ASX Round-Up: A Look at Regal Resources and Western Areas

For investors focused on the resource space, a good way to track companies listed in Australia is to look at the S&P/ASX 300 (INDEXASX:XKO). The index includes all S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) companies as well as about 100 smaller-cap companies, and as of April 2015 accounted for 74 percent of the Australian equities market. Specifically, the S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining (INDEXASX:XMM) division is a great source for companies to watch.
The Investing News Network is thus profiling companies on the S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining index. This week’s companies are Regal Resources (ASX:RER) and Western Areas (ASX:WSA,TSX:WSA).

Regal Resources is a gold producer that is developing mid-sized operations in Australia and Africa. Its 100-percent-owned Duketon gold project in Western Australia contains three deposits: the Moolart Well gold mine, which began operating in August 2010, the Garden Well gold mine, which is an open-pit operation with a standalone mill, and the Rosemont gold project, which is a hybrid project with a crushing and milling circuit as well as an ore slurry.
In September, the company released its results for the 2015 financial year, reporting a profit of $86.9 million. Regal also saw a 25-percent increase in gold sales during the period — sales rose to $465,854,000 from $371,232,000 in the 2014 financial year.

Western Areas is a nickel producer with high-grade assets in Australia, including two of the highest-grade underground nickel mines in the world: Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll. The two mines, which are located within the company’s flagship Forrestania property, contain 2,325,984 tonnes at an average grade of 4 percent for 93,397 tonnes of nickel. Forrestania is expected to produce an average of 25,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate per annum, based on 10-year production targets.
In September, Western Areas reported record Q3 production of 3,905 tonnes of nickel at Spotted Quoll. Overall production for the third quarter was 148,102 tonnes at an average grade of 4.8 percent for 7,062 tonnes of nickel. More recently, the company reached a significant milestone at the Western Gawler project.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Kristen Moran, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
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