Magnetic in the mix....media article.

Leonora-Laverton intrigue continues

Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) and the then-Silver Lake Resources’ drawn-out battle for the Gwalia operation in Leonora may be over – with Genesis victorious – but that hasn’t stopped the speculation.

Silver Lake subsequently merged with Laverton producer Red 5 and became Vault Minerals (ASX:VAU).

The market has since turned its attention to a potential tie-up between Genesis and Vault.

“While we will continue to assess M&A opportunities, we believe that in the current gold price environment we stand to make the best returns by developing our pipeline of organic growth opportunities,” Genesis managing director Raleigh Finlayson said in the company’s half-year results release last week.

Another growing player in the region is developer Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU), owner of the 1.92 million ounce Laverton project.

Magnetic’s ground is only 10km from Genesis’ newly restarted Laverton mill and 15km from Gold Fields’ underutilised Granny Smith plant.

“We do have a data room open to a number of players,” Magnetic managing director George Sakalidis told the RIU Explorers Conference last week.

“At the same time, we are progressing the feasibility study in our own right.”