logo-loader

Alice Queen directs funds towards active exploration program

Last updated: 08:30 16 Oct 2019 AEDT, First published: 17:30 15 Oct 2019 AEDT

Snapshot

It has a promising joint venture with St Barbara for its Horn Island gold projects and a prospective project near Alkane Resources’ Boda discovery in NSW.

Alice Queen Ltd -
  • Alice Queen’s Horn Island JV with St Barbara covers the Horn and Prince of Wales islands in Torres Strait, far-north Queensland. 
  • The JV area excludes the company’s flagship Horn Island Gold Project deposit but St Barbara can still gain 70% of the area under an option. 
  • Under the JV St Barbara can take up to 70% of any Horn Island Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS) deposits the partners discover if it sole funds exploration to the tune of $4 million over a three-year venture life. 
  • Alice Queen is barred from mining its Horn Island Gold Project during the JV period but it can undertake a bankable feasibility study for about $3.5 million to $4.5 million to appreciate value. 
  • The company also has Lachlan Fold gold tenements in NSW near Alkane Resources Boda discovery which it could explore to create what new investor Emanuel Datt’s company Datt Capital expects could be “enormous” shareholder value if efforts prove successful. 

The completion of the placement [to Datt Capital] at a significant premium to our recent trading is recognition that we have an exciting portfolio of assets that offer upside potential for all our shareholders

Alice Queen managing director Andrew Buxton

What does Alice Queen do?

Alice Queen Ltd (ASX:AQX) is an Australian explorer with a flagship gold asset on Horn Island in the Torres Strait off Queensland that has a defined resource.

The Victorian company has earlier stage assets in the form of exploration tenements in highly prospective gold and copper-gold ground in New South Wales.

One of the exploration projects extends over Horn and Prince of Wales islands and has an active joint venture in place with earn-in partner St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM) (FRA:BM1) (OTCMKTS:STBMY).

St Barbara also has an option to acquire a majority stake Alice Queen’s flagship project, giving investors exposure to potential future gains from a significant transaction.

The company recently raised $1.5 million in funds from equity investor Datt Capital, which became its third-largest investor in September 2019 with a 6% significant holding that rests indirectly with its managing director Emanuel Ajay Datt.

Melbourne-based Datt’s 50 million share subscription was priced at 3 cents each, with the subscription issued at a 10% premium to the last traded price and a 45% premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average price on September 20, 2019.

Alice Queen is currently fundraising with a small offer priced at 3 cents a share.

The expected combined funds raised with the placement and small offer will be directed towards drilling at Alice Queen’s NSW ground and help meet the company’s working capital requirements, including placement and offer costs.

Subscriptions to the micro-offer are due by 5pm EDST on Monday, October 21, 2019, ahead of what Alice Queen expects will be the exercise of a number of options by their holders.

Who leads Alice Queen?

Alice Queen is led by managing director and major investor Andrew Buxton, a corporate leader with more than 20 years’ experience managing and growing companies.

Buxton has been evaluating step-up business opportunities as an equities consultant at Claremont Equities for the past eight years and is Alice Queen’s second-largest investor behind the Morris family.

He was previously the MD of Kidman Resources Limited (ASX:KDR) (FRA:6KR) (OTCMKTS:KDDRF) at the start of this decade and co-founded and built screen advertising business Media Entertainment Group (ASX:MED1) which was bought up by the Packer family company Consolidated Press Holdings Pty Ltd in the 1990s.

Buxton is joined on the board by geophysicist and non-executive chairman Phillip Harman, a longstanding former minerals explorer for BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) (LON:BHP) (NYSE: BHP) (SWX:BHP) (OTCMKTS:BHPLF).

Harman was with BHP for 30 years and is also the former MD of the now delisted Mwana Africa plc acquisition Gravity Diamonds Limited (ASX:GRN).

A key team member is chief technical advisor John Holliday, a co-discoverer of the giant Cadia copper-gold deposit of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM) along trend from the NSW ground.

What does Alice Queen own?

Alice Queen’s key asset is the Horn Island Gold Project in the Torres Strait off the north-east Australian state of Queensland.

The company has a related Horn Island JV with St Barbara that covers areas outside the project an on Prince of Wales Island, also on the Strait in far-north Queensland waters.

The main Horn Island project has a shallow open-pittable inferred resource of 7.96 million tonnes grading 1.9 g/t for 492,000 ounces.

Horn Island resource goes to a maximum depth of 250 metres below ground.

Under an option for Alice Queen’s complementary Horn Island JV with St Barbara, the miner can take up to 70% of the flagship project.

Alice Queen must not start mining operations at the gold project during the joint venture where St Barbara must sole fund exploration by spending $4 million over three years to earn its share or exit after at least 12 months having spent at least $500,000.

By spending the full $4 million sum the earn-in period, St Barbara can take up to 70% of the Horn Island Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS) deposits discovered for the JV partners.

New Alice Queen investor Datt Capital has estimated its investee can undertake a bankable feasibility study for the flagship Horn Island project for about $3.5 million to $4.5 million during the JV lifetime to further increase shareholder value.

Alice Queen also has gold tenements along the Lachlan Fold and North Molong Belt in NSW near the recent Alkane Resources Boda discovery.

Datt managing director Emanuel Ajay Datt wrote on Livewire Markets his company believed exploration of Lachlan Fold could create “enormous” shareholder value if efforts proved successful.

Alice Queen has begun drilling porphyry copper-gold targets at the Lachlan Fold project Yarindury, near Boda, in the past month.

Datt’s principal views Alkane’s Boda discovery as encouraging, writing it had “increased the prospectivity of Alice Queen’s North Molong Belt projects”.

Yarindury is only 700 metres from Alkane’s Boda porphyry discovery hole and may be part of the same mineralised system.

Inflection points

  • Options exercises and share offer subscriptions
  • Feasibility study commitments and progress
  • Exploration successes at Lachlan Fold project Yarindury in NSW and on the Horn Island project islands on Torres Strait off Queensland

Alice Queen plans to hold its annual general meeting on November 28, 2019.

Poseidon Nickel signs binding agreement with Mineral Resources to divest...

Departing Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX:POS, OTC:PSDNF) CEO Craig Jones and incoming CEO Brendan Shalders join Proactive’s Jonathan Jackson to discuss the divestment of Lake Johnston to Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN). Jones, who has played a pivotal role in this strategic move, shared insights on...

5 hours, 37 minutes ago