...and BloombergKalahari Minerals Surges to Record in London on...

...and Bloomberg

Kalahari Minerals Surges to Record in London on Talks on Possible Takeover
By Jesse Riseborough - Mar 7, 2011 11:22 PM ET

Kalahari Minerals Plc advanced to a record in London trading after entering talks on a possible takeover of the company that is part owner of Namibia?s Husab uranium project through its stake in Extract Resources Ltd. (EXT)

Kalahari ?confirms that it is in talks with a third party, which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the entire issued share capital,? the London-based company said today in a statement. ?Discussions are continuing and a further announcement will be made when appropriate.?

Kalahari, which owns 43 percent of Extract, jumped as much as 19 percent, the biggest gain since March 2009, to 309 pence in London and traded at 289.75 pence by 12:08 p.m., giving the company a market value of 711 million pounds ($1.2 billion).

Itochu Corp., a Japanese trading company, bought 15 percent of Kalahari and 10.3 percent of Extract last year. Rio Tinto Group, the third-largest mining company, owns 11.5 percent of Kalahari and 14.2 percent of Extract, which has a market value of about A$2.3 billion ($2.3 billion), Bloomberg data show.

Extract said last month it was in talks with Rio on merging their uranium projects in Namibia. Rio owns the Rossing mine, while Extract owns the adjacent Husab deposit. That followed comments in June from Extract Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie that there would be ?synergies? between the two mines and his company would study cooperation with Rio?s project.

?Potential Synergies?

Husab is the world?s fifth-largest primary uranium deposit, Extract says. Rossing is the third-biggest producer of the nuclear fuel, accounting for 7 percent of world supply, according to World Nuclear Association figures. Illtud Harri, a spokesman for London-based Rio, declined to comment today.

Husab is about 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) from Rossing and 30 kilometers from Paladin Energy Ltd.?s Langer Heinrich project.

Extract is in talks with Rio ?with a view to capturing the significant potential synergies that could be generated from a joint development of the two projects,? the Perth-based company said last month. ?Extract is also holding discussions with Kalahari Minerals Plc (KAH) to explore various options that might simplify the Extract/Kalahari shareholding structure.?

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Riseborough in London at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at [email protected]