Blank-cheque firm in talks to merge with South African gold mine
Rigel Resource Acquisition Corp, a New York-listed blank-cheque company, is in talks to combine with a South African gold miner, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The deal could value Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mining Co at as much as $425-million, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details aren’t public yet.
The blank cheque company backed by Orion Resource Partners, a money manager with $8.5-billion of assets, hired Citigroup and Rand Merchant Bank to do a pre-sale and raise about $60-million early in 2024, said the people.
Blyvooruitzicht, Citigroup and Rand Merchant Bank declined to comment on the matter. Rigel didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment. Talks are ongoing, and there is no guarantee that a deal will be successfully concluded, said one of the people.
Rigel previously said the company signed a non-binding letter of intent for a business combination with a company in the global metals sector without providing details of the target.
Special purpose acquisition companies, or blank check companies, have attracted high-profile miners including Robert Friedland, who formed Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp, and African Gold Acquisition Corp that raised $360-million to target gold-mining assets.
The drawback that SPACs may have with mining assets is the limited timeframe to deploy the money raised through the listing as it takes time to secure, complete due-diligence and vet a mine. Rigel has also previously requested an extension to the time it had to “consummate an initial business combination” for a year from Aug. 9, according to a company notice.
Blyvooruitzicht produces 40 000 ounces of gold a year and the life of the mine is 22 years, according to its website.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation