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Gold/Mining/Energy : Medinah Mining Inc. (MDHM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 1st.mate who wrote (7613)	12/10/1998 12:43:00 PM
From: EtTuBrute	Respond to of 25548

Very interesting.......Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And who said majors arent buying junior mining companies in South America. Any similarities between MDIN and ARP????????????: Barrick launches bid for Canadian gold miner By Paul Simao TORONTO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Argentina Gold Corp. (Vancouver:ARP.V - news) soared on Wednesday after senior gold producer Barrick Gold Corp. (Toronto:ABX.TO - news) announced a C$142-million takeover bid for the high-flying Vancouver-based mining company. Barrick, a 40-percent partner in Argentina Gold's prized Veladero gold mine in Argentina's San Juan province, unveiled a surprise offer of C$4.00 per share for control of the company. Barrick, which already owns 9.9 percent of Argentina Gold's outstanding common shares shares, said Veladero would be a good fit with its Pascua gold mine six kilometers (3.8 miles) away. ''The main reason for us putting forward this offer is for us to consolidate a land position there,'' said Barrick Gold spokesman Vincent Borg. ''The economics there (at Veladero) could be improved by taking advantage of our Pascua infrastructure, so we are in a unique position to bring some synergies to Veladero by virtue of our nearby Pascua project,'' Borg said. Barrick's offer pushed shares of Argentina Gold's up C$2.29 to C$5.25 on the small Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE) on Wednesday as investors speculated the takeover bid would eventually be sweetened by either Barrick or another gold mining company. Argentina Gold has been one of the hottest mining stocks on the VSE since late November, when it announced exciting results from one of its drill holes at Veladero. One drill hole showed 147 meters (yards) containing a rich 10.3 grams of gold and 35.6 grams of silver. Argentina Gold has already discovered a deposit estimated at two million ounces of gold and 70 million ounces of silver at the nearby Filo Federico zone, but the grade of that deposit is considered too low to recover economically. Analysts said the company would have to find more high-grade discoveries over a wider area to demonstrate that it has a feasible project, although they agreed the Barrick offer was too low considering Veladero's potential. ''(A bid of) C$4.00 ($2.60) per share for what has been found is fairly low and that price will not be accepted,'' said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada Inc. Ing said Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM - news), which owns about 2.5 million shares of Argentina Gold and has extensive land holdings in the area, could also step up to the plate with its own offer for the company. ''Argentina Gold is in the enviable position of being a bride with a potential two suitors,'' said Ing, who added that Argentina Gold's ambitious drilling project could drive up its share price further in the weeks ahead. Barrick shares fell C$0.50 to C$28.65 in mid-afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. .....and more takeover rumors in the mining industry...: Large Australian miners under takeover scrutiny By James Regan SYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Speculation is rife in the Australian share market about potential takeovers of some of the nation's largest miners. If a barrage of research and comment among brokerage houses proves correct, Australia's largest gold miner, Normandy Mining Ltd , a leading producer of uranium and timber products, North Ltd , and zinc and coal miner Savage Resources Ltd are all in play or about to be. The Australian dollar sunk to a low of around 55 U.S. cents this year, and has only managed to climb back to around 63. While a weaker Australian dollar boosts revenues for minerals exporters, it also makes them attractive to offshore predators. International metals group Billiton Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BLT.L) has led one of the most recent metals takever and is now in the final throes of a 90 cent a share hostile bid for nickel miner and refiner QNI Ltd in Queensland. Shares in Normandy, which produced 1.73 million ounces of gold last year, have traded as high as A$1.60 after starting the week at A$1.47 when a report by Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Michael Slifirski suggested in a report that a takeover by U.S.-based Homstake Mining Co (NYSE:HM - news) was in the cards over the next six months. Some share brokers also suggested on Thursday that the proposed 85 cent per share takeover of Savage by the bigger zinc group Pasminco Ltd , may be complicated by a second bid from an undisclosed party. Meanwhile, rumours last week centered on a possible joint bid for Pasminco by Billiton and Canada's Noranda Inc (Toronto:NOR.TO - news). Neither Noranda or Billiton have commented on the rumour. Problems with environmental protests and a negative report from the UN's World Heritage Bureau on the planned Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory have contributed to North Ltd being tipped as a likely takeover target. The stockbroking firm Ord Minnett told institutional clients that North subsidiary and operator of the mine, Energy Resources of Australia Ltd , had received a political setback from the criticism of the mine. ''This does not change Ord Minnett's valuation or recommendation on North since Jabiluka has never been included in Ord's valuation,'' the broker said in a note to clients. ''With negative sentiment weighing on North it is now ranked as Ord's most undervalued resource stock following the takeover of both Savage and QNI. Will it be the next target?,'' Ord asked. ''North has the following in common with Savage and QNI: it is at a heavy discount to its net present value and it is out of favour because of the commodity cycle -- iron ore and uranium,'' Ord said. "However, unlike QNI and Savage it (North) has strong earnings, a low price/earnings (ratio) and no major capital commitments. Billiton has stated publicly its desire for iron ore and copper together with less South African exposure. ''Anglo American's preferences are yet to be disclosed,'' Ord said. North shares ended three cents higher at A$2.80 on Thursday, two cents off its 12-month low and was below its year-high of A$4.54. It ended the day with a market capitalisation of A$2.09 billion. Savage shares ended two cents higher at 91 cents on turnover of more than two million shares and a market value of A$483 million. Normandy ended steady at A$1.57, with a market value of A$2.67 billion.