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Impact Minerals Limited's (ASX:IPT) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $180,000 under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) to co-fund drilling of the Caligula copper prospect at the company’s 100% owned Arkun Project located 150 km east of Perth in the emerging mineral province of southwest Western Australia (Figure 1 and ASX Release January 4th 2024).
- Co-funding of up to $180,000 awarded under the WA Government’s EIS scheme to drill the large and significant Caligula copper target identified in soil geochemistry data and Mobile Magneto-Telluric (MMT) data.
- Caligula comprises a 5 km by 1 km soil geochemistry anomaly containing copper-silver-cobalt+/- tellurium-bismuth-molybdenum associated with numerous conductors identified in the MMT data that may represent disseminated or massive sulphides.
- Infill and extensional soil geochemistry surveys have been completed to help define specific drill targets with assays due this Quarter.
- The statutory approvals process for a drill programme has now commenced.
- The aircore drill programme at the Hyperion Prospect, which forms part of IPT’s broader Arkun Project, has been completed. Hand-held XRF data is being interpreted to help select samples for assaying, with results expected later this Quarter.
The Caligula prospect comprises a large soil geochemistry anomaly that is coincident with several significant conductors identified in helicopter-borne Mobile Magneto-Telluric (MMT) data that may represent disseminated or massive sulphides (ASX Releases 9th August 2023 and January 24th 2024).
Caligula is 15 km west of the Hyperion Rare Earth Element prospect anomaly, where an aircore drill programme was recently completed (ASX Releases January 4th 2024 and April 19th 2024). The Arkun project was also recently expanded with three new tenement applications (Figure 1 and ASX Release March 14th 2024).
Impact Minerals’ Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said, “This award validates our exploration programmes at Arkun over the past few years. Caligula is one of many geochemical and geophysical targets we have at the project and so the information we will gain from the proposed drill programme will add immensely to our knowledge of this poorly exposed and poorly explored area. We will now start the statutory approvals process for the drilling. We have just completed our maiden drill programme at Hyperion to test for Rare Earth Elements and are interpreting the handheld XRF data to select samples for assaying, and we are looking forward to those results”.
Figure 1. Location and regional geological setting of Impact’s Arkun and other projects shown in blue in the emerging mineral province of southwest Western Australia. Significant nickel deposits are shown in orange, lithium deposits in green and gold deposits in yellow.
Soil Geochemistry Results
The Caligula prospect comprises an area of anomalous copper-in-soils that extends over about 5,000 metres north-south and up to at least 2,000 metres east-west. It is open to the east and the southwest (Figure 2). The copper is associated with anomalous silver and cobalt and, in the southern part of the anomaly, also has a strong association with bismuth, tellurium and lesser molybdenum (Figure 2). Details about the soil geochemistry results were included in the ASX Release of January 24th 2024.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Impact Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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Impact Minerals Limited
Overview
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is an exploration and development mining company focused on discovering and developing new resource projects within Australia. Lake Hope, a recent transformational acquisition by the company and its current flagship asset, is a high-purity alumina (HPA) project in Impact’s home territory of Western Australia, a tier-one jurisdiction.
This advanced-stage project allows the company to fast-track the asset toward development, firmly establishing the company on the road to production and increasing shareholder value.
HPA is a high-value product with various uses in several industries that are key to the transition to a low-carbon world. Its main uses are in LED lighting, micro-LED screens, and ceramic-coated separators in lithium-ion batteries. Both these markets are forecast to grow dramatically over the next decade, and a looming supply shortage is predicted for 2026.
HPA is also necessary for producing synthetic sapphire and scratch-resistant glass. With these ever-widening applications for HPA, demand for this resource is expected to grow from US$3.18 billion to US$12.21 billion by 2030 with a compounded annual growth rate of about 20 percent.
Lake Hope is the company’s current focus as it moves towards production, and where a very shallow, high-grade resource of HPA precursor material has been identified in the top two meters of a dry salt lake. The deposit has unique physical and chemical properties that will allow for inexpensive digging and mining, with transportation to a processing facility off-site in an established industrial area. This will accelerate the approvals processes required to get into production.
Impact is currently focused on lodging a mining lease application. The company aims to bring Lake Hope, which contains almost 1 million tons of potential HPA, into production when the forecast average price for 4N HPA (99.99 percent AL203) and related products is about US$20,000 per ton. The ‘4N’ designation indicates the purity grade, making it suitable for high-tech end uses.
