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IPOs spinning into fashion

he pipeline of new resources floats to constrain us as far as the amount of projects in the Lachlan Fold Belt, New
Tseeking to join the ASX continues to ounces we could develop on that site,” South Wales, for the remainder of the
flow at a very rapid rate, with the number Marston said. calendar year after raising $10 million to
of proposed spin-outs and dual listings “It’s always been very much a second- add an ASX listing to its original Cana-
also on the rise. tier project to our main focus which is dian domicile.
It was reported last month that there exploring for a big copper deposit up in Having debuted on the TSX in 2011 on
were more than 100 fresh IPOs and re- the Bryah Basin and so we got to a point the back of acquiring a suite of Mongo-
verse takeovers across multiple indus- where we thought now was the time to lian assets with porphyry potential, Kin-
tries queuing up to list on arguably the monetise it. And that’s when Star Miner- cora switched its focus to Australia two
world’s most buoyant exchange for in- als first approached us. years ago and now believes the ASX is
vestors in the current economic climate. “We really advanced it as far as we the natural market for the company.
Many of those are understood to be con- could without actually spending too much Kincora president Sam Spring said it
nected to the mining and exploration sec- more money on the asset and certainly was not unusual for investors to want to
tors. it’s going to need probably $1 million for tip their money into assets which were
As Paydirt went to print with this edi- final drilling and preparation before you located in the same time zone as them.
tion, three companies – Bastion Metals can actually get tonnes on to a truck. So, “I think they just understand what’s go-
Ltd, Firebird Metals Ltd and Tulla Re- we were of the view that if we can work ing on in their own backyard a lot better
sources plc – were ringing the bell to with these guys to put it into an IPO, that than they do if the project is overseas,”
signal their respective arrivals on the was going to deliver the best value for Spring told Paydirt.
bourse, while at least seven more new Bryah shareholders.” “We raised some money in August last
resources floats were poised to do the Bryah is set to hold 21.6% of Star upon year and one of the commitments we
same within a matter of weeks. listing, with the potential to increase that made was to dual list on the ASX but also
Firebird was the vehicle Firefly Re- position to over 30% through conversion to address one of the weaknesses we felt
sources Ltd set up last year after mak- of performance rights, culminating in first we’ve got in that over 50% of the regis-
ing the decision to divest of its non-core gold production at Tumblegum South, lo- ter is in institutional hands, which really
Oakover manganese project and focus cated within the company’s Gabanintha doesn’t help in terms of liquidity.”
solely on development of the Yalgoo gold project near Meekatharra. Morgans and Bridge St Capital were
project. Star is looking to raise $5 million for its the joint lead managers of Kincora’s IPO
Spin-outs of non-core or unwanted IPO, an amount Marston believes will be for the ASX.
assets appear to be the popular choice more than adequate for the likely two- The Kincora team includes seasoned
for many companies needing to down- year timeframe it would take to develop porphyry experts John Holliday and Pe-
size their portfolios for one reason or the project. ter Leaman, who have been respectively
another, while still retaining some value “What sets Star Minerals apart from credited in the discoveries of Cadia and
for shareholders. The likes of Blackstone the market’s perspective is that they’ve Reko Diq. Former long-serving Rio Tinto
Minerals Ltd (Codrus Minerals Ltd) and actually got an asset which has a path- Ltd executive Cameron McRae is the
Jadar Resources Ltd (Balkan Mining and way to production and cash flow within company’s chairman.
Minerals Ltd) recently announced plans that standard two-year horizon after an Spring said the IPO funds will allow
to bundle such assets into new vehicles, IPO,” Marston said. the company to sink some 20,000m of
allowing management to focus solely on “We’ve spoken to the guys at Star drilling into its flagship Trundle project,
the development of their respective flag- about the future of that organisation and about 30km from Northparkes. Drill pro-
ship projects. whilst Tumblegum South is the first de- grammes are also planned for the Fair-
Byrah Resources Ltd announced last velopment they’re going to work on, they holme and Nyngan prospects.
month it was vending its Tumblegum have some good exploration ground as “We’re a pretty established team, all
South project (resource of 600,000t @ well and once you’ve got cash you can bringing complementary skillsets to the
2.2 g/t gold for 42,500oz) into the Mel- start looking at all sorts of opportunities, table and knowing how to go about busi-
bourne-based unlisted public company especially within that Meekatharra re- ness in right manner,” Spring said.
Star Minerals Ltd for $500,000 cash, 9 gion.” “An awful lot of IPOs are very early-
million shares and 7 million performance “The market is still clearly open for stage exploration plays, but we’ve al-
options. IPOs. The gold price might have come ready got two rigs going at Trundle, so
Star must undertake an IPO and be off a little bit over the last few months, but this isn’t the sort of raising to start at
approved to join the ASX before May 31 it’s still very positive and it’s had a little bit the very beginning of that cycle. We’ve
for the transaction to be finalised. an uptick of late. I still think there’s plenty raised money to accelerate and broaden
Bryah managing director Neil Marston of appetite for this kind of story.” our activities.”
said vending Tumblegum South into an- Marston expects his company will be The Lachlan Fold Belt became one of
other company while retaining some up- kept busy over the next nine months with the hottest exploration destinations on
side in its future development was the non-stop drilling at both its copper and the planet following Alkane Resources
best option on the table for his business. manganese projects in the Byrah Basin, Ltd’s discovery of Boda back in 2019.
“The limiting factor for Tumblegum beginning with an 8,000m RC and dia- Spring said the region remained very ac-
South is it’s an isolated tenement, it’s mond campaign at Windalah. tive despite a minor slowdown this time
surrounded by other parties and it’s only Kincora Copper Ltd is also anticipating last year during the height of the corona-
70ha in size which was always going the drill rigs will keep turning across its virus pandemic.

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