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TO BE NUMBER 1 IN WHAT WE DO
DIGGeRs & DeALeRs PReVIeW MACA.NET.AU

what has won over investors.
“To be quite honest, that was the mes-
saging that was coming through prior to
the IPO and we think we’ve certainly deliv-
ered in spades on that front from an inves-
tor perspective,” Albert said.
“Investors have jumped in with both
feet. Some of them are long – very long –
strong institutional investors and they’re in
there, boots and all, so to speak.”
29Metals investor relations group man-
ager Michael Slifirski said the company’s
“niche” offering and different risk profile
to other copper producers also resonated
strongly with the market.
“We’re doing what’s been done for
the past 30 years – it’s the same mining
method, the same mineral processing,
the same sort of grades – and we haven’t
gone off to foreign countries for exposure With business synergies in mind, the reopening of the WA borders allowed 29Metals the
to some of the emerging commodities chance to finally send key personnel from the east coast over to Golden Grove
which attract a different kind of investor,”
Slifirski said.
“There’s a degree of certainty with has been ongoing there since January these commodity prices, we’re going to be
29Metals and, in terms of the outlook, with results from the initial reconnaissance very judicious about what we look at,” he
we’re not changing anything fundamen- work due imminently. said.
tally. There’s a solid core of history that Albert said the door remained open “Anything we may do has to be accretive
we can leverage and continue to improve for 29Metals to take on other operational in value for our shareholders and for the
from, rather than reinvent in a different assets should they be suitable, although business. I’ve said on a number of occa-
metal, different mining method or different M&A appears now less of a priority for the sions now that we are in a position where
mineralogy.” company given the solid growth at Golden we don’t need to be out there chasing
The long-awaited opening of interna- Grove and Capricorn Copper. anything down. We’ve actually got good
tional borders also allowed 29Metals chief “We’re always in the market for good assets with good growth potential, as well
geologist Mark van Heerden the chance to opportunities, but given we have two high as good exploration opportunities on our
visit the company’s Redhill project in Chile quality assets in Tier 1 jurisdictions and plate. So yes, we’re always interested to
for the first time in three years. Exploration the market is red hot, so to speak, with look around but we’re also blessed in that
we don’t need to either.”
Like many companies of its size, 29Met-
als has placed a great emphasis on the
best ESG and sustainability practices. Al-
bert said it was important for the company
to do as much as possible in this area if
both long-life operations are to continue
ticking over for decades to come as pro-
jected.
“You’ve got to keep listening to the com-
munities around how they want to be in-
volved and what they want from the opera-
tion,” he said. “You always want to leave
behind a better legacy than you had when
you were there.
“We’ve been going for 30 years and if we
go for another 30 years, when you’ve got
that sort of mine life, you’re able to make
significant improvements and provide op-
portunities for people on a continual basis.
“It evolves; what was good for the com-
munity at one point in time will change over
a period of time so you’ve got to be very
alive to that and continue the dialogue and
the open engagement all the time.”
– Michael Washbourne
Organic growth is a high priority for 29Metals

Page 86 JULY 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT