Latest news with #DeltaLithium
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
IPO Watch: Ballard Mining – the ‘new' gold explorer ready to hit the ground running
Delta Lithium spin-off Ballard Mining has raised $30m ahead of anticipated July 14 ASX listing Plan is to explore and develop 1.1Moz Mt Ida gold project in WA, including 930,000oz Baldock deposit 130,000m of drilling planned to prep potential mid-tier gold mine for investment decision Paul Brennan, the executive charged with bringing the ASX's newest gold explorer Ballard Mining to public markets, says the launch of its IPO has been "the great reveal". That's because the company's Mt Ida gold project has been, so to speak, hiding in plain sight. Sitting in the back pocket of Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and Gina Rinehart backed Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI), the project has quietly grown into one of the largest pre-development standalone WA gold assets on the ASX. Located west of the WA Goldfields towns of Menzies and Leonora, Mt Ida contains a resource of 1.1Moz of gold at 3.33g/t, scale and grade rarely found in a new explorer. The centrepiece is the Baldock deposit, a 930,000oz at 4.1g/t deposit quirkily named after St Kilda's sole premiership captain Darrel and odds-on to be become a gold mine before the Sainters crack a second. "I think it's been the great reveal. It's been sitting within Delta Lithium, people aren't going to go there looking for gold investments," Brennan, who once ran the large Carosue Dam gold operations in a three year stint with Raleigh Finlayson's Saracen Mineral Holdings, said. "In addition to the resource you're on granted mining leases, there's no native title, we're fully permitted for mining, we've submitted a works approval application to DWER (WA's Department for Water and Environmental Regulation) for a standalone processing plant. "There are three key risks. Resource risk is obviously always number one, metallurgy risk is number two and permitting risk is number three, because if you haven't got your permitting sorted, you haven't got a mine. " The advanced permitting status in particular, as well as the high-grade resource and the million ounces, will be what sets us apart from our peers." Big raise Ballard will come to the ASX, currently scheduled for July 14, stocked with $30 million to drive an expansive 130,000m exploration campaign. That's come in the form of a priority $5m raise to existing DLI investors, which will bring MinRes and Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting into the fold as foundation shareholders, along with a $25m public raising, both oversubscribed. With gold prices at US$3350/oz, there has been no shortage of admirers and it still screens value. Delta will maintain a ~46% stake, bolstering its balance sheet, and after an in-specie distribution to DLI shareholders Ballard will boast an EV of just $57m or $52/oz. To give a sense of how the open market is valuing junior gold stocks, when the IPO was launched neighbour Gorilla Gold Mines (ASX:GG8) was running at an EV to resource ounce ratio of $288/oz. Baldock has what it takes to be the centrifugal force for a significant gold project of mid-tier scale. Around 80,000m of infill and extensional drilling will be focused there, with the intention of eventually defining a reserve that could underpin the first half of a hoped for decade long mine life. 402,000oz at Baldock sit in the higher confidence indicated category. Around 50,000m of drilling will be pure exploration spend, tapping into 26km of underexplored greenstones, located along the shears known for hosting major gold deposits in the Goldfields. With any luck and solid exploration work, Mt Ida could be shepherded to a final investment decision in the next 18 months. "The first five years (will be) fully de-risked out of Baldock and then an additional five years based on exploration success which we're reasonably confident of," Brennan said. "We've got a site team who comes across from Delta to Ballard. So they've all been out there kicking rocks around for the last two or three years. "There's a lot of on-ground knowledge and they've already identified 20 walk-up drill targets. We're flying a high resolution magnetic survey in July just to firm up those targets and then we'll roll out with the rotary lie detector test probably early August to start on the exploration." Hot property It is with great irony that Mt Ida has come, effectively, full circle. The 19 tenements that comprise the Mt Ida gold and lithium projects were vended into the old TNT Mines in 2021 by a then struggling Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) for $11m. At the time, the project contained an outdated JORC 2004 resource of 318,000t at 13.8g/t for 141,000oz, though historic mining at the Timoni mine – 265,000oz at 1-2oz to the tonne from until 1960 – gave a sense of the site's potential. Later renamed Red Dirt Metals and then Delta Lithium, the landscape has transformed since. Delta uncovered swathes of untested pegmatites at the project which, separate to the known gold deposits, led to a maiden resource of 14.6Mt at 1.2% Li2O and 207ppm Ta2O5. As lithium prices climbed to record highs, ~$200m of fresh capital passed through the door along with major institutional backers in MIN, Gina, America's Waratah and Japan's Idemitsu. When lithium went south, the focus turned to maximising the value of the nearby gold resources, pushing critical mass beyond 1Moz in April this year. The demerger will unlock new capital for Ballard while conserving the balance sheet of Delta, which also owns the +20Mt Yinnetharra lithium project in WA's Gascoyne region, preserving its lithium deposits for the next battery metals