Asante Gold Corporation has completed the sale of its entire interest in Ghana’s Chirano mine to Asante Gold Corporation for a total consideration of $225 million in cash and shares.
“With the completion of the sale of Chirano, we are focused on generating value from our rebalanced portfolio, with approximately 70% of our production in 2022 expected from our mines in the Americas,” said J. Paul Rollinson, Kinross President, and CEO. “We would like to thank our employees at Chirano for their hard work and contributions to the Company. The team at Chirano exemplifies our commitments to safety, environmental stewardship, and generating benefits for local communities. We are also pleased we are able to continue to participate in Chirano’s success through our shareholdings in Asante, which also owns the neighboring Bibiani mine, which recently completed its first gold pour after restarting operations.”
Kinross received $60 million in cash and 34,962,584 Asante common shares (“Asante Shares”) worth $36.2 million based on an Asante Share price of $1.04 (CAD$1.34) per share for the 30 trading days ending August 9, 2022, which is the volume-weighted average price of each Asante Share for the 30 trading days ending August 9, 2022. The Company has agreed to hold its Asante Shares, which represent 9.9% of Asante’s ownership, for at least 12 months after the transaction closes.
Kinross will also receive a total deferred payment of $128.8 million in cash, with $55 million due on the six-month anniversary of closing and $36.9 million due on the one-year and two-year anniversaries. While the transaction payment terms have changed since the previous announcement on April 25, 2022, the total purchase price of $225 million has not. Guarantees and pledges from downstream entities that own the Chirano mine secure the deferred payments.
