Daily Brief Australia: Nick Scali Ltd, Avjennings Ltd, Aluminium, Barton Gold Holdings and more

• Northern Star Resources (NST AU)‘s acquisition of De Grey Mining (DEG AU) is expected to complete in the next 3 weeks.
• There will be an ad hoc inclusion to the S&P/ASX 200 (AS51 INDEX) and passive buying in Northern Star Resources (NST AU) from a bunch of trackers of different indices.
• The acquisition brings Northern Star Resources (NST AU) close to inclusion in the S&P/ASX 20 Index, but it’s not there yet.

• The AVID consortium’s late-November A$0.67/share NBIO appeared a lock; until Ho Bee Land Ltd (HOBEE SP) lobbed a A$0.70/share NBIO in January. Ho Bee also acquired a 5.39% stake. 
• AVJennings (AVJ AU) granted both suitors exclusive due diligence, the terms of which expired in February. AVJ said at the time it remained in “active discussions” with both.
• AVJ and AVID have now entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed at A$0.655/share. A special dividend – included in the Scheme consideration – could add A$0.072/share in franking credits. 

• Avjennings Ltd (AVJ AU) entered a scheme implementation deed with AVID at A$0.655, 2.2% below its previous A$0.67 offer and a 98.5% premium to the undisturbed price. 
• The key conditions are shareholder and regulatory approvals (FIRB and OIO). The vote is low-risk as SC Global (54.02% of outstanding shares) will vote in favour. 
• Despite the marginally lower price, the offer is attractive, as evidenced by the hefty takeover premium. This is a done deal, with the scheme meeting expected in mid-June.

• According to Graph 1, during the period February 4th, 2025 – March 4th, 2025, a slightly bearish trend, among strong fluctuations, was reflected in the price of aluminium futures.
• At the beginning of the timeframe, there was a significant increase in the price of the commodity, but after February 20th a steady downward momentum unfolded.
• The MA-10 line very initially performed above the MA-20 line, however at February 6th it crossed below the latter. 

Barton has continued to aggressively pursue its ambition to produce 125–150koz gold pa at Tunkillia via open pit production, completing a 5,064m reverse circulation drilling campaign targeting block model extensions, updating JORC mineral resources to 1.6Moz gold and 3.1Moz silver and identifying material available energy savings. At Tarcoola, it has discovered the new Tolmer gold system, added further pit floor gold mineralisation at the Perseverance mine, and made a surprise high-grade silver discovery alongside Tolmer’s gold – the best interval of 6m at 4,747g/t (152.6opt) Ag being exceptionally high by anyone’s standards. These will all contribute to an optimised scoping study at Tunkillia in Q2 CY25 and (from Tarcoola) feedstock for ’Stage 1’ operations, leveraging its fully licensed Central Gawler mill to 20–30koz pa as early as mid-CY26. Topping it off, Barton announced a A$3.1m net profit for the half year to 31 December, an unusual and impressive feat for a junior.

Barton has continued to aggressively pursue its ambition to produce 125–150koz gold pa at Tunkillia via open pit production, completing a 5,064m reverse circulation drilling campaign targeting block model extensions, updating JORC mineral resources to 1.6Moz gold and 3.1Moz silver and identifying material available energy savings. At Tarcoola, it has discovered the new Tolmer gold system, added further pit floor gold mineralisation at the Perseverance mine, and made a surprise high-grade silver discovery alongside Tolmer’s gold – the best interval of 6m at 4,747g/t (152.6opt) Ag being exceptionally high by anyone’s standards. These will all contribute to an optimised scoping study at Tunkillia in Q2 CY25 and (from Tarcoola) feedstock for ’Stage 1’ operations, leveraging its fully licensed Central Gawler mill to 20–30koz pa as early as mid-CY26. Topping it off, Barton announced a A$3.1m net profit for the half year to 31 December, an unusual and impressive feat for a junior.