Phoenix commences mining at Castle Hill

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: A company announcing the commencement of mining couldn’t choose a better time than day one of the Diggers & Dealers Conference.

Phoenix Gold (ASX: PXG) did just that with mining kicking off on schedule at the Kintore West open cut mine, part of the company’s Castle Hill Stage 2 project area on the Kunanalling shear zone, 55 kilometres northwest of Kalgoorlie.

 

Phoenix Castle Hill project area and mine location. Source: Company announcement

 

“It is a milestone event today for the company with the commencement of mining,” Phoenix Gold managing director Jon Price tole The Resources Roadhouse at Diggers & Dealers.

“We have been consolidating the tenure and growing the Resource over the last three and a half years.

“Now we are transitioning the business out of exploration into production.”

The initial stage of mining is anticipated to deliver 380,000 tonnes of mill feed grading 2.03 grams per tonne gold for 24,400 ounces mined and 891,000 tonnes of heap leach feed grading 0.6g/t gold for an additional 17,130 ounces mined.

Mill feed ore will be processed at FMR Investments’ Greenfields Mill under existing agreements with first gold production scheduled for early in the December Quarter.

“It is part of our stage development plan,” Price explained.

“We will start at Kintore West – we have a series of mines that will deliver 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes per year to the Greenfields Mill.

“That is what we call Prong One of our stage development plan.

“The second prong is working with Norton Gold Fields on the Castle Hill Stage 1 development.

“They have four days to make their decision – six months’ time-frame is up – and that has us developing a second stream of cash flow where they do the mining, the hauling and the milling and we get half of the cash surplus.”

The third prong of Phoenix’s plan is its agreement with St Ives Gold Mining Company to purchase its stand-alone 2.3 million tonnes per annum heap leach facility for $2 million.

“We’re looking at getting that up and running in 2015 and starting to deliver around 25,000 to 30,000 ounces of gold per annum.”

Email: info@phoenixgold.com.au

Website: www.phoenixgold.com.au

Share price movements during Diggers & Dealers

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Share price movements during Diggers & Dealers

CONFERENCE CALLER: There is a lot of competition amongst companies attending Diggers & Dealers to land a ‘Presentation Spot’.

Each year the forecourt outside the Goldfields Art Centre is abuzz with conversation focused on the subject of who is presenting and who missed out.

Looking at the line-up it would seem each day is something of a mixed bag in regards to news and interest.

Day One presenters are usually guaranteed a good attendance with interest generally high in the Keynote Address, which this year is to be delivered by former Governor of the Bank of England, Lord Mervyn King.

Personally I always like to hear what Diggers chairman Barry Eldridge has to say, especially when he gets fired up about mining and carbon taxes and such.

With everything being repealed instead of introduced this year, there’s every chance his blood pressure will be down, but there’s always hope something will raise his ire.

Companies sure to draw interest on Day One include Sheffield Resources, Sandfire Resources , and Northern Star Resources, which has been an outstanding performer this year and is The Roadhouse tip to pick up one the awards on offer at the Gala Dinner.

 

Session one presenters on Day Two will thank Sirius Resources for a full auditorium with Fraser Range nearologists in the crowd keen to claim that were able to sit within 20 metres of Mark Bennett.

 

For conference diehards Day Three promises good return for long-term investment of time with Gold Road Resources and Doray Minerals certain to add some sparkle to the opening session.

The pre-lunch session will be one to watch with Rox Resources, MacPhersons Resources, and Ram Resources – all promising stories in their own right – setting the stage for Blackham Resources managing director Bryan Dixon (if he’s still in the job by then) to spill the beans in regards to the company’s recent board room arm wrestle.

 

Throughout the week, we’ll be keeping an eye on how the market reacts to all the presentations and all the news that emanates from the conference, keeping a watch on how it all may, or may not, affect the share prices of the presenting companies.

We’re going to take a pretend portfolio encompassing a pretend $10,000 dollar investment in each just to see if there is indeed any movement, and if there is when it happens.

We’ll be watching to see whether there is movement before a company presents, or after – even during.

There is no scientific reasoning behind our study, we just need something to keep us occupied.

 

Disclaimer: The above is intended as a guide only. The Roadhouse accepts no responsibility for investments made from this advice, successful or otherwise.

