But a few were at work with some last minute merger plays.
And the story gives a bit of a sotto voce nod to Spartan via Ramelius..
Cheers for the countdown to New Year
And best wishes to all at Spartan : )
Deals fever in the gold mining industry is trickling down to the junior end of town with Astral Resources making a move for Maximus Resources.
South Perth-based Astral used its shares to buy a 20 per cent stake of Maximus and handed the latter’s board a “non-binding indicative proposal” to acquire the explorer for 7¢ a share.
The announcement sent stock in the $25 million Maximus up 31 per cent to 5.9¢ by the end of Monday’s trade, while Astral finished down 6.7 per cent at 14¢.
Maximus — headquartered in South Australia — controls ground near Kambalda in the Eastern Goldfields region that it says contains about 335,000 ounces of gold.
This includes the historic Wattle Dam mine, which was operational under Ramelius Resources between 2006 and 2012.
Astral’s flagship Mandilla gold project is near Maximus’ tenure.
“Astral considers that the proposed transaction represents a compelling opportunity for Maximus shareholders who would become shareholders in a company with a combined mineral resources inventory of approximately 1.8 million ounces, significantly more share liquidity and no near-term capital raising requirements,” a joint ASX statement said.
The duo have inked an exclusivity deed, which gives the $168m sized Astral until to the end of January to lock down a binding deal without an interloper joining the fray.
Astral has appointed Taylor Collison as its financial adviser and Thomson Geer as legal adviser. Maximus has EMK Lawyers in its corner. The proposed consolidation between the two juniors follows a raft of acquisitions among major and mid-tier WA gold producers and developers.
Northern Star Resources at the start of the month shook hands with De Grey Mining for a $5 billion takeover that gives Australia’s largest gold mining company the keys to the country’s next major mine. Days later the Andrew Forrest-backed Greatland Gold officially closed out its acquisition of Newmont’s troubled Telfer mine. Earlier in the year Westgold Resources and Karora Resources merged in a $1.2b tie-up. The likes of Gold Road Resources and Ramelius Resources have also been active in buying up large chunks of smaller players. The red hot deals market in WA has been stoked by a record gold price, combined with a dearth of new standalone mines.
The price of the precious metal in Australian dollar terms has risen almost 40 per cent this year. After touching an all-time high of $4261 per ounce it remains strong, currently trading at $4220/oz.
Geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, plus declining interest rates in the United States, have driven the golden run.
SPR Price at posting:
$1.41 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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