairly quickly'. Mt Ida sits within 100km of four operating gold mills, including Aurenne Group's own Mt Ida, Ora Banda Mining's Davyhurst, Vault Minerals' King of the Hills and Genesis Minerals' Leonora. 'I'd struggle to think there's a better place for gold developments than where we're situated,' Lill said. The closest mill to Mt Ida is privately owned Aurenne's 1.5 million tonne plant, which is just 6km away. 'It'll be logical to have discussions with Aurenne,' Lill said. 'The history around Kalgoorlie is that mills tend to be hungry, and they're always looking for new ore. 'There has been a lot of M&A in the gold industry recently, and that's probably going to continue.' Lill said the main aim of Ballard was to build its own plant. 'That's how you've got to approach these things,' he said. 'We're not setting ourselves up for takeover, but yes, obviously there's a lot of optionality. 'We would be silly not to talk to Aurenna or Ora Banda … I imagine they will look at us as a source of ore at some stage in the future.' Ballard has already had a strong first month as a listed company, rising to as high as 45c last week, against its 25c IPO price. Argonaut analyst Patrick Streater recently initiated coverage of Ballard with a speculative buy rating and 71c price target. 'BM1's timeline to production compares favourably against other WA gold developers, greatly benefiting from the existing mining leases in place, along with a board and MD with the necessary experience to build and operate Mt Ida,' he said.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
More gold jackpots lurking in WA dirt, top miner says
The man who helped unearth one of Australia's biggest recent gold finds says there's plenty more motherlodes in them thar hills. Former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill hit the jackpot when his exploration team discovered the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2020. Despite the region being better known for its rich iron ore reserves, the discovery gave De Grey one of the most valuable gold assets in development in Australia, estimated at more than 11 million ounces of ore. The timing could not have been better, with bullion prices soaring to record highs in the years since, leaving the company sitting on top of more than $55 billion worth of gold at current prices. So De Grey cashed in, with Australia's largest goldminer Northern Star snapping the company and its Hemi project up for $5 billion. The deal earned De Grey and Mr Lill the coveted Dealer of the Year award at the glitzy closing night ceremony of this year's Diggers and Dealers mining forum. "De Grey Mining exemplifies all that makes our industry great," the conference's organisers said. "Exceptional market validation driven by resource expansion and investor anticipation." Now chair of Ballard Mining, an ASX newbie spun out of Gina Rinehart-backed Delta Lithium along with its high-grade Mount Ida gold project, Mr Lill said there was plenty more gold to be found in the red WA dirt. "I used to work with a crusty old metallurgist," he said on Wednesday. "He said, if it's under-explored, there ain't nothing there, i.e. the old timers have found it all. I think the gold industry in recent years has proven that that is wrong." Ballard already claims more than one million ounces of gold in its deposit, but with more exploration underway at the site, Mr Lill is confident that figure is just scratching the surface. "The geologists from De Grey were convinced that there'll be another Hemi somewhere," he said. Right next door to Ballard's Mount Ida project is a processing plant owned by privately-held gold producer Aurenne Group. It was only logical at some stage to hold discussions with Aurenne about potentially acquiring the facility, Mr Lill said. Flush with cash from the surge in gold prices to more than $5200 an ounce, mergers and acquisitions was a hot topic among delegates at the three-day mining forum in Kalgoorlie. Another recent M&A participant, Ramelius Resources, scooped the Digger of the Year award. The mid-tier miner, which a week earlier completed its $2.4 billion takeover of gold play Spartan Resources, achieved a record 301,664 ounces of gold production last financial year, demonstrating "outstanding operational and financial performance". West African explorer Turaco Gold won the emerging company award while the GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Peter Cook, recognised for more than 40 years in the industry. A plane-load of workers was flown into Kalgoorlie to staff the gala dinner under the giant Diggers marquee on Wednesday night, before being flown back to Perth in the early hours of Thursday morning when the festivities had wrapped up.
