Notes from AoA Q1 2023 catch up - SD

[Bottle Rocket - Liam]

transcribed by 'lebugue-addick'

Liam, AIM-on-air interview with Shaun Day 27 April 2023

BR. Hello and welcome back to Aim-on-air.
My name is Liam and today I'm pleased to be hosting Shaun Day from Greatland Gold. Welcome to the show Shaun.
SD. Hi Liam, thanks very much for having me on the program again and how are you?
BR. I’m very well thank you; excited to talk to you today. I've got lots of questions to get through - for those that haven't been here before Greatland is a leading Mining and development company focused on precious and base metals. They are developing the world-class Havieron gold copper deposit in the Paterson region of Western Australia while delivering multi-project exploration projects in a low-risk jurisdiction.

Shaun, for our Icebreaker today I wonder please if you could tell me about your favourite holiday destination and why?
SD. I think that would have to be Rottnest island off the coast of Perth here in Western Australia. A small island most famous for the quokka which is a small marsupial, kind of small kangaroo-type creature. Very much a beach holiday – I’ve been going there most of my life since a kid, going across on a boat and it is just a very relaxing place. No cars, you know it's a very nice way to get away without having a huge journey, so yeah a great part of the world.

BR. Fantastic. It only seems like a few weeks ago that we were sat in the studio and talking about Q4 and as I said in my pre-show notes that I didn't think really much was going to happen but we've quite a lot of stuff to get through today. First let's touch on the latest updates from Havieron and talk about the news that was released on RNS this morning. First of all how is the decline development going?
SD. Yeah look, really well. We're over 1,600 metres of the main ramp development down to the ore body and total development has also gone through 2,000 metres that includes all the additional ancillary developments such as overtaking bays and stockpile, but what I think is most insightful about this is the acceleration of the progress, another record quarter, and as you continue to accelerate we get down to the bottom of that ore body. Still scheduled for March 2024 but we are running ahead of schedule. We haven't changed the scheduled date officially but it's nice to have that additional flexibility up our sleeve and if we can deliver it early that would be great but no development is linear. But it's nice to be ahead of time and again just continuing to see that acceleration as we go through and get into more and more compliant ground.

BR. Brilliant. Six new drills reported this time around. Are you still intercepting a higher grade gold and copper mineralisation?
SD. Yeah we are. Look, it was nice to see a few new holes into that Southeast Crescent and it just reminds us of the quality of that part of the ore body so that was really good, 54 metres at eight and a half grams per tonne gold plus I think it was 0.3% copper. It’s just a reminder of the quality of that Southeast Crescent but what was also really nice to see is some of those high grade intercepts outside of the Southeast Crescent, particularly in that Eastern breccia where you have a five gram per ton hit plus copper, but also that was on the Northern limit of that Eastern breccia so again it was nice to see high grade but also nice to see those areas continuing to expand. We don't have the density of the drill holes on on those kind of new areas yet but again it's just just opens up additional areas or zones of mineralization so I think two real positives out of that - both the grade but also in continuing to grow the expanse of the ore body.

BR. Thank you. Last week you released an RNS with the Rudall results which contained a lovely surprise of 18.25 meters at 22 grams per tonne. Can you tell me a little bit more about that please?
SD. Yeah the Rudall was a really interesting hit which I think ended up like becoming my quote actually so I've said it again but yeah these are deep intercepts but very high grade. The drill was in mineralization when it was finished which is also interesting but I think at that depth what's most interesting is about what have we tagged – have we just glanced the edge of something and then that runs off towards surface? I think would it be extremely interesting, so that's where we're gonna do some down hole EM and try to understand what we can learn from that geophysics. My understanding is it's in a pyretite which is a conductive host rock so the EM should be able to potentially give us a direction of where that's heading and identify a target.
The other really neat thing about that - I think a great job by the technical team – is being able to vector in on these geophysical targets so it's nice when you expect to have something and that you've done the interpretation work to then hit mineralization given that the area is under 400 or 500 meters of cover. We knew we had about a plus 250 meter margin of error on that hence there's every opportunity that this can be a glancing blow but it's nice to see that geophysical model coming together. We've also got a couple of interesting intercepts last year in Scallywag which again were mineralized intercepts on the edge of geophysical anomalies, one being the RC kind of collar before we do the Diamond Drill into the anomaly, the other one perhaps being on the edge of something – and so with A35 and Pearl respectively. So the geophysical model is yeah I think they're doing a good job and I think that just increases our probability for success so I think with Rudall one of my really interesting takeaways there is just the work that the team is doing from a technical basis.