Outstanding economics from the latest scoping study released by the company shows Lake Hope’s potential to be the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally by up to 50 percent.
In June 2023, Impact announced a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tons at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tons of alumina. The company also received heritage clearances for the entire Lake Hope deposit further de-risking the project and providing another critical component in the company’s application for a mining lease.
Impact completed a bulk sampling and test pits program at the Lake Hope project in December 2023. The company recently announced a key milestone having produced HPA greater than 99.99 percent (4N) purity from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope.
In February 2024, a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays was identified. Impact produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 from a low-temperature leach (LTL) process. The LTL process may lower the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process which underpinned the recent scoping study. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study in parallel with the sulphate process at marginal extra cost to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed on schedule in late 2024.
A comparison of the LTL process and the sulphate process
The company received a significant research and development refund of $753,000 from its exploration activities completed in the financial year ending June 30th, 2022. The company is well funded to finance the pre-feasibility study at the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina project and exploration activities at the Arkun battery minerals project.
Impact Minerals was also one of the inaugural cohort of seven companies selected to be part of the prestigious BHP Xplor program. BHP Xplor, an accelerator program introduced by BHP in August 2022, is designed to help provide participants with the opportunity to accelerate their growth and the potential to establish a long-term partnership with BHP and its global network of partners.
The BHP Xplor funding was used to identify new target areas for copper and other energy metals around the Broken Hill area in New South Wales, eastern Australia, where Impact has been quietly adding to its ground position for several years.
Additionally, the company is exploring its large Arkun battery metals project, also in Western Australia which covers nearly 2,900 square kilometres. Three new exploration licence applications were submitted recently immediately north of the Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe, and the Caligula copper anomaly. These anomalies require drill testing which will occur in 2024 and is an exciting development in the emerging mineral province of southwest WA.
A strong management team with over 50 years of combined industry experience leads the company. With a mining and exploration geology degree, Dr. Mike Jones, managing director, launched a long career consulting and leading mining organizations. Peter Unsworth, the non-executive chairman, has more than 35 years of experience in multiple financial sectors, such as securities industries and wealth management. Paul Ingram, a non-executive director, has led several mining companies since 2003. Impact Minerals has the experience and expertise to lead the company to success.
Company Highlights
- Impact Minerals is an exploration and development mining company focused on rapidly moving its flagship Lake Hope high-purity alumina (HPA) project towards production.
- Lake Hope project has a high-grade maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3), for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina that can be converted to HPA.
- HPA is used throughout multiple industries, and the overall HPA market is projected to grow by a CAGR of 18.4 percent by 2030.
- A pre-feasibility study is currently in progress, and Impact plans to lodge a mining lease application by Q3 2024 after results of its scoping study indicated that Lake Hope could potentially be one of, if not the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally, possibly by a significant margin of up to 50 percent.
- The company’s project portfolio also includes assets with high-grade mineral deposits of a range of base, critical and precious metals.
- Impact Mineral’s 2,000-square-mile Arkun nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia has produced encouraging assays motivating further exploration with maiden drill programmes planned for 2024.
- The company is also exploring its Broken Hill copper project in New South Wales under the auspices of the BHP Xplor program.
- A strong management team leads the company with experience in geology, mining and corporate finance.
Key Projects
Lake Hope HPA Project
Impact Minerals’ Lake Hope HPA project is in Western Australia, a tier-one mining jurisdiction. HPA is a crucial component in many new and emerging technologies, creating ongoing demand for high-grade sources. The Lake Hope project has become the company’s flagship as it moves toward production.
Project Highlights:
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate: A maiden mineral resource of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina has been defined at the Lake Hope HPA Project. About 88 percent of the resource, or 775,000 tonnes of alumina, is in the higher confidence indicated resource category.
- Amenable to Open-pit Mining: The Lake Hope project is a unique HPA asset amenable to shallow, open-pit mining. The deposit is soft and shallow, allowing for cheap digging and minimal infrastructure requirements. This type of deposit also lowers the environmental footprint of the operation.
- Fast-tracked to Production: The company is currently awaiting its Mining Lease Application. Once granted, the company will begin working towards a pre-feasibility study and mini pilot plant. Impact Minerals plans to reach a complete pilot plant by 2026.
