Jinchuan Group

Jinchuan expedites Kenyan sands project with C$10,9m investment in Tiomin

(Source: Mining Weekly)

By: Dennis Ndaba

Published: 20 Apr 07 - 0:00

Toronto-listed miner Tiomin Resources and Jinchuan Group, of China, have entered into a memorandum of understanding to finance and expedite the development of the Kwale mineral-sands project in Kenya.

Jinchuan is investing about C$10,9-million in Tiomin by acquiring 72 521 134 common shares of the company at C$0,15 a share.

This investment significantly strengthens Tiomin’s cash position to about C$32-million and increases Jinchuan’s equity ownership of Tiomin to 20%. Tiomin has granted Jinchuan an 18-month option to increase its interest in Tiomin to 30% by subscribing for addi- tional common shares at a price of C$0,35 a share, raising an addi-tional C$17-million in new cash resources, if exercised. The financing is subject to regulatory and Tiomin shareholder approval.

Tiomin chairperson and CEO Jean-Charles Potvin comments, “Jinchuan and Tiomin are united in their desire to jointly develop Kwale. This financing begins what we hope is an accelerated development programme with potential cost savings by maximising Chinese content. “Jinchuan is a world-class mining company with extensive project development experience and it is an ideal partner for Tiomin and Kenya. This agreement is a very logical step as we build Tiomin into a global titanium producer and it confirms our belief that the Kwale project has significant merit that is not recogni- sed in Tiomin’s share price. Our stronger balance sheet and the support of Jinchuan will enable Tiomin to pursue the acquisition of additional titanium assets worldwide.”

Jinchuan is the largest producer of nickel, cobalt and platinumgroup metals (PGMs) in China, combining mining, milling, smelting and refining, and chemical engineering operations.
The output of nickel and PGMs is 88% and 90% respectively of total Chinese production.

Mining Weekly reported in February that Tiomin had halted the development of the Kwale mineral-sands project. Tiomin investor relations head Laurie Gaborit said at the time that seven farmers had taken Tiomin to court as they refused the compensation being offered by the government of Kenya, causing the delay.

Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter

Jinchuan to buy Canadian mining company

(Source: FinanceAsia.com)

By Sameera Anand | 8 January 2008

The Chinese metals company will pay $214 million for Tyler Resources in a plan to secure raw materials from Tyler's mines in Mexico.

Chinese mining company, Jinchuan Group, is set to buy Tyler Resources of Canada for C$214 million ($214.3 million) driven by the potential to secure inputs from the Bahuerachi property that Tyler owns.

Jinchuan will make an offer to all shareholders of Tyler at a price of C$1.60 per share in cash. The price represents a 116% premium to Tyler's closing price on October 18, 2007, the last trading day before Mercator Minerals made an unsolicited offer for Tyler. The price represents a 60% premium to Tyler's most recent closing price on January 4, 2008.

Jinchuan’s offer is subject to acceptance by at least two-thirds of Tyler’s shareholders, in value terms. Tyler’s board has recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

Tyler has been a takeover target since Mercator Minerals tabled an unsolicited bid to buy all of the company's shares in October last year, offering 0.113 Mercator shares for every Tyler share. Based on Mercator’s closing price just before the offer commenced, the exchange ratio translated to a price of C$1.09 per Tyler share.

At the time Mercator made its bid, Tyler said that it had been led to believe that Mercator would offer as much as C$1.25 per share. Even at C$1.25 per share, Tyler felt Mercator was under-valuing the firm.

Tyler Resources is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on base and precious metals exploration in Mexico. Tyler's value lies in its primary project, the Bahuerachi property, which hosts Mexico's fourth largest mineralised porphyry deposit. Porphyry deposits contain any combination of gold, molybdenum, tungsten and copper.

Tyler is now moving towards the feasibility, development and production stage at Bahuerachi. On November 23, in a communication to shareholders, the board of Tyler recommended that shareholders “reject the opportunistic Mercator offer”, terming it as hostile. The board said that Mercator was trying to acquire Tyler before its shareholders could realise full value for their shares through the exploitation of the Bahuerachi project.

As shareholders had pushed the share price up through October and early November in anticipation of a bidding war, the price offered by Mercator represented a 4.2% discount to the closing share price of Tyler on November 22.

Tyler appointed CIBC World Markets as financial adviser and Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer as legal adviser to represent it pursuant to Mercator’s October offer.

While recommending the Jinchuan offer to shareholders, Alan Craven, chairman of the Tyler board of directors said in a written statement: "Jinchuan came forward with the best offer, one that provides Tyler shareholders with immediate, strong and certain value for their company and its assets.” Jinchuan has negotiated a break fee of C$7.3 million or approximately 3.4% of the transaction value.

Jinchuan's primary activities are mining, concentrating, metallurgy and chemical engineering. It produces nickel, copper, cobalt, rare and precious metals and also some chemical products with an annual production capacity of 130,000 tonnes of nickel, 400,000 tonnes of copper, 8,000 tonnes of cobalt and 5,000 kilograms of platinum group metals.

For Jinchuan, Tyler represents an opportunity to secure supply of inputs.

The step taken by Jinchuan is in line with efforts by a number of Chinese natural resources firms. These companies are being forced to look globally to acquire mines with proven access to reserves to gain access to an uninterrupted supply of raw materials.

