OceanaGold gains backing

Exactly one year ago, OceanaGold chief executive Mick Wilkes promised high-calibre institutions would come onto the junior's share registry if its new Didipio mine, in the Philippines proved a success.

"When you are on the development curve, there are different investors who take different risks, so when Didipio is fully bedded down there will be another set of investors, longer-term investors, who will join the party," he told BusinessDay last November.

Around that time, the world's biggest mining investor, BlackRock, revealed that OceanaGold was increasingly on its radar, and could be worth a punt if the troublesome Didipio was successfully delivered.

"As the ramp-up of Didipio moves forward, then it will become more and more in focus for us," said Catherine Raw, who works with BlackRock's Evy Hambro in its resources investment team in London.

A year on, both parties appear to have made good on their promises, after BlackRock emerged as a big shareholder in the Melbourne-based goldminer on Friday. The investment is a boost for OceanaGold and Didipio, now considered the lowest-cost goldmine on earth.

Citi rates OceanaGold as a buy, and believes it is poised to increase free cash flow in the near term.