PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Supreme Court of Western Australia has approved gold miner St Barbara’s takeover of fellow-listed Bardoc Gold, paving the way for Bardoc shareholders to vote on the matter at the end of March.

St Barbara in December last year launched a takeover offer for Bardoc, offering 0.3604 of its own shares for every Bardoc share held, valuing the takeover target at A$157-million and its shares at 53c each.

The two companies inked a binding scheme implementation deed, which was subject to Bardoc shareholder approval, as well as court approvals and an independent expert concluding that the transaction was in the best interest of Bardoc shareholders.

St Barbara previously told shareholders that the acquisition of the advanced Aphrodite and Zoroastrian underground deposits, which lie immediately adjacent to the rail line that runs to the Leonora processing plant, provided the opportunity to accelerate St Barbara’s Leonora province plan.

“The location of the Bardoc gold project, situated near the rail line and highway to the south of Leonora, brings the Bardoc ore bodies within economic haulage range of our Leonora processing plant. Combined with our existing regional opportunities such as Tower Hill and Harbour Lights, the acquisition of Bardoc facilitates the accelerated delivery of a multi-decade province of satellite mines feeding the Leonora processing plant. This provides St Barbara with significant operating flexibility and value as part of the Leonora province plan,” said MD and CEO Craig Jetson.

The board of Bardoc has unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the proposed transaction.

Meanwhile, St Barbara on Wednesday reported a tough first half of 2022, on the back of lower production and revenues.

Gold production in the six months to December fell by 18% compared with the previous corresponding period, to 133 000 oz, from 163 000 oz, as production from Simberi and Atlantic fell.

Revenue for the interim period was down by 9%, from A$358-million to A$325-million, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation dropped by 32%, from A$151-million to A$103-million.

Underlying profits for the half-year declined by 62%, from A$40-million to A$15-million, while all-in sustaining costs fell by 4%, from A$1 605/oz to A$1 539/oz.

“I’m pleased to present St Barbara’s strong results, which we’ve achieved in spite of several enduring headwinds, including those brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. We now have all three assets in operation, are well progressed in the Scheme of Arrangement with Bardoc Gold and are laser-focused on delivering to our upcoming prefeasibility and feasibility study milestones,” said Jetson.

“As we continue to execute the Province Plans put in place in late 2020 delivery of these plans underpins our new aspiration of annual gold production of 600 000 oz/y with ten years of life, a real differentiator in the market.”