West Australian
6 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
More gold jackpots lurking in WA dirt, top miner says
The man who helped unearth one of Australia's biggest recent gold finds says there's plenty more motherlodes in them thar hills. Former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill hit the jackpot when his exploration team discovered the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2020. Despite the region being better known for its rich iron ore reserves, the discovery gave De Grey one of the most valuable gold assets in development in Australia, estimated at more than 11 million ounces of ore. The timing could not have been better, with bullion prices soaring to record highs in the years since, leaving the company sitting on top of more than $55 billion worth of gold at current prices. So De Grey cashed in, with Australia's largest goldminer Northern Star snapping the company and its Hemi project up for $5 billion. The deal earned De Grey and Mr Lill the coveted Dealer of the Year award at the glitzy closing night ceremony of this year's Diggers and Dealers mining forum. "De Grey Mining exemplifies all that makes our industry great," the conference's organisers said. "Exceptional market validation driven by resource expansion and investor anticipation." Now chair of Ballard Mining, an ASX newbie spun out of Gina Rinehart-backed Delta Lithium along with its high-grade Mount Ida gold project, Mr Lill said there was plenty more gold to be found in the red WA dirt. "I used to work with a crusty old metallurgist," he said on Wednesday. "He said, if it's under-explored, there ain't nothing there, i.e. the old timers have found it all. I think the gold industry in recent years has proven that that is wrong." Ballard already claims more than one million ounces of gold in its deposit, but with more exploration underway at the site, Mr Lill is confident that figure is just scratching the surface. "The geologists from De Grey were convinced that there'll be another Hemi somewhere," he said. Right next door to Ballard's Mount Ida project is a processing plant owned by privately-held gold producer Aurenne Group. It was only logical at some stage to hold discussions with Aurenne about potentially acquiring the facility, Mr Lill said. Flush with cash from the surge in gold prices to more than $5200 an ounce, mergers and acquisitions was a hot topic among delegates at the three-day mining forum in Kalgoorlie. Another recent M&A participant, Ramelius Resources, scooped the Digger of the Year award. The mid-tier miner, which a week earlier completed its $2.4 billion takeover of gold play Spartan Resources, achieved a record 301,664 ounces of gold production last financial year, demonstrating "outstanding operational and financial performance". West African explorer Turaco Gold won the emerging company award while the GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Peter Cook, recognised for more than 40 years in the industry. A plane-load of workers was flown into Kalgoorlie to staff the gala dinner under the giant Diggers marquee on Wednesday night, before being flown back to Perth in the early hours of Thursday morning when the festivities had wrapped up.
West Australian
07-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Infinity sells Leonora copper asset to focus on core projects
Infinity Mining has executed a binding share sale agreement to transfer its interest in the Leonora Goldfields copper project in Western Australia as part of a tenement merger. The tenements will be transferred to ASX-listed WA and Northern Territory-based explorer Evergreen Lithium via private company U Resource. Under the deal, Infinity will become a substantial shareholder in Evergreen (EG1) and retain exposure to any upside from the Leonora Goldfields project. Management says the arrangement supports Infinity's longer-term strategy to liberate value from the company's non-core assets and sharpen its focus on advancing its core assets. Infinity owns a diverse portfolio of gold and copper projects in New South Wales, Victoria, WA's East Pilbara and the Central Goldfields. The company's immediate priority will be further exploration and development of its flagship Cangai copper project, about 50 kilometres northwest of Grafton in northeastern NSW. Infinity acquired Cangai, with its three exploration licences, last October. The project has a JORC (2012) compliant mineral resource estimate of 4.4 million tonnes inferred in-situ mineralisation at a grade of 2.5 per cent copper. The estimate includes an additional indicated resource of 0.2Mt at 1.35 per cent copper in historic stockpiles for about 114,000t of contained copper metal, with additional credits for zinc, gold and silver. Under the sale agreement, Evergreen will pay Infinity a $35,714 cash deposit within five days of execution. In turn, Infinity will be issued an upfront consideration of 8,928,571 Evergreen shares valued at $446,439 at a deemed price of $0.05 per share on completion of the transaction. Infinity will also be issued deferred Evergreen shares valued at $267,857, subject to shareholder approval, based on a 14-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) measured between April 11 and April 30, with a floor of $0.035 and a cap of $0.065 per share. Additionally, Infinity will receive a milestone consideration of $89,286 in Evergreen shares, based on a 14-day VWAP, which will be issued if Evergreen announces a JORC-compliant inferred resource greater than 100,000 ounces of gold within three years. The upfront and deferred considerations will be escrowed for 12 months from the date of issue of the upfront consideration. Infinity says the deal provides the additional funding it requires to advance its core projects. The deal opens the door for immediate value realisation and potentially to long-term growth, as the Leonora project is advanced by Evergreen's strong leadership team. Evergreen is chaired by Simon Lill, who played a key role in Northern Star's $5 billion acquisition of De Grey Mining. He is accompanied at Evergreen by newly-appointed non-executive director Steven Morris, who brings extensive gold mining expertise that includes previous roles at De Grey Mining and Auric Mining. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