boom. Ballard is a potential whale in an increasingly interesting but often overlooked gold hotspot. Just 6km to the south is the Mt Ida gold project owned by private Aurenne Group, which contains a 200 person camp and 1.5Mtpa CiL plant. Around 100km to the south sits Ora Banda, which under new management has become a $1.4bn gold miner at its Davyhurst gold mine, at last word on track to produce 95,000oz last financial year. "Ora Banda is probably a good analogue for us," Brennan said. "It's the same geology, same narrow vein, high-grade underground mining method – we certainly see Mount Ida as predominantly an underground operation. "Aurenne are friendly, we continue to talk to them, we currently give them water, we share an aerodrome. There's an ongoing relationship there. " Our plan is to continue to go for genuine standalone scale. " (But) there's four processing plants within 100km so that just gives us the flexibility and optionality which is great. We're not some stranded gold mine. It's the first rule of real estate, right? Postcode, postcode, postcode." The aforementioned Gorilla – market cap $240m – owns the high-grade Comet Vale underground near Menzies, close to where $220m capped Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) also owns a collection of gold deposits where production is planned to start next year. Institutional support The attractiveness of Ballard to new investors has been accentuated by corporate activity and growth among mid-tier miners capitalising on the booming gold price. That's hollowed out the field of sub-ASX 100 and ASX 200 stocks small cap funds can dabble in. "You've got companies like Capricorn, Genesis, and Ramelius all entering the ASX 100, if they haven't already," Brennan said. " They've had De Grey, Spartan and Gold Road obviously acquired. So there's six companies that for a lot of funds are un-investable because their mandates don't allow them to invest in the ASX 100, and there's another three that are gone completely. "That's certainly what we've seen during the IPO. We were surprised at the amount of institutional support we received and I think there's a big recycling of capital occurring there." Ballard's board brings with it a wealth of experience. Alongside MD and CEO Brennan and Delta MD James Croser (a non-exec director in his Ballard hat) are non-exec chair Simon Lill, hot on the heels of the successful sale of his explorer De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) to Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) in a $6bn scrip deal, and former Gold Fields Australasian boss Stuart Mathews. The most recent addition has been finance director and CFO Tim Manners, who brings top-tier pedigree including six years as CFO at Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS).
News.com.au
25-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Smart money bets on a lithium turnaround as these miners and explorers keep the faith
After gold, instos are most keen on putting their money into ... lithium? While prices are at four year lows, analysts are beginning to focus on when the price recovery will start Miners like Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson and explorer Delta Lithium lifting investment to capture the upside Lithium might be trading at cyclical lows, leading to some pretty grim headlines, but positive signs are emerging. A global survey of 90 institutional investors by London-based mining industry advisory firm Harbour found that roughly half were looking for upside exposure to the energy transition above anything else from equities in the natural resources space. Investors were asked which commodities were the most likely to see increased investment, with more than 80% across Australia, Canada, the US, UK and Europe citing gold as their top pick. While that figure isn't the least bit surprising, given where the price has gone, what jumped out in the research was an enthusiasm for lithium, the price of which has gone in the opposite direction. The research found that lithium edged out copper as the second most likely commodity to attract investment from instos in Australia (65%), Canada (59%), US (61%) and UK/Europe (63%). 'Investors clearly see natural resources equities as a way of getting leveraged exposure to the long-term energy transition thematic,' Harbour managing partner Chris Cann said. 'This largely explains the interest in battery metals and copper coming through in the numbers, but it is also potentially a reflection on a market that is calling the bottom for lithium and nickel.' Recovery coming? A report on the lithium sector from Argonaut last week pointed to positive demand drivers, with electric vehicles being the early driver and battery energy storage systems growing in importance. 'We estimate that global EV sales are up ~30% year-on-year in 2025, up from the ~20% average growth rate seen in 2024,' the report by head of research Hayden Bairstow said. 'Early data suggests that BESS demand growth in CY25 is up +40% YoY, outpacing EV demand growth.' According to Adamus Intelligence, 44,756t of lithium carbonate equivalent was deployed onto roads globally in the batteries of all newly sold passenger EVs combined in April, which was down 11% month-on-month but up 27% YoY. Earlier this month, Rho Motion reported that EV sales in May reached 1.6 million units, up 24% YoY and 8% MoM. Chinese EV sales surpassed one million units in a single month for the first time so far in 2025. EV sales for the first five months of the year reached 7.2 million units, with strong growth in Europe offsetting more sluggish growth in North America. While demand remains strong, the lithium market remains in oversupply. Argonaut forecasts a lithium price recovery to be rapid once the market swings to a modest deficit. 