In February, Catalyst Metals announced that it had agreed with Superior Gold Board to merge the two companies with the aim of creating a mid-tier Australian gold company. By combining the two companies, it brings together the Plutonic-Marymia Gold Belt under Australian ownership for the first time, and will allow for the optimized development of the deposits at Plutonic and Marymia. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. We're joined today by James Champion de Crespigny, Managing Director and CEO of Catalyst Metals, and Chris Jordaan, President and CEO of Superior Gold.
The session will run with James and Chris discussing the rationale for the transaction, with a Q&A session at the end of the presentation. If you have any questions that you would like to ask throughout the session, please feel free to type them in the question pane on your screen. Chris, we'll start with you. Can you please introduce the transaction, why it's so appealing, and why it's so appealing to Superior shareholders and why the Superior board has endorsed it?
Good day, Amalie, once again, thank you very much for having James and I on the webinar, representing Catalyst Metals and Superior Gold, respectively. As an introduction to the transaction, I will refer to the Superior Gold announcement of February 23, 2023, where we stated that Superior Gold has entered into a definitive agreement with Catalyst Metals, in which Catalyst Metals will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Superior Gold, pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement. The transaction will result in Catalyst acquiring 100% of Superior Gold or Superior Plutonic Gold Operations located in central Western Australia. The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic underground mine, a gold ore processing plant of circa three million tons per annum, numerous open pit projects, and an 80% interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture.
Under the terms of the transaction, shareholders of Superior will receive 0.3571 of one ordinary share of Catalyst for each Superior common share held. The exchange ratio represents the equivalent of CAD 0.44 per Superior share, and a total equity value for Superior of approximately CAD 54 million on a fully diluted basis, on the closing price of Catalyst on the ASX, as of February 22, 2023. That implies a premium of about 62% to the closing price of Superior on the TSX of February 22, 2023. The ultimate responsibility of the board is to direct the company in a way that is in the best interest of its shareholders. Our board unanimously, including me, firmly believe that this transaction is in the best interest of our shareholders.
To answer the second part of your question as to what is appealing of this transaction, I would like to highlight the following reasons. Now, firstly, the transaction offer a premium for Superior Gold shareholders, which was about 59% of the closing prices of June 2, 2023. Secondly, the combined strength of Superior Gold and Catalyst Metals provides ownership in a well-funded, diversified ASX-listed producer with proven operating and exploration capabilities, significantly improving the scale and access to capital compared to a single asset company. Now, from this follows the ability to unlock future growth by ongoing exposure to value-creating growth projects at Plutonic, plus exploration upside across the large underexplored Plutonic-Marymia Gold Belt, especially at depth.
It will be supported by a better capitalized company, providing access to a stronger balance sheet and a more diversified portfolio of assets, as opposed to a single asset company.
In addition, it offers improved investor recognition and re-rating potential through improved trading liquidity and enhanced public profile in Australia, provides an opportunity for re-rating at a much higher level. Lastly, the litigation between Superior's wholly owned subsidiary, Billabong Gold, and Vango, which is now owned by Catalyst, comes to an end and provides access to the integrated Plutonic-Marymia Gold Belt without any delay that may arise from further litigation. Summary, this provides a transaction with a strong industrial rationale, coupled with an appropriate premium, with significant upside on a number of fronts, which we believe the combined entity can provide.
Thanks very much, Chris. Before we move on to James' presentation on Catalyst moving forward, can you please give us a brief summary on what Superior shareholders need to do to vote on the proposed transaction?
Firstly, they need to access. They will be receiving documentation from the proxy solicitors. They will then, from that package, will be able to see exactly what they need to do in so far as where they need to access electronically to vote then in favor of the transaction.
Thanks, Chris. James, now can you please run us through the Catalyst vision for Plutonic-Marymia Belt, and how do you and your team plan to build a mid-tier gold company?
Thank you, Amalie, and thank you, Chris. We've got a presentation here that we have set out why both the Catalyst Metals and Superior Gold boards have come together and agreed the terms of a transaction that we think collectively is in the mutual beneficial interests of both groups of shareholders. We've got the usual disclaimers. These can be read in people's own time on the website with this presentation being released... What I'll talk you through here now is an overview of the merger before getting into some of the details as to why the boards have settled on this transaction. The company and the design of the transaction, subsequent to it being completed, is to establish a mid-tier Australian gold producer. The companies coming together consolidate the Plutonic-Marymia Gold Belt.
