Mining veteran looks to replicate $3.5 billion success with golden new venture

Mining industry veteran and managing director of the $3.5 billion Indonesia-based Nickel Mines Justin Werner is bringing a new, highly prospective gold play to the ASX with the IPO of Far East Gold (FEG).

Mining industry veteran and managing director of the $3.5 billion Indonesia-based Nickel Mines Justin Werner is bringing a new, highly prospective gold play to the ASX with the IPO of Far East Gold (FEG).

This junior explorer holds six advanced-stage tenements across Australia and Indonesia, including the attractive Woyla project formerly held by Barrick Gold and Newcrest Mining, and has successfully renegotiated the forestry designation that had kept these rival miners’ shovels out of the ground.

Far East Gold’s Wonogiri tenement on Indonesia’s Sunda Magmatic Arc is already licensed for production and holds a JORC-measured gold deposit of 996,000 ounces of gold, while its other Indonesian sites have gold grades as high as 28 grams per tonne.

Meanwhile, early scout drilling at its three Australian tenements similarly points to sizeable deposits within the Drummond Basin and Connors Arc.

Mr Werner and the Far East Gold leadership team – including CEO Shane Menere and chair Paul Walker – are seeking investors to fund alongside them as they progress with these significant projects.

Join FEG’s chairman of the board Paul Walker and non-executive director Justin Werner tonight at 7pm (AEDT) for a live investor briefing on the opportunity. During the briefing, they will discuss the projects and provide an overview of the company’s highly experienced board and management, which has a successful track record of mine development. Click here to book your spot.

Advanced and prospective tenements

Although Far East Gold is a junior explorer, a number of its highly prospective projects in Australia and Indonesia have undergone extensive exploration work and are highly advanced.

These include the Woyla tenement, where several drill targets have already been identified by previous owners, including Barrick Gold and Newcrest, neither of whom were able to commence drilling due to forestry designations, which Far East Gold has since renegotiated. 

Fellow Indonesian site Trenggalek has already been issued with a licence for operation and production, and more than 17,700 metres of drilling has been undertaken to map out its large-scale porphyry and epithermal prospects.

Less exploration work has been completed in Australia, however the work that has been done has delivered promising results. 

Hill 212 – located in Queensland’s highly prospective Drummond Basin – has only had 730 metres of drilling conducted so far, but already Far East Gold has identified a 2.5 kilometre epithermal gold vein.

In addition to these projects, Far East Gold owns majority stakes in the Wonogiri tenement in Indonesia (which holds a JORC resource estimate of 996,000 ounces of gold), the Blue Grass Creek site adjacent to Hill 212, and Mt Clark West in Queensland’s Connors Arc.

Many of these sites run close to existing large-scale mining operations, providing the company with easy access to existing transport and utilities infrastructure, while the IUP licences it holds for Trenggalek and Wonogiri enable the company to utilise public roads and railways for mining activity.

Join us for a live investor briefing to discover why FEG’s experienced leadership team believes the company is on the right track for success. Click here to book your spot.

Proven capability in Indonesia

Far East Gold’s senior management team comprises some of the most experienced names in Australian and Indonesian mining, including Nickel Mines managing director Justin Werner, who serves as a non-executive director of the company.

Mr Werner has led Nickel Mines since 2012, helping it IPO at 35 cents in August 2018 and growing it into the largest pure play nickel company on the ASX with a market cap of nearly $3.5 billion.

His extensive knowledge of capital markets and deep experience dealing in Indonesia has enabled him to bridge the gap between Australia and Asia and successfully negotiate with leading commodities buyers, including Tsingshan, the largest stainless steel producer in the world. 

Mr Werner’s place on the board provides welcome support to chair Paul Walker, whose career in leading international businesses and heading up large infrastructure and resource projects has spanned more than three decades.

Mr Walker is similarly familiar with Indonesian business dealings, having founded and chaired another mining operation in the region in 2009, which successfully acquired a number of exploration licences and brought a coal mine in Kalimantan into operation.

Far East Gold’s operational side is led by CEO Shane Menere, who brings 25 years’ experience in resources and infrastructure (including more than a decade with projects throughout Asia Pacific) to the role.

Strong tailwinds for gold

The gold price has bounced around in recent weeks amid ongoing coronavirus news and speculation as to whom US President Joe Biden would nominate to lead the US Federal Reserve.

More recently, the discovery of the new Omicron COVID variant has pushed the price of the yellow metal up as investors clamour for its relative safety.

This momentum is expected to continue if this new variant forces central banks to delay fiscal stimulus tapering, which had previously been signalled.

Economists are further warning Omicron could add to inflation woes already weighing on market sentiment.

This heightened concern that inflation will continue has driven investors into gold, and is expected to be supportive of the commodity’s price.

Longer term, leading analysts from UBS, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs expect gold prices will continue to rise over the next 12 months at least.

Click here to hear directly from Paul Walker and Justin Werner in our live investor briefing tonight at 7pm (AEDT).

Progressing its assets

The funds raised through this IPO will be used to advance each of the company’s projects, including finalising the acquisition of each tenement under contract and securing the necessary permits to undertake advanced exploration work at Woyla and Trenggalek. 

Far East Gold will additionally seek to acquire an IUP OP license (for operation and production) for its highly advanced Wonogiri site.

The IPO will also provide Far East Gold with working capital, while providing a liquid market for the company’s shares and an opportunity for new investors to take a stake in the business. 

Far East goes for Gold

Far East Gold is set to join the ASX in January next year with the experienced hand of Nickel Mines’ Justin Werner to help carry the company through listing to further advance its six projects across Australia and Indonesia.

The company has successfully renegotiated the forestry designations, which have kept rival miners out of the earth in Woyla, and intends to use the capital from this float to acquire the licences required to progress works in Trenggalek and Wonogiri.

The six projects are highly prospective, with several of the Indonesian sites already in the advanced stages of exploration, while many of the company’s assets are located within close proximity of key infrastructure assets.

Following the IPO, CEO Shane Menere and chair Paul Walker – who bring more than 55 years’ combined experience to their roles – will use the additional capital to finalise the business’s acquisition of the six tenements and oversee additional exploration works.

Join our live investor briefing with Paul Walker and Justin Werner tonight at 7pm (AEDT). Click here to book your spot. Or to request the offer document, please click here.

Reach Markets are the advisors assisting with the management of this offer and may receive fees depending on whether an offer is taken up by investors.

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