Too be taken with the usual grain of salt of course. Will be...

Too be taken with the usual grain of salt of course. Will be hunting for more info on this in the next few days......

from fairfax's review:

Bid rumours and JORC resource

· Other nearby West African gold miners have taken a close look at Ampella and Newmont have estimated a very substantial gold resource for Konkera and the licenses as a whole.

· Low gold miner valuations may encourage increasing M&A activity within the sector as cash rich gold miners look to scale up through the acquisition of their near-by rivals.

· Miners with infrastructure in the region should gain significant benefits from using existing logistical and other infrastructure as well as their expertise to gain from the development of new gold mines.

· Burkina Faso is seen as a relatively easy country for mine development and for acquisition potential. The new mines being discovered are mainly simple large scale open pits and the lead times to production should be relatively quick and
with low execution risk.

· Financing new mine development out of cash flow may seem preferable to many miners rather than allowing the cash to build up on the balance sheet while gold prices are offering such good margins.

Conclusion: Activity is returning to gold mining stocks following a break in investor interest while the Eurozone financial crisis unfolded. Investors appear to be returning to the sector on rising gold prices and on new speculation. The new
gold resource should encourage the shares higher while bid speculation may also have some foundation

*Fairfax has acted for Ampella Mining in a number of placings