They do it with two other assets owned by Catalyst Metals in Bendigo, and the tenements that we hold immediately north of Bendigo, and the operating Henty Gold Mine down in Tasmania, in Australia. These three commanding positions over three Australian gold belts lie at the core of why we believe we can make the next mid-Australian, mid-cap Australian gold producer. The terms of that transaction, to bring that to effect, is Catalyst will offer, as Chris mentioned before, one fully paid ordinary share for 2.8 Superior Gold shares or 0.35. The transaction is subject to shareholders' approval on the 26th of June. To date, there has been 23.3% of Superior shareholders that comprise the sophisticated institutional investors that really lead this industry. They have all voted their shares in favor of the transaction and signed binding agreements accordingly.
They did that at the direction of management and after extensive conversations with them as to why this really, this transaction, is in the best interest of all shareholders. On successful completion of this transaction, Superior shareholders will hold about 23% of the enlarged company. Why is it that both groups of companies, directors, and management, are recommending that Superior shareholders vote in favor of this transaction? Number one is we immediately increase the production profile from, up to 100,000 ounces, and as we'll explain shortly, a considerable opportunity to increase that up to 200,000 amongst the mid-cap gold peers that I mentioned. There will be considerably reduced financial risk.
There will be the opportunity to gain access to higher-grade ore sources. By doing that, there will be far less reliance on the Plutonic mine, which, as many of you would know, has had challenges given its age and remnant mining nature. By pulling this consolidation together, we materially increase the opportunity to grow gold production. In a rising gold price environment that we hope we're in now, that gives ample opportunity to realize that potential. The combined company will, as I mentioned before, be very well-positioned across three Australian gold belts. Each of these gold belts already have multi-million-ounce endowments. We think that foundation is an incredibly strong position from which to be launching this next mid-cap Australian gold mine. The company's corporate structure, subsequent to the acquisition, will be made up of shareholders owning these portions.
As many of you will know, Catalyst was required to raise money as part of the transaction, which we completed back in March. The holdings of the three pillars are shown there in the diagram underneath. This transaction brings together and consolidates the Plutonic gold belt. The reserves and resources are shown there, 630,000 ounces across this belt, as well as, Catalyst's other reserves at its Henty Gold Mine. It's got a considerable resource endowment of seven million, 6.5 million ounces, but six million ounces sitting on this belt alone. The infrastructure that sits there on the belt allows this to happen in a very short space of time. There are mining leases only shown on this slide, and as part of the consolidation of the belt.
There's the processing plant that Chris mentioned before, the camp, and all the relevant infrastructure, as well as a haul road that has been well-maintained to track the ore from these regional deposits. We call some of those out on this screen, being Trident, K2, and Cinnamon. Each of those deposits, and the many others that are shown on the screen in the small yellow dots, all have a role to play in demonstrating that production profile up to the 200,000 ounce peer that we've spoken to. Really, the numbers speak for themselves.
Once consolidating the belt, we're gonna have historical production of seven million ounces, an enormous reserve and resource base of over six million ounces across the belt. We're gonna have a hub-and-spoke arrangement across the belt to be able to feed ore through the excess capacity at Plutonic.
We're gonna have utilization of all of that infrastructure that we've talked about while sitting with other well-positioned growth profile belts, such as Bendigo and down in Tasmania. Here are the pieces of the belt itself as to where we see the production going forward, and why we see us being able to be compared to other mid-cap gold peers that many of you would know well. The Henty Gold Mine and Plutonic gold production will immediately take us to 100,000 ounces. We have some of these wonderful high-grade deposits in Trident, K2, Cinnamon, Salmon, which hasn't been mined for 20 years, and without it, we are not able to without this consolidation, we're not able to realize the benefits of that deposit and other projects like the Main Pit Cutback.
Collectively, there are enough measured, indicated, and inferred resources here to chart a very clear and quick pathway through to Catalyst being that next mid-tier miner. The management of Catalyst, as many of you may know, is set out here on the screen. We'll let you read those profiles in their own time. What I'd like to just spend a moment here now talking about is some of the historical challenges that have happened at the Plutonic Gold Mine. Why this consolidation really brings that to effect or brings that to an end. Here, you can see the historical ownership, the production, and the gold price that's happened over the period of the Plutonic operating mine. When the Plutonic mine was last listed in Australia, it was held by Northern Star.
Northern Star did not have access to the Marymia part of the gold belt. With that comes considerable ounces at very high grades. They were focused just on the Plutonic underground gold mine, and they had to do that in a gold price considerably below where it sits today. Those are two key parts of why the two boards have collectively formed the view that by uniting the companies, we significantly lowered the operating risk. There has also been difficulties at Plutonic, that is not, that is not foreign to people. What we have here by uniting these belts, by bringing them together, is the underlying investment principle remains the same, just we do it on a much stronger and more stable platform. We also have to acknowledge some of the challenges at Plutonic.
