JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Tiger Resources has completed the acquisition of the remaining 40% shareholding in Société d’Exploitation de Kipoi (SEK), the owner of the Kipoi copper project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
SEK was now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tiger, with the deal having followed the drawdown of $50-million against Tiger’s finance facility with the Taurus Mining Finance Fund.
A 2.5% gross turnover royalty payable by SEK would be retained by the vendor, Gécamines, while Tiger also intended to cede a 5% interest in SEK to the DRC government to bring the mining title into alignment with local mining law and regulations.
Tiger MD Brad Marwood said it was pleasing that Tiger had met all necessary conditions and had received DRC government approval for the transaction according to its timeline.
“The acquisition of the remaining 40% of SEK offers Tiger a compelling opportunity to acquire a producing copper asset we already operate.
“We now have a clear, low capital intensity growth profile to 50 000 t/y and, with ownership of the Kipoi project rationalised, we are able to explore a broader range of options to put in place a long-term financing structure for the company,” he said in a statement.