- Impressive Results of the 2023 Scoping Study: Outstanding economics show Lake Hope to potentially be the lowest-cost producer of High Purity Alumina (HPA) globally by up to 50 percent. Key outcomes from the scoping study include:
- Annual production of 10,000 tpa of 4N HPA with an initial 25-year mine life
- Annual EBITDA of A$174 million.
- 2 years construction period with 5,000 tonnes of production during the first year, 8,000 tonnes in the second year and 10,000 tonnes of production thereafter.
- US$934 million post-tax NPV8 at an IRR of 55 percent.
The scoping study was underpinned by a sulphuric acid process allowing the company to achieve a new milestone by producing HPA with purity of more than than 99.99 percent (4N) from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope. The company further identified a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays. Known as the low-temperature leach (LTL) process, this also produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 and has the potential to lower even further the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study along with the sulphate process to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed in late 2024.
Broken Hill Copper Project
The Broken Hill project has a significant land position of 815 square kilometers and hosts multiple targets with the potential for high-grade copper. Broken Hill is located in New South Wales, Australia, an area known for its prolific silver-lead-zinc mining operations and the giant Broken Hill deposit.
Project Highlights:
- Participant in the BHP Xplor Program: Impact was selected for the BHP Xplor program based on its Broken Hill project. The program is designed to allow participants to accelerate growth and establish a long-term partnership with BHP.
- Potential for Additional Minerals and Deposits: As well as copper, the project has significant exploration potential for magmatic nickel-copper-PGE sulphides, and at the time the host rocks were formed, Broken Hill was located close to the world-class nickel-copper-PGE deposit of Jinchuan and the significant Lengquisheng deposit. The project area also has the potential to contain zinc-lead-silver deposits, providing even more value.
Arkun Nickel-Copper-Gold-Lithium-REE Project
The Arkun project is a 2,900-square-kilometer nickel, copper and gold project located in the emerging Ni-Cu-PGE province near the world-class Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE deposit and surrounded by Anglo American Corporation, which secured its ground holding shortly after Impact secured its asset. Anglo-American is one of the world’s top ten mining companies, and their presence in the region brings confidence in the project’s potential.
Project Highlights:
- Additional Exploration Underway: Impact plans follow-up work programs, including drilling, at its priority targets.
- Significant Targets Identified: Recent soil sampling identified two new prospects:
- Hyperion prospect - Located in the northwestern part of the project area returned with rare earth element anomalism of up to 5,880 ppm (0.59 percent) total rare earth oxide (TREO+Y) and neodymium and praseodymium (Nd+Pr) of up to 21 percent.
- Caligula prospect - Initially identified on the roadside, the Caligula prospect is a large and significant target for porphyry copper mineralisation.
- Three New Exploration Licences: Impact applied for three new exploration licences expanding Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe as well as the Caligula copper anomaly.
Management Team
Peter Unsworth - Non-executive Chairman
Peter Unsworth, formerly a chartered accountant, has over 35 years of experience in the corporate finance, investment and securities industries and a wealth of management experience with public and private companies. A former executive director with a leading Western Australian stockbroking company, Unsworth has been a director of several public exploration and mining companies. He recently completed a long time serving as chairman of the Western Australian Government-owned Gold Corporation (operator of The Perth Mint). Unsworth is the founding chairman of Impact Minerals.
Dr. Mike Jones - Managing Director
Dr. Mike Jones is the founding managing director of Impact Minerals Limited, which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 2006. Reporting to the board of directors, he is responsible for the company's performance as it moves towards production at its Lake Hope High Purity Alumina Project and also for implementing strategies to explore and maximize the value of the company's other extensive tenement holdings.
Since listing, he has helped raise more than $60 million to help fund the exploration of Impact’s projects and managed the company through significant adverse events, including the global financial crisis and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which affected Impact’s considerable investment in the uranium sector, a five-year global downturn in the mining sector and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul Ingram - Non-executive Director
Paul Ingram is a geologist with extensive experience managing major mineral exploration programs for several publicly listed companies and has been involved in the mining sector for over thirty years. He has designed and implemented innovative techniques for exploration in remote areas and has managed projects in countries throughout Australia and East Asia. Ingram has been a director of the following listed companies in the past three years: Polo Resources from January 2008 to January 2011; A-Cap Resources since June 2009; Consolidated Global Investments since September 2006; Caledon Resources from February 2003 to March 2008; and Australian Pacific Coal since March 2011.