When we have resource grades at 4.6, reserve grades at 3.7, but consistently mined around the 2.5 grams, it poses for very challenging operations going forward. Again, by getting into virgin country that hasn't previously been mined, such as Trident, K2, Cinnamon, and some of these other deposits, then we are able to avoid some of these errors. We're able to plan appropriately, and of course, eight grams per tonne covers many sins. The opportunity to put those high-grade ounces through the processing plant in the very near term is core to why we think this consolidation makes sense for both shareholders. We also, by consolidating this belt, are able to reduce this trend of historical operating costs being above the gold price.
Some of the key strategies that we have to unlock value lie in the consolidation of this belt. The high-grade ore feed that we have on deposits like Trident and K2 can immediately come into production, once those have been developed. It is an undercapitalized belt at presence, and capital can be found in two ways. It can be found in new ore sources, and it can be found in monetary capital. This transaction brings both. Mine reconciliation issues are not the same when you've got high-grade deposits regionally, and we can address those as the mine and the belt begin to stabilize.
Of course, bringing head office and management and the board back to Perth, right near where production and day-to-day operations are, simplifies the asset, simplifies the company, and it relates Australian investors that inherently understand Plutonic and its challenges better than perhaps they do in Canada. In the same way as Australians have not fared terribly well when trying to operate in Canada, we try and draw a similarity to some of those savings. By bringing this asset, this board, and this investor base back to Australia, we think there will be a better understanding of that on the ASX. We also bring a litany of projects to bear that aren't currently open to Superior. These projects really haven't had any work done on them for 20 years.
Now, by bringing them under one belt, by bringing them under one ownership and one company, we're able to exploit them quickly and efficiently. Deposits like Trident really do hold the key to the future success, and so we have been busy getting that permitted so that we can bring this transaction and the investment thesis behind this transaction to effect. Our plans here are somewhat set out in this slide here, are looking to put a decline off a nearby open pit to extract those high-grade ounces. 285,000 ounces sit there and indicated at nine grams, along with another 125 at six grams. We also see considerable potential for this deposit to grow. You can see here a plan view. Sorry, a long section view.
On the next slide, there is a plan view showing the same image. Trident Lower is a key area that we see for further expansion, and really, the ineffective drilling that's happened between that Marwest open pit and the Trident resource itself. With this project, is really one of many projects like shown on the previous slide. We have K2 that sits there and hasn't been had any exploration done on it for many, many years. 100,000 ounces at nine grams and considerable potential to grow.
The Salmon deposit is a good example of why this consolidation needs to happen. This is a deposit that hasn't been tested for a long time. It's had a lot of RC holes that have been drilled under the Barrick ownership and the previous owners, but they just haven't been able to be exploited.
Under one ownership, we can exploit them. If they're not under one ownership, we just simply, both companies can never get access to. In a nutshell, here, we have an entire belt where deposits only show up below 100 meters. Unless we are a well-capitalized company with multiple different ore sources, we will never be able to realize the potential of this belt. It has a considerable mineral endowment. It's been forgotten by the Australian gold market, and by putting it under one roof, we're really able to consolidate that potential. It does host very attractive deposits, such as Timor, et cetera, and we think we've got more of them in Trident, K2, et cetera. Really, Catalyst will be, we think, the next mid-tier Australian gold company.
We will operate over three areas: the Marymia Plutonic Gold Belt, the Henty Gold Mine, and the lucrative Bendigo Goldfields. Three pillars of the company, marking what we think will take our production profile considerably higher than it is today, while being able to considerably lower costs. We'll see ourselves positioned well in the market relative to our peers, and you can read these at your own time. Should you have any questions, we would recommend you contacting either Superior Gold or Catalyst and its brokers there, and this will be posted on Catalyst website and available for people to see. On that, I might hand back over to you, Amalie.
Thanks very much, James, for the update. We'll now move to the Q&A part of the session. Just a reminder to everyone, if you do have a question, feel free to put it in the question pane below on your screen. So James, you mentioned the potential to bring the high-grade ore from Catalyst's Trident deposit. What is the timeframe for studies to be completed on this?
