More gold jackpots lurking in WA dirt, top miner | Australian Markets

The man who helped unearth one of Australia’s greatest latest gold finds says there’s a lot more motherlodes in them thar hills.

Former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill hit the jackpot when his exploration group found the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara area of Western Australia in 2020.

Despite the area being higher recognized for its wealthy iron ore reserves, the invention gave De Grey one of essentially the most priceless gold property in development in Australia, estimated at more than 11 million ounces of ore.

The timing couldn’t have been higher, with bullion costs hovering to report highs in the years since, leaving the company sitting on top of more than $55 billion value of gold at present costs.

So De Grey cashed in, with Australia’s largest goldminer Northern Star snapping the company and its Hemi project up for $5 billion.

The deal earned De Grey and Mr Lill the coveted Dealer of the Year award on the glitzy closing night time ceremony of this 12 months’s Diggers and Dealers mining discussion board.

“De Grey Mining exemplifies all that makes our industry great,” the convention’s organisers stated.

“Exceptional market validation driven by resource expansion and investor anticipation.”

Now chair of Ballard Mining, an ASX beginner spun out of Gina Rinehart-backed Delta Lithium together with its high-grade Mount Ida gold project, Mr Lill stated there was a lot more gold to be discovered in the purple WA grime.

“I used to work with a crusty old metallurgist,” he stated on Wednesday.

“He said, if it’s under-explored, there ain’t nothing there, i.e. the old timers have found it all. I think the gold industry in recent years has proven that that is wrong.”

Ballard already claims more than a million ounces of gold in its deposit, however with more exploration underway on the web site, Mr Lill is assured that determine is simply scratching the floor.

“The geologists from De Grey were convinced that there’ll be another Hemi somewhere,” he stated.

Right subsequent door to Ballard’s Mount Ida project is a processing plant owned by privately-held gold producer Aurenne Group.

It was solely logical at some stage to carry discussions with Aurenne about doubtlessly buying the ability, Mr Lill stated.

Flush with money from the surge in gold costs to more than $5200 an ounce, mergers and acquisitions was a scorching matter amongst delegates on the three-day mining discussion board in Kalgoorlie.

Another latest M&A participant, Ramelius Resources, scooped the Digger of the Year award.

The mid-tier miner, which a week earlier accomplished its $2.4 billion takeover of gold play Spartan Resources, achieved a report 301,664 ounces of gold manufacturing final financial 12 months, demonstrating “outstanding operational and financial performance”.

West African explorer Turaco Gold gained the rising company award whereas the GJ Stokes Memorial Award went to Peter Cook, recognised for more than 40 years in the industry.

A plane-load of employees was flown into Kalgoorlie to employees the gala dinner beneath the giant Diggers marquee on Wednesday night time, earlier than being flown back to Perth in the early hours of Thursday morning when the festivities had wrapped up.