Critical minerals take back seat in WA as gold hits record prices
In Australia's resources sector, Tim Goyder has been the man with the Midas touch in recent years.
At one point in 2023, his stock holdings in one-time market darlings Liontown Resources and Chalice Mining saw him become a paper billionaire with an estimated net worth of $1.09 billion.
But as fast as the Perth-based mining investor joined the Australian Financial Review's annual Rich List, such is the swings and roundabouts of commodity price cycles, he slipped off.
That is not to say Mr Goyder has lost his golden touch, but his personal fortune reflects the downturn in critical minerals such as lithium and nickel.
"Two years ago, everyone was saying lithium was the thing to be in, which I still believe," he said.
Mr Goyder and his various investment arms control more than 333 million shares in Western Australia's newest lithium miner, Liontown Resources, worth $211.8 million at Friday's closing price of 63.5 cents.
The company's $951 million Kathleen Valley lithium mine in WA's northern Goldfields shipped its first concentrate from Geraldton Port last September, supplying US electric vehicle manufacturers Ford and Tesla and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solutions.
The development of the long-life Kathleen Valley mine saw Liontown trade as high as $3.15 in June 2023, as US chemicals giant Albermarle circled with a $6.6 billion takeover bid before walking away during the due diligence process.
Lithium's dramatic slump was underlined this month when Liontown received a state government support package in the form of waivers on port charges and tenement fees, as well as a $15 million interest-free loan until prices recover.
"It's gratefully received from the WA government," Mr Goyder said.
"They recognise it is an early mover industry, and every bit helps while lithium prices are low, but long term I think we've got a very, very good business."
Another former market darling of Mr Goyder's is Chalice Mining, which has slowed development work for its Gonneville palladium-nickel-copper project near Toodyay in WA's Wheatbelt.
His 7.8 per cent stake was worth $37.5 million at Friday's $1.23 market close, down from a record $9.86 in November 2021.
In the meantime, Mr Goyder has turned his attention to gold as the precious metal soared above $5,000 an ounce in Australian dollar terms for the first time this year.
As chairman of fledgling gold miner Minerals 260, and a 7.3 per cent major shareholder, he played a key role in January's $166.5 million acquisition of the Bullabulling project from Chinese-owned miner Norton Gold Fields.
"We don't have buyer's remorse," Mr Goyder said.
"After paying $72 an ounce, and given the gold price has risen almost $700 an ounce since we announced the deal, we don't have buyer's remorse."
The Bullabulling mine, 65 kilometres south-west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, closed in 1998 when the gold price was about $500 an ounce.
Geologists have pored over old drilling data and estimate at least 2.3 million ounces of gold remains at Bullabulling, where Mr Goyder believes a mine employing 350 workers could be operational by 2028.
"There's nothing better than seeing a development go ahead, jobs created, and wealth created for our shareholders," he said.
Minerals 260's ASX ticker is MI6, and as one geologist pointed out during a recent field trip, they have been given a "licence to drill".
Four drill rigs, and soon to be six, are turning as part of an 80,000-metre exploration campaign to find more pay dirt.
"There is upside here there's no doubt, that's why we bought it," Mr Goyder said.
"I'm sure once we go through all the studies, the economics are going to look very good."
It is a familiar story across WA with old mines being dusted off like old newspapers amid this year's record gold prices.
Among them is the Youanmi mine, about 400km east of Geraldton, which operated from 1987 to 1997 but closed when the gold price was about $450 an ounce.
Perth-based Rox Resources has estimated it would cost $245 million to bring it into production.
Rox has told the ASX it will complete a definitive feasibility study by the end of the year with the aim of entering production by mid-2027.
At nearby Sandstone in the Mid West, WA gold miner Brightstar Resources has taken the first steps to revive mining, which ceased in 2010.
The company is currently undertaking an 80,000-metre drilling campaign at Sandstone, with plans to restart production in 2028.
It is funding those works by selling ore to processing plants surrounding its gold deposits at Laverton and Menzies in the northern Goldfields, a practice known as toll milling.
Gold's current hot streak has seen even low-grade material become valuable again, highlighted this week at the Mt Fisher mine, a small open pit last mined in 1987 about 120km east of Wiluna.
Old stockpiles, up to 195,000 tonnes of low-grade ore, that have sat at Mt Fisher for 38 years, are undergoing test work for a potential toll milling deal.
"There's lots of ups and downs in the market … but the gold price has gone up exponentially in just two years," Mr Goyder said.
"It's a great spot to be right now."
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