Greatland Gold reports progress on Paterson assets acquisition

(Sharecast News) - Greatland Gold updated the market on its planned acquisition of a 70% stake in the Havieron gold-copper project, full ownership of the Telfer gold-copper mine, and associated assets in Western Australia's Paterson region on Friday. The AIM-traded firm said the acquisition, agreed with Newmont Corporation subsidiaries, was progressing with key conditions precedent being satisfied.

Significant milestones included the remediation of Telfer's tailings storage facility 8, which had been confirmed completed, and foreign investment approvals from both the Australian Treasurer and Greatland for the share issue related to the transaction.

Consent from the Pilbara Ports Authority for the transfer of the Crown Lease at Port Hedland, critical for the storage and export of Telfer copper-gold concentrate, had also been secured.

Greatland and Newmont were aiming to finalise the transaction by early December, subject to the resolution of remaining conditions.

In preparation, Greatland said it had successfully secured the transfer of the existing Telfer workforce, ensuring operational continuity and retaining critical expertise.

Additionally, Greatland said it was in the final stages of arranging a financing package, including an AUD 75m (£38.29m) working capital facility and an AUD 25m contingent instrument facility, with ANZ, HSBC, and ING.

Completion of the financing arrangements was expected by the end of November.

"We are delighted to be nearing completion of Greatland's transformational acquisition of Telfer and Havieron," said managing director Shaun Day.

"The significant and collaborative efforts of the Greatland, Newmont and Telfer teams have enabled the continued progress towards the satisfaction of the transaction conditions and our integration work.

"We congratulate Newmont on the successful restart of processing operations and are excited to take over in a matter of weeks and emerge as a significant Australian gold and copper producer, with completion targeted by early December 2024."

At 1207 GMT, shares in Greatland Gold were up 2.26% at 5.44p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.