We see the Trident deposit coming into production in 12-15 months' time. It currently sits on a mining lease. The plan, the current proposal, is to put a decline across from the nearby Marwest pit, and we have had our permitting underway there already, along with various study works, geotechnics, et cetera. There has previously been a pre-feasibility study done on Trident. It wasn't released publicly, but we were able to get access to it, and it has given us significant comfort of where that deposit is going. We've been able to take that in a far more capital light manner, and as the image showed earlier on, and I'll just flick back to that. By bringing a decline across from this deposit, we can get there sooner and in a far more capital light way.
Being on a mining lease, there is a far shorter lead time to that getting permitted, and hence why we talk in the timeframes we do.
Thanks very much.
I think, Sorry, maybe just worthwhile calling out, the improved grade before was to be sent from Trident to the processing plant will certainly render a lower unit cost for the processing of the material. Given that, the mill is just purely a situation where we need to run it at a higher rate. There's no additional cost except the variable cost that goes along with it. The other added benefit is, with a higher grade, we typically see a better recovery. We'll see a few percentage points. We would expect a few percentage points benefit, coming from that.
Thanks very much. Just moving into our next question. For the RS Zone at Four Eagles, when can investors expect to see a mineral resource, announced for this exciting prospect?
We completed drilling in May this year. The wet season down in Bendigo has now set in, and there'll be no further drilling until November. That concludes our drilling, and just waiting on final assay results to be able to release the resource on that as soon as possible. We do think it is imminent, and we do have the majority of those results back, and so we do hope to release something in the very, very near term.
That's great. Thank you. You've been busy with acquisitions recently. Assuming the Superior transaction is completed, what do you think Catalyst will look like in 12 months' time?
In 12 months' time, we hope to be seeing first ore coming from the Trident deposit. By doing that, we will be immediately taking gold production well above 100,000 ounces. We have other deposits, such as K2 and Cinnamon, which we also think will be very near, if not already in production. By doing that, we do see a considerable increase in production, and as Chris alluded to earlier, a material drop in the operating costs. Just by the sheer economies of scale, of increased tonnages through the processing plant. Through that, you have a combination of multiple ore sources, materially increasing the gold production of Catalyst Metals, while lowering costs, and hence why we talk about ourselves being the next mid-tier Australian gold company in that class of mid-tier gold producers listed on the ASX.
There is a slide further in this presentation as to where we see those direction going for the company.
Okay. You've been talking to institutional shareholders of both Catalyst and Superior about the transaction. What's been the reaction to the combination between Catalyst and Superior?
It's a very good question, and it's a point that Chris himself will have some considerable comments to make. The main point that we hear back when we go on our roadshows is a thank you that this has finally happened. If this deposit and this processing plant was ever gonna realize its full potential, it required the consolidation of this belt. Particularly, a slide down here, they show considerable interest in, which is the exploration potential of the belt. They always knew that the gold production could significantly increase by putting these two companies together. They also felt that the exploration potential here had always been unrecognized. But by putting the two companies together and putting our issues behind us, we're able to realize that very quickly. Ultimately, that's what institutional investors are after.
They don't want companies to be spending time on legal-related matters. They want people to be spending time on how to increase gold production at a lower cost and ultimately generate profitability. They were thankful that we put the past behind us and got on with what they think is a sensible transaction. Chris, any comments from you?
Yeah. One thing that I would like to highlight, and I'm glad you got this slide up, James. When many years ago, when Barrick used to own the properties, in fact, these two properties were part of a single asset. It was then sold off separately, the current Vango section, and then, of course, the Plutonic mine was kept separate. This just makes so much sense, bringing a larger ore endowment for a very hungry milling circuit, which we know can run very efficiently. We've demonstrated it before. The real key benefit that I see here is getting access to high-grade ore, because that fundamentally changes the way that the processing plant operates, and with much less effort, you know, more gold gets produced and ultimately lower cost, higher margins, et cetera.
That will also ultimately alleviate the pressure on a single source, which we're currently operating, being the underground mine.
Sorry. We've had another question come through. Why was Superior unable to open the new mining front, and what can Catalyst do about that?
Yes, perhaps if I might take this to start, then Chris will have his own comments to make. Yeah, I think when people look at Plutonic, they need to understand that this is a mine that has been running for 25 years, even perhaps longer than that, as an underground operation. Plutonic is, by nature, a remnant mine. The mineralization is very desegregated, that makes drilling, drill intensity extremely high. So to open new fronts, to be tested day in, day out, in a very challenging Australian labor market, in such an old, remnant mine, with such challenging mineralization characteristics, is a very, very difficult thing to do. Now, Superior had a strategy seven years ago to acquire the Plutonic mine from Northern Star, arguably Australia's greatest ever mine.
