PALADIN Resources managing director John Borshoff says the...

PALADIN Resources managing director John Borshoff says the company's merger and acquisition ambitions have not yet been satisfied, with the uranium miner looking to carry out at least one more deal before the year is out.


Fresh from winning the approval of the Summit Resources board for Paladin's billion-dollar bid for the Queensland-focused uranium play, Borshoff told MiningNews.net the company still had "three or four M&A targets lined up".

"Later this year should see something else, with a bit of luck," he said.

Borshoff said the company was aiming to build an asset base across Africa, Australia, Asia and North America. To date, Paladin holds the producing Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, the advanced Kyalakera project in Malawi, and several exploration assets in Australia.

A successful takeover of Summit will also deliver Paladin full control of the Valhalla uranium deposit in Queensland, part of Summit's broader Mt Isa project.

He said the company was treading carefully with its assessments of potential targets, given the current heat in uranium equities.

"We've got to make sure we're not going along with gay abandon, we have to make sure the opportunity is there. As you can imagine, we're getting offers all over the place," he said.

Borshoff's comments came as Paladin topped up its stake in Namibia-focused explorer Deep Yellow. On Monday, Paladin forked out $5.5 million to increase its holding in Deep Yellow from 10.6% to 11.8% (see separate story).

Borshoff said the Deep Yellow purchase was consistent with its policy of maintaining a strategic position in the junior.

He said he was attracted to Deep Yellow's suite of exploration assets in areas relatively under-explored for uranium, including 50,000 square kilometers of ground in the Tanami-Arunta desert of the Northern Territory.

"Lots of uranium companies at the moment are looking at the easy low-hanging fruit, which is not looking so good these days, but the future lies with companies looking in new areas," he said.

Borshoff added that the Deep Yellow investment would have gone ahead irrespective of the success of Paladin's bid for Summit.

Finally, Borshoff said the company would sit down with French group Areva – which last week brokered a template for a $250 million investment in Summit – to work out a new structure for that relationship.

Areva had been poised to take a significant equity stake in Summit, but with that agreement subject to approval by Summit shareholders, Borshoff said the two parties would need to revisit the structure of the deal.

He said the new Areva transaction would almost certainly not involve the French nuclear giant taking up equity in Paladin, with Borshoff indicating a joint venture would be the most likely solution.