Hey all, some late night thoughts I have pulled together.
Acquisition of Morlia Gold Mine
- Acquisition cost of USD$22m – 27m (AUD$30.1m – 37m) spot rate @ USD$1 = AUD$1.37
- Previously owned by Barrick Gold Corporation and AngloGold – selling due to immateriality. A few key points on this:
1. Barrick is a multi-billion-dollar company, the mine was set to close in 2021, Barrick have opted to sell the mine instead, this
is a win-win for both companies, Barrick do not incur closure costs, MLL has the opportunity to extend the mine life and reduced CAPEX expenditure for their own gold prospects.
2. Mali is heavily reliant on the mining industry, in 2018 this mine accounted for
6% of Mali’s GDP,
https://www.mining-technology.com/features/barrick-and-mali-inside-a-20-year-partnership/, mining is one of the biggest economic contributors for the country. Hence, it can be assumed that they will protect this and work to keep this mine open. It is not in the governments interest to close the mine.
- Capital raise of AUD$70m to take place, below breakdown for funding allocations:
1. Acquisition and costs - AUD$37.8m
2.
Current gold projects – AUD$4m (Important!!!)
3. Working Capital Provision for Morila - AUD$15m
4. General Working Capital - AUD$8.8m
(Goulamina Lithium project)
5. Capital Drilling Shares - AUD$1.2m
(company has agreed to issue shares to cover costs from contractor)
6. Capital raise costs - AUD$3.2m
- Has obtained AUD$64m in binding commitments from institutional investors. I wonder who they are?!
- Capital raise has been endorsed by Resolute Mining, a miner in Mali.
- Cash is king! Instant positive operating cash flow forMLL, budgeted at USD$17m which canbe reinvested for business growth, this is where the real opportunity lies.
- Location, location, location! The mine is very close to MLL’s current gold prospects in one of West Africa’s largest gold belts (see below). They have discovered gold at Koting, N'Tiola and Viper historically and are working on mining approval for Koting which identified 9m @7.53 g/t high grade gold.
