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COVER: EXPLORER OF THE YEAR

“It comes back to the team and their work on the ground,” she said.
Full-throttle Miramar Resources Ltd executive chairman Allan Kelly agreed that

De Grey’s success could be traced back to the exploration team.
Hemi leaves the “What was the change that made De Grey work? I think it was
good, boring old-fashioned exploration work, which goes back to
the exploration team of Andy [Beckwith], Phil [Tornatora] and Allan
rest for dust [Kneeshaw],” he said. “It has been about generating good data and
recognising something a bit different and being persistent when the
market is not supporting you.”
De Grey’s year was exceptional from an exploration and development
by Dominic Piper viewpoint. The company added 1.6 moz gold to the overall Hemi
resource, taking it to 8.5 moz gold in less than three years, and also
added 3 moz of indicated ounces, lifting that category to 5.8 moz. It
ollowing a tough year for the ASX gold explorer club, it was two
also produced a maiden reserve of 5.1 moz which was to form the
F recognisable names which most impressed the GMJ panellists,
backbone of a robust PFS, released in September.
with De Grey Mining Ltd edging out last year’s Explorer of the Year
“Not only is De Grey up for the year – a rarity among gold explorers
Predictive Discovery Ltd for the 2022 title.
– but it has succeeded in answering those early Hemi sceptics,”
De Grey has received numerous gongs in the three years since
Cannacord Genuity (Australia) senior mining analyst Paul Howard
the discovery of the Hemi deposit on its Mallina gold project in the
said. “There was understandable scepticism because it was so soon
Pilbara, Western Australia, and while the GMJ judges would’ve
after the watermelon seed gold conglomerate rush in the Pilbara and
been happy to shower another company with the Explorer of the
it was something very different, so it caught everyone by surprise.
Year award, they couldn’t find an exploration year to compare to De
But they have answered all of that scepticism now.”
Grey’s phenomenal 2022.
Where Predictive slightly underwhelmed the market with its first
“You don’t want to give De Grey another award, but it is undeniable,”
resource update – posting a 600,000oz increase in August to take
Regis Resources Ltd non-executive director Lynda Burnett said.
the global resource at its Bankan project in Guinea to 4.2 moz – De
Burnett’s reluctance to give the company another gong was Grey continued its habit of surprising to the upside.
tongue-in-cheek because she also admitted its was right to laud the
“De Grey blew everyone away with its resource update,” Howard
achievements at Hemi.
said. “I think that is key to why they have continued to attract investors
and even other corporates – if the rumours are to be believed – Hemi
continues to surprise.”
For Kristie Young, 2022 had seen De Grey not only continue its
exploration success but define a clear path to production. The
September PFS demonstrated Mallina as a genuine Tier-1 project,
with forecast production 540,000 ozpa over the first decade of mine
life from a 10 mtpa operation.
“The company has just kept going and kept raising money,” she said.
“And, as a mining engineer, you want to see something to develop
and mine; Hemi has that.”
De Grey is an overnight success story decades in the making. The
company listed in 2002 and spent much of its first two decades
sifting through projects in search of a company-making discovery.
That journey could provide inspiration to the scores of gold juniors
currently doing it tough due to waning market sentiment.
While gold explorers found strong support in the two previous years,
2022 saw investor interest drift towards lithium and other critical
minerals.
Kelly – a former Explorer of the Year during his time with Doray
Minerals – said it was difficult for explorers to stay the course on gold
when they were receiving so little attention.
“It is almost like gold is the Liberal Party and lithium, rare earths, etc
are the Teals, the flavour of the month who all the voters are moving
towards,” he said. “It makes it hard to stick to your knitting as a gold
explorer.”
Numerous gold explorers didn’t stick to their knitting this year,
choosing instead to embrace the battery charge.
Phil Tornatora

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