Sirius offer in the danger zone
Sirius Resources managing director Mark Bennett has admitted that if a rival offer was going to come for the company, it would be in the next few weeks.
It comes amid speculation a rival bidder could take advantage of the drop in Independence Group’s share price and lob a cash bid for Sirius, though
Speaking to journalists at Diggers & Dealers, Bennett and Independence Group MD Peter Bradford said shareholders, including major Sirius shareholder Mark Creasy, remained supportive of the deal.
“The only sort of potential spanner in the works is if someone comes in and lobs a counter offer on the table as a result of that weakness, but we have a no-shop, no-talk provision in the agreement so we are not out trying to encourage that,” Bennett said.
Central Tanami deal ‘dirty pool’: Cook
Metals X CEO Peter Cook has hit out at Northern Star Resources and Tanami Gold over the deal that robbed his company of the Central Tanami gold asset.
Metals X launched a damages claim against Tanami after Northern Star swooped in over the top of it with a higher offer for the project.
While acknowledging that talking about a damages claim against Tanami would get him in trouble, Cook did anyway.
“There is a counterclaim by Metals X against Tanami, a damages claim, and that's in the courts, and daylight will be the disinfectant on that, so there's your quote,” Cook said after speaking at Diggers & Dealers this morning.
Cutifani wins Stokes award at Diggers
Mining industry stalwarts Mark Cutifani and Tony Poli were among the winners at Wednesday night’s Diggers & Dealers WesTrac Gala Dinner in Kalgoorlie.
Cutifani, the former CEO of AngloGold Ashanti and current Anglo American boss, couldn’t be there last night to accept his GJ Stokes Memorial Award, so it was presented in London last month by WA Agent-General in London Kevin Skipworth.
The one-time Super Pit mine manager joins former illustrious winners like Andrew Forrest, Sir Arvi Parbo, Roy Woodall, and current Diggers chairman Nick Giorgetta.
Newmont hoses down Hannan St push
Newmont Asia Pacific president Tom Palmer said the company had no plans to explore for gold under Kalgoorlie’s main street.
The Kalgoorlie Miner this week reported a significant discovery had been made underneath Hannan Street in Kalgoorlie, which was played down by Palmer.
“I’d hate to pour cold water on a nice story, but our focus is actually on the central corridor on the east side of the mine where we found Hidden Secret,” Palmer said.
AngloGold sees big future at Sunrise Dam
AngloGold Ashanti is carrying out studies into a plan to reduce Sunrise Dam’s long-term operating costs.
Sunrise Dam’s March quarter capital costs were $US1095 an ounce.
“Sunrise Dam, you’d notice the costs have been high but it’s a great asset and it’s about changing the mine to a configuration that gets us to a lower-cost position,” AngloGold executive vice president, group planning and technical Graham Ehm said.
“It was only last year that we finished the open pit, so now it’s wholly an underground mine, but the orebody is not 6 or 8 gram orebody, you’ve really got to think of it as a 3 or 4, and to make that work you need to push the scale up of the underground.”
Mining News editor takes Diggers media prize
LONG-serving MiningNews.net journalist Kristie Batten was last night awarded the highly regarded Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum Media award.
The award was voted on by companies operating in the resources industry and peers within the media.
The award recognises, according to Diggers, a journalist who has demonstrated that they have a passion for the resources industry and have been proactive in ensuring that the resources industry retains a strong external profile.
More pain ahead for gold: Klein
Evolution Mining executive chairman Jake Klein said the North American gold industry was going through the same structural change that hit the Australian sector two years ago.
Speaking at Diggers & Dealers 2015, Klein referred to April 2013’s slump in the gold price as the “day the music died”
The drop led to mine closures and company collapses, as well as mass divestments.
“The fallout from this has been ugly and painful,” Klein said.
New gold group launched
Western Australian gold players have combined to launch a new dedicated group to promote and champion the gold industry in the state.
The Gold Industry Group was announced at a breakfast ahead of the second day of the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie.
The group will be chaired by former WA Mines Minister Norman Moore, and will represent the interests of gold explorers, producers, prospectors and companies serving the sector.
“WA is the heart of Australia’s gold industry and ensuring the long term sustainability and strength of the industry is vital,” Moore said.
Gold Fields plays down Darlot speculation
Gold Fields has not denied reports it has put its Darlot gold mine in Western Australia on the market.
While it has been previously flagged that the company was considering the future of the underperforming operation, The West Australian reported today that Gold Fields had hired PCF Capital and opened a data room.
“We are supporting Darlot still, regardless of what you read today,” Gold Fields vice president operations Australia Stuart Mathews told Diggers & Dealers.
Phoenix players coy over intentions
Phoenix Gold anticipates plenty of action on the takeover front in the coming weeks as it awaits a bidder’s statement from China’s Zijin Mining, according to its chairman.
Zijin launched a $A47 million takeover proposal for Phoenix in June, offering 10c per share for the company after acquiring a 9.7% stake in Phoenix during its takeover of Norton Goldfields in the same month.
Phoenix management later decided not to recommend shareholders take up the takeover bid.
The matter was complicated last week when Evolution Mining increased its stake in Phoenix from 9.4% to 19.8% through an on-market purchase of 49 million Phoenix shares at 12c, making it the company’s largest shareholder.
Keep reading on Monday for a look back at the gossip from Diggers, as well as a photo gallery from the week.
