Monsters of Rock: Is this producer responsible for 3.85Moz of counterfeit gold?

Claims 109 tonnes of fake gold were produced by Indo state-owned Antam are fake, it says.
Gold major Perseus kicks off feasibility (advanced) studies on its recently acquired Nyanzaga project in Tanzania
James Bay lithium stalwart Patriot Battery Metals raises C$75m via ‘flow through’ offering to instos

Your large cap ASX mining news for Friday, May 31.

Accusations that 109t (3.85Moz) of counterfeit gold were produced between 2010-2021 by Indo state-owned company Antam (ASX:ATM) are untrue, it says.

According to media reports, a handful of high level Antam employees illegally produced precious metals under the LM Antam brand, which was stamped and then circulated alongside genuine Antam LM products.

But the company says all Antam precious metal gold products are processed at the only refiner in Indonesia and have been certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LMBA).

Therefore it can be ascertained that all ANTAM products circulating in the community are genuine, says the company, which sold 230,000oz gold in the March quarter.

Gold major Perseus (ASX:PRU) is wasting no time, kicking off feasibility (advanced) level mining studies on its recently acquired Nyanzaga project in Tanzania.

PRU battled TSX-listed Silvercorp to acquire the proposed 234,000ozpa Nyanzaga project via the $270 million takeover of OreCorp (ASX:ORR).

A final investment decision on building the project is expected by year end, with the aim of first production in Q1 2027.

One of the world’s most consistent and lowest cost gold miners, PRU now has three operating mines currently producing at a rate of +500,000ozpa and two high-quality development projects – Nyanzaga and the 3.34Moz Meyas Sand project in Sudan.

James Bay lithium stalwart Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) just raised C$75m via ‘flow through’ offering to instos.

This Canadian mining sector tax-based capital raising incentive is ostensibly good for companies and their investors. It is also being curtailed/reduced on June 25, which is why PMT rushed this one through.

What is a ‘flow through’ offering, exactly?

“Where a company issues flow-through shares, that company renounces its Canadian exploration and development expenditures to Canadian taxpayers (who in turn can utilise those tax deductions for their own income tax purposes),” says global law firm DLA Piper.

“The value attached to a company’s ability to renounce this expenditure in the hands of Canadian taxpayers means that certain Australian companies with exploration and development projects in Canada have been able to utilise flow-through shares to raise capital at a premium to the prevailing market price for their securities (in turn minimising the dilutive impact of the raising).”

The raise was conducted atC$14.54/sh, a huge 51% premium to the share price when it was announced May 22.

PMT’s Corvette property hosts the 109.2Mt at 1.42% Li2O CV5 deposit, the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), and one of the top 10 largest lithium pegmatite resources in the world.

Corvette hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, which is what this new cash will be used for.

An updated resource for CV5 is also due late Q3.