Dr Frank Bierlein - Non-executive Director
Dr. Frank Bierlein is a geologist with 30 years of experience as a consultant, researcher, lecturer and industry professional. Bierlein has held exploration and generative geology management positions with QMSD Mining, Qatar Mining, Afmeco Australia and Areva NC, and consulted for, among others, Newmont Gold, Resolute Mining, Goldfields International, Freeport McMoRan, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is currently a non-executive director of PNX Metals. He was previously a non-executive director of Gold Australia NL and chaired the advisory board of a Luxembourg-based private equity fund between 2014 and 2021.
SNX to Follow up 1270 g/t Silver Intercept in Hole BHD006 at Blackhawk, Nevada, USA
Highlights
- Sierra Nevada to review potential for a large, high-grade epithermal silver-dominated vein system.
- Previously drilled core hole BHD006 returned 5m at 479 g/t Ag within a larger mineralised zone of 12m at 219 g/t Ag from 250m beneath the Endowment mine at its Blackhawk Epithermal Project in Nevada, USA.1
- This high-grade intercept is situated 150m vertically below the deepest portion of the historic mine and includes higher grade intersections of:
- 0.5m at 1270g/t Ag from 256.5m
- 1m at 823g/t Ag from 257m
- 1m at 654g/t Ag from 258m
- These silver intercepts are associated with very high-grade lead-zinc-gold (see table 1), demonstrating the potential for extremely high value ore.
- Potential for a company-making silver discovery at Blackhawk, where SNX has identified 22.5-line kilometres of high-grade silver-gold-lead-zinc veins.1
- Two shallow oxide resources (historic, non-JORC) estimated at Silver Gulch and Morning Star.1
- SNX has recently defined several high priority drill targets, and a multi-hole drill program is permitted.
SNX Executive Chairman Peter Moore said“These results which returned up to 1270 g/t silver from Blackhawk are very promising, coming from a vast and extensive vein network. We’ve identified 22.5-line kilometres of veins at Blackhawk, but this known mineralisation has sat largely untouched since mining ceased in the area in the 1920s. We have two shallow oxide resources which have not been defined to a JORC-compliant level but this provides us the opportunity to deliver value from an existing project with further drilling and mineral resource definition. Our 20-hole drill program is permitted and ready to drill, providing us with the opportunity to use modern exploration techniques to potential to return further high-grade results and shape this as a company-making discovery for Sierra Nevada.”
SNX has previously identified a large and high-grade intermediate sulphidation epithermal Ag-Au-Pb-Zn vein system, likely related to a large porphyry system located immediately to the south. Partially coincident with the porphyry system, the Blackhawk epithermal project vein system covers about 5km2 and is open under cover to the north and northeast, with 22.5-line km of veins identified to date (see figure 1).1
Figure 1: Oblique view looking north of the Blackhawk Epithermal Project with a 3.5km by 2.5km field of view. The Blackhawk Porphyry project is situated in the foreground with the epithermal system being partially coincident with the porphyry system’s surface expression.2
Previous drilling by SNX beneath the Endowment mine at Blackhawk returned 12m at 219 g/t Ag from 250m including 5m at 479 g/t Ag from 256m. This drill intercept is 150m vertically below the deepest portion of the mine and includes higher grade intersections of:
- 0.5m at 1270 g/t Ag from 256.5m (21.5% Pb + Zn)
- 1m at 823g/t Ag from 257m (30.1% Pb + Zn)
- 1m at 654 g/t Ag from 258m (+50% Pb+ Zn)
As shown in Table 1, the intersection described above comes with considerable polymetallic credits. The complete mineralised intersection of 12m at 219g/t Ag also contains 3.05% Pb and 8.54% Zn across the interval, significantly increasing the potential value of mineralisation within the vein/structures.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Sierra Nevada Gold, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
High-Grade Pepper Discovery Extended
Highlights:
- Pepper Gold Prospect – significant new intercepts expand high-grade discovery:
- 14.73m @ 11.42g/t gold from 553.73m down-hole, incl. 4.37m @ 36.80g/t (DGDH070):
- Intercept located approximately midway (~50m north) of the initial “Pepper” discovery hole DGRC1432-DT, which returned 17.52m @ 15.86g/t gold (previously announced)
- 17.67m @ 6.58g/t gold from 561.85m down-hole, incl. 7.53m @ 11.93g/t (DGDH069-W1)
- Intercept located down-dip of the Pepper discovery hole, midway between DGRC1432- DT and DGDH069, which returned 11.28m @ 5.94g/t gold (previously announced)
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate to be calculated for the Pepper Gold Prospect as part of the scheduled mid-year resource update for the Dalgaranga Gold Project.
