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NEWS

Barton hits the bourse

by Fraser Palamara

t was only minutes after a phone call to GMJ that managing sit around and think about what we’re going to do for the next six
Idirector Alexander Scanlon received the greenlight for months.”
Barton Gold Holdings Ltd to officially list on the ASX. Scanlon’s gumption to explore Gawler Craton’s potential is
Barton shares began trading on June 28 following an perhaps imprinted from childhood experience and his family’s
oversubscribed $15 million IPO which closed within just five investment in an Idaho-based gold mine that instilled a sense of
days. Investors poured in from a diverse range of both retail and wonder for the outdoors and mining.
institutional spenders, both from Australia and abroad, to amount “It really sparked an early interest in mining, and an early
for the required 500 shareholders. appreciation for the benefit of mining being a real asset – the fact
Now all eyes fall upon Barton to meet expectations across its large that you can touch it and feel it,” he said.
exploration tenure in South Australia’s Gawler Craton region. “Also, the real enjoyment and pleasure of getting out in these
Scanlon, an Atlanta-born and Seattle-raised financial economist, areas where you have mining projects, getting out there in the
displays pure determination to satisfy the hunger of his field, enjoying the outdoors – the spirit of adventure with going out
shareholders. to site…it’s just simply good for the soul. My wife jokingly teases
“We are very excited to get going, we’ve done a lot of work me and calls me Indiana Jones.”
during the past two years,” he told GMJ. “We are starting work Barton joins a growing throng of explorers receiving the benefits
immediately.” of the SA Government’s Accelerated Discovery Initiative, which
Barton is exploring two projects 600km north west of Adelaide – provides up to $300,000 in co-funding for expenditure programs.
Tarcoola and Tunkillia – supported by full ownership of Challenger, “[SA] is one of the most geologically interesting and richly
the only gold mill in the region. The company will now undertake mineralised domains in Australia. It’s a region that quietly fell out
10,000m of drilling this quarter followed by additional geophysical of favour, or out of interest, for the past 20 years or so,” Scanlon
studies at Tarcoola. said.
“We’re going to hit the ground running; we’re going to hit the “The SA Government, credit to them, have been very, very
ground very hard,” Scanlon said. “We didn’t raise this money to supportive of our efforts in this area. They were very supportive
of our acquisition and preservation of this asset
package back in 2019 and we continue to work
with them to get a better understanding of
where they would like to see exploration and
development being revitalised in the region.”
The IPO netted Barton plenty of positive press
but Scanlon insists the company won’t be exiting
the spotlight just yet.
“I think the market investors can expect to see a
lot of news flow from us,” he said,
“[There will be] a lot of updates…just keeping
people informed as to what we’re doing. We
think the story around these assets is really yet
to be understood by the market.”
Scanlon said it was his understanding that
Barton was the first exploration company to list
on the ASX ahead of schedule this year.
Barton hit the bourse less than a week after
Codrus Minerals Ltd and Torque Metals Ltd rang
the bell to signal their respective debuts. Other
gold-focused IPOs waiting in the queue at the
time of print included Gold 50 Ltd, Monger Gold
Barton managing director Alexander Scanlon (right) with geologists Daniel Taylor and
Colin Skidmore on site at Tarcoola Ltd, Pacgold Ltd and Victory Goldfields Ltd.

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