A Namibian businessman and South African precious metals company Pan African Resources have launched a US$131mn joint bid for gold explorer AngloGold Ashantis Navachab mine in Namibias Erongo Region
According to the Namibian Sun, Knowledge Katti, a director at Canada's Giyani Gold and Pan African Resources plan to establish joint venture company for the project.
Earlier this year, AngloGold Ashanti put the Navachab mine up for sale as part of cost-cutting initiatives. Navachab, the only gold mine in Namibia produced 65,000 ounces of gold in 2009, according to company sources.
Katti and some of his partners, along with Pan African Resources have proposed to give traditional authorities surrounding the mine a 15 per cent stake and reserve a five per cent interest for Epangelo Mining, the government-owned minerals company.
The royalty of assets will be based on revenues generated from the sale of gold produced by Navachab, the newspaper reported.
In the bid for Navachab that was submitted, Pan African Resources reported that it has a market capitalisation of US$443mn as of October 2013. The company also has an undrawn revolving credit facility of US$61.2mn. Pan African Resources, however, issued a statement later on saying, “There is no certainty that this participation will result in any transaction relating to Navachab, as the company is not at a stage of negotiations.”
In the bid document, Katti said that Giyani has raised US$40.6mn for the Navachab acquisition.
