Fund up 7% in September. 108% over 12 months

UK listed Greatland Gold, up 33%, was added to the portfolio in September via a capital raising that transformed the company.  Greatland Gold’s core asset is a large gold orebody called Havieron in Western Australia.  The capital raise enabled the company to consolidate the ownership of this asset to 100% and acquire the nearby Telfer processing plant, and Telfer’s remaining production from its associated mines (estimated at 375,000 Oz over 15 months). The transaction gives GGP immediate free cash flow from Telfer, this cash-flow plus capital raise then mainly funds Havieron’s development.  The company has become a significant gold producer, with at least 250,000 oz per annum for 20 years, at around $900 USD AISC, from FY28. It may be possible to lift production to more like 400,000 oz per annum by adding a second decline.  The stock should continue to de-risk from developer to producer and create significant shareholder value.  The company also plans to relist in Australia over the next 6 months, which will be a significant catalyst as it will likely be included in the ASX300 index and GDX index of gold miners.

Clarity Pharmaceutical rose 16% after reporting positive data from Cohort 4 of its SECURE prostate cancer radiotherapy dose escalation study. There have been no dose limiting toxicities at the higher dose. Two out of three patients were evaluable. One had a 92.3% PSA decline and one greater than 60%. Both patients had received many prior lines of treatment. We expect another 3 patients to be dosed in the coming month or two followed by 14 patients likely beginning next year.

IperionX rose 17% after reporting a contract with Ford to not only supply titanium powder but more importantly manufactured components over a 45 month period. The initial contract size is modest at USD11mln but has the potential to increase in time as Ford adds more models and parts. We view this very positively, validating the company’s ability to supply commercial quantities of high value added components that sell at much higher prices than powder. The company has previously announced other development customers such as Lockheed Martin and GKN which we hope will also be converted to commercial contracts in the future. We supported a $100mln capital raise in October which greatly strengthened the company’s balance sheet and accelerated its growth plans.

Australian pancreatic cancer radiotherapy producer Oncosil rose 27% after reporting data from a comparative analysis of 50 patients treated with their product plus chemotherapy compared to 54 patients who received chemotherapy alone. Overall survival was increased by 3.7 months and 29% were able to undergo surgical resection in the treatment arm compared to 12% in the chemotherapy alone arm. Further larger studies are needed. To that end, the company also announced its TRIPP-FXX study and PANCOSIL studies are both 50% recruited. The first evaluates Oncosil plus the latest chemotherapy regimen FOLFIRINOX compared to FOLFIRINOX alone in an 80-patient randomised study, while the second evaluates delivering Oncosil via the hepatic artery under sedation, compared to the current gastric delivery under general anaesthesia.

Australia ophthalmic drug producer Opthea rose 32% after releasing a presentation containing a new survey of Physicians, which highlighted that 41% of Wet Aged Macular degeneration patients would receive Opthea’s drug if it can show a five-letter gain on an eye chart which would equate to peak revenue of USD4bn per annum for the company. Although the fully diluted market capital of the company is now USD1.15bn, we see a substantial upside for the shares if the results of its two major clinical studies in April and July are positive.