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A unique listing for 2022

cheduled to close its IPO this month, Far East sought to rally $3 million cence for operation to production,” he said.
SFar East Gold Ltd will be one of the first through a private raising in December of “We could theoretically build a mine tomor-
new names on the bourse in 2022 and the 2020 and ended up roping in $5.5 million row if we choose to – although our plans
explorer is bringing with it ambitions for a - signalling strong feedback in the com- right now are to focus on exploration.”
jurisdiction none too common on the ASX. pany’s projects and personnel. Far East is currently progressing land
Far East’s portfolio comprises six Neither is this Walker’s first time working use permits for advanced exploration at
gold and copper projects dotted across in Indonesia. Trenggalek and another of its projects,
Queensland, and more interestingly, Indo- “Shane [Menere, chief executive] and I Woyla in Aceh.
nesia. had been looking for projects to leverage “We’re also hoping to soon release some
Given ASX investors are spoilt for our experience in Indonesia for a while,” he assay results from the field work our geo-
choice when it comes to exploration pro- said. “We previously co-founded a compa- logical team completed at Woyla,” Walker
jects in low-risk Australian jurisdictions, it’s ny that acquired three exploration assets said. “Initial results so far have been out-
natural they may be reluc- standing and remarkable.
tant to open their wallets to a One rock sample came back
company pegging ground in at 50 g/t gold, so we’re hop-
Indonesia. ing to release results in Feb-
The country’s approach ruary.”
to resources isn’t as predict- In the meantime, the
able as Australian states company will be looking to
such as Queensland, with get started on its assets in
the recent implementation Queensland. Results were
of export quotas, in-country due at the time of print for
value-addition requirements geophysical data from the
and licence reviews. Mt Clarke West copper-gold
In January, international project while drilling con-
thermal coal prices in- tracts are being worked on
creased heavily after In- for the Hill 212 gold project.
donesia, the world’s fourth It’s obvious when Walker
largest producer, restricted speaks of the company’s
exports of it in January due Far East Gold country director Jimbarlow Gultom (centre left) on site in projects that the challenges
to an energy crisis. Indonesia with chief executive Shane Menere (centre right) associated with exploring in
Restrictions were eased Indonesia don’t deter, but
10 days later, but the Government also in West Papua: manganese, uranium and rather motivate him.
recently revoked 2,078 mining licences as coal. “There’s a lot of good ground in Indo-
part of a review unrelated to the energy cri- “We took a coal mine from nothing to nesia, but not a lot of exploration activity
sis, with another 265 going under the lens. operation in Kalimantan before we divest- happening,” he said. “We’ve got one pro-
Far East chairman Paul Walker is aware ed that. We had a bit of experience in the ject which has a JORC resource in place
of the trepidations Australians may hold acquisition of exploration projects in mine already. We have two others that have the
against Indonesian exploration, but he development in the country and we went makings to be Tier-1, globally significant
is wholly confident in his management looking for something where we’d be able projects.
team’s experience in the country. to leverage that experience.” “We’re coming in with something we
“I co-founded Far East Gold a few years The idea of taking up further private consider to be fundamentally different
ago with [non-executive director] Justin raisings was kicked around the Far East from what you expect from a junior listing
Werner, who is the managing director of boardroom, but a consensus was reached on the ASX. Most juniors haven’t had a sin-
Nickel Mines [Ltd],” Walker told Paydirt. to take it public for better long-term growth gle hole drilled in their tenement yet. We’ve
Nickel Mines currently produces nickel among the assets. had over 40,000m of drilling done across
pig iron in Indonesia, boasting a share Wonogiri, in central-Java, is perhaps Far our tenements. We have large core sheds
price of $1.59 at time of print. East’s most attractive project with a 1.15 and an immense data room full of informa-
“Justin’s experience alone is massive,” moz gold-equivalent JORC resource con- tion and assay results, PFS and scoping
Walker said. “Nickel Mines listed at 35c/ taining 996,000oz gold (53% measured studies.
share in 2018. It’s now a $3.9 billion market and indicated) and 190 mlb copper (43% “This is why we think we’re a very excit-
cap company on the ASX200 and issuing measured and indicated). ing opportunity. We have near-term de-
dividends. Wonogiri also bears strong metallurgy velopment opportunities; we have some
“So, for anyone who is concerned about credentials with up to 89% recovery of ground which has the potential to be very
Indonesia being high risk: Justin is one of gold and 93% recovery of copper via flota- exciting in terms of size and grade. And,
our partners who has actually shown that tion methods. we have a team that knows how to deal
you can go through the full lifecycle of However, it is the longevity offered by with the Indonesian issues which have
development, operation and issuing divi- the company’s Trenggalek project in East prevented other players in the past from
dends back to your shareholders – not just Java which has Walker particularly excited. being successful.”
monstrous capital growth – in Indonesia.” “Trenggalek actually has a mining li- – Fraser Palamara

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT FeBRUaRY 2022 Page 11