The views, opinions or recommendations of this article do not in any way reflect the views, opinions, recommendations, of The Resources Roadhouse.

The Roadhouse makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the content. The content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Independent advice should be obtained from an Australian financial services licensee before making investment decisions.
 

Fund Raising across the Boards

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THE FUND RAISER: Some solid action across the Fund Raising front this week.

$6M Capital Raising for Cambodian gold project

Renaissance Minerals (ASX: RNS) has resolved to raise $6 million through a heavily oversubscribed equity placement, being made to new and existing institutional and sophisticated shareholders.

The funds raised from the Placement will enable the company to accelerate exploration activities at its 100 per cent-owned Cambodian gold project, which will include drill testing a number of new prospective targets in close proximity to the Okvau deposit.

“The raising was well supported by both new investors and long term supporters of the company,” Renaissance Minerals managing director Justin Tremain said.

“The support shown by some of the company’s largest shareholders demonstrates a high level of confidence in the company.

“Renaissance is now well funded to accelerate its activities in Cambodia, in particular around the 1.2 million ounce Okvau deposit.

“We look forward to a very active period of exploration and news flow over the coming months.”

Raising to fund exploration push

Alligator Energy (ASX: AGE) has entered into a share subscription agreement involving a group of sophisticated investors, which involves a commitment to take a $1.23 million share placement.

This commitment forms part of an approximately $4 million capital raising to drive the next phase of Alligator’s uranium exploration strategy in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Province in the Northern Territory.

The company said the capital raising will provide a solid foundation for it to pursue its exploration strategy to drill test existing priority targets on the Tin Camp Creek project area and assess additional targets generated by recent geophysical surveys.

Placement raises more exploration funds

Horseshoe Metals (ASX: HOR) has raised a further $120,000 by way of a placement of six million new shares to sophisticated and professional investors at 2 cents per share.

This placement brings the total amount raised in the company’s recent capital raising activities to over $1.34 million.

The funds will be used to fund ongoing exploration program at its copper/gold projects in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

Horseshoe Metals has also been granted up to $250,000 in co-funding support from the WA State Government for deep drilling at its Kumarina and Horseshoe Lights projects.

An additional $235,000 in drilling, paid for in Horseshoe Metals’ shares in lieu of cash (which have already been issued), is to be undertaken by Whitestone Minerals by March 2015.

This brings the combined total of cash raised and third party funded drilling to $1.8 million.

Avalon Minerals completes $1.95 million placement

Avalon Minerals (ASX: AVI) has arranged a placement to raise $1.95 million to new, professional investors in Australia, United Kingdom and Hong Kong as well as a major, existing Australian shareholder.

The funds will be applied to progress the company’s Viscaria copper-iron project in northern Sweden and for working capital.

“It is pleasing to complete this placement of $1.95 million to fund the ongoing operations of the company and to progress the Viscaria project,” Avalon Minerals managing director Malcolm Norris said.

“Although the resources sector is facing challenging times, this placement confirms the solid financial support Avalon continues to receive, particularly with the renewed focus on moving the Viscaria project forward.”

MacPhersons to raise up to $10.4 million

MacPhersons Resources (ASX: MRP) is undertaking a placement to raise up to approximately $9 million (but able to take over subscriptions to $10.4 million) via the issue of fully paid ordinary shares at 16 cents each to eligible investors.

Orion Mine Finance has committed to subscribe for up to $6.5 million worth of shares in the placement if it is fully subscribed, with Orion’s equity interest to be capped at 19.9 per cent of issued equity.

MacPhersons chairman Ashok Parekh has also agreed to subscribe for up to $1 million worth of shares in the placement, subject to shareholder approval.

The placement will utilise the ASX BookBuild facility.

“The continued participation of Orion Mine Finance is welcomed by the company and will assist our ongoing program of completing the Bankable Feasibility Study,” Parekh said.

“Continued in-fill and mine plan extensional drilling is delivering exciting results.

“As chairman I am very confident of the direction we are heading in.”

Capital-raising tool widens the pool of potential investors

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ASX BookBuild gives resource companies undertaking a placement or IPO an additional tool that optimises price discovery, allows all investors to participate, and improves governance outcomes.

Endorsed by the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC), ASX BookBuild is one of the most important financial market innovations in recent years.

