Welche Goldmine wird als naechstes uebernommen??? - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[Arhaes]

Australian gold on world`s radar

By BARRY FitzGERALD
Wednesday 27 June 2001

The gold sector shot higher yesterday on expectations that Canada`s Barrick Gold would turn its sights on the Australian industry after acquiring United States-based Homestake Mining for $US2.3 billion ($A4.4billion).

The local Gold Index surged 25 points, or 3.1 per cent, to 828 in response to the friendly takeover, which will make Barrick the world`s biggest gold group by value ($US9 billion) and the second-largest producer (6.1 million ounces annually).

The creation of the colossus - the second biggest will be the $US4.7 billion AngloGold of South Africa (first in production with 6.7 million ounces) - raises expectations that the global gold sector could undergo the type of consolidation frenzy seen elsewhere in the resources industry, highlighted by BHP`s $US57 billion merger with Anglo/South African miner Billiton.

Behind the frenzy has been the need to compete for the attention of global investment funds, which want commodity counters that are highly liquid with multi-market listings. The enlarged Barrick will dwarf not only Australia`s biggest gold producer, Normandy Mining, with its $US1.3 billion market value, but the entire locally listed industry ($US4 billion).

It will hit the ground running with $US900 million in cash to pursue new growth opportunities. Australia is tipped as a key area of this focus, with the group already a leading contender for the $A350-$A500 million acquisition of WMC`s 750,000 ounce-year gold operation, put up for up sale by WMC earlier this year.

As it is, about 15 per cent of the enlarged Barrick`s annual gold production will come from Australia, thanks to Homestake, which has interests in four mines in Western Australia - Super Pit (50 per cent), Plutonic (100 per cent), Lawlers (100 per cent) and Darlot (100 per cent).

Homestake`s share of production from those mines last year was 875,000 ounces, or about 9.5 per cent of Australia`s annual production.

The key asset is Homestake`s half-share in the Super Pit, a joint venture on Kalgoorlie`s Golden Mile with Normandy. Apart from being Australia`s biggest gold mine, the Super Pit has a 20-year-plus resource base.

That is why Normandy traded five cents higher yesterday at $1.21, with the pundits backing the idea that Barrick would eventually like to have as much as 30 per cent of its gold output sourced from Australia.

Normandy`s defence against a hostile takeover was strengthened in April when it swapped a 19.9 per cent stake in itself, worth $A393 million at the time, for Canada-based Franco-Nevada`s US mining assets and an Australian royalty stream.

Despite the common perception that the move was defensive, Normandy chief Robert Champion de Crespigny has argued that if anything, it makes the Adelaide-based group easier to knock off.

Still, Barrick could expect competition for local gold assets from South Africa`s AngloGold and Gold Fields, as well as Canada`s Placer Dome.

The writer owns shares in Normandy Mining.

[Goldhotline]

Wir hatten heute ein Gespräch mit einem wirklichen Insider bei Anglogold.

Anglogold plant definitiv Übernahmen in nicht allzu ferner Zukunft und hat Australien, aber auch nordamerikanische Gesellschaften mit Interessen in Südamerika im Visir.

Namen wurden selbstverständlich nicht genannt. Delta Gold dürfte jedoch einer der ganz heißen Kandidaten sein. Auch Goldfields erscheint für Anglogold interessant. Normandy ist Anglogold weltweit zu unübersichtlich, Newcrest hat problematische Vorwärtsverkäufe im Währungsbereich, Lihir das politische Risiko in PNG und alles andere ist zu klein.

Die Goldhotline

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Mon, 23 Jul 2001, 2:10pm EST
Miners Zero In on `Super Pit` as Gold Price Rises (Update1)
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 23 (Bloomberg) -- At the end of Fimiston Steet in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia is a hole in the ground, 4 kilometers long and 280 meters deep, a gold mine that may be the centerpiece of an industry wide buying spree.

The ``Super Pit`` is Australia`s biggest gold mine, turning out 720,000 ounces of the metal a year, and companies are jostling for a slice of its reserves. Since April, Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. bought 19.9 percent of Normandy Mining Ltd., which owns half the mine, while Barrick Gold Corp. purchased the other half through a $2.4 billion takeover of Homestake Mining Co.

