Pattrick Smellie

Central Otago gold mine developer Santana Minerals estimates total tax-paid profits from just one deposit in its Bendigo-Ophir project could top $2 billion over...

Trade Window's founder-chief executive AJ Smith is committing up to $500,000 towards the company's current effort to raise $2.2 million from new and existing shareholders.In an update on the raise, applications for which close this Friday, April 19, the company confirmed it now had subscriptions totalling more than $1m, allowing the offer to go unconditional.Smith pledged to put in between $300,000 and $500,000, subject to shareholder approval, with the total determined by the extent to which the offer was subscribed, particularly b...

The dry, matagouri-covered hills at the southern end of Central Otago's Dunstan Ranges were much busier 150 years ago than they are today.The town of Bendigo, not the Australian one, served goldrush-era mining concessions here, peaking in the 1860s to 1880s, supporting various small, long-abandoned settlements like Welshtown and Chinaman's Creek.By about 1870, alluvial gold – obtained by panning or sluicing in water – had more or less run out, but the inescapable evidence that there was more gold in them hills saw the thre...

Aukus pillar 2 is no more than an attempt “cobbled together” to try to make the US-UK-Australia defence pact look as if it involves more than a nucl...

NZX shareholders have delivered its board a mauling, with more than a quarter of the shares voted opposing the re-election of the stock exchange operator’...

If a week is a long time in politics, then four months – the span between this column and the next from me – is a minor eternity.While swanning abou...

Australian broking house Bell Potter has delivered a 53.5% upgrade on its target share price for Australian securities exchange-listed Santana Minerals' Central Otago gold prospect.The target lifted from A$1.40 (NZ$1.52) to A$2.15, and the re-rating still has Santana (SMI) as a speculative buy.It follows the publication of the results of a scoping study that continued to show strong potential for a highly productive, low-cost gold mining operation at Bendigo-Ophir, at the southern end of the Dunstan Mountains.In a note to clients on April...

An Australian fascination with Fisher FundsBusiness journalism, as practised in Australia, is different from New Zealand.Just like Aussie politics, the scene is bigger and more rambunctious, and a lively trade in potentially Listing Rules-breaking gossip is endlessly exchanged between investment bankers and financial journalists about upcoming deals.One nameless PR maven averred this week that they'd seen texts between reporters and Australian financial contacts begging for tips they could publish, absolute accuracy not necessarily r...

Global trade software company TradeWindow has closed a $2.2 million capital-raising round, over-subscribed with a new institutional investor on the register and 1,000 new shareholders courtesy of the Sharesies retail investor platform.The raise is the best news TradeWindow has had since failing to raise $20m in early 2023, just as the wind came out of global tech stocks, with pre-profit software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies particularly hard-hit.Last year, the company expected a $2.4m cash injection and an array of technological and blockchain...

Just before Christmas last year, the harried senior management team at the new national state polytech, Te Pūkenga, got the letter they'd been dreading and expecting from their new minister, Penny Simmonds.Effective immediately, and as part of the new government's 100-day plan, Te Pūkenga was to commence its own disestablishment, the official letter of expectations (LoE) said.This was not a surprise. Disestablishing Te Pūkenga had been a National party policy since forever.DispiritingAs the one-time chief executive at Invercarg...