The main shareholder of Avesoro Resources Inc (LON:ASO) has acquired the remaining shares of the company in an update on Monday.
The controlling shareholder, in the form of Avesoro Jersey Ltd has acquired all remaining shares it does not own in the west Africa-focused gold producer.
In December, Avesoro Jersey owned 79.9 million shares in the firm, equating to a 98% stake.
In an update on Monday, the shareholder has picked up the rest of the 1,7 million shares in issue at a price of 100p per share.
In October, the Avesoro board unanimously recommended the 100 pence per share bid from Avesoro Jersey, which is owned by Turkish businessman Murathan Gunal, however it seems that fortunes have changed.
As a result of this decision, Avesoro will have their shares delisted from both the London and Toronto market and should be taking place on Tuesday.
The firm also announced that Chief Financial Officer Geoff Eyre would be set to take up the same role at mining firm Adriatic Metals PLC (LON: ADT1).
“The addition of both Geoff and Phil to the senior management team at Adriatic clearly shows our intent to develop our existing assets into production, and expand our known resource base in this prolific district. I would personally like to thank Bob and Sean for their service to Adriatic, both joining the company early in its life and making a valuable contribution to its success,” said Chief Executive Officer Paul Cronin.
Tough times for Avesoro
The decision comes after a tricky few months for the firm. In October, the firm saw its guidance under review as operational difficulties weigh on gold production volumes.
Third quarter production at it New Liberty venture dived 57% compared to Q2, down to 8,059 ounces – though its also attributed this dip to ‘heavy rainfall flooding the main pit’.
Similarly, its Youga prospect’s output dropped by 6%, to 14,619 ounces. It said a degree of this drop owed to a security issue which ‘hampered mining fleet availability’.
Company CEO Serhan Umurhan added “Following the transition to contractor mining at New Liberty and Youga earlier this year, both mines have experienced operational issues that adversely affected our mining rates and gold production performance in the Quarter.”
“However, I am confident that operational performance will improve at both mines during Q4, with the end of the wet season allowing New Liberty to materially enhance productivity in the near term despite the recent pit-wall failure. Meanwhile, an additional 15 trucks, 6 excavators, a rock drill and further auxiliary equipment will be available at Youga later this week at the mining contractors cost, and we expect that this will result in an uplift in production during Q4.”
“Given a number of operational uncertainties our full year production guidance remains under review. The Company intends to provide updated guidance once operational performance has stabilised for a sustained period of time.”