- 14.73m @ 11.42g/t gold from 553.73m down-hole, incl. 4.37m @ 36.80g/t (DGDH070):
Figure 1: Long Section of the Never Never Gold Deposit, Pepper, Four Pillars and West Winds Gold Prospects looking East. New high- grade intercept assays highlighted in yellow callout boxes. Note the proposed exploration drill drive design.
This release contains new assay results from recent surface drilling targeting the high-grade growing Pepper Gold Prospect.
Figure 2: Plan-view of the key gold targets at the Dalgaranga Gold Project. The Pepper Gold Prospect is located between the 0.95Moz Never Never Gold Deposit and the Four Pillars Gold Prospect marking the north end of the former Gilbey’s Open Pit. Drill-hole intercept grades are shown coloured by gold grade and recent drill assays are highlighted in gold callout boxes.
Management Comment
Spartan Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Simon Lawson, said: “Our focus on drilling, closing the gaps and achieving significant outcomes in front of our established infrastructure continues to deliver in spades with our ongoing drilling success at the recently discovered Pepper Gold Prospect.
“Pepper is located less than 100m south of the high-grade 0.95Moz Never Never Gold Deposit and we couldn’t be happier to see the rapid emergence of another substantial high-grade body of mineralisation next to our flagship deposit with each new drill result.
“We are very confident that Pepper will become a standalone gold deposit and, to ensure that outcome, we will be completing a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE”) for this exciting prospect as part of our foreshadowed mid-year MRE update for Dalgaranga.
“With the gold price continuing to hit new records, this is an exciting time to be making new high-grade gold discoveries. And, on the back of a well-supported capital raise, we are now moving rapidly towards developing the underground infrastructure required to chase and grow this high-grade system.
“With rigs still spinning around the clock, investors can look forward to more exciting drill results in the coming weeks, mid-year MRE update for Dalgaranga, the planned commencement of the underground exploration drill drive in the second half of 2024, and the expected publication of a maiden high-grade Ore Reserve for the Never Never Gold Deposit.
“The Spartan team also continues to progress a Feasibility Study to demonstrate what we believe will be powerful metrics from a growing set of high-grade gold structures and maybe even some more high- grade gold discoveries!”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Spartan Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Top 10 Central Bank Gold Reserves (Updated 2024)
Central banks added 1,037 MT of gold to their vaults in 2023, the second year in a row that gold purchases in this segment surpassed the 1,000 MT mark. In the first quarter of 2024, central banks picked up nearly another record 290 MT of gold, reports the WGC.
Central bank gold buying expected to increase according to WGC survey.
Chart via the WGC.
Twenty-four percent of the WGC's survey respondents indicated plans to grow their gold reserves, down just 1 percent from the previous year. Three percent reported their institution is planning to decrease its gold holdings, a break from the previous two years, when no respondents indicated such a move.
The WGC believes that central banks will continue to be net purchasers in 2024, "even if a third consecutive year of ~1,000t net purchases may be unlikely."
Which central banks hold the most gold?
Global central bank gold reserves topped 36,699 metric tons at the end of 2023, roughly 17 percent of all the gold ever mined. Read on to find out the 10 top countries by central bank gold holdings, as per data from the WGC, including recent Q1 2024 reports.
1. United States
8,133.46 MT
When it comes to the largest gold depository in the world, the American central bank is number one with 8,133.46 MT. The total value of the US central bank gold reserves is more than US$630 billion at a US$2,200 per ounce gold price.
A large percentage of US gold is held in “deep storage” in Denver, Fort Knox and West Point. As the US Treasury explains, deep storage is “that portion of the US Government-owned gold bullion reserve which the Mint secures in sealed vaults that are examined annually by the Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General and consists primarily of gold bars.”