BR. Thank you
I'm going to run off script now - this is dangerous so in my interpretation of how Greatland does its exploration is from the one hole that you've done this time around I would expect it more to be a let's just look-see what's going on and then your next holes are based on what you've done today so because it was a very steep hole wasn't it this one. Normally you sort of go at a 60 degree angle, but this one's I think it was more like 80 degrees?
SD. Yeah I think even a little bit steeper than 80 degrees on that one, so yes you're right to describe that as a steep hole. Yeah look we're very technically driven. We could accelerate exploration by going and bursting you know a dozen holes into a geophysical target but of course the expenditures associated with that are very high so what we prefer to do is try to do as much work as we can around geophysics and other techniques to plan that hole, drill a hole, compare it to our expectations, then recalibrate. You understand the stratigraphy, it allows you to do downhole EM and other new additional geophysical targeting and then we go back and recalibrate.
Firstly do we need to go back and drill and if so where, and again in a technical sense what we like to do is before we walk away from an anomaly is try to think that we've explained it, and that can be explained with mineralization like a Havieron or it can be explained for some other reason but we prefer to walk away from something once we've understood it which typically doesn't need a huge number of drill holes but it needs a lot of thought and planning and a drill a hole in the right spot.

BR. That makes sense and am I right in saying that technically speaking this was a free hole because it was funded by the government?
SD. Yeah look we did access the exploration incentive scheme (EIS) the WA government’s EIS funding. I'm sure there would have been some dual funding there but you know that was a meaningful amount of funding towards that hole. It was a lovely Bullseye Target so we did want to test it. It's a great support from the government which we're very grateful for and we have learned something. If we can go back and identify a target who knows we may create a huge amount of value both for our shareholders and the state so yeah it did give us an additional incentive or at least a lower cost barrier to want to undertake that hole and then half the core goes and sits in the State core Library so it's a good program that certainly encouraged us to to pursue that Rudall target and again I think this is all part of the technical team being able to successfully apply for that funding as a credit to them and again I think we had a number of notes from other participants in the Patterson just congratulating us on the technical work of that identification. So we’re pleased; again I think it enhances our reputation as a technical team in the Patterson and more broadly for undercover exploration and I think that ultimately creates opportunity for us as well.

BR. Brilliant, thank you. Back on script – the Scallywag results from the 2022 drill campaign were released early March as you've already touched on and that also had some exciting numbers and whilst not as impressive as Rudall the results were very encouraging. I seem to recall you were quite animated during the interview! Which excites you more – A35 or Pearl?
SD. Well I think you've got to enjoy what you do and you've got to have a certain cup half full for optimism with exploration so yeah I think for me the A35 is the slightly more exciting one just because we did the pre-collar without real expectation that we would hit mineralization. We've encountered a little bit of mineralization just in that transition zone before we stop the RC, so it's nice to be targeting the hole exactly where we intended it to be, to hit that mineralization and be right above the target.
Yeah it's an exciting prospect. I do think some of the Geo’s like Pearl and one of the really interesting things on Pearl is we lost, as as you sometimes do, a little bit of the core which was probably the most interesting part of that drill hole so that does encourage us a little bit to drill that anomaly again and hopefully capture that core and understand a little bit through that zone that we're particularly interested in but for me if I had to rank them it's A35 followed by Pearl but it's a little bit like being asked which of your children you love the most.

BR. I understand. Just a follow-up, would you consider holding a competition to rename A35?
SD. I will consider it. I wouldn't mind checking with the team as we wouldn’t want it to become BoatyMcboatface and yeah we will have to be careful with the UK audience but yeah we could look into that.

BR. Thank you. Juri also delivered with results of Black Hills where it was showing hints of gold and bismuth being detected. Are you starting to understand the picture at Black Hills now?
SD. Yeah look in a number of our announcements we've talked about bismuth being an important Pathfinder element. You see bismuth present in Telfer, you see it present in Havieron so I do think we like it and when do we target those kind of Pathfinder elements. So when we come across that, it is encouraging particularly when associated with all sorts of mineralization as well so again it's all part of solving the puzzle and yeah so you know with the Black Hills we do feel that's an encouraging sign.