What`s whetting the appetite of mining companies and investors is that, after four years in the doldrums, gold prices are rising, boosting profits of companies that own open pit mines like the Super Pit, which are typically cheaper to exploit than underground mines.

``If you add all the ingredients together you have a bull market,`` said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management, a money management firm in Evanston, Illinois, and former chief bullion dealer at LFG Bullion Services in Chicago. ``The market has a different feel than it`s had in years past.``

While gold prices have risen 5.6 percent since April 1, they are climbing from a low base. The average gold price this year, $266.24 an ounce, is the lowest since 1978. Gold prices dropped from an average of $385 an ounce in the mid 1990s as central banks and mining companies sold or lent their reserves to fund investments such as stocks and currencies that brought higher returns.

As gold prices fell from a high of $415.50 in February 1996 to $253.75 in August 1999, more and more miners were tempted to sell their gold before it was produced to guard against the risk of falling prices, a practice known as hedging.

Hedges Trimmed

In September 1999, the price of gold rose $76 in six days, spurring companies such as Montreal-based Cambior Inc. to try and buy back some of their hedge contracts. Since then, many producers have reduced the amount of output they hedge.

Mining companies last year didn`t take any new hedge positions, the first time they held off in at least 10 years, according to Gold Fields Mineral Services Ltd., a precious metals research firm.

The reduction of forward sales this year helped gold prices rise this year, boosting the Australian Stock Exchange`s gold index 15 percent this year to outpace the nation`s benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index. The Johannesburg All Gold Index has risen 39 percent and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index is up 8.5 percent.

With the decline in forward gold sales and the prospect of further U.S. interest rate cuts this year to follow six reductions since February, the attraction to investors of gold and gold stocks is gaining.

``The gold market is becoming more optimistic,`` said Gary Armor, who helps manage A$1 billion ($510 million) in resources stocks at AMP Asset Management in Sydney. ``Gold companies generally are in pretty good shape in terms of their earnings.``

Central Banks

They may also be helped by a decline in sales from central bank reserves that would reduce supply of the metal. A two-year- old program of regular gold auctions by the Bank of England, once the world`s ninth-largest bullion holder, is due to end in March.

``The professionals are taking a position ahead of what they think will be an improvement in the gold price,`` said Howard Walker, a manager of Lion Selection Group, which provides venture capital for mining companies. ``Once central bank selling dries up we`ll have a much better gold price.``

Australian mines have the added attraction of a 12 percent drop in the Australian dollar in the past year that makes the country`s assets cheaper for many overseas rivals, a fact likely to garner attention at this week`s Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie on the edge of the Super Pit.

Industry Gathers

Officials from South Africa`s AngloGold Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd., and from Vancouver-based Placer Dome Inc. gather today in the town, whose 25 gold mines generate more than A$700 million in annual revenue.

``There`s going to be considerable discussion of the effects of the Barrick takeover and possible rationalization from that,`` said Peter Cassidy, chief executive of Goldfields Ltd., which operates mines near Kalgoorlie.

The Super Pit isn`t the only mine near the town expected to have a change of ownership in the coming months.

Nickel and alumina producer WMC Ltd. has said it`s looking to sell its A$500 million gold division, which has mines nearby, while Centaur Mining & Exploration Ltd.`s receivers earlier this year put its Mt. Pleasant mine up for sale.

WMC said in May it picked eight of the world`s biggest gold producers as potential bidders for the mines. AngloGold and Gold Fields have been cited by analysts as the most likely buyers, while Normandy, Australia`s biggest gold producer, has also said it`s interested.

``Kalgoorlie is where everyone sees the main opportunities available,`` Cassidy said. ``It`s one of the main areas of gold production in Australia and it`s also one of the most diverse in terms of ownership.``

Among the potential predators, AngloGold and Harmony Gold Mining Corp. are both looking to expand their capacity in Australia as they shift production away from South Africa, where mining costs are among the highest in the world.

Barrick President Randall Oliphant has said Homestake`s Australian unit was one of the main reasons for its acquisition of the California-based miner, while Franco-Nevada Co-Chief Executive Pierre Lassonde has said the Toronto-based company is ready to spend some of its C$1.5 billion ($980 million) in cash on more gold mines.

