First Development Resources (AIM:FDR) earlier this week completed its IPO on London’s AIM market, raising £2.30 million to fund exploration activities across its Australian asset base.
The company said the funds will allow it to “hit the ground running” after a three-year pre-IPO period.
CEO Tristan Pottas told investors that the Wallal Project in Western Australia's Patterson Province is the company's top priority.
The company said it has identified three magnetic bullseye anomalies at Wallal. It plans to begin drilling at the eastern anomaly as a first step. It also noted geological similarities with Greatland Gold’s early exploration work in the region.
Proactive: Tristan, very good to speak with you and congratulations on today's IPO on London's AIM market.
Before we get into that, for viewers new to this story, tell us a little bit about First Development Resources.
Tristan Pottas: Yes certainly Stephen, thank you very much. It's a great day for First Development Resources.
The IPO has been a long while coming, but we're delighted to have achieved our mission today.
So yes, First Development, we are primarily an exploration company, there's nothing exceptional about us. We have a collection of projects, but I guess what sets us apart from many explorers is that we want to start exploring immediately.
We've got this portfolio of projects — three in the Patterson Province of Western Australia and then another multi-metal project in the Northern Territory.
Whilst we've been working towards the IPO, we've tried to ensure that we've got everything in place to allow us to hit the ground running — to deploy teams, commence drilling, have teams across the portfolio developing the understanding of the projects and crucially, bringing that tangible news flow to market in the short term.
Proactive: And of course, with £2.3 million in your pocket following the IPO, you can hit the ground running.
In fact, you've got the drills ready to go at your Wallal projects in Western Australia.
Tristan Pottas: Yeah that's correct. Absolutely. The IPO allows the business to actually start business; we've had effectively three years of a warm up, we're now at the start line and then it's about crossing it and getting going.
The Wallal project is our primary focus. As you mentioned, it is in the Patterson Province.
At Wallal, what we've effectively done is identify three magnetic bullseye anomalies.
Now, anyone who's familiar with the Patterson Province recognises that these bullseye anomalies can yield phenomenal results.
Clearly, the Greatland story has been put back into the spotlight most recently with their dual listing onto the ASX.
Effectively, where we are is where Greatland were back in 2018.
We've defined these three bullseye anomalies — one in particular, the eastern magnetic anomaly — is the one we would like to stick a drill into to test that anomaly and then see what's down there. And if we can have any level of success to what Greatland have had, we would all be delighted.
But it's not just about Greatland. We are actually closer to Rio’s Winu, North Winu project — they are our neighbour. But being in the Patterson, the same geological system runs underneath from where we are in the north, all the way down.
We know that from Telfer, Nifty, and through Greatland beyond.
So it's a huge area. It's a fantastic place to be exploring.
Yes, they are undercovered targets. But as we always say, you can only find something if you're prepared to go looking for it. And that's exactly what we want to do.
Proactive: So Wallal is your flagship project. Tell us a little bit about the others; you've got another two also in Western Australia.
Then you've also got a project in Northern Territory, which also looks very exciting — that’s the Selta project.
Tristan Pottas: Yes, so without question Wallal is our primary focus. And we do hope to have an update on the drilling campaign very soon. But we’ve also got the Ripon Hills and Braeside West Projects.
Now they're in an area which is probably more well known for manganese exploration and mining, just near Marble Bar, to the south of the Patterson region.
At both those two projects we've already completed the early desktop studies where we've identified multiple targets for further investigation. But as you mentioned, the focus will be on Wallal and on the Northern Territory Selta project.
At Selta, we're really excited about it. The Northern Territory wants to become the next WA. There's huge support from the government.
Like all the states, there's lots of publicly available information and very supportive geological survey.
We're located about 200km to the north of Alice Springs. It's a package of ground approximately in size to that of Greater London.
Within that, we've completed several phases of early-stage desktop review, supplemented by our own fieldwork. We've identified nine initial targets, and that’s targeting everything from copper and gold to the transition metals — so lithium, uranium, and rare earth elements.
The main difference between the Selta project and the Western Australian Wallal project is that at Wallal everything is a deep undercover geophysical target, whereas at Selta all of the geology is outcropping at surface.
So you're tripping over the rocks which may contain any one of these multiple metals.
So it's a very different approach. But because there's only such a limited amount of work that's been done there, any data that we collect now is good data.
Like at Wallal, we'd like to get a team out on the ground as soon as possible to provide more tangible news flow — to supplement that with the Wallal project, and ensure that people are kept up to speed across the portfolio, whilst at the same time looking at potentially bringing in new opportunities as well.
Proactive: I mean your IPO comes as the world definitely needs more critical precious base metals, rare earth elements — all of those things.
Are you in the right place at the right time, would you say, Tristan?
Tristan Pottas: We like to think so, Stephen. Definitely.
There's never a good time to IPO, but there's always better times. And we know from our experience over the past three years since our pre-IPO, there have been some very challenging times. So we're delighted that we're coming onto market when it seems like there is a bit of life returning to the early-stage exploration sector.
Like you mentioned, with gold prices, copper prices at record high, demand for critical metals has never been stronger.
We like to definitely believe that by exploring a tier one jurisdiction like Western Australia, even the Northern Territory, we're looking for the metals that the world needs at a time when it needs it more than ever.
The fact that we've been able to get this away is testament to the London markets and the support that we've received from the IPO investors and our pre-IPO investors. And I'd like to thank everyone who's participated to help the company get started.
That's exactly what we can't wait to do, get started.
Proactive: Well Tristan, I hope you’ll keep us updated on your progress. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.