BR. You have also added to the already strong team at Greatland with Jeremy Meinart and Simon Tyrrell coming on board. Have they settled into the team now?
SD. Yeah they have. I've actually worked with Simon before. He's also out of Northern Star, you know an incredible operator. I think he brings a lot of additional technical skills to the team and yeah I think it also with that interaction with Newcrest again it just adds to our capability and credibility to engage with our JV partner so yeah I think the benefit there is multifactorial.
And then Jeremy, and remember we also brought across couple of his colleagues as well and that's really given us a little bit more organizational capacity around everything from presentations to announcements to processing information.
We might touch on looking at an Australian listing but it does give us the capacity to pursue those elements while still maintaining the cadence of activity we do around Havieron and others so yeah it's been welcome additions to the team.

BR. Brilliant thank you. My next batch of questions are more by way of clarifications I guess but I suspect we'll come back to the same answer and maybe they cannot be answered so I must urge listeners to remember that some of these are forward-looking and can only be considered speculative at this time. So first up, pretty much touched on this nearly every time - the application to the Environmental Protection Authority. We've been waiting since December for an update and you suggested it was coming but we're still no news on it. Have you got an update for us?
SD. Look I'm always cautious to give timetables when it comes to interactions with government agencies. They do a really good job but they often have a high workload demand but we understand that's progressed significantly and is close to publication. So yeah I think there'll be an update soon but I'm very cautious to put a date or time on that other than to say we still think it's within the timetable of our expectations and the joint venture team continues to engage with the EPA and make progress and you know they're a good organization to deal with albeit we respect that they've got multiple calls on their time.

BR. I understand thank you. At the December Town Hall meeting you suggested the next six to nine months to be transformational for our company. Is this still the case? And there's a follow-up; how well are we progressing against your own timelines and targets?
SD. Yeah look I think what we've talked about is over the last 12 months getting the foundations of the company in good standing. We updated the board, the management team; we've navigated that five percent process, we brought in the debt commitment with the banks and brought in some equity associated with that. I think the other thing we'd like to do is set the platform so we also have access to ASX or Australian mandated institutional investors. I see that as an additional pool of capital who invest in Australian gold-copper mines. They understand this asset well because the chances are a lot of them are already investors in Newcrest. So I see the period up till June/July this year as getting the platform complete and then we'd like that to be transformational beyond that.
I feel that we have opportunities. I feel we're interested in a lot of opportunities and the company has done a lot to position itself as a credible counterparty.

BR. Okay let's talk about the ASX cross listing for the moment while we're there. Are we still on track to join in Q3 which I think we are because you just said that, and are you able to talk about the next steps for the company and what shareholders can expect say through to December?
SD. Yeah look we've publicly said we have an intention to ASX list - importantly that's a cross listing so we continue to trade shares on the London Stock Exchange and that is where our centre of gravity remains and where our shares trade with liquidity so that's important and yes I believe we're working and on track for that Q3 although you know there's a huge number of regulatory processes to walk through as part of that but again I think we have the resources to navigate and in terms of the back half of the year again once we have that platform in place I think where we continue to be laser focused on the Havieron development, we continue to want to invest in the drill bit, we continue to want to advance opportunities to increase our footprint and build on that technical team and the credibility of that team to upgrade the portfolio and of course we're also interested in building and becoming a multi-asset, multi-billion dollar platform which I think I've communicated previously is a kind of medium to long-term goal.

BR.Yeah and that's the part that excites me as a shareholder, that's the part that excites me.
It would be rude of me not to ask the next question and I do say it slightly laughing. I’ve got to ask it to appease the audience. A few months back Luka Giacavazzi, if I said that right, was asked in an interview about buying Telfer and taking back ownership of Havieron to 100%. His answer was simply to ask Shaun so as delicate as a question it is, if you happen to be interested in purchasing an old tier one mine with a six and a half million ounce ore body down the road attached to it what would be your process to go about the acquisition?
SD. Yeah we're actively interested in growth opportunities. I think again taking people back to those three pillars of our strategy: deliver an expanded Havieron, invest in the drill bit and look at opportunities for additional growth.
Yeah I don't think we can get drawn into that specific or other specific opportunities but clearly we have a deep interest in pursuing that part of our our growth strategy and you know there is a direct interest there and perhaps made all the more relevant because Newmont has has progressed within seemingly an agreed takeover bid which is subject to a due diligence process now with Newcrest.
So Newcrest is in play - with it you could argue that Telfer-Havieron and indeed Greatland itself is in play as well so I think that does create an interesting environment in which we look at these kind of growth opportunities.

