Giyani Gold listing prompts speculation over Navachab mine GIYANI Gold, fresh from its debut on the JSE’s AltX last month, listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) on Friday. The Canadian gold exploration company’s latest listing has prompted speculation that it is one of the bidders for AngloGold Ashanti’s Navachab mine. Giyani is focusing on gold deposits in Southern Africa. It has a number of prospecting rights in the Giyani greenstone belt in northeastern South Africa, and wants to consolidate a greater land package around the prospects it already holds. Navachab is an asset the world’s third-largest gold group, headquartered in Johannesburg, has said is up for sale because it is a small, rather isolated holding. AngloGold did not reply to questions e-mailed on Friday. "I have created resource projects in Namibia over the past 14 years and have enjoyed tremendous success in contributing value to the Namibian economy and for all stakeholders," Giyani executive chairman Duane Parnham said on Friday. At the time of the company’s AltX listing at the end of last month, he said Navachab was an "interesting project". The opencast mine produced 74,000oz of gold last year at a cash cost of $929/oz. " Being a Namibian explorer you can’t deny that’s an interesting asset. So we’ll see, but I can’t comment further," Mr Parnham said at the time. Giyani is on the newly formed alternative investment board (AIX) of the Namibian exchange, after receiving approvals for the Central Bank of Namibia and the exchange’s listing committee. "The AIX board is a new board to facilitate listings with a no local asset status in terms of pension fund and insurance regulations in Namibia," said the exchange’s CEO Tiaan Bazuin on Friday. But Giyani had no prospecting rights in Namibia, despite listing as a gold exploration company, Mr Bazuin said. "The NSX has created the AIX for companies interested in coming to Namibia to explore business opportunities," he said. Once a company had drummed up "appropriate economic activity" it could be moved to the main board, he said. Giyani plans to transfer its Canadian gold exploration assets into a separately listed company on the Toronto Venture Exchange before the end of the year. It will hold 51% of the new company before financing. Mr Parnham said at the end of June that the company had converted debt into equity — using past expenditure and write-downs of C$5.6m (R54m) on its projects in Ontario — into up to C$11m of marketable securities, depending at which price the new vehicle’s shares trade. (bdlive.co.za)
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 10:42:24 +0000
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