``There`s still scope for more consolidation in the industry,`` said David Whitten, head of global resources at Colonial First State Investments in Sydney. ``The dollar starts to make some of the assets look pretty interesting.``


MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Mon, 23 Jul 2001, 8:09pm EST
AngloGold Says Sunrise Dam May Produce More Gold Than Expected
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 23 (Bloomberg) -- AngloGold Ltd., the world`s biggest gold miner, said its Sunrise Dam mine in Australia may produce 34 percent more gold than originally expected because of increased capacity at its crushing plant.

The mine, 220 kilometers northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia state, may be able to produce as much as 350,000 ounces of gold a year, compared with earlier estimates of 260,000 ounces, Nigel Unwin, executive director of AngloGold`s Australian operations, told the annual Diggers & Dealers conference.

Sunrise Dam is one of AngloGold`s lowest-cost mines. The company has said it wants to buy more mines outside its South African base where costs are among the highest in the world.

``We continue to phase out high-cost production and invest in more profitable ounces that position us well over the next 10 to 15 years,`` Unwin told the conference.

AngloGold acquired Sunrise Dam as part of the $529 million takeover of Acacia Resources Ltd. in 1999. The company is considering more acquisitions in Australia, including bidding for WMC Ltd.`s gold unit, he said.

WMC has said it picked eight potential bidders for its gold unit. Analysts have valued the division at around A$500 million. WMC may be asking for as much as A$700 million, BNP Paribas analysts said in a note to clients.

``We are one of the companies still in the running,`` Unwin said.

While he declined to say how much AngloGold would be prepared to pay for WMC, he said a price of between A$500 million and A$700 million is in a ``different ballpark.``


MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Tue, 24 Jul 2001, 6:42pm EST
Harmony Gold`s Grobicki on Free State Mines, Strike: Comment
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ted Grobicki, chief operating officer of Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. comments on whether South Africa`s third-largest gold producer may be interested in bidding for mines owned by AngloGold Ltd. in Free State province. He was speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie.

On the AngloGold mines:

``The Free State is one area that definitely needs consolidation. It was a very high production area for 40 or 50 years.

``Anglo has got some residual assets there which are getting smaller and smaller. We`re always buyers of assets at the right price, at the right time. There`s always debate going on between ourselves and Anglo.

``They`re reconsidering their position and they might be for sale. As a matter of course we are always looking at those assets. We`re not close to making any deal or any announcement right now.

``The debate is an ongoing debate. The intensity of discussions has an ebb and flow to it. In any deal there`s got to be a willing buyer and a willing seller and the price has to be right.``

On a potential gold miners strike in South Africa:

``We hope we`ll get it settled. I don`t the parties are that far apart.``


MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Wed, 25 Jul 2001, 4:27pm EST
Placer Dome Interested in Acquiring WMC Gold Unit (Update1)
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Placer Dome Inc., the fifth-largest gold producer, said it`s interested in buying WMC Ltd.`s gold division, valued by analysts at as much as A$500 million ($254 million).

The Vancouver-based company is interesting in adding production around the Laverton and Kalgoorlie regions of Western Australia state, Mike Johnston, Placer`s exploration manager for Asia Pacific, told reporters on the sidelines of the Diggers & Dealers conference.

``They would fit us,`` Johnston said, referring to the WMC mines. ``We will put in a competitive bid.``

WMC said earlier this year it picked eight potential bidders or partners for the unit. Analysts had speculated that Placer would bid, along with South African rivals AngloGold Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd.

MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Wed, 25 Jul 2001, 2:11pm EST
Homestake Says Barrick May Buy More Australian Mines (Update1)
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Homestake Mining Co., which is being bought by Barrick Gold Corp. for $2.4 billion, said it expects Barrick to make more acquisitions in Australia to increase its production.

Barrick`s acquisition of Homestake, announced last month, makes the Toronto-based company Australia`s second-biggest gold producer and gives it a 50 percent stake in the nation`s largest mine.

``It`s not a company that stands still,`` Greg Lang, managing director of Homestake`s Australian unit, told the annual Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie. ``They now have a base on which to build. I would expect future activity.``

Australia`s index of gold stocks jumped 3 percent on June 26, the day after the takeover of Homestake was announced, on speculation Barrick Chief Executive Randall Oliphant may be eyeing more assets in Australia.