'We now expect spot spodumene prices to peak at US$1500/t in late 2026, which is likely to trigger a restart of existing capacity,' it said. 'A return to a balanced market is then forecast for 2027 before the widening deficit pushes prices higher in the long-term.' Argonaut has a long-term spodumene price of US$1600/t, which is as much as US$1000/t above the current spot price. It has buy ratings on producers Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), IGO (ASX:IGO) and Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and speculative buy ratings on advanced developers Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) and Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT). True believers Earlier this week, PLS boss Dale Henderson showed he was keeping the faith in a recovery with a substantial on-market share purchase. An ASX filing shows that Henderson acquired 755,000 shares on-market last week for just over $1 million. 'I have strong conviction in the long-term outlook for lithium and the opportunity it creates for PLS,' Henderson said in a statement to Stockhead. 'With a clear strategy, quality assets, and a high-performing team, we're well positioned for the future. 'Given limited trading windows, I took this opportunity to increase my holdings – alongside our shareholders.' It follows a $1.1 million on-market purchase of shares by Henderson in December. In a presentation to the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas this week, Henderson said lithium demand was expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of at least 15% per year between now and 2035. At the smaller end, Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) is another company not turning its back on the battery metal. The company is spinning out its gold assets into new company Ballard Mining in order to focus solely on its Yinnetharra and Mt Ida lithium resources in Western Australia. Delta even expanded its lithium holdings with recent acquisitions of tenure adjacent to Yinnetharra from Minerals 260 and Zeus Resources. 'Even though the market for lithium is at a really low ebb, it does afford us the opportunity to act countercyclically,' Delta managing director James Croser told Stockhead earlier this month. 'And when you've drunk enough of the Kool Aid that we have in terms of lithium, you really have to believe that the market will improve, and when it does, we hope to be in a much stronger position to capitalise and just win more value for our shareholders – that's what our motivation is.' Other companies to remain defiant in the face of the slump include Anson Resources (ASX:ASN), which this month reported a maiden resource for its Green River lithium project in Utah, Astute Metals (ASX:ASE), which yesterday reported the widest intercept yet from its Red Mountain project in Nevada, and Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC), which this month kicked off its maiden drill program at the Igrejinha lithium project in Brazil.
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Return of the IPO market good news for miners
IPOs have ground to a halt, with no mining listings on the ASX through May But a wave of new explorers and producers are about to hit the bourse Delta Lithium's gold spinout Ballard Mining and Telfer owner Greatland Gold among the high profile names While markets have been volatile in the past few months, a positive sign for the mining market is a pick-up in initial public offerings. Lion Selection Group (ASX:LSX) managing director Hedley Widdup recently pointed out that IPOs were one of the best barometers of the mining cycle because they reliably tracked liquidity. 'When liquidity is poor, it is very hard to achieve an IPO of an exploration company, and likewise when liquidity is freely flowing, investors gobble these up,' he said in Lion's recent quarterly report. In the peak of the market, in 2021, there were 105 mining IPOs. That fell to 64 in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 15 in 2024. There have technically been none yet this year. Canada's Marimaca Copper dual listed on the ASX earlier this year but as it did not raise funds, not a single share has traded in the two months since its debut. Southern Cross Gold Consolidated re-listed on the ASX with a new code after merging with Canada's Mawson Gold. 'In 2025 so far, there have been zero IPOs of resources companies that raised new money to achieve a brand-new listing, which is a litmus test that shows liquidity conditions generally remain subdued,' Widdup said. Test starts today Today, the ASX will welcome its first proper resources IPO this year when Robex Resources debuts. Robex is based in Perth but listed in Toronto and managing director Matt Wilcox recently said poor liquidity on the TSX was behind the move to Australia. The Jim Askew-chaired company, which operates a small mine in Mali and is developing the larger Kiniero mine in Guinea, raised $120 million in its IPO. Meanwhile, new Telfer owner, London-listed Greatland Gold, is pushing ahead with its ASX cross listing which is expected to raise $50 million. Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Atlantic, developer of the Nimba iron ore project in Guinea, is expected to launch an Australian IPO shortly. CEO Bronwyn Barnes, who also chairs ASX-listed explorer Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA), said Australia was the right place to list Ivanhoe. 'When you're talking about the market that understands iron ore, Australia is a perfect market for this company and for this product, and it also has a very strong familiarity of African projects,' she told the recent AFR Mining Summit. 