Greatland Gold remains eager for its ASX listing, which was postponed last year, contingent on progress in potentially buying back a majority stake in the Havieron gold project from JV partner Newmont.
The Andrew Forrest-backed company owns 30% of the undeveloped Havieron project, with Newmont acquiring its majority stake through its deal for Newcrest last year.
Greatland discovered the deposit in 2018 before selling its stake to Newcrest. Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, has since listed several non-core assets for sale, including its share of Havieron and the Telfer mine and processing infrastructure 45km to its east.
Speaking at the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum, Greatland Managing Director Shaun Day reiterated the company’s interest in buying back Havieron. Day mentioned that Newmont is selling its assets sequentially across its divisions and expressed confidence in striking a deal, given Greatland’s last right of refusal over the stake.
“As we understand it, the sequence of divestment has been Africa, North America, and now into Australia,” he said. “We’ve publicly stated our interest and our last right of refusal. We believe we’re strongly positioned and maintain a good relationship with Newmont.”
Greatland had pursued an ASX listing last year but paused the plan in September, targeting a 2024 cross-listing date in its November annual report. However, Day remained non-committal on the timing of the ASX listing, suggesting it depends on securing a deal for Havieron.
“What we probably want to do is understand the landscape, and then I think [ASX listing] would be a secondary process,” he said. “But we are certainly interested in ASX, along with London.”
Day was optimistic about the development potential of Havieron, which has an 8.4-million-ounce resource. Current plans involve treating ore from Havieron at Telfer’s plant. “It can be developed as a standalone asset or integrated into Telfer,” he said. “What’s brilliant is to have optionality.
We see pathways to successfully develop Havieron, either standalone or as part of the integrated Telfer.”
Greatland’s management team includes several staff from the early days of Northern Star Resources and an all-star board, including Fortescue-linked Chair Mark Barnaba, Deputy Chair Elizabeth Gaines, and former BHP executive Jimmy Wilson.
“I think we have one of the strongest boards in Australia,” Day said. “We believe that our governance is a competitive advantage for us.”
