Alkane Resources Acquisition Update
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Alkane Resources Acquisition update Genesis of a golden opportunity Metals & mining 24 September 2019 Alkane Resources (ALK.ASX) has had a busy summer with exceptional drill results from its Northern Molong Gold-Copper Porphyry Project, Price A$0.77 continued local and regional resource drilling at Tomingley, and the Market cap A$390m acquisition of a 15.1% interest in Genesis Minerals (GMD.ASX) for A$6.3m. The acquisition is part of Alkane’s growth strategy to increase its Net cash (A$m) at 30 June 2019 A$69.6m shareholder value by investing a portion of its significant cash balance Shares in issue 506.1m (A$69.6m) into junior gold companies or projects that have high exploration potential or require near-term development funding. Genesis is Free float 78% the second investment Alkane has made in line with this strategy, the first Code ALKX being a 13.0% holding in Calidus Resources (CAI.ASX). Primary exchange ASX Secondary exchange OTCQX Revenue PBT* EPS* DPS P/E Yield Year end (A$m) (A$m) (c) (c) (x) (%) Share price performance 06/18 128.8 31.5 0.05 0.00 15.4 N/A 06/19 92.5 26.2 0.05 0.00 15.4 N/A 06/20e 63.7 20.7 0.03 0.00 25.7 N/A 06/21e 76.9 23.6 0.05 0.00 15.4 N/A Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments. Drilling at Northern Molong returns excellent results Alkane’s recent drilling at the Northern Molong Porphyry Project returned exciting results including a huge intercept of 502m at a grade of 0.48g/t Au and 0.20% Cu. Based on these results, Alkane is prioritising a follow-up drill programme. % 1m 3m 12m Genesis Minerals acquisition Abs 92.5 81.2 220.8 Rel (local) 85.6 77.8 194.8 Genesis is a junior gold exploration and development company. Its principal project is the Ulysses Gold Project, located in Western Australia. Ulysses has a resource 52-week high/low A$0.78 A$0.19 estimate of 760,400oz Au at a grade of 3.3g/t Au. Recent exploration at Ulysses Business description demonstrated the presence of gold mineralisation at near-mine and regional targets. Genesis has been drilling these targets and is expected to complete a Alkane Resources is an Australian production and development company. It previously produced resource update in Q419 with a feasibility study due by the end of the year. 70,000oz of gold per year from the open-pit operations at its Tomingley gold mine, but is now Edison gold price forecasts updated transitioning to underground operations and expects to produce around 32,000oz of gold pa. We have adjusted our gold price assumptions to those set out in our recent report Portents of economic weakness: Gold – doves in the ascendant. Next events Q120 results 30 October 2019 Valuation: Tomingley upside yet to be factored in Q220 results 30 January 2020 We have updated our valuation of Alkane considering our revised gold price Analyst forecasts, the FY19 results, timing of development at the Dubbo Project, Alkane’s Dr Ryan D Long +44 (0)20 3077 5700 current share price and its investments. We do not consider the potential to extend [email protected] the mine life at Tomingley from local and regional exploration. As a result of these Edison profile page changes, our valuation of Tomingley decreases to A$0.26/share from A$0.33/share, and our valuation of Tomingley and Alkane’s investments decreases to A$0.29/share from A$0.34/share. Assuming Alkane secures development funding Alkane Resources is a for Dubbo and the prices of metals improve to the level it expects over the coming research client of Edison years, our valuation of Alkane could increase to A$0.97/share (from A$0.53/share). Investment Research Limited Northern Molong Porphyry Project The Northern Molong Porphyry Project is 100% owned by Alkane and is located around 80km to the north-east of Alkane’s operational Tomingley Gold Mine, in the Central West of New South Wales (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 1: Location of the Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NMPP) Source: Discovery of Significant Porphyry Gold-Copper Mineralisation at Boda Prospect within Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NSW), Alkane Resources, 9 September 2019 The project is contained within the Molong Volcanic Belt, which also contains Newcrest Mining’s (NCM.ASX) Cadia Valley Mines to the south (Exhibit 9). Cadia Valley has a JORC compliant mineral resource estimate of 38moz Au at a grade of 0.37g/t Au, 8.3mt of copper at a grade of 0.26% Cu and 67moz of silver at a grade of 0.68g/t Ag. Newcrest produced 913koz of gold from the series of mines that makes up Cadia Valley last year at