Modern Mining June 2022

MINING News

Gold Fields to acquire Yamana Gold

South African gold producer, Gold Fields, and TSX-listed Yamana Gold have entered into a definitive agreement, under which Gold Fields will acquire all of the outstand ing common shares of Yamana. The transaction implies a valuation for Yamana of $6.7-billion. It is anticipated that Gold Fields shareholders and Yamana shareholders will own around 61% and 39% of the Combined Group, respectively. Yamana is a natural strategic fit for Gold Fields, with its high quality, diversified port folio of long-life assets located in mining

friendly rules-based jurisdictions across the Americas (including its five producing mines and pipeline of development proj ects and exploration properties), and with a shared focus on health and safety and ESG performance, the company said. According to Chris Griffith, CEO of Gold Fields, Yamana’s high-quality asset base in the Americas and strong development and exploration pipeline will further diversify the geography of the company’s portfolio, creating a top-4 global gold major, well positioned to deliver long-term value cre

Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith. ation. “Combined, Gold Fields will boast an industry leading portfolio of high-quality, long-life flagship assets that span some of the world’s most established gold mining jurisdictions.” 

Gold Fields Tarkwa project.

Ma’aden set to open new office in South Africa Saudi Arabian Mining Company (MA’ADEN) has announced the open i ng of a new r eg i ona l o f f i ce i n South Africa. In 2019, Ma’aden strengthened i ts presence in the African market with the acquisition of Mauritius-based fertilizer distribu tor, Meridian Group, one of the largest fertilizer distributors in Africa. As a result, Ma’aden has a network of operations across Eastern and Southern Africa, from Malawi to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia with 35-65% market share in the four countries. Robert Wilt, CEO of Ma’aden, comments on the new office: “This announcement reinforces our commitment to the African agriculture market, as it is a stra tegic growth area for our fertilizer business and part of our long-term value creation plan to grow Ma’aden into one of the top miners in the world.” 

Rare ear th mine developer, Steen kampskraal Holdings (SHL) is preparing for a listing on London’s AIM and the JSE, and has made three key appoint ments to proceed with the development of the Steenkampskraal rare earth mine situated in the Western Cape. “SHL has all the regulatory approvals required to com mence mining and to produce monazite concentrate. Management is negotiating Steenkampskraal prepares for AIM and JSE listing offtake agreements with numerous pro spective customers. SHL plans to raise equity funding through a pre-IPO and IPO on the London AIM market and a second ary listing on JSE,” explained Trevor Blench, SHL chairman. SHL appointed Graham Soden as director and mine manager, with Timothy Crombie appointed director and project manager and Megan Korbe as legal advisor. 

Steenkampskraal targets dual listing.

6  MODERN MINING  June 2022