AFR electronic article published 8pm tonight (13/10/24)
Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Oct 13, 2024 – 8.00pm
Kiwi explorer Siren Gold, capitalised at $20 million on the ASX, may be a minnow, but its 60 per cent share price gain over the past month has investors recalibrating its M&A potential as consolidation sweeps across gold players from WA to West Africa. Industry sources are tipping New Zealand is the next stop for consolidation in gold miners.
Sources said Siren’s resource of 1.2 million ounces at 3.1 grams per tonne in New Zealand’s Reefton Goldfield would be an enviable discovery for a WA miner, but the early-stage nature of the project – it is yet to receive mining permits – has boxed it into the micro-cap territory. That’s despite NZ Resources Minister Shane Jones in May signalling a more balanced approach to development and conservation via a draft minerals strategy to 2040.
Those who have studied up on Siren’s prospects include Perennial Value Management, which inched up to 7.68 per cent in late August, and Toronto-listed Kiwi gold player Rua Gold, which has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Siren’s Reefton project for $20 million in scrip. Now, sources suggest, at least two suitors could be eyeing Siren Gold as the beachhead for consolidation among Kiwi gold players.
The first name on everyone’s lips is Santana Minerals, the $468 million ASX-listed explorer which is riding high on a 400 per cent-plus share price gain over 12 months and whose chairman, Peter Cook, is not shy of M&A. However, it’s still waiting on environmental approvals for its Bendigo-Ophir project in Central Otago – and tacking on another development-stage asset in Siren’s Reefton may be a tall order …
Siren’s second potential suitor – and the one that sources said had a higher probability of trying to scupper the Rua bid – is Federation Mining, which is crawling with movers and shakers from the ASX’s mid-market gold mining stars and counts Australian Super as a big backer. To name a few, Evolution Mining’s Mark Le Messurier is Federation’s CEO, and Jim Askew chairs the board.
More importantly, Federation has a Kiwi asset next door to Siren’s, where it has already squared off permits and built mining infrastructure. Sources said putting the two together would give Federation an alternative feed source, while enabling it to squeeze out significant synergies.
Should either Santana or Federation throw their hat in the ring, they would be looking to build scale against Toronto-listed Oceana Gold, which at $C2.8 billion ($3 billion) is the biggest listed Kiwi gold miner.
Federation last year tapped Jarden to run a strategic review, while Siren has been advised by Red Cloud in North America in the past.
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