'But a little bit more broadly than that, at Ivanhoe Atlantic, we've got a bit of a bigger vision about what we'd like to do, not only with the Nimba project, but other projects that we're interested in acquiring. 'And I think being present on the ASX platform gives us opportunities to either acquire or partner with other existing assets or companies on the development of other assets.' AIM-listed Ariana Resources and Toronto-listed Orezone Gold are also progressing Australian dual listings. Right time for Delta Last month, Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) announced it would spin out its Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia's Goldfields into new company Ballard Mining. Mt Ida has a resource of 10.3 million tonnes at 3.33 grams per tonne gold for 1.1 million ounces of gold. Delta managing director James Croser told Stockhead the company had focused on getting the Mt Ida gold project to a point where it could support a listing, which would allow Delta to countercyclically focus on its lithium projects. 'The gold market timing has lined up nicely as well, and it just seems like the best time for us to set it free,' he said. On Friday, Ballard lodged a prospectus for a $25-30 million IPO, led by Bell Potter Securities and Argonaut. 'The quantum of the raise was a much-discussed number,' Croser said. 'We felt we probably could have got some more, and the market would have delivered on that … the valuation we've put on those 1.1 million ounces that exist there, they're really compelling metrics, and the market will see that, and it has seen that, and a lot of the feedback we've got is that it is extremely well priced. 'That was by design, because you've got to leave something on the table for the new money to enjoy an uplift and you really want to establish that momentum early on in the life of a listing, and we think it's going to run pretty hard and be very successful, and I can't wait to see it happen.' Delta will retain a 46-49% stake in Ballard, depending on the final amount raised. Croser will sit on the board, which also features former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill, while Delta chief development officer Paul Brennan will resign to become managing director of Ballard. Former Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) chief financial officer Tim Manners will be Ballard's finance director, while Gold Fields' former Australian boss Stuart Mathews will be a non-executive director. Juniors awakening Ballard, which is aiming to hit the board in mid-July, isn't the only explorer on the way to the ASX. Bauxite developer VBX is scheduled to list on the ASX next week after launching a $10 million IPO last month. The company is planning to use the funds to complete a definitive feasibility study on its Wuudagu bauxite project in WA's Kimberley region, which has a resource of 95.9Mt and a reserve of 59.3Mt. VBX also holds the earlier stage Takapinga bauxite project in the Northern Territory. Last week, LinQ Minerals lodged a prospectus for an IPO to raise $7.5-10 million. LinQ is chaired by Clive Donner, a former investment banker and founder of mining private equity fund LinQ Group. The company owns the Gilmore copper-gold project, south of Evolution Mining's Cowal mine in New South Wales. Gilmore has a resource of 1.2 million ounces of gold and 120,000 tonnes of copper. LinQ is aiming to close the IPO on June 20 and list on July 4.
Daily Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
DLI gold spin-off Ballard has the right stuff
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Special Report: While junior explorers branching off non-core assets is hardly uncommon, it's not every day that a spin-off begins life with a gold asset with defined resources above the million-ounce mark. Delta Lithium's spin-off Ballard Mining will debut with a resource of more than a million ounces of gold Ballard will have an experienced team including chairman Simon Lill and Delta's chief development officer Paul Brennan as its MD Post-IPO activity will include drilling to boost existing and find new resources as well as work towards development That's exactly the exalted position that Delta Lithium's (ASX:DLI) spin-off Ballard Mining will enjoy once it hits the ASX, given that it will hold the Mt Ida project that has an inferred and indicated resource of 10.3Mt grading 3.33g/t, or 1.1Moz of contained gold following a recent resource upgrade. The upgrade came after Delta let the market know about the gold prospectivity of Mt Ida, where an initially modest gold resource had been defined from its lithium-focused drilling, then supercharged by targeted gold drilling over the last 6 months. Managing director James Croser told Stockhead in a video interview in late May that the company decided to spend $5-6m in September 2024 to specifically target gold. This proved to be money well spent after it delivered a resource that exceeded the company's target of a million ounces – the magical point where potential project lenders sit up and take notice. While no doubt thrilled by the find, the company then decided on a spin-off as it felt the funds used for drilling for gold had originally been raised for lithium exploration and Delta needed to honour that lithium commitment. Croser said that while the gold was a wonderful distraction to have, it not desirable to utilise cash raised from lithium investors for the significant sums needed to test the large gold potential at Mt Ida. 