Month: October 2022

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What You Missed This Week In The News

Buru Energy Ltd was dealt a blow in this week’s Federal Budget.

In April 2022, Buru was awarded a $7M Commonwealth Government Grant for Geovault, their offshore geological storage of greenhouse gas in the Carnarvon Basin.

The program that the grant was offered by has been cancelled in this new budget.

A revised grant will be offered which Buru says they will aggressively pursue.

Summit Minerals Ltd will start its maiden drilling campaign at the Stallion REE Project, east of Kalgoorlie.

Summit received approval from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety for a 16-hole RC drill program and is expected to begin as early as next week.

 

Riversgold Ltd also announced its maiden 2,500M RC drilling program, which has commenced at their Tambourah Lithium Project in the Pilbara Region.

The project is Riversgold most advanced lithium project and will include up to 21 holes.

 

Koba Resources Ltd.’s share price has soared by 136% to $0.260 this week after it staked mining claims covering 145km2 at its Whitlock Lithium Project in Canada.

Koba Resources

WA1 Resources’ saw a significant jump in its share price this week after announcing the first results of its maiden West Arunta Project drilling program.

The share price rose by a whopping 542% to $0.94 after the revealing the drilling found the first Niobium deposits in the area.

WA1 Resources

The S&P/ASX Markets closed the day lower than yesterday, which saw the end of a 4-day streak. The markets fell by 58.60 points to 6,786.50 after setting a new 20-day high yesterday at 6,870 points.  

The All Ordinaries also finished off the week on a lower note, dropping 0.98% to 6,973.40, but also saw a 20-day high yesterday.  

 

Gold also finished lower at $2,566.62oz t, after peaking at $2,620.42 at the start of the week.  

Silver has remained steady after the fall it had last week, finishing at $30.52oz t compared to the low of $30.02 last week. 

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Federal Budget Breakdown

The 2022 October Federal Budget has been announced. Here’s how the Goldfields and mining are affected.

 

The migration cap will increase 35,000 persons to 195,000 people in 2022-23. At least 90% of these 35,000 will be for skilled migrants and more than 25% will be targeted to regional areas.

This will ease labour shortages and include accelerating visa processing. Student and secondary training visa holders will have their work restrictions relaxed until 30 June 2023.

 

In an effort to transform regional industries to net zero by 2025, the Government will establish a $1.9B Powering the Regions Fund to transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower. $1.5B will be allocated to the Pilbara Region to support mining, mineral processing, and local manufacturing, and provide investment in hydrogen and renewable energy projects.

 

$500M Driving the Nation Fund will reduce transport emissions by installing electric charging infrastructure at 117 highway sites and hydrogen highways for key freight routes. Electric cars will be exempt from fringe benefits tax (FBT) and the 5% import tariff.

$350.0M will be dedicated to seal the Tanami Road between Norther Western Australia and the Northern Territory, $400M for the Alice Springs to Halls Creek Corridor upgrade and $125M for electric bus charging in Perth.

 

$757.7M will be allocated to improving mobile and broadband connectivity in regional Australia. $7.4B will be invested to support regional development across Australia. The Growing Regions Program will support community groups, fund local projects such as libraries and regional airport upgrades. The Government will also dedicate $1.4B for local community, sport and infrastructure projects across Australia.

 

$143.3M will be provided over 4 years to support access to healthcare in rural and regional areas by investing in primary care services, training, workforce incentives and trials for innovative models of care.

 

A $50.5M Critical Minerals Research and Development Fund will invest in lithium, cobalt, manganese, titanium and rare earths to meet growing demands for batteries, electric vehicles and clean technology.

 

Multinational corporations will pay an extra $1B in tax with the crackdown on excessive deductions and profit-shifting to lower-taxing countries.

Individual taxpayers and businesses will also be targeted with the ATO cracking down on over-claiming deductions and incorrect reporting of income.

 

Due to high inflation and low wage growth, worker’s pay will effectively go backwards until 2024-25 when inflation is expected to return to 2-3%. Inflation is expected to peak at 7.75% in December.

 

The Better Regions Fund (BBRF) was the former Government’s regional grants program designed to deliver funding for regional infrastructure projects and community development activities. The Government scrapped the fund in the budget as they believe the fund wasn’t awarded based on merit and were favouring National Party electorates.

However, the budget includes a new national grants program.

 

Truck drivers will be hit with an extra 0.8 cents in tax for every litre of diesel they purchase. The Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge will increase from 26.4 cents/litre to 27.2cents/litre.

 

Consumer confidence continues to sit at a low, having peaked in 2021. The current figure is comparable to the start of the pandemic in 2020 and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.

Source: Westpac-Melbourne Institute, MWM Research, October 2022
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What You Missed In The News This Week

St Barbara’s share price plummeted to a 7 year low, dropping 35.18% after they released their quarterly report on Tuesday. The shares dropped from $0.68AUD to just $0.46AUD. Production was down almost 26% and costs up 34.8% from last quarter. Currently it costs St Barbara $4/oz more to produce gold than they receive from selling it.

IGO chief executive Peter Bradford has passed away at 64. Bradford began working in the mining industry in 1979 and has been a supporter of clean energy and climate change. He was an active mentor for the Women in Mining WA organisation and a committee member of CEOs for Gender Equity Inc.

Peter Bradford | LinkedIn

St Ives has resumed operations after a worker was killed last week. The worker died at the Hamlet underground mine near Kambalda. The tragic incident was one of two mine site deaths last week, with a second occurring at a Pilbara mine site last Thursday.

St Ives | Gold Fields Australia

Rox Resources has announced significant results from its Reverse Circulation drilling at their Mt Fisher Gold Project. Managing director Alex Passmore said these results continue to confirm the “strong prospectively of the highly under-explored Mount Fisher Gold Project.”

 

Raiden Resources’ Mt Sholl maiden diamond drilling to be completed over the next two days ahead of schedule. Of their completed holes, all have intersected visual Nickel and Copper mineralisation. The tenements are located 22km southeast of Karratha in the Pilbara region.

 

The S&P/ASX200 has finished the week at 6,676.80 points today, falling 0.80% from yesterday. The All Ordinaries finished much the same at 6,869,90, falling 0.71% from yesterday. Gold rounded out the week at $2,588.81oz t.