The first initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for 2025 is Mawson Gold Limited, which is currently on the ASX schedule for January 16, 2025.
There are positive expectations for ASX listings this year.
A roundtable recently convened by The Australian with key executives from Macquarie Capital, UBS and Barrenjoey noted an improving pipeline and growing confidence as 2025 begins.
That could auger well for those looking to list this year.
Over the past decades, the team at Mawson has built a strong track record of discovering, financing and advancing mineral projects across the Nordics and Australia.
It has been a big few months for the company.
Southern Cross merger
In September 2024, Mawson entered into a binding scheme implementation agreement (SIA) to acquire Southern Cross Gold Ltd (ASX:SXG, OTC:SXGDF) (ASX:SGX), advancing a merger proposal first announced in June 2024.
SXG manages four exploration projects, with three in Victoria and one in Queensland. Mawson currently holds a 48.85% stake in SXG, equivalent to 96,590,910 of the 197,746,604 shares on issue.
Mawson will acquire the remaining shares of Southern Cross it does not already own. In exchange, Southern Cross shareholders will gain a 50.4% equity stake in the merged entity.
The merger is designed to streamline the corporate structure and enhance access to capital markets, supporting the development of the flagship gold-antimony project.
Under the proposed scheme, Mawson will divest all assets except its SXG shareholding. Should the scheme proceed, Mawson will achieve a dual listing on the ASX alongside its existing TSX Venture Exchange listing and change its name to Southern Cross Gold Consolidated.
There will be several benefits including:
- Simplify ownership structure;
- Access to Australian and North American capital markets;
- Institutional investable;
- Cash +$30 million;
- Tax rollover relief; and
- Experienced Australian team remains.
Promising gold-antimony discovery
Southern Cross manages two high-grade, historically significant epizonal goldfields in Victoria, including the promising Sunday Creek gold-antimony discovery.
Just prior to Christmas, SXG released results from two drill holes from the Rising Sun prospect at its 100%-owned Sunday Creek Project.
Sunday Creek plan view showing selected results from holes SDDSC129 and SDDSC144.
The results underscored the project's expanding high-grade potential and scale.
Drill hole SDDSC144 produced four new intercepts exceeding 100 gram-metres gold equivalent (g/t AuEq) within a single hole, including a remarkable 242.1 metres at 6.0 g/t gold (uncut).
The hole also revealed eight distinct high-grade vein sets, highlighted by one of the project’s highest-grade intervals to date: 0.16 metres at 3,352 g/t AuEq (3,330.0 g/t gold, 11.7% antimony).
Additionally, the hole delivered 3.6 metres at 117.3 g/t AuEq (114.6 g/t gold, 1.4% antimony), ranking as the seventh-best composite interval in project history.
Drill hole SDDSC129, the deepest drilled at Sunday Creek to date (1,269.8 metres), extended mineralisation by 100 metres down-dip with a high-grade intercept of 1.5 metres at 21.5 g/t AuEq at 1,238.6 metres.
This control hole, critical for guiding SDDSC144, reinforces the project's potential for further depth extensions and enhances the predictability of high-grade mineralisation.
Quartz stibnite vein with coarse visible gold at 776.6 m. Interval assayed 0.16 m @ 3,330 g/t Au and 11.7% Sb from 776.6 m. Scale across image approximately 16 cm.
Sunday Creek continues to demonstrate characteristics akin to major Victorian gold-antimony deposits such as Fosterville and Costerfield. With antimony comprising approximately 20% of in-situ recoverable value, the project gains strategic significance as global interest in critical minerals intensifies, particularly following China’s recent export restrictions.
Southern Cross Gold is advancing exploration aggressively with five rigs on-site and a planned 60,000 metres of drilling through the third quarter of 2025, targeting depth and strike extensions of the mineralisation.
"In a remarkable two-month span, SXG has hit the ultimate year-end quadrella at Sunday Creek, delivering extraordinary high-grade intersections across four distinct prospect areas," Mawson interim CEO and executive chairman Michael Hudson said.
