Horizon and Poseidon Merge to Create a New Mid-cap Gold Producer

The proposed transaction will consolidate Horizon’s large gold resource and Poseidon’s Black Swan processing infrastructure in the Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie districts of Western Australia. The combination would have JORC Mineral Resources of approximately 1.8 million oz gold at an average grade of 1.84 grams per metric ton (g/mt) gold and 422,700 mt of nickel at an average grade of 1%.

Horizon believes refurbishing the front end of the Black Swan processing plant and converting the back end to produce gold presents a significantly faster, lower capital-intensive pathway to gold production compared to building a new gold-processing plant in the region. In addition to the combined entity’s Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie gold assets, Lake Johnston and Windarra present highly strategic assets that have the ability to deliver further shareholder value. Situated in the southern Goldfields, the permitted Lake Johnston 1.5 million-mt/y processing plant and associated infrastructure presents an opportunity to develop a lithium processing hub in this emerging lithium province.

Located in Laverton, Windarra’s water resource and gold tailings present highly strategic assets. Each Poseidon shareholder will receive 0.1156 Horizon shares for each share held. Following implementation of the schemes, Horizon shareholders will own 69.8% of the combined group (defined below) while Poseidon shareholders will own the remaining 30.2%.

“This a pivotal step towards establishing a significant gold business and provides Poseidon shareholders and holders of Poseidon Options with an exciting opportunity to become part of an emerging gold producer at a time when the gold price is at all-time highs,” said Brendan Shalders, CEO, Poseidon Nickel. “There is strong alignment between Poseidon’s strategy and that of Horizon, which is one of the core pillars underpinning this regional consolidation. Together we have greater capability to deliver on longer-term cashflow generation from cornerstone operations fitting for an emerging mid-tier gold producer.”

The Black Swan processing plant has a 2.2 million-mt/y nickel-sulphide concentrator and associated infrastructure and is ideally located as a central processing hub for Horizon’s gold project, as well as for regional toll treatment opportunities. The Black Swan concentrator will also unlock value for Horizon’s high-grade Nimbus silver, zinc and gold project which contains 20.2 million oz of silver, 78,000 oz gold and 104,000 mt of zinc.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and it could be finalized by February 2025.