The rest of US-owned reserves are held as working stock, which the country's mint uses as raw material to mint congressionally authorized coins.
2. Germany
3,352.65 MT
The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, currently owns 3,352.65 MT of gold, which is less than half the amount amassed by the US. Like many of the central banks on this list, the German national bank stores over half of its stock in foreign locations in New York, London and France.
The Bundesbank’s foreign gold reserves came into question in 2012, when the German Federal Court of Auditors, the Bundesrechnungshof, was openly critical of the Bundesbank’s gold auditing.
In response, the German bank issued a public statement defending the security of foreign banks. Privately, the Bundesbank then began the arduous process of repatriating its gold stock back to German soil. By 2016, more than 583 MT had been transferred back to Germany.
Nearly half of Germany’s gold holdings are stored in Frankfurt, while more than a third are in New York, an eighth of its holdings are in London, and a miniscule amount are held in in Paris.
3. Italy
2,451.84 MT
Banca d’Italia, the national bank of Italy, began amassing its gold in 1893, when three separate financial institutions merged into one. From there, its 78 MT slowly grew into the 2,451.84 MT the country now owns.
Like Germany, Italy stores parts of its reserves offshore. In total, 141.2 MT are located in the UK, 149.3 are in Switzerland and 1,061 are kept in the US Federal Reserve. Italy houses 1,100 MT of gold domestically.
4. France
2,436.97 MT
The Banque de France keeps all 2,436.97 MT of its gold reserves on hand. The precious metal is stored in the bank’s secure underground vault, dubbed La Souterraine; it is located 27 meters below street level.
La Souterraine’s gold vaults are one of the four designated gold depositories of the International Monetary Fund.
According to Investopedia, the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold standard system was in part due to former French President Charles de Gaulle, who “called the U.S. bluff and began actually trading dollars in for gold from the Fort Knox reserves.” At the time, US President Richard Nixon “was forced to take the U.S. off the gold standard, ending the dollar's automatic convertibility into gold.”
5. Russia
2,332.74 MT
The Bank of Russia is the official central bank of the Russian Federation and owns 2,332.74 MT of gold. Like France, Russia’s central bank has opted to store all its physical gold domestically. The Bank of Russia stores two-thirds of its gold reserves in a bank building in Moscow, and the remaining one-third in Saint Petersburg.
The majority of the yellow metal is in the form of large, variable-weight standard gold bars weighing between 10 and 14 kilograms. There are also smaller bars on site weighing as much as 1 kilogram each.
Russia, which is the third largest gold producer by country, has been a steady purchaser of the precious metal since roughly 2007, with sales ramping up significantly between 2015 and 2020. However, Russia’s refineries were banned from selling gold bullion into the London market following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions by the west also include a freeze on about half of Russia’s gold reserves.
In early 2022, Russia tied its the currency the ruble to the yellow metal. "The plan was to shift the currency away from a pegged value and into the gold standard itself so the ruble would become a credible gold substitute at a fixed rate," according to Robert Huish, an Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University.
6. China
2,262.39 MT
The central bank for Mainland China is the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), located in Beijing. The national financial institute stores 2,262.39 MT of gold, most which has been purchased since 2000. In 2001, the PBoC had 400 MT of gold in reserve, but in just a little more than two decades that total has climbed by 459 percent.
The PBoC issues the Panda gold coin, which was first created in 1982. The Panda coin is now one of the top five bullion coins issued by a central bank. It is among the ranks of the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand and Australian Gold Nugget.
The PBoC was the top gold buyer out the world's central banks for the first quarter of 2024, purchasing another 27 MT. March 2024 marked the 17th consecutive month of gold buying for China's central bank.
7. Switzerland
1,040 MT
Holding the seventh largest central bank gold reserves is the Swiss National Bank. Its 1,040 MT of gold are owned by the state of Switzerland, but the central bank manages and maintains the reserve.
After years of opaqueness regarding the country’s golden treasure trove, the Swiss Gold Initiative, or Save our Swiss Gold campaign, was launched in 2011.
The publicity culminated in a national referendum in 2014, asking citizens to vote on three proposals. The first was a mandate for all reserve gold to be held physically in Switzerland. The other two dealt with the central bank’s ability to sell its gold reserves, along with a decree that 20 percent of the Swiss bank’s assets be held in gold.
