Canada-based gold exploration and development company Osino Resources Corporation says it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Ondundu gold exploration property in Namibia from B2Gold Corp.
Heye Daun, Osino’s President & CEO, said the group believes this is a highly accretive transaction which provides significant additional scale, diversification and consolidation of Osino’s Namibian projects.
“We plan to build on the excellent exploration and resource development work which B2Gold completed over the last 6 years and to quickly advance the project to a compliant resource stage,†he said.
“Based on the Project’s historical exploration and analysis, we believe the Ondundu Gold Project has the type of mineralization with potential to host a significant open-pit gold resource possibly in the order of more than 1moz of contained gold* with the possibility for co-development with Osino’s Twin Hills Gold Project. The consideration payable is partially deferred and upon close will result in B2Gold becoming a strategic shareholder of Osino. We are very pleased that B2Gold has agreed to the part-equity structure of the transaction and appreciate B2Gold’s implicit vote of confidence in Osino’s ability to take Ondundu to the next level,†added Daun.
Under the terms of the Acquisition Agreement, Osino agreed to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Namibian company, Razorback Gold Mining Company (Proprietary) Limited, which owns 100% of the Namibian exclusive prospecting license 3195 covering 19,969 hectares located approximately 130km northwest of Osino’s Twin Hills Gold Project in Namibia. The deal will also see Osino getting all technical information and other books and records in respect thereof for an aggregate purchase price of N$239.5 million (US$15.2 million) including a combination of cash, deferred cash and shares.
The acquisition agreement, however, is subject to Namibian regulatory approvals and certain other customary closing conditions.
B2Gold has invested N$157.5 million (US$10 million) in exploration expenditure between 2015 and 2021, according to the deal announcement.
B2Gold owns and operates the Otjikoto Mine, currently the largest gold producer in the country, which it acquired through a merger with Auryx Gold Corp. in December 2011.
