XavierLinQ Pty Ltd's (XLG) 100% owned large scale copper gold Gilmore project in New South Wales' Macquarie Arc could accurately be described as a hidden gem.
With existing resources of >500Mt containing 8.4Moz AuEq (or 2.1Mt CuEq metal), its potential is measurable and real.
Estimated to a maximum depth of just 300-450m, current resources offer low strip ratios for a simple open pit development, and a strike length of ~40 km identified porphyry and epithermal mineralised systems that remain open in all directions and scalable.
In advance of the anticipated main event, there is the option to develop an initial smaller scale mine in the southern end of the tenements which hosts a current resource base of 120Mt at 0.65g/t AuEq for 2.5Moz AuEq, representing less than a quarter of the current project resource base. More importantly there is potential to mine at a higher grade of 1 g/t AuEq for an initial +10 years which is predominantly gold production with copper credits. Feasibility work is set to kick off soon.
Acquired in mid-2023, XLG's strategy is to advance the Gilmore project and undertake an accelerated IPO in 1H 2025, offering substantial leverage to both the copper & gold prices, and making XLG a prime candidate for a takeover from a larger company.
For now, the company is working through the database it has inherited, relating to ~470,000m of drilling – readily accessible data that today would take ~$125 million to accumulate.
An eye for winners
Not publicly visible for some four decades, it took someone with an extremely keen eye and the right connections to see past the fragmented tenement ownership to the Cadia & Northparkes porphyry district-type opportunity Gilmore presented.
That person was XLG executive chairman and managing director, Clive Donner, who successfully built and managed two private equity mining funds over 16 years via his private equity company, LinQ Group, which primarily focussed on emerging producers. Prior to this, his 16 years with NM Rothschild Australia and Citibank providing capital and structured finance solutions for mining projects afforded him unrivalled insights into what goes into making a winner.
Moreover, to complement his proven pedigree on the value creation front, Donner has assembled around him at XLG a strong technical team with significant porphyry pedigree and operational execution capability.
As Clive Donner put it, "I cannot stress enough how lucky we are to get this package, and how valuable it is to have a 60 km belt and ~600 sq km of tenements peppered with about 25 known deposits, prospects and targets."
"We have three projects in one company. Our northern, central and southern zones could equally have been divided up and given to three companies to build three separate mines – that's how big the scale really is," he added.
The 2023 timing of XLG getting its hands on Gilmore could not have been better, with copper and gold prices having subsequently soared and a much-anticipated major copper supply gap in the offing.
And with Macquarie Arc recognised as a key part of the solution to this clean energy-driven challenge, for those wanting a piece of the exploration action, Donner considers Gilmore to be the most advanced project in the region.
