IAMGOLD, the dual-listed gold exploration and mining company, said Friday that it intends to float its shares on the Botswana Stock Exchange soon following the de-listing of Gallery Gold early this year.
The move by the gold mining heavy-weight, which has operations at Mupane ÔÇô some 45 kilometers east of FrancistownÔÇö is expected to link Batswana investors with the developed markets of North America.
The company is the tenth largest publicly listed gold mining company in the world with other operations in Mali and Ghana and prospecting rights in South America. It will seek a secondary listing on the BSE.
“As a result IAMGOLD has made an application to the Listing Committee of the BSE for listing of its shares. The committee has agreed to dispense with the requirements of a category one transaction, which seeks the approval of shareholders. This is consistent with the BSE practice of deferring to the primary market regulator in respect of the securities, which have a secondary listing on the BSE, where they are satisfied that such primary market regulator is overall at least as stringent as disclosure principle of the BSE,” it said in its pre-listing statement on Friday.
The New York and Toronto stock exchanges listed company has an annual production of 1.1 million ounces and reserves totaling 9.7 million ounces, measured and indicated resource of close to 11.1 million ounces. Further, it has inferred resource of 8.1 million ounces and a solid balance sheet US $210 million while its market capitalization is at US $ 2.7 billion.
“The company has an excellent technical, operating, development and exploration capability to deliver and build the production pipe-line,” the pre-listing statement said, adding that it has huge platform in South America and West Africa, which it treats as its growth points going forward.
Its moves from gold investor and explorer to being gold producer are expected to create appetite in the market.
Further, it has huge gold reserves and is undertaking explorations in a number of countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador.
Last month, the company concluded a landmark deal with Cambior Inc, which was later given a thumps up by the Superior Court of Quebec and 99 percent of the shareholders at a special general meeting.
Under the plan, each Combior shareholder can swap shares for IAMGOLD shares at 0.42.
Further, the company’s balance sheet remains solid as second quarter profits stood at US $ 27 million and attributable gold production was 158,000 ounces at a cash cost of $290 an ounce, compared with 114,000 ounces and $275 an ounce, respectively, for the second quarter of 2005.
On April 25, IAMGOLD sold most of its gold royalty interests for consideration of $21.9 million.
Gold production at the firm’s five operating mines was 39 percent ahead of production from the second quarter of 2005, resulting from the addition of the Mupane Mine and excellent performance at the Sadiola and Yatela mines.
