PERSEUS Mining today increased its stake in Predictive Discovery to 19.9% after buying a 13.82% foothold in the company last month.
However, Perseus said a takeover for Discovery was not on the horizon. “Subject to there being no actual or proposed material change in the shareholding of Predictive (including a change of control proposal) or the actions of Predictive, Perseus has no current intention to acquire control or make a takeover offer for Predictive Perseus told the ASX on Friday.
According to the West Australian, this statement should be treated with circumspect as Perseus CEO Jeff Quartermaine made similar comments ahead of last year launching a buyout for OreCorp which owned the Nyanzaga Gold Project in Tanzania.
Shares in Predictive Discovery increased 11% on the ASX on Friday.
Predictive Discovery is developing the Bankan gold prospect in Guinea’s Siguiri Basin. According to a prefeasibility study, Bankan will operate for 11 years, producing 292,000 ounces annually for the first seven. Total life-of-mine costs are estimated to be $1,130/oz.
In an interview with Miningmx, Andrew Pardey, CEO of Predictive Discovery said he was driving the development of Bankan hard, putting more than half of some A$50m in a recent capital raise into exploration. Pardey said it would be a failure if the firm did not capture the region’s full resource value were “something to happen” on the M&A front.
“You don’t want someone suddenly saying: ‘Look, we’ve taken this over, we just modelled this, we’ve got an extra two million oz and we paid nothing for this mine,” he said. “It’s all about maximising the value for the shareholders and the stakeholders.”
One potential drawback for Bankan is that the deposit is in a prohibited zone in Guinea’s Upper Niger National Park. Independent studies commissioned by Predictive Discovery say there are no critical flora or fauna in the area. There has also been high-level government participation in preparing the environmental study. But the permitting is still a risk.
Perseus has been busy in the merger & acquisition sector in West Africa in the last 12 months. In its previous financial year it completed the the A$258m purchase of an 80% stake in Nyanzaga and was due to approve the underground expansion of Yaouré, Perseus’ Côte d’Ivoire mine.
In May, the company announced the resumption of exploration work at the Meyas Sands gold deposit in Sudan following a one year hiatus amid civil war in the country. Meyas Sands is in Perseus’ portfolio after it bought Orca Mining for A$230m.
