Latest news with #NSW
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Barry FitzGerald: Magmatic adding serious value with WA gold deal
'Garimpeiro' columnist Barry FitzGerald has covered the resources industry for 35 years. Now he's sharing the benefits of his experience with Stockhead readers. One of Garimpeiro's pet peeves is coming across a junior explorer banging away at a single project rather than leveraging off their standing costs as an ASX-listed company by adding a second project to the portfolio. That is particularly so when there has been a tectonic shift in markets like there is now, with gold racing to more than $5200 an ounce in Aussie dollars – up a staggering 44% on 2024's average. So keep the flagship project bubbling along but use the downtime between drilling campaigns to add a gold project to the company's story because the reality is that there has never been a better time to be looking for the yellow stuff. That's just what a well-known explorer for potential tier-1 epithermal/porphyry style deposits in NSW's prolific East Lachlan region, Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG), has done via the acquisition of the Weebo project on the Yandal greenstone belt in Western Australia. The East Lachlan hunt continues, including a joint venture at the Myall copper/gold project with Andrew Forrest's Fortescue (ASX:FMG), also the company's biggest shareholder. Myall and other prospects in the East Lachlan could well deliver a big discovery in time, and there has been plenty of encouragement on that front. But for pure gold exposure at a time when the market is in a mood to reward gold discoveries handsomely, Magmatic has rolled up its sleeves and added WA gold to its story, powering up its newsflow in the process. Magmatic was trading mid-week at 4.2c a share for a market cap of $18.1 million on issued capital, increased by the share consideration component of the Weebo acquisition. It was a 3.9c stock before the Weebo pick up, so it can be said that the added element of WA gold has attracted the market's interest. But remembering the market cap is still not challenging. Given the quality of the East Lachan interests, it could be suggested that at Wednesday's share price of 4.2c, Weebo comes at this stage comes for free. Value added That's despite Weebo having all the hallmarks of becoming a quick value-add for Magmatic. Located 30km southeast of Leinster, the Weebo ground covers about 50km of the southern Yandal greenstone belt. The ground includes two near surface prospects – Ockerburry and Scone Stone – where previous drilling has yielded some nice hits by a previous owner. They stand as advanced drill prospects and there are a bunch of less advanced prospects. Magmatic has put a local exploration team in place and expects that its maiden drilling program at Weebo will kick off in the September quarter. It is exciting stuff for a company with an $18.1m market cap. What makes Weebo particularly exciting is its location, smack bang in the middle of five gold mines with treatment plants – Vault Minerals' (ASX:VAU) Darlot, Gold Fields' Agnew-Lawlers, Bellevue Gold's (ASX:BGL) namesake operation, Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST) Bronzewing and Northern Star's Thunderbox. While the hope would be that exploration success at Weebo delivers a standalone operation, the proximity of the regional treatment capacity lends itself to toll treatment opportunities, joint venture development and/or outright sale of ounces that Magmatic pulls together in a mineral resource estimate. Ounces in the ground In a $5200/oz environment ounces-in-the-ground are commanding a high value when there is a clear pathway to the ounces being whacked through a standalone treatment plant or one owned by a third party. By way of example only, Northern Star last year paid $12.5 million for the 177,000 inferred resource ($70 an ounce) at the Hobbes gold project – owned 80% by Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) and 20% by a private minority – to feed through its Carosue Dam operation. The year before NST paid Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) $61m in cash and shares for the 346,000oz Millrose deposit near the Jundee gold mine ($176/oz). Gold prices have moved substantially higher still, so smallish deposits have become even more valuable. Where Weebo ends up in terms of its scale remains to be seen. But it certainly delivers exploration excitement when the gold market is running hot. And who knows? That hunt for a tier-1 discovery in NSW could well come up trumps. That's particularly so when Mt York gets juiced up by the additional ounces expected to come from the big exploration push now underway. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the columnist and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead does not provide, endorse or otherwise assume responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Magmatic Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
NSW parents welcome funding for midwife-led care after birth trauma inquiry
Parents involved in a landmark inquiry into birth trauma are welcoming an almost $45 million investment in maternity care described as the "gold standard". The NSW government has allocated $83 million to maternity care in the upcoming state budget. More than half, $44.8 million, will go towards expanding the state's midwife-led program, Midwifery Group Practice (MGP). The MGP funding will include an additional 53 midwife roles in regional and remote NSW, with improved training for clinicians in respectful maternity care and enhanced antenatal education for patients in the wider package. The announcement comes 12 months after the inquiry, widely described as a "me too" moment for birth trauma, handed down its final report. It attracted more than 4,000 submissions and held six hearings. The report recommended more access to continuity of care programs like the MGP, and more midwives. Natalie Webb lives in Tumbarumba and was one of the first women to go public with her experience of birth trauma, also giving evidence at the Wagga Wagga hearing of the inquiry. She said her traumatic birth, in which pain relief was withheld, could have been avoided with access to continuity of care. "That would have made a huge difference to me — having someone I knew and could trust and who could have advocated for [me] when I couldn't advocate for myself," she said. She still deals with the trauma three years on and hopes the funding will improve outcomes. "I'm not going to have another child now because it's too traumatic, and that's something my husband and I are going to have to deal with for the rest of our lives," she said. The president of Illawarra-based advocacy group Better Birth Illawarra, Sharon Settecasse, fought back tears as she described the announcement as "phenomenal". "We're overjoyed by this announcement … we're a bit speechless to be honest," she said. In the MGP, a woman sees the same midwife before, during and after birth. The Birth Inquiry's final report identified it as the "gold standard" of maternity care, calling for increased investment in it. It also recommended funding for other programs and services, including the GP obstetrician workforce. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) welcomed the funding, calling women's health an "underfunded" area. "Whilst investment in bolstering the midwifery workforce is valuable, RANZCOG emphasises that a multidisciplinary framework is essential to meet the complex needs of all women and birthing people," they said. NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the inquiry had "a huge impact" on him, and the funding decision was made off the back of advocacy he heard before and during. "Time and time again [I heard] continuity of care with a known midwife is really important, and I've also spoken to obstetricians who said that is an area where we need to improve," he said. "To be blunt, I was sick of reading about [birth trauma], I was sick of hearing about it, I wanted to use this budget to try and deal with some of the issues." He said the funding will begin to roll out "straight away" and new midwives should be on the ground within two years, depending on recruitment. The birth inquiry was announced off the back of a mass complaint about maternity care at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, submitted by the Maternity Consumer Network (MCN) on behalf of 30 women. MCN founder Alecia Staines said today's funding was a win for the women who came forward. "Credit where credit is due; those initial women of Wagga Wagga were crucial and hats off to them," she said. "It's not easy, and it's such a brave thing they have done, and this is a lasting legacy and something they can be proud of that has come from their pain and suffering."
