THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Perth-based Bannerman Resources has received a highly conditional proposal from Hanlong Mining Investment.

Hanlong is a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group.

The received proposal from Hanlong is for the acquisition of 100% of Bannerman for 61.2 cents cash per Bannerman share by way of a scheme of arrangement.

Bannerman said its board is of the opinion that Hanlong recognises a strategic significance in controlling its large-scale and low technical risk Etango uranium project in Namibia.

Bannerman is also convinced Hanlong’s approach has been timed to take advantage of its low share price which has been adversely affected by such issues such as the events at Fukushima and weak global equity markets.

“It is understandable that Bannerman is now attracting corporate interest,” Bannerman Resources chairman David Smith said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Bannerman controls one of the largest undeveloped uranium resources in the world and, despite recent events, there is no doubt that nuclear power will continue to play a key role in meeting the world’s growing energy needs as well as alleviating greenhouse gas emissions.

“Etango is a strategic asset which is highly leveraged to a stronger uranium price in a world where security of supply is one of the most important issues for nuclear power generators and utilities.”

It is no secret to the market that Bannerman has been seeking to identify a suitable joint venture partner to facilitate the financing, development and operation of the Etango project.

As part of this process, Bannerman has been in discussions with a number of large and well-funded parties.

As part of its proposal, Hanlong is seeking a three month period of exclusivity; however, Bannerman has resolved it is not appropriate to grant Hanlong exclusivity given the absence of agreement on price and the conditionality of the proposal.

As well as holding discussions with Hanlong in relation to its proposal, Bannerman said it intends to continue to advance joint venture discussions with third parties in order to explore all options.

The Hanlong proposal is subject to a range of conditions including:

– Completion of due diligence by Hanlong to its satisfaction on or before 30 September 2011;

– Receipt of Chinese approvals (including from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the National Development Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce);

– A Bannerman Board recommendation (a necessary pre-requisite given Hanlong’s proposal assumes a Bannerman scheme of arrangement under Australian law);

– Obtaining support from major shareholders;

– Continuity of Bannerman senior management;

– Approvals by related stock exchanges (if required);

– Foreign Investment Review Board approval in Australia and approvals by any other governments/jurisdictions (if required);

– No material adverse change or other prescribed occurrences;

– No material transactions, claims, new commitments or changes;

– Absence of regulatory intervention;

– No third party consents required; and

– Negotiation of transaction documentation.

Bannerman said there can be no certainty that the Hanlong proposal will proceed and it is possible that a final position will not be known for some months.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Emerging resources house Carpentaria Exploration has announced it will be spending over $3.5 million on greenfields exploration in the 2011/12 financial year.

The impressive figure will allow the company to it continue its aggressive exploration programs across eastern Australia.

Excluding pre-development expenditure at the company’s flagship Hawsons iron project the budget includes provision for over 3,000 metres of RC and diamond drilling.

This drilling will be testing already defined targets across five, wholly owned Carpentaria projects in the Broken Hill and Lachlan Fold Belt regions of New South Wales in addition to surface prospecting.

The company said the budget commitment follows on from it having been granted a number of new exploration licences and negotiation of access arrangements in key exploration provinces.

“The Company is focused on further discoveries following its successes at Hawsons and Euriowie,” Carpentaria Resources executive chairman, Nick Sheard said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Carpentaria is committed to exploration, and the large budget for this year confirms our determination to become a miner as quickly as possible.

“May’s announcement of a successful Pre-feasibility Study at Hawsons, where we have identified a potential large-scale iron ore project with a base case net present value estimated at $2.8 billion dollars, shows the benefit of our committed approach.

“However, we are determined to be more than a one-project company and will maintain a strong and diversified project pipeline in eastern Australia.”

A major focus for Carpentaria for the new financial year will be the six recently granted exploration licences covering some 1,800 square kilometres and located 160 kilometres north of Broken Hill at the Koonenberry nickel project.

Three prospects identified from analysis of the $5 million previously spent on exploration in the area by Inco/Vale will be drill tested as soon as possible in 2011.

High priority prospects on the Koonenberry tenement package include Mt Arrowsmith East, where a past sulphide bearing drill intersection of 22 metres at 0.23% nickel and 0.18% copper was recorded.

Carpentaria expects State Government granting of access at the Temora gold project in the Lachlan Fold Belt to allow drilling at the Mother Shipton porphyry gold-copper prospect this year.

More than 30,000 ounces of gold was historically mined from Mother Shipton.

Shallow historical drill intersections including 4m at 3.95 grams per tonne gold from 2m and 6m at 2.35g/t gold from 38m are yet to be followed up.

“Mother Shipton is a quality gold-copper prospect within the regionally prospective Parkes-Narromine geological belt of the world class Lachlan Fold Belt Province,” Sheard said.

“The former Gidginbung mine produced around 700,000 ounces of gold and is only 10 kilometres along strike to the north of Mother Shipton.

“We are hoping access can be finalised shortly to enable the commencement of exploration.”