The referendum was unsuccessful, but did prompt the bank to be more transparent. In a 2013 release, the central bank reported that 70 percent of its gold reserve was held domestically, 20 percent was located at the Bank of England and 10 percent was stored with the Bank of Canada.
8. Japan
845.97 MT
Public information about the Bank of Japan’s gold reserves is hard to come by. In 2000, the island nation was holding approximately 753 MT of the yellow metal. By 2004, the Bank of Japan’s gold store had grown to 765.2 MT, and remained at that level until March 2021, when the country purchased 80.76 MT of gold.
9. India
822.58 MT
The Reserve Bank of India is another central bank that has fervently acted to increase to its holdings in recent years. It began adding to its gold assets in 2017; however, the majority of its purchases have taken place in the past four years.
Strikingly, after India's central bank purchased 16 MT of gold in 2023, the institution scooped up another 19 MT of the precious metal in the first three months of 2024.
While more than half of its gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank of International Settlements, about a third of its gold is held domestically.
10. Netherlands
612.45 MT
Rounding out this list of the top central bank gold reserves is the Dutch National Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands. Like Switzerland, the Dutch central bank stores as much as 38 percent of its gold in Canada’s national reserve. Another 31 percent, in the form of 15,000 gold bars, is held in a domestic vault, while the remaining 31 percent is located in New York’s Federal Reserve bank.
In a report, the DNB describes gold as the supreme safe-haven asset. “Central banks such as DNB have therefore traditionally had a lot of gold in stock. After all, gold is the ultimate nest egg: the trust anchor for the financial system,” it reads. “If the entire system collapses, the gold supply provides collateral to start over. Gold gives confidence in the strength of the central bank’s balance sheet. That gives a safe feeling.”
*11. International Monetary Fund
2,814.1 MT
The gold reserve held by the International Monetary Fund is the third largest in terms of size. The large gold reserve was amassed primarily during the founding of the international organization in 1944.
In that inaugural year, it was decided that “25 percent of initial quota subscriptions and subsequent quota increases were to be paid in gold.”
Since 1944, the International Monetary Fund has added gold through the repayment of debts owed by member countries. Nations can also exchange gold for another member country’s currency.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2020.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Analyst Deems Brightstar Resources an Active Agitator Amid “Waiting Game” in WA Gold Fields
According to a report by Warwick Grigor of Far East Capital, Brightstar stands out from the pack of smaller companies benefitting from consolidation by being an agitator.
The company started its consolidation story in December 2022 with a merger with Kingwest Resources, allowing it to commence mining 30,000 tons of ore at 6 grams/ton from the Selkirk open pit mine at the Menzies gold project.
In 2024, Brightstar made a takeover offer of Linden Gold Alliance, a company that operates the underground Second Fortune gold mine, which currently produces 13,000 ounces.
ROM loader placing Second Fortune gold ore into road train in April 2024.
“It is always more complicated when a company is operating multiple mines and mills, which is what Brightstar is planning; more complicated but possible if you have good operational management. Share price performance is going to depend upon how completely the company delivers on its plans,” Warwick wrote.
Highlights of the report:
- Brightstar announced a merger with Linden Gold Alliance Limited, a private company operating the underground Second Fortune gold mine, which has produced 13,000 oz FY24 YTD. The bid values Linden at $23.7 million.
- The company’s latest game plan involves the development of two mining hubs, Laverton and Menzies, with the sequential development of three open pits and four underground gold mines. The total pre-production cost will be $34 million. Peak gold production will be 91,000 oz in 2026 and 98,000 oz in 2027. The Laverton mill can be refurbished to a 500,000 tpa capacity for just under $20 million, but with some softer rock blending it could get up to 600,000 to 700,000 tpa. Once the mill is up and running again it will be in a good position to accept third-party ore, but more likely it will prefer to acquire ore positions of 50,000 to 100,000 oz that may become available.
- With Brightstar, the share price will move less on speculation and more on delivery. The share price is still at modest levels now, and firmly in an uptrend. Brightstar stands out from the pack of smaller companies talking about being beneficiaries of consolidation by being the agitator. Initially, it is already having its ore being toll treated in the Gwalia mill. The next step will be the recommissioning of its Laverton mill.
For the full analyst report, click here.
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