BR. Thank you. I don't even know if you can answer this one but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. Peter has asked me if I can ask you if any takeover offers have been received.
SD. Yeah if a proposal was received that the company would evaluate it and if a compelling value for shareholders it would be put to shareholders but we don't kind of comment on these things as a matter of course because otherwise you can set an expectation that you'll always comment on these things.

BR. No that's fair enough and thank you for clarifying.
SD. This could fall under the same category actually thinking out loud. When we look at future growth there's so many ideas and as a shareholder's dream for speculation something we've picked up on a few times is that you consider Greatland to be a partner of choice. Are you able to elaborate what that means for you?
SD. Well I I think that means that we want to be viewed by other participants in the Paterson or elsewhere as as a partner of choice and I mean that as you know both technically strong I think having a strategic partner in wayloo who we greatly respect to your reference to Luca earlier I think you know it is hugely advantageous for us and also I think we like to think where we're engaging with with other groups in a constructive way so I think what I mean there is that when opportunities do arise rather than being seen as you know a minor um participant perhaps we're now seen as a technically strong and financially capable participant which opens a lot of additional doors.
Additionally having the board that we do, and indeed the management, I think again gives us a connectivity through the sector that we otherwise may not have had so I think that creates opportunities for us - be that in exploration opportunities, be that in operating mine opportunities I think is something that we are really interested in pursuing and would like to continue to upgrade the portfolio. We love the existing portfolio but adding equally good or better assets to that portfolio is the more, the better absolutely

BR. And the last part, just the standard questions that must fill your inbox on a daily basis. Rather than me ask three individual questions I should just mention them, allow you to deduce the question and then you can answer as you feel appropriate - so feasibility study, decision to mine and an updated MRE.
SD. Yes okay so the let me answer that in reverse order. So the updated MRE – yeah, we've discussed this openly with shareholders in the past and although in March 2022 we came out independently and released an updated resource we think there were specific elements to the arbitration around the value of Havieron that created a compelling environment for Greatland, to see it in our own interest to update that resource independently. I think in this case because of the broader environment and also we think there's some technical legitimacy to understanding further some of those Eastern breccia and other zonations before we put a resource around them. We think the process that we're embarking on with Newcrest around that is fair and sensible so we expect to update that resource with the rest of Newcrest assets in August 2023 so that work is ongoing and that continues to be my expectation.
Turning to the definitive feasibility study which might have been your first element, that continues to be something that we would like at the earliest point. Obviously Newcrest originally signaled that would be available in the December quarter of 2022. I think they did the same for Red Chris.
Neither Red Chris nor Havieron have been delivered to the market to date. I don't think the Havieron one is imminent and I could only speculate on what's happening with Red Chris but I think we do have pretty good visibility and for obvious reasons I think Newcrest is distracted around that Newmont engagement and the Newmont due diligence on Newcrest, so even though it would be lovely to say that the JV will push that out by June I suspect events have overtaken such that that will be a document pushed out from there, but right now I think the focus of Newcrest is understandably going to be the takeover by Newmont and then I guess we kind of reset the parameters again.
Then typically the way the JVA was done, to answer the third part of your question, is the decision to mine is made shortly after delivery of that feasibility study. The parties can decide collectively that they want to do that in a different sequence but as we presently stand here Greatland would
feel strongly that the feasibility study needs to be delivered for that decision and that decision needs to be made prior to the start of mining and I think also in the JVA there's a reference to an April 2023 Sunset date so that puts a long stop date on it but one would like to to see that on the back of this takeover process with Newmont.

BR. Thank you Shaun and thank you for being a guest on our show. Have you any last words for your shareholders today.
SD. No, other than thank you to Liam for taking the time to catch up. I think this is a great format and I'm sure a lot of people appreciate you taking the time to do this and of course to the shareholders really appreciate the support and yeah there's a lot going on right now so hopefully with this quarterly out and some more updates to come as we kind of continue to think about how we can bring a cross listing on to complement the existing and ongoing London listing.
BR. Wonderful, thank you so much. Sadly this is the end of the webcast ladies and gents. If you want to reach out to us you can contact us on Twitter with the addresses on the screen now and before you close this page I'd be grateful of any thumbs UPS. Until next time my name is Liam and you've been watching aim on air specializing in connecting companies with shareholders is what we do best. Thank you..


****************************END************************