This revolutionary capital raising tool allows companies to use the ASX platform to access all interested market participants when undertaking primary placements and IPOs, while also allowing for a priority allocation to cornerstone funds.

The ASX BookBuild facility helps companies promote their IPO or placement to the widest possible audience of local and global investors, secure a larger spread of investors (which is especially important in resource-stock IPOs), and provide a better secondary market profile by allowing any market participant to bid for stock via their nominated broker.

Proven track record

Stavely Minerals recently chose to use the ASX BookBuild facility for its $6 million IPO, in combination with corporate adviser Morgans. Stavely managing director Chris Cairns said: “The main attraction with ASX BookBuild is that any investor could, through any broker, bid for stock in our IPO through the bookbuild process. It’s an effective, democratic capital-raising process.”

Cairns adds: “The downside of only appointing a lead manager for an IPO is the capital raising can become a closed shop, because an investor needs to have an account with the lead manager or another broker associated with the float. You can miss out on investors who cannot gain access to the offer.”

“To its credit, our adviser (Morgans) saw the benefits of using the ASX BookBuild facility to help Stavely provide an opportunity for former Integra Mining shareholders to participate in the IPO, in addition to promoting the offer to its own client base.” Cairns and fellow directors Peter Ironside and Jennifer Murphy helped grow Integra into a 100,000 ounce-a-year producer, and have attracted support for the promising copper/gold explorer Stavely.

Integra’s strong performance helped Stavely exceed its minimum subscription and attract a sufficient shareholder base to meet ASX Listing Rules– a good effort in a challenging capital-raising market for junior miners. Several resource companies have had to abandon their IPOs in the past two years, given the dearth of interest in mining floats.

“In some ways, we were more concerned about achieving a sufficient spread of investors than securing the minimum subscription,” says Cairns.

“Using a combination of ASX BookBuild and Morgans was fundamental to our strategy of getting the right spread of investors for the float.”

Cairns expects more mining companies to follow Stavely’s lead and use the ASX BookBuild facility. “There are obvious benefits for companies and investors and also for brokers, who got a 4 per cent stamping fee on the Stavely IPO,” he says. “At the same time, there is resistance to ASX BookBuild among some brokers who see it as anathema to their traditional capital-raising services.”

Broad industry support

Five years in the making, ASX BookBuild was launched in October 2013 with wide support from companies, advisory boards, investor associations, private client advisors, and brokers. And to criticism from some market participants, who have traditionally gained from capital raisings conducted on their spreadsheet, offered to favoured clients first, and not made available to all investors interested in bidding for the stock.

Along with AMEC, the ASX BookBuild facility has been endorsed by the Business Council of Australia (BCA), the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Australian Shareholders’ Association.  Former BCA President Tony Shepherd told The Australian in September last year: “It’s a welcome development as it will make capital raisings fairer and more efficient, and takes advantage of the availability of new technology. Anything that makes the equity market more efficient has to be a good thing.”

Boards favour ASX BookBuild because it improves governance in capital raisings. For example, a Chairman of a mining company that elects to use ASX BookBuild can be certain that all eligible investors had the opportunity to bid for stock, that preferential treatment was not given to a small group of investors at the expense of others, that greater competition for its stock ensured optimal price discovery, and that equity was raised at the best possible price.

Brokers are also increasingly supportive of the ASX BookBuild facility. More and more firms are recognising that, far from being a threat, ASX BookBuild is an additional, value-accretive tool that gives brokers (and their clients) access to more active deals. Moreover, it is a tool that is revenue positive since brokers can earn a stamping fee (if offered) and brokerage on deals they participate in.

In March 2014, BBY Stockbroking CEO Arun Maharaj said, “ASX BookBuild has strengthened the competitiveness, transparency and efficiency of the Australian market in raising capital.”

He added, “ASX BookBuild is encouraging unlisted businesses to access Australian capital markets, and more than ever in a tough economy that has an even tougher outlook, this is exactly what Australia needs. BBY fully supports this initiative and we have the resources to provide corporate advisory for companies looking to use the BookBuild system.”

Adding value to explorers and producers alike

Mining companies, too, have much to gain.

Large resource companies that typically use a corporate adviser to raise capital can instruct their lead manager to use ASX BookBuild to access investors across Australia and in key mining markets such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Hong Kong.