"The sequential discoveries showcase the deposit's expansive high-grade nature over more than 1 kilometre, starting with Christina's 1.7 metres at 254.0 g/t AuEq (9th best intersection), followed by Golden Dyke's broad 5.5 metres at 26.1 g/t AuEq, then culminating in two bonanza-grade hits - Apollo's 0.5 metres at 2,544.0 g/t AuEq (4th best) and Rising Sun's 0.16 metres at 3,352.0 g/t AuEq (7th best).
“This success across multiple prospect areas, yielding three top 10 intersections in the project's history, validates the robust nature of the mineralisation system and highlights the effectiveness of the company's structural targeting methodology in this high-grade epizonal gold-antimony system.”
Project divestment
On June 10, last year, Mawson announced plans to divest its Swedish uranium assets ahead of finalising the Australian scheme of arrangement.
Mawson has entered into an arrangement agreement with SUA Holdings Ltd. (SUA), a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mawson will transfer its uranium assets to SUA in exchange for common shares of SUA.
The company will then distribute 100% of these SUA shares to its shareholders on a pro-rata basis, enabling Mawson shareholders — except dissenting ones — to become direct shareholders in SUA. Once the arrangement is finalised, SUA will operate as an independent entity.
To support SUA's working capital requirements, Mawson has subscribed for additional SUA common shares, contributing A$600,000. These additional shares will also be distributed to Mawson shareholders as part of the spin-out arrangement.
The assets are held by Euro Canna, which has six exploration licences in Sweden covering 16,138 hectares and containing the majority of the country’s historical conventional hard rock uranium resources, estimated at 22.7Mlb U₃O₈.
These licences include Björklund nr 1 & 2, Björkråmyran nr 3, Kvarnån nr 5, Nöjdfjället nr 1 and Skuppesavon nr 2. These areas are designated for the exploration of uranium, zirconium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and other rare earth elements.
Since May 2018, Sweden has enforced a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining. However, the Swedish Government has signalled a willingness to re-evaluate the policy, creating a potential opportunity for Euro Canna.
While current laws under the Swedish Minerals Act allow exploration and development of uranium deposits, the recovery of uranium in mining operations is prohibited under the present framework.
The Swedish centre-right coalition government has expressed strong support for expanding nuclear power. Currently, six nuclear reactors generate approximately 40% of the country’s electricity.
Proposals include restarting Ringhals Units 1 and 2 and preparing for new reactor construction. These developments, alongside the government’s openness to lifting the moratorium, position Euro Canna’s Uranium Assets as a strategic option for potential regulatory changes.
Victorian support
The Mawsons/Southern Cross merger comes alongside the Victorian Government’s approval of new mineral sands projects, marking a milestone in Victoria’s mining history.
The initiatives, including the Critical Minerals Roadmap, aim to enhance the development of Victoria’s critical minerals sector, making it a global leader in the industry. These strategies promise to streamline approval processes and attract major investments while maintaining environmental standards.
Further to this, the Victorian Government’s approval of the Goschen and Avonbank Mineral Sands Projects marks a significant milestone as the first new mineral sands mines permitted in Victoria since 2008.
This decision highlights the government’s commitment to fostering the growth of Victoria’s critical minerals sector and represents a new chapter in the state’s storied mining history.
Victoria's Critical Minerals Roadmap offers a comprehensive framework for unlocking the state’s critical minerals potential, estimated to be worth approximately A$200 billion.
The strategy includes plans to establish Critical Minerals Priority Development Zones, focusing on key minerals such as antimony, and introduces streamlined approval processes. Notably, reforms to the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) process aim to reduce review times to 18 months, accelerating the pathway for project development.
"We applaud the exceptional leadership shown by Premier Jacinta Allan in setting the framework for the transformative announcements," Hudson said.
"Premier Allan's government Economic Growth Statement represents a comprehensive plan to unlock Victoria's economic potential.
"The statement delivers several transformative initiatives including reforms to slash Environmental Effects Statement time frames to 18 months. The statement demonstrates Victoria's commitment to cutting red tape while maintaining environmental standards, providing the certainty needed to attract major investments across all sectors, including critical minerals.
"The Government's Critical Minerals Roadmap and these project approvals establish a clear framework for sustainable mining development in Victoria. The streamlined approval processes and transparent development pathways will help realise Victoria's world-class mineral potential.
"This balanced approach to regulatory reform, environmental stewardship, and economic opportunity positions Victoria to become a leading force in the global critical minerals sector.”
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