Analysts have speculated Barrick may bid for WMC`s gold division, valued at around A$500 million ($254 million), or for Normandy Mining Ltd., Homestake`s partner in the Super Pit, Australia`s biggest gold mine.

The combined company will have $900 million in cash, Lang said. He declined to be more specific about Barrick`s plans.

``Clearly there`s room for more consolidation in Australia,`` he said.

AngloGold Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd. have both said they`d like to expand in Australia as they try and increase shift more production away from their traditional South African base.

Homestake, Rio

Homestake in May agreed to pay Rio Tinto Group as much as $27.6 million for the undeveloped Cowal gold project in New South Wales state. The company will spend the next 12 to 18 months drilling at the project as well as trying to win environmental approvals for development, Lang said.

The Super Pit, located outside Kalgoorlie, will likely produce more than 800,000 ounces of gold this year, though costs have risen as fuel costs increased and the company had to treat twice as much concentrate to produce the same amount of gold, Lang said.

``The Super Pit, like the rest of the gold fields has been affected by higher fuel costs,`` he said.

The company will close its Mt. Charlotte mine by the end of the year while the Yilgarn mines will have record production of 500,000 ounces, Lang said.

Homestake is spending A$22 million a year on exploration in Australia, about 60 percent of which is allocated to areas around its existing mines, Lang said.


MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Wed, 25 Jul 2001, 7:38pm EST
Placer Dome`s Johnston on Exploration, WMC Mines: Comment
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Mike Johnston, Placer Dome Inc.`s exploration manager for Asia Pacific, comments on the outlook for acquisitions and exploration joint ventures in Australia and on WMC Ltd.`s gold unit.

He was speaking with reporters while attending the Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

On exploration joint ventures:

``We like Western Australia and we`ve entered into a joint venture with Croesus (Mining NL) to explore the Binduli area. We`re keen on what we saw with the first phase of work.

``We`re talking to people. There`s a lot of people who want to talk, it`s just trying to get the ground that we think we`d like.

``Outside of Australia the emphasis is more on the larger, self-sustaining`` projects, he said.

On the WMC gold assets and existing joint ventures:

``Any merger or acquisition has to add value. That`s the key for us. We`re not prepared to pay too much. We like to think we`d do fair deals. The market is starting to turn around a bit.

``They would fit us, fit our profile quite well. We prefer to own 100 percent of the mines that we manage. If you look, there`s a number of our mines where we`re in joint ventures. In some instances, it`s better to tidy those up. It`s easier to do that in a friendly environment rather than in a hostile environment.

``We will put a competitive bid in`` for the WMC assets, he said.

``The bids are due at the end of this month.

``If you had to rate Australia, I personally like the Laverton area. We also like around Kalgoorlie here, because there`s so much infrastructure already here, your capital requirements are significantly less so your targets are significantly smaller.``

On bidding for Delta Gold Ltd.:

``There are very few of the deals that actually deliver value to the company`s shareholders for the company making the acquisition.

``We`ve had a long association with Delta through the Granny Smith joint venture. They are a good joint venture partner.

``Whilst we`ve stated publicly that simplifying some of the joint venture structures is one of the things we intend to do as part of our growth strategy, we`ve got other areas we`re much more active -- the other half of the Western Areas deposit, we`re negotiating on that, we`ve got a pre-emptive right on that one.

``Also some of the joint ventures in the Americas, some of those could be simplified a lot easier.

``My own personal opinion, looking at Delta, is that they`re fairly valued for their upside. Until you could see that extra value, the status quo would stay.``

MfG

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Wed, 25 Jul 2001, 6:04pm EST
Normandy`s Dowd on Franco-Nevada Alliance, Debt: Comment
By Dudley White


Kalgoorlie, Australia, July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Dowd, group-executive, operations, of Normandy Mining Ltd., comments on the company`s debt and on its alliance with Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. Normandy is Australia`s biggest gold producer. The company has reduced its ratio of net debt to debt-plus-equity to less than 40 percent from 57 percent, he said.

Franco-Nevada in April agreed to take a 19.9 percent stake in Normandy in return for $48 million in cash and the Ken Snyder mine in Nevada.