The deal is expected to close in mid-March and is subject to material adverse change clauses and receipt of all required regulatory approvals (including Chinese government approvals).

BMO Capital Markets is financial adviser and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg legal counsel to Jinchuan.

Copyright FinanceAsia.com Ltd., a subsidiary of Haymarket Media Ltd

China takes stake in Fox Resources

(Source: The Australian)

Dow Jones Newswires | January 09, 2008

FOX Resources said today China's Jinchuan Group has entered into an agreement to take an 11 per cent stake in the nickel junior.

Jinchuan is to subscribe for 18.8 million ordinary Fox shares (ASX: FXR: quote) at an issue price of 95 cents and will be issued a further 8 million options exercisable at $1.20.

"We have been supplying Jinchuan for over three years with nickel and copper from our Pilbara operations and believe this expanded relationship is a great win not only for our two companies, but our collective shareholders," Fox chairman Terry Streeter said in a statement.

Fox said a Jinchuan representative will be invited to join the board when the share issue is finalised.

The funds raised from the deal will go toward the development of Fox's nickel projects and the acceleration of exploration at its tenements.

Shares of Fox were up 2.4 per cent to 85 cents by mid-afternoon in a broadly weaker market. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.9 per cent.

Albidon raises 45 mln usd from Jinchuan, ZCCM Investments, Barclays Capital

Published on : Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:41
By : Agencies
URL : http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/142007183233.htm

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Albidon Ltd said it has raised 25 mln usd via a placing with Jinchuan Group Ltd and ZCCM Investments Holdings PLC at 2.95 usd per share, and a further 20 mln usd in financing from Barclays Capital, provided on the same terms as their initial tranche of funding.The company said the money raised fulfils the remaining funds required for development of its Munali nickel project in Zambia and will also ensure that it retains sufficient funds for exploration, drilling and business development.Albidon said the construction of its Munali concentrator plant is scheduled to be completed in the middle of the second quarter of 2008.In a separate statement, the mining company also said the initial drilling results at its Chisebuka uranium project have confirmed the presence of significant grades and thicknesses of near-surface uranium mineralisation.
TFN.newsdesk@thomson.comkal/salCOPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

China[rajquotes]s Jinchuan in talks over nickel treatment plant in New Caledonia nickel

Published on : Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:55 By : Agencies URL : http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/1220075140.htm

NOUMEA, New Caledonia (XFN-ASIA) - Nickel exporter Societe Miniere du sud Pacifique (SMSP) has begun talks with China's Jinchuan on building a nickel treatment plant, SMSP chief Andre Dang said.He said the firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Jinchuan late last year on the feasibility of building a factory to process laterite ore.World nickel production usually comes from sulphide ore but experts in the sector believe most of the expansion in capacity in the next decade will come from processing laterite ore, which usually has less of the metal.Dang said any plant would likely not be built in New Caledonia but in Australia due to the problem of waste disposal although the laterite would come from the French territory.Jinchuan is China's largest nickel producer with annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes. It also produces copper, cobalt and platinum.SMSP is among the world's biggest nickel ore exporters with key clients in Australia, Japan and Ukraine.It has been supplying the Chinese market since last June through an accord with China's Ningbo. New Caledonia, around 2,000 kilometres east of Australia, holds some 25 percent of the world's nickel reserves. Jinchuan vows not to sell Allegiance stake Andrew Trounson | January 12, 2008 (The Australian) TAKEOVER target Allegiance Mining was buoyed yesterday by its largest shareholder, Chinese nickel giant Jinchuan, strongly backing the board in the face of a hostile bid from zinc giant Zinifex. Jinchuan signalled it would not be selling into the bid, and dealt a blow to Zinifex's bid by publicly dismissing its $775 million cash bid as too cheap. While Zinifex had not expected Jinchuan to be a seller of its 10.4 per cent stake, and had stressed it wanted to have a constructive relationship with the Chinese, Jinchuan's comments may encourage other shareholders to resist the bid. But the Chinese gave no hint as to whether they were prepared to launch a bid themselves or increase their stake. Jinchuan this week signalled it was keen to buy mining assets, counter-bidding $244 million for Canadian explorer Tyler Resources, and spending $17.5 million to acquire an 11 per cent stake in West Australian nickel miner Fox Resources in what is an alliance agreement. Allegiance owns the Avebury nickel mine in western Tasmania, due to start production in the first quarter. While the Allegiance board is yet to make a recommendation on Zinifex's bid, it appears set to officially reject the bid next week after releasing on Thursday bullish exploration results at its Melba Flats nickel-copper prospect 26km from Avebury. "With its near-term production profile and highly prospective nickel province (in Tasmania), the vast majority of which remains unexplored, Jinchuan believes there to be significant further upside in Allegiance; and therefore the $1-per-share offer for Allegiance is not reflective of the true value of the company," Jinchuan said in a statement. "We strongly support the management and board of Allegiance and believe they are creating excellent value for shareholders and jointly we will continue to do so." Under a strategic alliance with Allegiance, Jinchuan has the right to buy all metalliferous production from Allegiance projects in Tasmania. Allegiance shares rose 1c to $1.05 as the market speculated on a possible counter bid or Zinifex being forced to raise its offer. Zinifex has offered 90c a share, rising to $1 a share conditional on securing more than 30 per cent of the target or winning board approval.