ASX BookBuild also has clear benefits for small and mid-size resource companies that struggle to secure support from investment banks or large broking firms.

Instead of promoting its offer to clients of just one boutique broker, a small resource company can promote its offer to all brokers and investors via the ASX BookBuild facility. As more brokers recommend the offer to clients, there is potential for greater research coverage of the stock. Low analyst coverage of their stock is a problem for many emerging resource companies.

In the best interest of shareholders and clients

The arrival of the ASX BookBuild facility is particularly timely for the resources sector. In a capital constrained environment, mining companies have the opportunity to get the best results in their capital raising efforts by tapping the entire market, rather than a select group of investors who are clients of one particular broking firm.  Few capital seeking companies can afford to ignore investors who may have bid for stock in a capital raising, if only they had been given the opportunity to participate via the ASX BookBuild facility.

With over $98 million dollars raised since launch in October, ASX BookBuild has made quick progress in proving the benefits.

To learn more about the ASX BookBuild facility, visit www.onmarketbookbuilds.com or www.asx.com.au/bookbuild

As featured in Australian Resources & Investment magazine, Volume 8, Number 2, May/June 2014.

What the Brokers Say

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WHAT THE BROKERS SAY: Interesting news and views from across the Resource Analyst universe.

Website: www.beerandco.com.au

Company: Athena Resources (ASX: AHN)

AHN has Direct Shipping Ore haematite to go

AHN has significant outcropping haematite mineralisation in the north of its tenements.

Sampling suggests an in‐situ grade of about 56 per cent iron.

The deposits are near the Mullewa‐Carnarvon Road and up to 2.5 million tonne per year can be trucked for export through Geraldton, where there is spare capacity.

Beer & Co expect that an in‐pit crush can upgrade the ore to about 59 per cent iron.

Beer & Co estimates Life of Mine costs will be US$73 per tonne, adjusted for grade.

Our estimated NPV for this project is $44 million.

AHN has an exciting nickel-copper‐PGE prospect

Milly Milly is a six kilometre long intrusion on the northern crustal margin of the Yilgarn Craton.

Soil and rock chip sampling has yielded up to 2.5 per cent nickel from rock/laterite and up to 9 per cent copper from gossans.

Shallow drilling has yielded best results of 13.7 metres at 1.2 per cent nickel and 67m at 0.7 per cent copper, including 18.3m at 1.14 per cent copper.

AHN has drilled one deep hole which provided encouraging results.

AHN will undertake further geo‐physical surveys to design the next deep hole.

AHN has an Exploration Target of over 400 million tonnes of coarse magnetite.

AHN reported, in October 2011, that a plant to produce 2.5 million tonnes per year of 68 per cent iron concentrate had a capital cost of $136 million and operating costs of $42.3 million per annum.

Beer & Co estimate an NPV of $170 million for this project, with AISC costs, adjusted for grade, of US$63 per tonne.

There is significant upside to our valuation from a more effective transport solution, such as rail, as AHN appears to have sufficient mineralisation to make this feasible.

Website: www.hartleys.com.au

Company: Renaissance Minerals (ASX: RNS)

Unlocking a new Intrusion Related Gold Province

Renaissance Minerals Limited is a quality gold explorer looking to transition to producer through the development of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Okvau gold (+1.2 million ounces) deposit in Cambodia.

Okvau is hosted in an intrusion related gold system (IRGS), which is largely unexplored and has the potential to be a significant new gold province.

IRGS have wide-ranging characteristics, but on a basic level are gold deposits produced by local-scale fluids derived from a cooling pluton in regions lacking copper.

These mineralised systems rarely form in isolation and can host a significant volume of gold, which bodes well for more discoveries to come.

Okvau – A quality resource which is expected to grow

The 1.2 million ounce Okvau deposit is a high-quality gold resource; it is shallow (low strip ratio expected), good-grade (2.4 grams per tonne gold at a 0.65g/t gold lower cut) and robust (90 per cent Indicated resource).

Mineralisation also remains open to the north-east, south-east and at depth, as such further resource growth is anticipated.

The gold mineralisation does however have a strong association with sulphides (pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite veining), which is common among IRGS deposits (ie they are often “refractory”), and recently completed metallurgical testwork indicates that sulphide flotation followed by fine grinding of the concentrate prior to cyanide leaching will be required to achieve ideal gold recoveries.