Dowd was addressing the annual Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie.

``The (Franco-Nevada) transaction improves the asset quality across the whole group and gives us an opportunity to build our business in North America as well.

``Our debt levels have been falling, and this makes us much stronger, puts us in a much better position to take opportunities as they are presented to us.

``The reserves and land positions that we currently have and that we hope to have in North America are quite favorably exposed to the gold price.

``Whilst we are hedged, we also have a significant upside exposure.

``We do have a lot of synergies. The fact that they (Franco- Nevada) are well cashed-up themselves, they have regarded themselves now as non-operators and want to have an alliance with an operator that`s considered world class.``


MfG

[Arhaes]

AngloGold confirms bids for Free State mines




By: David McKay


Posted: 07/28/2001 04:00:00 AM | © Miningweb 1997-2001


JOHANNESBURG – AngloGold [NYSE:AU], South Africa`s largest gold producer, confirmed at the weekend it had received two offers to buy the bulk of its Free State province gold assets, valued by market analysts at around $240 million (R2 billion). Consideration was being given to the submissions and a decision would be taken in due course, it said.
Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), an unlisted black empowerment company headed by emerging businessman, Patrice Motsepe, are the two bidders. However, it`s understood neither have met AngloGold`s asking price. Miningweb`s expectation is that AngloGold is considering turning its nose up at both offers as they currently stand, notwithstanding a desire to seal the matter before the group reports its June quarter figures on Tuesday (31 July).

Market sources say Motsepe`s ARM has submitted a bid close to $218 million(R1.8 billion), but it`s more complicated than Harmony`s lesser, all cash, proposal. One possibility is that ARM may have asked AngloGold to accept shares in its soon-to-be-listed gold company. That`s hardly a dripping roast. In fact, one analyst termed ARM`s proposal as "messier" than Harmony`s which may have come in around $181 million (R1.5 billion). All of this is market supposition, however, and has not been confirmed by the relevant parties.

"I`d expect Harmony to come in at a much lower level with the strategy of lifting its offer to R1.8 billion or even R2 billion," an analyst said. Another commented: "It`s crunch time for ARM. AngloGold is very close to a decision and it is in their hands. A deal will be done on purely commercial terms," he said. AngloGold normally has a board meeting on the day prior to its quarterly presentation.

The mines in question are Tshepong and Bambanani (and perhaps the moribund Matjhabeng operation) which collectively produce about 1.2 million ounces a year. The high cost base of the assets drags down AngloGold`s overall performance and might well be best managed by a different company. The additional ounces would catapult ARM into the big league of South African gold producers while they would nearly double Harmony`s output to 3.4 million ounces.

A crucial question is: in who`s hands will the assets best flourish? ARM is a popular choice because of its black empowerment credentials. But Motsepe has not proved himself an excellent manager of gold mines. Of the shafts bought from AngloGold in 1999, only one has been run well while the others are thought to have struggled. It`s difficult to know just how well or badly Motsepe has fared because ARM is unlisted and not required to diclose production details (although ARM did once issue details in the quarter after buying the shafts).

Motsepe said in an earlier interview with Miningweb that his gold-producing shafts had undergone significant restructuring over recent months and were now going "very well". He then said his company was eyeing further growth by snapping up more assets in the Free State. "There are numerous bids that have gone in for parts of the Free State and ours is one of them," he said. The success of ARM`s Free State play will determine whether it goes ahead with a planned listing of its gold assets. "The listing would depend on the transactions we are working on now. If our offer is accepted we will go public; hopefully that will be sometime before July," Motsepe said.

You`ve also got to ask how ARM has able to find the funding to do this deal given that it is also engaged in a $95 million proposal to joint venture a platinum property called Maandagshoek with Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS]. Apparently, Motsepe raised a portion of the finance for AngloGold`s Free State gold mines from offshore sources. BoE, a South African bank, is backing ARM in its growth strategy.

As for Harmony, it is the proven operator of so-called marginal mines and has the cash to pay $240 million. Miningweb will update this story if comment is received from Harmony or ARM. Understandably, both parties are keeping quiet so close to a decision by AngloGold. In the absence of a decent offer, however, AngloGold will keep its mines.


