Vladislav Sviblov co to buy Kun-Manye polymetallic ore project for $105 mln
MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax) - Stanmix Holding, a company controlled by Vladislav Sviblov, has agreed to acquire the Kun-Manye nickel-copper sulphide project project in Amur Region from Amur Minerals.
The price of the deal is $105 million, of which $15 million will be paid upon the closure of the transaction, $10 million within one year and $50 million within four years, Amur Minerals said. Amur Minerals will also give the buyer the rights to all loans the project operator owes to it for $30 million, to be paid in ten instalments starting in 2027.
The price of the deal represents premiums of 220% to Amur Minerals' market capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange as of May 5, and 330% to the current Kun-Manye book value. The fair market value of the project was estimated by Medea Natural Resources at $106 million to $131 million.
Amur Minerals plans to use the proceeds from the first payment for an acquisition via a reverse takeover within six months of completion. Funds from the completion payment will be utilised to evaluate and acquire one or more projects located in mining friendly jurisdictions. It is anticipated that portions of the second and third payments will be paid as dividends to shareholders, the company said.
The deal is subject to approval by Amur Minerals shareholders, who are scheduled to meet on May 25, and by a Russian government commission on foreign investment under new rules.
Amur Minerals is a UK-based company engaged in mineral exploration in the Russian Far East. Kun-Manye is the company's flagship project. Resources are estimated at 1.58 million tonnes of nickel equivalent. There are two scenarios for the project's development: a tolling arrangement with capital expenditures of $570 million and the construction of the company's own concentrate processing facilities with capex of $695 million. In both cases there are plans to mine and process 6 million tonnes of ore annually at Kun-Manye.
Sviblov, a former real estate executive, invested in the Ozernoye polymetallic ore deposit in 2019 and then began to put together a portfolio of gold mining assets. In 2020, he acquired major gold miner Highland Gold and the Darkhan and Darasun mines, and in 2021 he bought Trans-Siberian Gold and Zoloto Kamchatki. Sviblov's companies together became Russia's third largest gold producer in 2021, with combined output of about 16 tonnes. In April 2022, Highland agreed to buy the Russian gold mining assets of Canada's Kinross Gold for $680 million.