The current conceptual flow sheet for processing is a coarse primary grind and sulphide flotation to generate a high-grade concentrate which is then reground prior to cyanide leaching.

Gold recoveries nearing 90 per cent have been achieved, and importantly no oxidation is required.

With available cheap grid power nearby, processing costs are not expected to be onerous, and should be similar to conventional processing.

The met-testwork to refine recoveries is ongoing and work has already commenced on a scoping level study into the potential development of Okvau.

On current timing the scoping study should be released in Sep 2014.

Highly prospective mineralised trend north of Okvau

Surrounding Okvau the company has plus-400 square kilometres to explore with highly prospective geology and multiple drill ready targets remain to be tested.

An initial area of focus is within a 5sqkm radius of Okvau, where gold-in-soil anomalies with coincident IRG pathfinders (bismuth, arsenic and tellurium) have been defined over large plus-800m zones.

A recent trench sample at the Area 1 prospect (located approx. 3km north of Okvau) returned 17m at 2.9g/t gold, including 9m at 4.8g/t gold over a soil anomaly more than double the size of Okvau deposit.

Follow-up drilling is planned to test this and other nearby targets.

Disclaimer: The above is intended as a guide only. The Roadhouse accepts no responsibility for investments made from this advice, successful or otherwise.

The views, opinions or recommendations of this article do not in any way reflect the views, opinions, recommendations, of The Resources Roadhouse.

The Roadhouse makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the content. The content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Independent advice should be obtained from an Australian financial services licensee before making investment decisions.

Funds across the Boards

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THE FUND RAISER: Sirius Resources set the cat amongst the fund raining pigeons this week.

$189 million to fund Nova

Sirius Resources (ASX: SIR) announced a share placement to eligible institutional and sophisticated investors.

The size of the offer is somewhat larger than what we have become accustomed to of late as the company looks to raise approximately $189 million by issuing approximately 49.5 million new ordinary shares.

The price to participate is $3.82 per ordinary share, representing a 6.4 per cent discount the last traded price before the company went into a trading halt to announce the raising of $4.08 and a 3.9 per cent discount to the 5 Day VWAP of $3.98.

The proceeds will be used for the development and construction of the company’s Nova Nickel project, ongoing exploration activities and for general corporate purposes.


Share placement raises $7.5 million

Thundelarra Limited (ASX: THX) completed a placement to raise $7.5 million by the issue of approx. 39.47 million shares at a price of 19 cents each.

The funds raised will enable Thundelarra to accelerate and expand the exploration programs required to follow up the recent drilling results at the company’s 90 per cent-owned Doolgunna projects, which included the drill intercept at Red Bore of 7.05m (true width unknown) of massive chalcopyrite (primary copper sulphide) grading 28.4 per cent copper, 1.3 grams per tonne gold and 32.2g/t silver in diamond drill hole TRBDD09, from 29.95 m down hole (only 28m below surface).


$1.14 Million capital raising

GBM Resources (ASX: GBZ) announced a $1.14 million capital raising by way of a placement of 57 million ordinary shares at two cents each.

The company will issue a free attaching option, exercisable at 3.5 cents each expiring 30 June 2016, for each share subscribed for in the share placement.

The funds raised will be used to advance existing exploration programs, provide working capital and to allow the company to assess potential corporate opportunities.


Investment to underpin acquisition of Leonora gold project

Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) has secured a $3 million cornerstone investment, enabling it to complete its acquisition of the Leonora gold project in Western Australia.

Kin has entered into a Share Subscription Agreement with private Australian company Geolord Resources, under which Geolord has agreed to invest $3 million through a share placement at 15 cents a share, to be completed in two tranches, subject to shareholder approval.

Kin said the deal was critical in terms of the completion of its transaction with the Deed Administrator to acquire all the issued capital of Navigator Mining, which holds the assets in the Leonora gold project.

The company has already paid a $200,000 deposit for this acquisition, with a balance of $2.5 million required to complete the transaction.


Additional funds for exploration

Horseshoe Metals (ASX: HOR) has raised $425,000 via a placement of 21.25 million new shares to sophisticated and professional investors at two cents per share.

