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- Ramelius Swings for Spartan in Long-Awaited Deal
Ramelius Swings for Spartan in Long-Awaited Deal
First Quantum drops lawsuits, Lotus signs offtake & Paladin nabs PLS permit
The Pre-Start
Ramelius & Spartan agreed a merger, whereby SPR shareholders will receive 0.6957 RMS shares + 25c per share they hold ($1.78 at RMS’ last close price of $2.20) (RMS) More details below, conference call 8am AWST
Lotus signed a binding uranium offtake contract for 600klb of Kayelekera production for 2026 - 29’ with a North American utility. Contract pricing is a fixed US$ price based on long-term prices, with a fixed price escalation (LOT)
Paladin has been granted an exemption from the “Non-Resident Ownership Policy”, allowing it to maintain 100% controlling interest in the PLS project (PDN)
Legacy Iron Ore updated on progress at Mt Bevan, with mining lease & miscellaneous applications submitted, while logistics & power supply studies are underway (LCY)
Peak Rare Earths shared a market update, with Shenghe discussions ongoing to support investment, development & funding solutions. It’ll update on FID timing once transaction documention has been executed (PEK)
Carnarvon has deemed its holding surplus cash given a lack of value-accretive opportunities, and is proposing a return up to 7c/share (CVN)
Medallion received multiple offtake proposals for its gold-copper concentrate, with 7 proposals containing offers of up to $50m in project finance (MM8) Up 9%; MM8 working towards binding status on IGO deal by May
Gorilla Gold shared drill hits from Lakeview and Sovereign prospects at Comet Vale, hitting 14m @ 7.2g/t from 122m near the historically mined area (GG8)
Global Lithium issued a letter from the chair, reiterating its focus on Manna and the completion of the DFS while reducing costs (GL1)
Hillgrove will accelerate development of the Nugent deposit with contractors appointed, following completion of its capital raise (HGO)
Whitehaven’s buyback is back in action, with 215k shares bought between $5.49 - $5.73 over the first 2 days. WHC intends to spend up to $72m (WHC)
Hot Chili has appointed Fiona Van Maanen as an independent non-exec director (HCH)
Peninsula Energy has appointed Jitu Bhudia as CFO (PEN)
Image Resources completed first transport of heavy mineral concentrate from Atlas to Geraldton (IMA)
High Grade It
The US & its G7 partners warned Moscow they could expand sanctions and use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine (FT) We’re watching for gold reactions
First Quantum told its lawyers to suspend its arbitration cases, paving the way for renewed negotiations over a Cobre Panama restart (Bloomberg)
Former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds accused China of manipulating the critical minerals sector after Chinese-affiliated investors defied an order from the Albanese gov’t to sell their shares in Northern Minerals (Australian)
An arbitration court ordered Congolese state miner Cominiere to pay AVZ €39m for breaching emergency orders by pausing Manono development (Bloomberg)
Vale CEO Gustavo Pimenta highlighted the easing tensions with Lula’s administration in comments that should help settle the nerves of investors (FT)
Copper smelting activity fell, but remains strong, defying record low market conditions for treatment charges (MNN)
Hundreds of thousands of Serbs have defied fears of a violent crackdown to protest against the alleged oppression and corruption of President Aleksandar Vučić (FT) Given his support For Rio’s Jadar, we’re thinking about consequences
Australian explorers are being favoured over Chinese rivals to develop Timor-Leste’s fledgling mining sector despite the impoverished nation’s chequered history with Canberra over the region’s natural resources (AFR)
The world’s biggest maker of EV batteries, CATL, posted a 15% rise in net income to US$7bn for 2024, cementing its market lead (Bloomberg)
The AEMO, the agency tasked with ensuring grid stability, is set to be asked to address a looming east coast gas shortfall, as gov’t & state counterparts scramble to prevent an economically damaging energy crisis (Australian)
A free masterclass in Mining Project Finance. Yes, a free template excel project finance workbook. An explainer with worked examples. You’ll be sculpting your debt repayments in 5 minutes thanks to Model Answer.
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Ramelius’ scheme of arrangement takeover of Spartan comes at a 27% premium to its 30-day VWAP, implying a fully-diluted equity value of $2.4b. SPR shareholders (excluding RMS 19.9% stake) will own 39.5% of the enlarged group. If the scheme is not successful, a conditional off-market takeover offer comes into effect (RMS)
Collective Mining announced an agreement with Agnico Eagle, who’ll invest C$63m, through a combination of exercising 2.25m warrants @ C$5/share and subscribing to 4.7m new shares @ C$11) (CNL.TSX) Stock jumped 8%
Patronus is extending its on-market takeover bid for Matsa, which will now close on 21 April (PTN) Matsa has traded above the 4.5cps offer price since the offer was announced on 10 Feb…
Lithium Energy have acquired ~1,800km2 of exploration tenements in Central Queensland prospective for Au & Cu (LEL)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Arizona Lithium is in halt to raise cash (AZL)
Word on the Decline
We hear that Agnico Eagle is busy doing due diligence on a producing gold mine in Canada
And while we were scratching our heads trying to think of a producing asset that could plausibly pop out at a reasonable valuation that fits into the portfolio of Agnico, we had a thought…
Agnico can be very clever in how they buy. Recall the way they interloped Gold Fields’ bid for Yamana? They teamed up with Pan American Silver in a joint bid that saw Agnico take the 50% stake in Canadian Malartic while Pan American took the Latin American assets that were of no interest to Agnico
So, is it unreasonable to think Equinox Gold’s Greenstone mine could be off-limits to Agnico right now?
Yes, Equinox and Calibre are merging themselves right now. And yes, there’s plenty in Equinox’s portfolio that doesn’t make sense for Agnico to touch. But bear with us and remember that Agnico has form interloping and navigating the portfolio issue at the same time…
Do you have some Word on the Decline? Reply to this email or shoot a message to gc@moneyofmine.com directly. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Gold, Platinum and Why Everyone Has it Wrong: Dave Iben (Spotify, Apple) “Everyone, including buy & sell-side, values miners wrong”
Investing Like A Billionaire With Ross Beaty (Spotify, Apple) Old but worth a listen for any explorers
Chinese Stock Investors Embrace ‘Xi Put’ Just as Trump Roils US (Bloomberg)
Today’s Top Tweet
A diamond is just a piece of coal that did well under pressure.
— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen)
9:34 PM • Mar 13, 2025
Devil’s in the Detail
It is pretty clear now that Ramelius’ Mt Magnet Mine Plan update last week which saw its stock fall as much as 25% was a necessary component of bridging the bid-ask spread in the deal negotiations between them and Spartan.
Revealed today is that the two parties have had access to each other's data rooms since 4th November last year.
So Spartan’s “low premium” might look unders at face value. But in a mostly scrip deal we think it’s worth factoring in the impact of the RMS sell-off in response to an ASX release that seems very likely to have been a requirement of SPR before signing.
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