'It will take … $25-30m to advance the Delta gold assets at Mt Ida and we decided the best way to do that was in a separate vehicle,' he noted. Golden credentials This led to the decision to spin-off Mt Ida into Ballard Mining, which will raise between $25m (minimum subscription) and $30m (maximum subscription) through an initial public offering priced at 25c per share to fund exploration. Delta shareholders will retain exposure to the gold asset as they will receive one fully paid Ballard share for every 11.25 Delta shares they own as part of the spin-out while Delta itself will hold between 46% and 49% of the new company depending on the take-up of the IPO. 'Ballard will be raising $30m and that'll be 100% dedicated to gold exploration growth and development at the Mt Ida gold asset and Delta gets to ride that wave. (We) will still be exposed via our shareholding in Ballard but we will be a pure lithium business,' Croser said. While this funding will allow the new gold company to go all out with exploration, the composition of its leadership is also headline-worthy. Chairing the board will be Simon Lill of De Grey Mining fame while Delta's chief development officer Paul Brennan will be leaving to take up the helm as Ballard's managing director. Lill oversaw De Grey from its beginnings as a gold minnow and through its explosive growth following discovery of the renowned Hemi asset and its eventual acquisition by Northern Star (ASX:NST), which wrapped up in May this year. Former Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) chief financial officer Tim Manners will also step down as a non-executive director of Delta to take up an executive position at Ballard to assist Brennan. 'Stuart Matthews used to be the executive vice president of Goldfields Australia, so he'll be a non-executive director. And I'll be there as a non-exec looking after Delta's interests,' Croser said. Gold resources at Mt Ida. Pic: Delta Lithium Watch: Perfect timing for a golden move at Mt Ida Expansion plans This team will oversee an ambitious work program that could deliver significant progress towards a final investment decision for Mt Ida, which covers some 250km2 of ground. 'Ballard's going to be a very exciting proposition with $30m to spend on the growth piece at Mount Ida,' Croser said. 'They'll be exploring the 26 kilometres of strike around the Copperfield Granite, which really hasn't had any serious gold exploration outside the Baldock area for decades, if ever. 'Everyone's been drilling holes around the Baldock deposit, and that's yielded 930,000 ounces. So a big portion of the use of funds will be looking to expand the gold resources and find another Baldock.' He added that infill drill at Baldock could underpin a pretty good mine reserve. Besides Baldock, the recent resource upgrade also increased resources at the Kestrel deposit to 53,000oz at 1.7g/t gold and defined maiden contained resources of 33,000oz, 40,000oz and 11,000oz for the Bombay, West Knell and Jupiter deposits. The regional drilling and infill work at Baldock will help complete metallurgical and geotechnical studies to a DFS level and progress the project towards FID. A works approval has already been submitted for a processing plant with capacity of up to 1.5Mtpa and associated tailings storage facility. On listing Ballard will also start the process of converting exploration leases into mining leases for regional resources. In-principle approval for the demerger has already been received from the ASX. Delta itself will be busy carrying out exploration at the newly expanded Yinnetharra lithium project following the acquisition of the adjacent Aston project that gives it a dominant position over the Thirty-Three supersuite granites, which are proven to be the source for the Malinda and Jameson deposits. This article was developed in collaboration with Delta Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Delta spin-off Ballard's star team and big gold inventory will be its key drivers
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minerals 260 sells Aston lithium-REE project tenements to Delta Lithium
Australian miner Minerals 260 has signed a binding agreement with Delta Lithium to sell its Aston lithium-rare earth elements (REE) project tenements in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (WA). The transaction includes a A$450,000 cash payment upon completion of the sale. It also includes a 1.5% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on future sales of lithium and associated minerals from the site such as tantalum, caesium, beryllium and rubidium contained within the lithium-bearing ores. The NSR royalty offers Minerals 260 shareholders long-term exposure to potential future exploration benefits at the Aston project. The Aston project is situated adjacent to Delta's Yinnetharra lithium project. The sale and purchase agreement stipulates 100% disposal of the tenements, which includes a total of 17 tenements listed under various codes. The completion of the disposal is set to occur within five business days following the receipt of Ministerial consent under the Mining Act to transfer two of the tenements, or within 30 days after executing the agreement. Until the completion of the sale, Minerals 260 is responsible for maintaining the tenements in good standing. The sale of the Aston project aligns with the company's strategy to focus on the exploration and development of the Bullabulling gold project, located 25km south-west of Coolgardie in WA. The Bullabulling gold project has the potential for an open-pit mining operation. The project has a JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate of 60 million tonnes at 1.2 grams per tonne gold, equating to 2.3 million ounces of gold. The project spans a contiguous 570km² tenement package and offers significant exploration prospects. In April 2025, Minerals 260 raised capital before costs of $220m to develop the Bullabulling project. "Minerals 260 sells Aston lithium-REE project tenements to Delta Lithium" 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.