The Placement was made by the allotment of part of the shortfall shares following the company’s recent non-renounceable pro rata entitlement issue.

The completion of this placement brings the total amount raised in recent capital raising activities to over $1.2 million.

The funds will be used to fund ongoing exploration programs at its copper/gold projects in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

In addition, Horseshoe Metals has been granted up to $250,000 in co-funding support from the WA State Government for deep drilling at its Kumarina and Horseshoe Lights projects.

An additional $235,000 in drilling, paid for in Horseshoe Metals shares in lieu of cash (which have already been issued), is to be undertaken by Whitestone Minerals, which is controlled by Horseshoe Metals director Michael Fotios.

This brings the total of cash raised and third party funded drilling to $1.7 million.

Diggers & Dealers Keynote Speaker – Lord Mervyn King

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Diggers & Dealers Keynote Speaker – Lord Mervyn King

CONFERENCE CALLER: Each year Diggers & Dealers provides the opportunity to hear insightful commentary on the global economic outlook from globally-respected experts who are well-informed and knowledgeable in their particular fields.

This year is no different with Lord Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England presenting this year’s Keynote Address.

Lord King has been described as being one of the world’s most respected economic influences who has worked in the global economic environment in recent times and in 2013, was rated as the 11th most influential person in the international economic and financial community.

 

Known to his friends as Lord King of Lothbury, he served as the Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of its Monetary Policy Committee from 2003 to 2013 and as the chairman of the group of major central banks at the BIS (formerly the G-10 Governors).

He was Deputy Governor from 1998 to 2003, Chief Economist and Executive Director from 1991 and a non-executive director of the Bank from 1990 to 1991.

In July of 2013, Lord King was appointed a life peer in the British House of Lords by Queen Elizabeth II for contributions to public service.

Born in 1948, Lord King studied at King’s College, Cambridge and Harvard (as a Kennedy Scholar) and taught at Cambridge and Birmingham Universities before serving as Visiting Professor at both Harvard University and MIT.

He was also a Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics where he founded the Financial Markets Group.

Now he is widely acknowledged to have been one of the modern world’s most innovative and influential Central Bankers, having made many contributions to making the Bank of England a more modern, credible institution.

Both the former Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer and Philip Hildebrand, the former head of the Swiss central bank, have said King helped teach the rest of the world what independent central banking was all about.

He has profoundly changed not just the Bank of England, but central banking around the world.

As the Bank’s Chief Economist, King established its credibility as a maker of independent monetary policy.

He brought in first-rate young economists, and brought down inflation.

He popularised inflation targeting across the world. At the Bank of England he became (in the words of Kenneth Clarke, Britain’s chancellor from 1993 to 1997) the “intellectual rock” on which the new policy was built.

His regime was a success and between 1992 and 2012 retail-price inflation averaged around three per cent. Over the previous two decades it had averaged 10 per cent.

The system faced severe tests during the financial crisis, and held and today the Bank’s credibility as an inflation targeter is intact with many firms and workers still expect inflation to be close to two per cent.

We can’t wait hear what he says about us.

VivaGel® condom receives TGA device certification

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THE ROADHOUSE PHARMACY: Starpharma (ASX: SPL) has received Conformity Assessment Certification for the VivaGel® condom by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

The company explained the TGA certification is similar to CE certification of devices (CE Mark) in Europe.

Starpharma said its marketing partner, Ansell (ASX: ANN) plans to launch the VivaGel® condom under their brand, LifeStyles Dual Protect™, in the coming months, following listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

TGA certification will also support certain regulatory processes in other markets.

The VivaGel® condom is a world-first product based on innovative Australian technology.

It is the only condom of its type, providing barrier protection and incorporating a proprietary antiviral compound (VivaGel®) in the lubricant.

LifeStyles Dual Protect™ condoms to be marketed by Ansell will carry the VivaGel® brand and Starpharma will receive royalties based on sales.

“Ansell looks forward to rolling out its marketing and sales campaign to support the launch of LifeStyles Dual Protect™ over the coming months with the first product expected to be available on shelves soon,” Ansell president & general manager, Sexual Wellness Global Business Unit, Peter Carroll said.

“Our partnership with Starpharma is a great example of two highly innovative Australian businesses working together to bring to market a ground-breaking new sexual health product.

