Investors cautious as Catalyst Metals inches closer to Trident underground mine

Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) saw a relatively middling response from Australian investors on Tuesday after it flagged its receipt of a key permit in Western Australia underpinning its yet-to-be Trident Gold Project (TGP).

Shares sold off this morning, though not to any large degree. (Update 5.21PM AEDT: By close, Catalyst’s price had climbed slightly, to $3.09; 2.3% higher.)

One could say Catalyst’s announcement came as more of a bridging statement.

The TGP, after all, requires another permit, and so the company’s overall vision is still yet to be concreted. One would also surely expect a mining company’s compliance team can file off paperwork for a permit correctly.

At face value, there’s no reason to think the project won’t go ahead. Catalyst will also begin early-stage drilling works later this month at TGP’s open pit component.

But it is the underground portion of the mine where the TGP really takes off – producing a total of 188Koz over five years at 37Koz per year.

CapEx to launch the project is tipped at $15M; the company expects “free cashflows” of $53M over the project’s life (assuming an A$3,400/oz gold price). Trident forms part of a three-mine strategy to ‘double gold production across the Plutonic Gold Belt for $31M.’

A promising goal, but on Tuesday, the lack of any real news is likely what led to Catalyst remaining more or less flat. Or perhaps it’s because the company’s chief suggested the company doesn’t really know what it’s looking at.

“Catalyst’s three-year organic growth plan will require three new mines to be developed over the next 12 months. Trident is the largest of these,” Catalyst CEO James Champion de Crespigny said.

“The development remains on track. Receiving this approval is another important step forward. The Trident Resource is currently 524koz of gold.”

But here’s the kicker: “The Trident Resource is currently 524koz of gold. With no real exploration on the deposit since the 1990s, we don’t know its potential,” de Crespigny said.

CYL last traded at $3.09/sh.

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