TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based B2Gold has signed a binding agreement to buy TSX-listed Volta Resources, acquiring an advanced gold project and two exploration projects in Burkina Faso.
Triple-listed B2Gold on Monday said its offer valued Volta's equity at $63-million, more than double Volta’s recent market value.
Under the deal, B2Gold offered 0.15 shares for each Volta share, representing a purchase price of about $0.42 per Volta share based on Friday's closing price.
B2Gold said Volta's Kiaka gold project, in Burkina Faso, had the potential to produce on average 340 000 oz/y of gold.
Volta owns an 81% stake in Kiaka and 100% of two exploration projects in the same country. The Kiaka gold project has a potential ten-year mine life.
“This acquisition significantly enhances our gold leverage with the addition of Kiaka gold project,’’ B2Gold president and CEO Clive Johnson said.
“In a difficult market where financing of development-stage gold companies has become increasingly challenging, we are very pleased to be partnering with an intermediate gold producer that has both the financial and technical capabilities to advance Kiaka for the benefit of Volta shareholders,” Volta president and CEO Kevin Bullock said.
Volta's stock more than doubled to C$0.40 apiece on Monday and that of B2Gold also rose on the same day.