A specialist fund investing in undervalued junior mining companies before optimisation unlocks their true value.
The Arete Enterprise Optimisation Fund (EOF) takes strategic equity positions in listed junior mining companies at the low point of their project life cycle the planning-phase trough known as the "valley of death" before an independent enterprise optimisation study rewrites the project's economics and triggers a market re-rating.
How the Fund Works
The Fund identifies listed junior mining companies whose market capitalisation is less than 20% of their published project NPV. Whittle Consulting conducts a proprietary Strategic Assessment to confirm the potential for a 30%+ NPV uplift. The Fund then invests conditional on the company contractually committing to a full Enterprise Optimisation study and exits once the improved economics are published and the market re-rates.
Screen
200+ global junior projects filtered by Whittle's proprietary model.
Diligence
Technical, commercial and jurisdictional due diligence by Arete.
Invest & Optimise
Cash placement; Whittle implements the full EO study as a condition.
Re-rate & Exit
Improved economics published; market re-rating creates exit opportunity.
Pilot Fund Proof of Concept
Before the EOF was structured, Whittle Consulting accepted shares in lieu of cash for its optimisation work over five years, building an unintended portfolio of 16 co-invested equity stakes. To October 2023 that portfolio returned 53% annualised in a depressed resource market.
| Segment | Cost (USD) | Value (USD) | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realised (10) | $2.63M | $3.53M | +34% |
| Unrealised (6) | $3.91M | $8.50M | +117% |
| Total (16) | $6.54M | $12.02M | +84% |
Source: Whittle Consulting, Oct 2023. Annualised return: 53% p.a. over avg. 488-day holding period. Past performance is not indicative of future returns.
Whittle Consulting
Whittle Consulting is a Melbourne-headquartered specialist mine optimisation firm founded in 1999 by Jeff Whittle, whose pit-optimisation software became an industry standard. The firm is now led by Gerald Whittle with a global team spanning Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, South Africa, the UK and the United States.
Whittle does not write feasibility studies. They exist to do one thing: take a mining project already planned by conventional consultants and find the version of that same project that is worth materially more using their proprietary Prober-F software and a ten-step Integrated Strategic Planning methodology built on Activity Based Costing and Theory of Constraints.
Whittle is deeply aligned with EOF investors: they accept payment from investee companies in shares (not cash), take 50% of the Fund's performance fees, and stake their professional reputation on every published uplift.
Visit whittleconsulting.com.au →
