Pic: John W Banagan / Stone via Getty Images
Mining
A mineral sands producer and a potash company were popular among investors on the third day of the Diggers & Dealers conference while some gold companies lost a bit of their shine.
Australian mineral sands producer Image Resources (ASX:IMA) rose 3 per cent Wednesday, as the company outlined plans for its Boonanarring project in WA’s Perth basin.
One of the highest-grade, zircon-rich mineral sands projects in Australia, Boonanarring started production in December 2018, and has already exceeded its name plate capacity.
Image Resources twice revised its market guidance for the 2019 financial year after achieving higher than expected production and lower operating costs.
Year-to-date sales for the company are 200,000 tonnes and the company has offtake sales with two Chinese customers for 130,000 tonnes in the December quarter.
“The achievement of record sales for the September quarter demonstrates that market demand for Image’s heavy mineral concentrate remains strong and is a reflection on improving economic conditions within China,” managing director, Patrick Mutz, said.
Forecast production and shipments for each of the 2020 and 2021 financial years are 300,000 to 330,000 tonnes, and all-in cash costs are expected to fall to $315-$345 per tonne in 2021.
Shares in Salt Lake Potash (ASX:SO4) also floated 3 per cent higher after speaking about its $264m Lake Way project in WA that is 20 months into its 24-month construction period.
Lake Way has offtake agreements with major global distributors including Indagro, Unifert, and Fertisur for 224,000 tonnes per year of its 245,000 tonnes/year forecast production.
“The market for sulphate of potash has remained extremely resilient over the course of 2020 despite the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19,” said chief executive, Tony Swiericzuk, in the company’s 2020 annual report.
Eight ASX stocks scheduled to give presentations at the Diggers & Dealers event saw no movement in their share prices, including gold and rare earth companies.
This was on a day that the All Ordinaries index of 500 ASX stocks was relatively flat at 6,387 points, down 0.2 per cent on day.
Among the non-movers share price wise was Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK), famous for its recent Boda gold discovery in NSW, Breaker Resources (ASX:BRB) which has made three new discoveries for gold this year at its Lake Roe project east of Kalgoorlie, and Calidus Resources (ASX:CAI), with its Warrawoona gold project near Marble Bar in north-west WA.
Other share price non-movers on the day were rare earths producer Lynas Corp (ASX:LYC) which has recently completed a $425m capital raising to fund its Kalgoorlie processing plant.
Also presenting were Regis Resources (ASX:RRL), owner of the Duketon gold project in WA, Red 5 (ASX:RED), operator of the Darlot and King of the Hills gold mines in WA, De Grussa and Monty copper-gold mines owner Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) and WA nickel miner Western Areas (ASX:WSA).
| ASX ticker | Company | Price ($) | 1 Day % Change | 1 Year % Change | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RRL | Regis Resources | 5.1 | 0 | 2.2044 | $2.6B |
| RED | Red 5 | 0.29 | 0 | -13.4328 | $571.5M |
| IGO | IGO Limited | 4.35 | -4 | -30.4 | $2.7B |
| LYC | Lynas Corp | 2.7 | 0 | 2.1457 | $2.4B |
| BRB | Breaker Resources | 0.21 | 0 | -40 | $68.4M |
| SO4 | Salt Lake Potash | 0.59 | 3 | -26.6136 | $335.8M |
| CAI | Calidus Resources | 0.645 | 0 | 138.8889 | $173.6M |
| IMA | Image Resources | 0.2 | 3 | -24.5283 | $191.1M |
| DEG | De Grey Mining | 1.34 | -1 | 2019.0476 | $1.7B |
| RSG | Resolute Resources | 0.975 | -1 | -22.3108 | $1.1B |
| BGL | Bellevue Group | 1.23 | -1 | 119.6429 | $1.0B |
| WGX | West Gold | 2.67 | -2 | 15.0732 | $1.1B |
| WSA | Western Areas | 2.25 | 0 | -26.4706 | $618.9M |
| SFR | Sandfire Resources | 4.36 | 0 | -31.4465 | $779.0M |
| ALK | Alkane Resources | 1.43 | 0 | 81.1939 | $854.0M |
Some Diggers & Dealers presenting companies saw their share prices fall on the day.
Tropicana gold mine 30 per cent-owner IGO Limited (ASX:IGO), which is repositioning itself as a nickel and copper producer, lost 4 per cent in ASX trade.
Debt-free West Gold Resources (ASX:WGX), with its Cue, Fortnum and Meekatharra gold operations in WA and $137.5m in cash on its balance sheet, dropped 2 per cent Wednesday.
Discoverer of the Hemi gold prospect in WA’s Pilbara region, De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG), edged 1 per cent lower in ASX trade, but is up a market-leading 2019 per cent for the year to date.
As did two other gold companies – Resolute Resources (ASX:RSG) focused on West Africa, and Bellevue Group (ASX:BGL), with its eponymous WA gold project.
At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While De Grey Mining is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
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