What to do with cash ?????
Regis Resources seeks to squeeze the day at $3b Tropicana gold mineSarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Jul 20, 2025
Dealmaking in the gold sector is showing no signs of slowing down.
With Greatland Gold’s $490 million initial public offering in the rearview mirror, investors’ gaze has now turned to $3.34 billion gold producer Regis Resources and its 30 per cent in the Tropicana gold project.
IGO sold the Tropicana gold mine to Regis Resources in 2021.
Regis has been flirting with the idea of acquiring the remaining 70 per cent from the project’s joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti. The two sides have engaged in bilateral discussions over the last couple of months, Anglo relying on JPMorgan to advise, sources told this column. Regis’ investors will be keen to ensure that the company doesn’t overpay for the majority stake.
Of note, the talks are informal and far from the pointy end.
Regis acquired its 30 per cent stake in Tropicana from IGO Ltd in 2021 for just north of $900 million. This implies the whole project is worth $3 billion – or at least it was four years ago when Regis paid a full and fair price. Since then, Tropicana, located 330 kilometres north east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, has morphed from open pit to an underground mine, and four years worth of gold has been extracted, meaning the easy runs have elapsed.
Still, Tropicana has held its value, helped along by the skyrocketing gold price. Regis understands the asset well, reducing the risk the price will spiral out of control in the event of a sale process.
The Tropicana discovery was first made in 2005, and started pouring gold in 2013 after its owners had spent north of $800 million to get it up and running. Underground commercial production began in 2020 and by the following financial year, the operation recorded 381,000 ounces of gold.
The mine has guided production for the 12 months to June 30 will come in between 130,000 ounces and 140,000 ounces.
Regis launched a $650 million capital raising to fund its 2021 acquisition, advised by Bank of America. If it were to acquire the remaining 70 per cent stake, investors would question whether it needs to raise again. The company’s share price has soared more than 130 per cent over the past year, and it has $517 million on hand in cash and bullion with no debt.
Shopping spree
With some of Regis’ assets with their best days behind them, and a good wad of cash on the balance sheet, it’s unsurprising its corporate development team are popping up in several processes.
Whether they go full throttle is another story.
Investors’ best bet is Regis will seek to pivot to younger assets with its Duketon mine looking at between three and four years of open pit mining ahead of it before it has to mine solely underground, which is a costlier exercise. The team is also still reeling from Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to effectively block its $996 million McPhillamys gold mine because of an Indigenous creation story late last year.
Any deal for the mine would represent the latest in a flurry of activity in the gold sector. These include Northern Star’s $6 billion bid for De Grey, Gold Fields’ $3.3 billion hostile approach for Gold Road, and a $4.2 billion merger between Spartan Resources and Ramelius Resources.
The gold price hit a record high in April as central banks buy the precious metal to switch their reserves away from the US dollar.
And as the gold price runs, so too does interest in M&A.
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