MfG

[jeffery2]

Es geht sicher noch rund bei den Minen und ich denke Avgold wird da auch noch ins Spiel kommen.
J2

[Arhaes]

Mining News
Mon, 06 Aug 2001, 5:36pm EST
Delta Gold, Goldfields Hold Initial Talks on Merger (Update5)
By Dudley White


Sydney, Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Gold Ltd. and Goldfields Ltd. said they`re in merger talks to create Australia`s second- biggest gold company by production, driving Delta shares to their highest closing price in 16 months.

The companies both mine near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and first held talks three years ago, Goldfields said. Delta has a market value of A$477 million ($246 million), while Goldfields is valued at A$361 million and has more than $100 million of long- term debt, Chief Financial Officer Niall Lenahan said.

The talks have been rekindled at a time when bigger rivals such as South Africa`s AngloGold Ltd. and Canada`s Placer Dome Inc. have said they want to buy Australian mines. A merger would allow Delta and Goldfields to reduce costs to better cope with a 30 percent drop in the gold price in the past five years.

The companies are ``trying to get to a significant size before the North Americans come in,`` said Paul Carter, associate director of Paterson Ord Minnett in Perth. ``It depends on what the ratio is as to whose shareholders get the better deal.``

Delta shares jumped 6 cents, or 3.5 percent, to A$1.78, the highest closing price since April 6, 2000. The stock has gained 55 percent this year. Shares in Goldfields rose 3 cents, or 1.6 percent, to A$1.93.

Lenahan declined to comment on the value of any merger or on what the ratio of an all-stock transaction might be.

``We have recently revisited the possibility (of a merger) and are encouraged by the initial discussions,`` Goldfields Chief Executive and Managing Director Peter Cassidy said in a telephone interview. ``There is a lot to be decided.``

The combined company would have a market value of about A$1 billion, Carter said.

South Africa`s Harmony Gold Mining Co., the world`s sixth- largest producer, owns 23 percent of Goldfields. Harmony has said it`s reviewing its stake in Goldfields.

Gold Output

Delta last year produced 540,538 ounces of gold from mines in Australia. It also owns a 21 percent stake in Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd. Goldfields last year produced 614,769 ounces from mines in Australia and the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea.

A merger would create Australia`s second-biggest gold company after Normandy Mining Ltd., which last year produced 2.3 million ounces.

``They`re probably quite a good fit together,`` said Warren Edney, a resources analyst at ABN Amro in Melbourne. ``There`s obviously some political risk in Goldfields`` because it mines in Papua New Guinea, he said.

Delta shares have fallen 8.1 percent since Terry Burgess took over as Chief Executive on Feb. 1 1998, compared with a 15 percent drop in Australia`s gold index during the same period. The company`s gold output has risen by more than 54 percent during that time.

In the same period, Goldfields` shares have risen 43 percent. Goldfields` Cassidy became chief executive in February 1995. The stock has dropped 40 percent since it began trading on the Australian Stock Exchange in July 1995, compared with a 35 percent decline in the gold index.

WMC Sale

Delta in 1999 failed in a takeover of rival Acacia Resources Ltd. after being outbid by AngloGold. In 2000, the company bought Ross Mining NL, adding the Gold Ridge mine in the Solomon Islands.

Cassidy declined to comment on an Australian Financial Review report that a combined Delta and Goldfields would bid for WMC Ltd.`s gold unit. WMC has said it has picked as many as eight potential bidders or partners for the unit, which analysts have said could fetch A$500 million.

Burgess said earlier Delta would be unlikely to bid for the division on its own. WMC`s gold mines are located close to Delta and Goldfields operations outside Kalgoorlie.

Takeover Targets

Delta, Goldfields, Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Lihir Gold Ltd. are takeover targets for overseas rivals, analysts have said.

AngloGold and Placer Dome last month said they`re interested in buying Australian mines. Barrick Gold Corp. is reported to be interested in adding more Australian operations to those it`s buying as part of its $2.4 billion takeover of California-based Homestake Mining Co.

Delta said in May it won a A$70 million insurance payout for the closure of the Gold Ridge mine in the Solomon Islands, acquired as part of the takeover of Ross.

Lenahan said Credit Suisse First Boston is Goldfields` normal adviser though he declined to comment on whether CSFB is advising on talks with Delta.


MfG