Canada’s Novo Resources to list on ASX as part of Pilbara gold foray
Canadian explorer Novo Resources will complete its dual listing on the ASX on Monday as it looks to unlock ‘the next major Pilbara gold discovery’.
Canadian gold explorer Novo Resources will complete its dual listing on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday, after raising $7.5m from local investors to accelerate its exploration activities in the Pilbara.
Novo owns one of the largest prospective gold and battery metals land packages in the Pilbara covering more than 10,500sq km.
The company has the backing of Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott, veteran mining investor Mark Creasy and $2bn WA gold developer De Grey Mining, which acquired a 50 per cent stake in Novo’s flagship Becher gold project earlier this year.
A $4.5m drilling campaign at the Becher and Nunyerry North projects in the Egina Gold Camp is expected to commence in September as part of a strategy to unlock gold deposits with at least 1 million ounces (Moz) of development potential.
Another $2m will be spent identifying drilling targets across 1200sq km within the Balla Balla project north of the Egina Gold Camp.
Former BHP and Rio Tinto executive Mike Spreadborough, who heads up Novo’s board as co-chairman and acting chief executive, said Monday’s listing formed part of the company’s broader growth strategy in Australia.
“This is a major milestone for Novo as we take the next step in our strategic growth plans and make the move to co-list on the ASX,” he said.
“We are confident that listing on the ASX will be the right move for our shareholders, as we look to increase liquidity, engage additional institutional investment and equity research coverage, access potential new sources of equity and enhance our profile across a broader mix of stakeholder groups.”
De Grey made a $10m cornerstone investment in Novo in June, and will remain its largest shareholder following the listing with a 10.3 per cent stake.
It will also manage exploration at Becher under the newly formed Egina JV, after agreeing to invest up to $25m on exploration activities within four years, in exchange for a 50 per cent stake in the project.
Novo considers the Becher tenements as highly prospective for deposits with similar attributes to De Grey’s massive Hemi gold discovery at the 11.7Moz Mallina operation less than 30km east of Becher.
Following the listing, Novo will have $43.5m in cash to spend on its exploration activities, which are focused on “making the next major Pilbara gold discovery”.
The company also holds exploration assets in Victoria at the Belltopper project, 50km south of Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville gold mine.
It is looking at a potential sale of its Nullagine gold project in WA, which includes a 1.8Mtpa carbon-in-leach processing facility, on-site laboratory and 10MW power station.
Argonaut was lead manager for Novo’s IPO capital raising, which was fully subscribed by August 23, two weeks earlier than initially expected.
At its issue price of 20c a share, the company will begin trading with a market capitalisation of more than $68m. It will trade under the ticker NVO.
Novo’s ASX listing comes amid a series of resources-dominated floats in what has otherwise been a quiet year for Australian IPOs.
According to the ASX activity report, new listings for 2022-2023 numbered just 57, down from 217 floats in the previous year.
Upcoming listings include Perth-based lithium hopeful James Bay Minerals, which will start trading on Tuesday after raising $6m from investors, and New Zealand-based courier services company Freightways, which will commence its dual listing on Thursday.
Pioneer Lithium is expected to list on September 18 following a $5m raise. It has projects in Ontario and Quebec.
Meanwhile, Brisbane-based gold explorer Far Northern Resources is looking to advance three projects across North Queensland and the Northern Territory as part of a $6m IPO. It expects to list on the ASX on September 21.
Rare earths and nickel explorer CGN Resources and US-focused lithium hopeful Chariot Corporation are looking to raise $10m and $15.5m, respectively, as part of listings planned in October.
