Post says Wolfden bid shows North getting popular
2007-02-20 07:13 ET - In the News
The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition Wolfden Resources, a Nunavut explorer, has received a bid from Zinifex Ltd., an Australian zinc producer. The Post's Peter Koven writes the offer is worth $345.7-million in cash, or $3.90 a share. Shares of junior miners doing business in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have soared ever since Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. launched an offer for Cumberland Resources Ltd. last week. For a long time, mining companies avoided the North because of a lack of infrastructure and the high costs to develop the deposits. TD Newcrest analyst Greg Barnes estimates that capital costs are at least 30 per cent higher than more accessible areas. But as commodity prices have soared and more exploration and infrastructure development took place, the North has started to get taken more seriously. In recent years, global giants like Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton PLC have made major investments there. Both Wolfden and Cumberland made major discoveries and are far along in the permitting process, which makes them appealing targets. "Having a company like Zinifex in there ups the stakes," said David Davidson, an analyst at Paradigm Capital. |