SBS Australia
3 hours ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Why these empty seats could lead to arrest warrants for a state premier's staff members
Five senior government staffers could face arrest after failing to appear at an inquiry into an explosive-laden caravan found on Sydney's outskirts earlier this year. In a dramatic escalation of an otherwise routine inquiry, the process to arrest the high-ranking staff in the offices of NSW Premier Chris Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley was set in motion on Friday after the quintet declined to appear. Committee chair and independent MP Rod Roberts conducted a roll call for the premier's chief of staff James Cullen and four other staffers before approaching upper house president Ben Franklin to seek arrest warrants. Roberts said the president was non-committal when asked to go to the Supreme Court for the warrants, but Franklin had a "very important and very crucial decision". "All along, Labor has tried to stonewall, delay and ridicule this important inquiry," fellow committee member John Ruddick said on social media. Arrest warrants can be issued to force a witness to attend an inquiry while witnesses who refuse to answer questions can face jail time. NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman said if Minns had directed staff not to appear at the inquiry into controversial protest and hate speech legislation, "that would appear to be a breach of the ministerial code". The protest and speech laws were rushed through the NSW parliament in February after explosives, antisemitic messaging and a list of addresses of Jewish people and institutions were found inside the caravan at Dural in Sydney's north-west on 19 January. The discovery prompted fears of a terrorist attack or mass-casualty event, as the premier and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dubbed it. In a letter to the committee announcing their intention not to attend, the staffers said appearing before the inquiry "would be at odds with the principles of ministerial accountability". Roberts pressed against that motion on Friday as he addressed empty chairs. "The committee is not seeking to sanction ministerial staff for their actions, only to shed light on the events in the lead up to the passage of the hate speech and protest laws through parliament," Roberts said. Minns attacked the upper house on Thursday for trying to get government staff to appear at inquiries "on a routine basis" as if they were "criminals and under investigation". "And if not, they're under threat of arrest," he said. As members of the lower house, Minns and Catley cannot be compelled to appear at the upper house inquiry to give evidence. But staffers can be forced to appear. Another staffer named in the motion, Minns' deputy chief of staff Edward Ovadia, said in the letter he should be excused from attending the committee because he was on leave at the time and did not attend meetings. The premier and police minister say they have commented extensively on the matter, including at parliamentary hearings and press conferences and during question time.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Cundle Flat residents still isolated by flood damage.
A Mid North Coast community spent one month relying on chopper drops in the wake of May's devastating floods. Supplied: Pip Hamersley-Everett
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Miners locked out of work over pay dispute
About 160 coal miners have been locked out of work for more than one week without pay over a bargaining dispute with their employer. The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) allege US-owned Peabody Energy retaliated after union members at the Helensburg coal mine near Wollongong in NSW stopped work for one hour in response to a 'lack of progress in negotiations.' The union was advised its members would be locked out without pay for eight days from Wednesday less than two hours after a meeting with the Fair Work Commission over the dispute. Miners asked for three pay increases of 5 per cent over a three-year period and an extra $1.50 added to their hourly rate, after miners were allegedly told they would be looked after when they received a low increase under their last agreement. MEU South West District vice president Mark Jenkins said Peabody's lockout was a harsh response aimed at coercing MEU members into giving up their bargaining position. Mr Jenkins said workers had experienced several years of low wage growth compared to high inflation and cost of living pressures, but had continually set production records at the mine for their employer. 'Now, they deserve to see some of the benefit that they were promised in the last agreement,' he said. 'Peabody's move to lock out MEU members for over a week is nothing but an attempt to punish and intimidate workers for exercising their industrial rights.' Peabody Energy have been contacted for comment, but they told the ABC the company implemented employer response action from Wednesday until next Thursday. 'Peabody remains committed to the bargaining process and will continue to negotiate in good faith toward a new enterprise agreement,' a spokesman told the ABC. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
