S&P/ASX 200 little changed as Northern Star and Saracen agree to $16 billion merger

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) was trading five points lower than this morning's open at 5936 points by around 2 pm as gold miners Northern Star (ASX:NST) and Saracen (ASX:SAR) agreed to a merger.                              The merger will create a $16 billion company that would rank among the ten largest gold producers worldwide at a time of rising gold prices. Saracen shareholders will receive 0.3763 Northern Star shares for each Saracen share held at the scheme record date (~February 2021).  Saracen will also pay a special fully franked dividend of 3.8 cents. BHP enhances petroleum portfolio BHP Group (ASX:BHP) will acquire an additional 28% in Shenzi, a development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico for US$505 million. Shenzi is structured as a joint venture with BHP being the operator with a 44% interest, Hess (NYSE:HES) owning 28% and Repsol having a 28% interest. The acquisition will take BHP’s ownership to 72% and add 11,000 of barrels of oil equivalent per day of production. Top gainers Today’s top gainers on the ASX include Argonaut Resources NL (ASX:ARE) (+14.29%), Ioneer Ltd (ASX:INR) (+14.71%), Calima Energy Ltd (ASX:CE1) (+16.67%), Jindalee Resources Limited (ASX:JRL) (+27.66%), Southern Gold Limited (ASX:SAU) (+20.83%), Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX:NTU) (+16.67%), Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLL) (+28.38%) and Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) (+16.67%). Proactive news headlines: Lake Resources’ partner gets closer to producing first samples of ‘clean’ lithium for battery testing Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is making significant progress with its sustainable, high-purity ‘clean’ lithium strategy with Hazen Research Inc on track to produce samples of high purity battery quality lithium carbonate next week. engage:BDR increases monthly revenue by 20% in September to $1.43 million engage:BDR Ltd (ASX:EN1) has increased its monthly revenue by $230,000 or 20% to $1.43 million for the month of September. Archer Materials progresses patent applications for deep tech IP assets Archer Materials Ltd (ASX:AXE) (OTCMKTS:ARRXF) is encouraged by progress with patent applications for its deep tech IP, which is at the core of the ‘knowledge economy’ where output in the form of patents is a prerequisite to successful technology commercialisation. Matador Mining adds to Cape Ray potential with gold discovery southwest of Window Glass Hill resource Matador Mining Ltd (ASX:MZZ) has made a new gold discovery, Angus, about 1-kilometre southwest of Window Glass Hill (WGH) deposit which further enhances the potential of the Cape Ray Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada. Bardoc Gold's expansion of drilling rewarded with discovery of high-grade shoot at Zoroastrian Bardoc Gold Ltd’s (ASX:BDC) decision to expand exploration drilling at its namesake gold project to plus-40,000 metres has immediately been rewarded with discovery of a new high-grade shoot beyond planned underground development at Zoroastrian deposit. Alice Queen begins diamond drilling at Horn Island Gold Joint Venture ahead of schedule Alice Queen Ltd (ASX:AQX) has started diamond drilling ahead of schedule at the Horn Island Gold Project Joint Venture (JV) with St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM) in Torres Strait, Far North Queensland. Bryah Resources completes aircore drilling at four priority gold-copper prospects in Bryah Basin Bryah Resources Ltd (ASX:BYH) has completed an aircore (AC) drilling program of 67 holes for 5,998 metres at four high-priority gold-copper prospects within the Bryah Basin Project, in Western Australia. Castillo Copper identifies 10th copper prospect at Mt Oxide, with gold to boot Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) (LON:CCZ) (FRA:7OR) has completed a geological review of Mt Oxide Project in northwest Queensland, identifying a 10th target, Eldorado, which is prospective for structurally controlled copper mineralisation. Element 25 boosts finances for manganese development with $1 million deferred consideration payment Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) has received a payment of $1 million in relation to the deferred consideration for the sale of Cummins Range Rare Earth deposit to RareX Ltd (ASX:REE).