“New product development is central to Ansell’s business strategy and this highly innovative product is exciting for both companies.”

LifeStyles Dual Protect™ condoms are lubricated with VivaGel® lubricant, which contains 0.5 per cent astodrimer sodium (previously SPL7013, also referred to as VivaGel®).

VivaGel® is intended to help reduce the risk of exposure to viruses that cause STIs, having been shown in laboratory studies to inactivate up to 99.9 per cent of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), HSV (herpes simplex virus) and HPV (human papillomavirus).

Website: www.starpharma.com

This Week in The Roadhouse Pharmacy

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THE ROADHOUSE PHARMACY: There’s a great deal of interest in the Bio-tech sector at the moment, so we have opened our own Pharmacy to keep our readers up to speed.

Ethics approval granted for OncoSil™ Clinical Pivotal Trial

OncoSil Medical Limited (ASX: OSL) has been granted Ethics Approval for the Australian hospital sites for the Pivotal Clinical Trial for the company’s lead product candidate, the OncoSil™ localised radiation therapy treatment for pancreatic cancer.
READ MORE…

Uranex signs MoU with Chinese SOE

Uranex Limited (ASX: UNX) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for an Off-take Agreement with China National Materials Industry Import and Export Corporation (SINOMA).
READ MORE…


FDA grants Starpharma Phase 3 trial

Starpharma Holdings (ASX: SPL) announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement on the design and planned analyses of the phase 3 clinical studies of the VivaGel® bacterial vaginosis (BV) product for the prevention of recurrent BV.
READ MORE…


Probiotec commences clinical trial

Probiotec Limited (ASX: PBP) announced that further to its ongoing research and development program with Griffith University and other research organisations, the company has commenced a clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of Glycomax Lactoferrin and bovine whey derived Ig rich fraction (Immunoglobulin) for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
READ MORE…


Cynata Contracts Leading CRO to Conduct Preclinical Studies

Cynata Therapeutics (ASX: CYP) has signed an agreement with WuXi AppTec (NYSE:WX), a leading global biopharmaceutical contract research organisation, to conduct preclinical safety studies with Cynata’s unique Cymerus™ stem cell technology.
READ MORE…

Nagambie claims Wandean gold discovery

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Nagambie Mining (ASX: NAG) has claimed the Wandean deposit, located nine kilometres north west of the Nagambie mine to be a virgin gold discovery following the receipt of assays from its latest drilling program.

 

Nagambie Mining tenements. Source: Company announcement

 

Nagambie said Wandean has demonstrated continuous gold mineralisation, which remains open to the east, grading better than the target average grade of one gram per tonne gold for economic heap leach treatment at the Nagambie mine.

The drilling intersected 37.8g/t gold, which Nagambie said is the highest gold grade to date for Wandean and more than double the best oxide gold assay recorded at the Nagambie mine in the 1990s of 16.3g/t gold.

Highlighted oxide intersections for the latest exploration drilling program at Wandean include:

WRC 101
5m at 11.4g/t gold from 53m down hole, including 3m at 18.7g/t from 53m and 1m at 37.8g/t from 54m;

WRC 58
13m at 1.74g/t gold from 20m, including 4m at 3.3g/t from 24m;

WRC 56
10m at 1.50g/t gold from 39m, including 4m at 2.4g/t from 40m and 7m at 1.93g/t from 58m, including 3m at 3.2g/t from 59m; and

WRC 61
10m at 1.71g/t gold from 27m, including 4m at 3.1g/t from 30m.

Nagambie said it has been encouraged by preliminary gold leach results, which it considers augur well for Wandean heap leach gold recovery.

“Nagambie Mining now has two open-pit, heap-leachable gold discoveries, Apollo at Clonbinane and Wandean, to progress to production,” Nagambie Mining chairman Mike Trumbull said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“There is clear potential for more discoveries to be made in the 100 per cent controlled Nagambie and Clonbinane Goldfields.

“In July 2012, we announced that we had ‘cracked the code’ for the Nagambie region and planned to systematically hunt down Nagambie mine-style gold ore bodies that are amenable to low cost mining and ore treatment.

“To announce the discovery of Wandean two years later is very gratifying.”

Email: info@nagambiemining.com.au

Website: www.nagambiemining.com.au