an impressive AISC of US$132/oz Au (post by-product credits), generating US$965m of free cash flow before tax. Alkane’s exploration has revealed that the Northern Molong Porphyry Project contains similar stratigraphy to that of the Cadia Valley Mines, though it is more structurally complex. The project is comprised of three exploration licences: Bodangora, Kaiser and Finns Crossing. The three licences cover a combined area of 110km2. Alkane has defined five magnetic anomalies interpreted to be intrusive complexes – Kaiser, Boda, Comobella, Driell Creek and Finns Crossing – all located within a 15km north-west to south-east trending corridor (Exhibit 2). Alkane Resources | 24 September 2019 2 Exhibit 2: A map of the five magnetic anomalies Source: Discovery of Significant Porphyry Gold-Copper Mineralisation at Boda Prospect within Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NSW), Alkane Resources, 9 September 2019 To date, four of these targets have been tested: Kaiser, Boda, Comobella and Glen Hollow. Gold mineralisation has been discovered at three of these: Boda, Kaiser and Glen Hollow. Results from this follow-up drill programme include: ◼ 502m at a grade of 0.48g/t Au and 0.20% Cu from 211m and 35.8m at a grade of 0.21g/t Au and 0.49% Cu from 735m (KSDD003) at the Boda Prospect. ◼ 40m at a grade of 1.3g/t Au and 0.22% Cu from surface (KRSC027) and 32m at 0.53g/t Au and 0.22% Cu from 2m (KSRC029) from drilling at the Kaiser Prospect. ◼ 42m at a grade of 0.27g/t Au and 0.19% Cu from 63m (COMRC045) from drilling at the Glen Hollow Prospect. Alkane is now prioritising a follow-up drill programme to determine the scale of its discoveries. Alkane Resources | 24 September 2019 3 Genesis Minerals (GMD.ASX) Alkane Resources has acquired a total holding in Genesis Minerals of 199,433,766 shares, subject to completion this week, for A$6.3m at an average price of A$0.032 per share, giving it a 15.1% interest in the company. Genesis Minerals is an ASX-listed gold exploration and development company that owns 100% of the Ulysses Gold Project and a 65% interest in the Barimaia Gold Project, located in Western Australia (Exhibit 3). The company has a market capitalisation of A$48.9m with 1.3bn shares in issue. Exhibit 3: Location of the Ulysses and Barimaia gold Exhibit 4: Regional gold deposits and towns around projects the Ulysses Project Source: Genesis Minerals Limited website Source: Genesis Minerals Limited website The Ulysses Gold Project The Ulysses Gold Project is located 30km south of the town of Leonora and 200km north of the major regional mining hub of Kalgoorlie (Exhibit 4). The project has a total JORC 2012 compliant mineral resource estimate of 760,400oz Au at a grade of 3.3g/t, with a higher-grade core of 628,400oz Au at a grade of 4.7g/t Au (Exhibit 5). Exhibit 5: JORC 2012 compliant mineral resource estimate Deposit Resource category Tonnes (t) Au grade (g/t) Contained Au (oz) Ulysses (COG 0.75g/t) Measured 33,000 4.1 4,350 Indicated 4,154,000 3.5 467,439 Inferred 2,932,000 3.0 282,798 Total 7,119,000 3.3 760,400 Ulysses (COG 2.0g/t) Measured 29,000 4.4 4,102 Indicated 2,463,000 5.0 395,936 Inferred 1,647,000 4.3 227,694 Total 4,139,000 4.7 628,400 Source: Mineral Resource at Ulysses Soars 137% to 760,000oz, Genesis Minerals Limited, 9 October 2018 Alkane Resources | 24 September 2019 4 The Ulysses deposit was previously mined by Sons of Gwalia NL in 2002. After producing 24,985oz Au from the shallow Ulysses Open Pit (Exhibit 6), mining was terminated due to a combination of the low prevailing gold price and a 4.75% royalty that was due to become payable after the production of 25,000oz Au. This high royalty over the project has since been extinguished. Exhibit 6: Photograph of the Ulysses open pit mined by Sons of Gwalia in 2002 Source: Acquisition of Ulysses Gold Project, Genesis Minerals Limited, 9 June 2015 Genesis agreed to acquire the project, announced on 9 June 2015, for A$100,000 in shares and A$275,000 in cash plus an expenditure commitment of A$300,000 and further payments based on toll treatment volumes. Genesis produced 6,917oz Au from the Ulysses West Open Pit (Exhibit 7) via a toll-treatment agreement with the Paddington Mill (commenced October 2016 and ended in May 2017). Exhibit 7: Photograph of the Ulysses West Open Pit mined by Genesis Minerals 2016–17 Source: First Gold Ore Dispatched from Ulysses, Genesis Minerals Limited, 14 November 2016 A scoping study for the development of an underground mining operation at the project (Exhibit 8) (announced 23 November 2018) demonstrated the potential for the annual production of 89,500oz Au over a four-year mine life.