ASX-listed Dateline Resources’ price rocketed 233 per cent higher to 3 cents today on a massive turnover of 370 million shares after the company’s Californian Colosseum gold and rare earths project received mining approval. United States President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the gold and rare earth element (REE) project, hailing it as “America’s second rare earths mine”.
The bombshell mention was delivered via a weekly update on Trump’s Truth Social platform, sending ripples through investor circles and spotlighting the strategic significance of the California-based project.
“The Colosseum Mine, America’s second rare earths mine, has been approved after years of stalled permitting,” Trump posted.
The presidential seal of approval has unlocked a golden opportunity for the company. Dateline can now test a compelling theory that the rocks surrounding its 1.1-million-ounce Colosseum gold project are geologically identical to those at Mountain Pass, which is just 10 kilometres north of Colosseum and home to America’s only operating rare earths mine.
Production at Mountain Pass started in 1952 with an eye-watering grade of 7 per cent total rare earths. The mine continued to supply the vast majority of the world’s rare earths from 1960s to the 1990s, when Chinese production rates started to explode.
The high-profile recognition of Dateline’s project has come hot on the heels of a game-changing green light from the US Interior Department (DOI), which last month upheld the validity of the company’s historic mining leases at the site.
The DOI confirmation explicitly stated Dateline could explore and extract both gold and REE from the project, which it said was critical to “reducing dependence on foreign adversaries like China” for materials vital to energy and defence industries.
With a bankable feasibility study underway and rare earth exploration officially integrated into its fieldwork, Dateline can now officially resurrect the site as a dual gold-REE operation.
Dateline Resources managing director Stephen Baghdadi said: “We have seen growing interest out of the US, particularly after recent milestones at our Colosseum project.”
Colosseum is a rare geological gem, combining a proven gold system with promising rare earths potential. The deposit currently hosts a 27.1 million tonne JORC resource grading 1.26 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.1 million ounces, with 67 per cent of that in the measured and indicated categories.
The company picked up the project from Barrick Gold in 2021 after the US mega-miner produced 344,000 ounces of gold before operations were suspended in the early ’90s due to a price collapse to US$350 per ounce.
Scoping study work in October last year outlined a robust eight-year mine life producing 75,000 ounces of gold per year and delivering a tasty pre-tax net present value of US$235M (A$367M) at a US$2200 (A$3443) per ounce gold price.
Dateline’s project is shaping up as a serious money-spinner, with all-in sustaining costs pegged at a lean US$1490 (A$2313) an ounce.
With gold now trading 47 per cent higher at a jaw-dropping US$3253 (A$5077) an ounce, management says Colosseum’s economics could be in for a major re-rate. Management says it is now eyeing a project expansion to extend the mine’s life and fully capitalise on the booming gold market.
With the federal government throwing its weight behind Colosseum, Dateline has wasted no time capitalising on the momentum. The company has kicked off its application to uplist to the US’s OTCQB Venture Market to make its stock more accessible to North American investors.
From political podiums to Wall Street boards, Dateline’s Colosseum project appears to be gaining some serious traction.
With federal backing, a sizable gold resource, rare earth potential and a US listing in sight, the little Aussie battler is fast becoming a star player in the American critical minerals arena.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By James Pearson
