An agreement has been made for the divestment of the Havieron and Telfer gold assets, which is set to make Greatland Gold a significant player in the Western Australian gold industry.
Greatland is set to receive Newmont’s Telfer mine in Western Australia and the 70 per cent stake in the Havieron project it doesn’t already own, plus any other interests in the Paterson region, for up to $US475 million ($713.8 million).
The UK company is funding the acquisition through a $US325 million ($485.7 million) capital raise, which was priced at 4.8 pence per share. Greatland was trading at 5.2 pence per share at close on September 11.
Newmont chief executive officer Tom Palmer said the deal is the company’s first asset sale as part of its divestiture program.
“I am pleased that Telfer and Havieron are being sold to Greatland, a company with a highly experienced management team and board of directors,” he said.
“Including the Telfer divestiture, we continue to expect to reach at least $2 billion in total proceeds from the sale of our high-quality, non-core assets, enabling us to focus attention on our suite of Tier 1 assets, further reduce debt, and return capital to shareholders.”
Newmont expects the transaction to close by the end of 2024, subject conditions being met, which includes the remediation of Telfer’s cracked tailings dam.
“Settlement of the potential acquisition is proposed to be conditional on completion by Newmont of ongoing remediation works in respect of the Telfer tailings storage facility,” Greatland said.
For Greatland Gold, the acquisition of the Telfer mine and the majority stake in Havieron is a strategic boost, with the company strengthening its position in the Paterson Province, a region rich in mineral resources, and securing the opportunity to leverage Telfer’s existing infrastructure to further enhance Havieron’s development.
Newmont’s divestiture program targeted the sale of eight assets for $US2 billion in cash. Aside from Telfer and Havieron, the gold major is also looking to sell the Akyem mine in Ghana, as well as a string of assets in Canada and the US.
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