From that, they had a strategy that suited the Canadian market at that time. Now, industries and mines change, and over that seven years, where we stand today is an incredibly difficult operating environment for Australian gold mines. There is cost inflation, and there is really a need to focus on your existing assets very, very closely. When you're pushing uphill with issues like remnant mining and other factors that I mentioned before, that makes for a very difficult challenge. What we've done by bringing this transaction together is allowing the consolidated entity, a access to assets that it did not previously have. By giving that access, we take the burden of pressure off that Plutonic underground mine alone.
We get high-grade deposits that cover many sins, such as Trident and K2, et cetera, and they are able to come in the very near term into the processing facility. We're also able to start getting market recognition for exploration in some of these other areas, because we are a bigger, larger, and more well-capitalized entity. Without the consolidation, both companies sit there in very problematic positions, where they struggle in an Australian gold sector, which is facing all of these labor and cost inflation issues. There was considerable negotiation between the companies to strike a balanced transaction that works for Catalyst shareholders, but also works for Superior shareholders. That was both sides of the argument that the company spent considerable time debating in order to come to a balanced position.
While people from time to time might not, think that we've struck, the right balance here, both boards are, and have access to, far more information about both companies than the general market does. In an operating environment such as this, you can't leave that much to chance. You need to have high-grade ore bodies to give yourself enough margin for error. Ultimately, that is what united both companies to strike the position that they did, knowing that this here, together, we were far, far stronger. Divided, we were in a very weak environment.... Chris?
If I'd like to add one or two comments there, and that's more specifically on the question of new fronts. There's certainly new fronts that were identified in the underground mine, but that required significant development, which costs a lot of money. Given that the organization now becomes a single entity, which is much better capitalized, those opportunities can be considered going forward. In addition to that, you might have a much larger profile or portfolio of projects that can compete against each other, like K2, Trident, you know, further development on the underground mine. Ultimately, through this competitive projects, you can come up with a much better solution than only having a single source of ore like we currently have.
Thanks very much to both James and Chris there. Just to recap, in case it was missed by some of the listeners, what is the date that voting proxies needs to be returned by for the Superior shareholders?
The vote will be held, and the vote will be held on the 26th of June. The vote will be held on the 26th of June, and the 21st of June is the date the proxies need to be delivered by. There is on both websites, a proxy, a website that you need to go on to in order to be able to submit your details and vote. To do that, you need your control number. Superior Gold shareholders are encouraged to get their control number. If they don't have it, their broker will be able to advise them, as well as going on to either website and being directed to the link where they can place their vote. It's as simple as that.
Yeah. Just to add to that as well, James, I'd strongly recommend that shareholders and other interested parties go and access our websites, our separate websites, to read more. There's so much more to the story than, you know, we've been able to convey in the short time, I think it certainly put the line in the water for further investigation and consideration of the benefits that will flow from this combination of the two businesses.
Thanks very much. We've just had one more question pop in. Sorry, can you share more about the recent drill results that Catalyst has released from Bendigo?
Yes, thank you. We'll. Currently, we are analyzing those results and the impact on the resource. We are very keen to get that resource out as soon as possible. This is mineralization that is not straightforward. We do need to make sure that we get this right. These results, we think, are game-changing for what Catalyst holds at Bendigo. It is very rare to get intercepts at 1,840 grams per ton. What's more, it lies between a larger intercept of six meters at 197 grams per ton. There is a very interesting slide that we have released publicly. I'll slip to it just here at the back of this presentation, that will be available for people to see.
Here you can see the Iris Zone as it relates to a key area of focus previously at Boyd's Dam and where a resource will be released on. This Iris Zone, we think, is a game changer for two key reasons: the consistency of this ore body and the high grade across it, five meters at 54 grams, the six meters at 197 grams that included that 1,840 grams, and that we made the release on the other day, as well as 150 grams, et cetera. At the other end of the strike lengths, you have four meters at 53, five meters at 10, another 3.7 meters at 42.
That continuous, consistent, high grade across this zone is why we think it is a considerable game changer. We expect those results to show in the resource that we think is imminent.
That's great. That was the last of our questions for today. Thank you for your insights, James and Chris. It's been great, a great update, and it sounds like you have a very clear path forward for the new Catalyst and a great opportunity to grow a tier one gold company. Thank you for everyone for joining us today. A reminder that the recording will be available on both the Superior Gold and the Catalyst Metals website to be downloaded in the coming days. While you're there, we encourage you to register to stay up to date with company news. Thank you again, everyone.
Thank you, Amalie.
Thank you, Amalie.