Saracen makes $38.2 million takeover offer for Bligh Resources

According to Mining News Pro - Saracen is offering Bligh 0.0369 Saracen shares for every Bligh share for a value of 12.8 cents per Bligh share, a 97 per cent premium on the junior’s last closing price of 6.5 cents on June 13.

Bligh, a subsidiary of Zeta Resources, is known for the Bundurra gold project in Western Australia, which is located less than 30 kilometres south of Saracen’s Thunderbox open pit and carbon-in-leach gold treatment plant.

The board of Bligh has unanimously recommended the offer in the absence of a superior proposal. Saracen said that its offer was final and would not be increased. The offer is subject to a 90 per cent minimum acceptance rate by Bligh’s shareholders.

The Bundurra project consists of five mining leases and six prospecting licences across four gold deposits hosting a combined JORC-compliant resource of 9.7 million tonnes at 2.1 grams of gold per tonne for a total of 660,000 contained ounces.

Should the offer proceed, Bligh will provide a significant resource to Saracen Minerals in its mission to become a 400,000 ounce-a-year producer. The company committed $60 million in exploration funding in April for the 2019 financial year across its WA operations in line with this growth strategy.

“The offer makes sense for both companies. Saracen’s infrastructure at our nearby Thunderbox operations means we can unlock the value of Bundurra and this is reflected in the share price premium we have offered to Bligh shareholders,” said Saracen managing director Raleigh Finlayson.