JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Avesoro Resources, which owns the New Liberty gold mine, in Liberia, will acquire two gold mines in Burkina Faso.
The transaction includes the acquisition of MNG Gold Burkina, Cayman Burkina Mines, MNG Gold Exploration, AAA Exploration Burkina and Jersey Netiana Mining and their subsidiaries, which collectively hold the Youga and Balogo mines, from Avesoro Jersey Limited for $69.5-million.
Avesoro Jersey is Avesoro's majority shareholder, which holds 73.5% of the company.
The purchase consideration will be settled through the issue to Avesoro Jersey of 2.03-million Avesoro shares, valued at about $51-million, and $18.5-million in cash, which has been raised through a share placement.
Avesoro has conditionally raised about £15.2-million ($20-million) through the placement of new common shares to new and existing sophisticated and accredited investors at 1.9p apiece.
“The assets will provide Avesoro with geographic diversity within West Africa and are highly complementary to our existing New Liberty mine, significantly increasing Avesoro’s gold production, in addition to adding high-quality exploration upside that will provide for further future organic growth.
“In conjunction with the turnaround at New Liberty, this acquisition marks a significant next step in achieving our long-term plan to become a premier midtier African gold producer,” Avesoro CEO Serhan Umurhan said.