Elsewhere in the Broken Hill area, Carpentaria is progressing its strategy of identifying a cluster of shallow tin and tungsten resources suitable for low cost extraction.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Emerging Australian metallurgical and thermal coal producer Cockatoo Coal has reached an agreement with Mitsui Coal Holdings for the sale of a 49% in the Woori coal project.

The Agreement involves the two companies and subsidiaries and will see Mitsui subsidiary MCH Surat Basin Investment acquire a 49% participating interest in the Woori coal project from Cockatoo subsidiary Surat Coal for $37.25 million.

It will also result in the consolidation of the Collingwood, Taroom and Woori coal projects into one joint venture activity to be managed by Cockatoo.
 
“The sale price represents $0.90 per Measured Resource tonne defined at the Woori project compared to the company’s current enterprise value of approximately $0.30 per resource tonne,” Cockatoo Coal said in its ASX announcement.

“Mitsui currently own 49% of the Collingwood and Taroom projects and this Woori transaction will equalise the ownership of these three most significant projects in the Surat Basin.

“The consolidation of the Collingwood, Taroom and Woori coal projects into one joint venture activity to be managed by Cockatoo will facilitate the orderly development of these projects.”

Cockatoo said the overall scope of the consolidated joint venture, the North Surat JV, will be to complete a feasibility study to assess the three projects and determine the optimum development program and schedule.

The North Surat JV will establish a marketing committee with the objective of securing letter of intent support for markets for the coal to be produced.

MCH (or a related Mitsui entity) is to be appointed the exclusive marketing agent for coal produced by the North Surat JV with marketing rights worldwide except for South Korea.

The South Korean market is to remain the domain for Cockatoo and its marketing partner, SK Corporation.

Completion of the agreement is subject to a number of conditions, including:

– Mitsui obtaining FIRB approval for the Woori acquisition;
– Mitsui obtaining indicative DERM approval in respect of the proposed transfer of the Woori project tenements and existing environmental authorities; and
– Formalisation of the North Surat JV documentation.

“The combination of three world class assets of Collingwood, Taroom and Woori into a single joint venture will allow Cockatoo and Mitsui to have a strong presence in the development of the Surat Basin province,” Cockatoo Coal said.

“As a frontrunner in the development of coal mines in the Surat Basin, the North Surat JV holds the company’s two development projects which are closest to the Surat Basin Rail corridor, and the large defined resources hold significant opportunity to maximise economies of scale.”

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: The regular game of musical chairs continues within the boardrooms across the resources industry. The Whisperer pokes his head down the corridors of power to take a quick look at some of the chairs to have recently been vacated and to find out which ones have been filled:

Appointment of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director

Chalice Gold Mines has appointed Juan Jeffery as chief operating officer and executive director.

Jeffery is a dual qualified engineer and geologist with 28 years of international experience including senior management and executive roles in mining operations and consulting engineering in Asia‐Pacific and Africa with multinational corporations including BHP, URS and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Segue introduces new MD

Segue Resources has appointed Steven Michael as managing director.

Michael has experience in the global resources sector specialising in corporate finance and equity capital markets with over 15 years’ experience in natural resources.

He has most recently been with RBC Capital Markets and has previously worked with Macquarie Bank and NM Rothschild & Sons.

African Iron appoints former MP

African Iron has appointed of The Hon. John Moore AO to its board of directors, as an independent, non-executive director.

Moore holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Associate in Accountancy from the University of Queensland and has had a distinguished career in Australian politics having served as Federal Minister of Defence, the Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism and Vice President of the Executive Council.

Prior to entering politics, Moore worked as a stockbroker and member of the Brisbane Stock Exchange for 12 years.

He has served on the board of many broking and banking related companies and is currently a director of Herencia Resources and Evolution Traffic Control.

Ampella appoints two Ronnies

Ampella Mining announced the appointments of Ronnie Beevor and Ron Renton as independent non-executive directors to its board. 

Beevor is an investment banker and a senior advisor to Gryphon Partners, having previously been Head of Investment Banking at NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited. 

He was formerly a non-executive director of ASX-listed Oxiana Limited and is currently chairman of TSX and AIM-listed EMED Mining Public Limited and a non-executive director of a number of junior mining companies.

Renton has over forty years’ experience in open pit mining internationally working for companies such as Alcoa, Rio Tinto, BHP, Inco and Anglogold Ashanti. 

He has been involved in line management in operations up to chief executive level and Greenfields project development up to project director level. 

Board changes at Latin Gold

Peter McAleer has been Latin Gold chairman since the company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2000.

McAleer advised the company of his retirement as both chairman and director, which was effective from the close of business on 4 July 2011.

As a result of McAleer’s retirement Latin Gold has appointed Ian Middlemas as a non-executive director and chairman of the company.

Mark Pearce was appointed as a non-executive director.

New exploration manager

African-focused iron ore exploration and development company Waratah Resources has appointed Ian Brown as Exploration Manager.

Brown will be responsible for the exploration program at the Company’s lead project, the Youkou iron ore project in the Republic of Congo, in West Africa.

Brown has considerable experience in managing exploration projects in Africa having previously worked as senior geologist at Xstrata’s Zanaga iron ore project.