MOSCOW, July 10 (Reuters) - London-listed Kazakh miner ENRC (ENRC.L) is considering a bid for Sierra Leone-focused African Minerals (AMIq.L) and has been discussing the issue of a convertible bond, banking sources said on Friday.

"They are interested in AMI (African Minerals), which recently discovered the world's third-largest (magnetite) ore deposit," one of the sources said.

African Minerals attracts suitor interest
By Neil Hume and Bryce Elder of the FT

Published: July 11 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 11 2009 03:00

Frank Timis's African Minerals was in focus on Friday. Its shares rose 8.7 per cent to 250p on talk that the company, which claims to have discovered the world's third-largest (magnetite) ore deposit, could be a takeover target for Kazakh miner ENRC.

The Sierra Leone-focused company is currently valued at 470m and recently raised 63m from a sale of new shares at 250p. Analysts estimate its Tonkolili ore project will require about $2.6bn of investment.

Canaccord note out today:
"Late on Friday African Minerals provided an update with regard to the financing options for the planned 20mtpa Tonkolili Phase 1 expansion.
In our view this news is likely to disappoint a market that was expecting African Minerals to announce the closing of the Shandong Iron and Steel Group investment shortly. We understand the trial shipment to Shandong was received at the beginning of January and testing was expected to take ~4 weeks. We were expecting the trial to be the final step prior to the transaction closing. Whilst the announcement was not explicit and put no timing on the possible closing of the Shandong transaction, it seems that this may now be delayed. We expect a further announcement in due course but expect limited upside to the share price without further clarity on this transformational deal. So Mr Timis remains “highly confident” that Shandong Iron and Steel Group will give him $1.5bn for a quarter of the project.
We see significant upside in the African Minerals share price following the conclusion of the Shandong investment; however in our view this announcement is unlikely to be taken positively by the market and may result in retracement of the share price following a 38% rise since the December low."

very good opportunity - ami just received nearly 1billion see rns - additionally:

AMI: 331m shares in issue
MC: currently at £750m

Cash in bank: £310m cash

MOU: will bring Project is valued at £3.7billion
AMI to receive: £610m Cash

So that will give AMI: £910m cash in the bank and 83% of a project worth £3.7billion

SP currently at £2.3 valuing company at £750m, this mean the company will be valued at under cash level (est to be £860m) and owning 83% of a asset valued at £3.7billion so overall owning £3billion of assets, £910m cash in bank…

extract from today's rns - this is only heading north imo:


"Once completed, this transaction will provide African Minerals with almost a billion dollars of additional funds at the corporate level, significantly strengthening our balance sheet and will provide flexibility in financing options for the Company's future development. Tewoo's offer to subscribe to AML's equity at approximately £7 per share will provide a strong endorsement of the Company's value to the market.

broker target
26-Sep-13 Deutsche Buy 450.00 423.00 Reiteration

Why this share should be worth at least 500p a share.

African Minerals Stock Rockets 50% on China $1bn Iron Ore Deal
By Lianna Brinded : Subscribe to Lianna's RSS feed | September 26, 2013 9:10 AM GMT

The share price of African Minerals (AML), a mid-cap iron ore mining company, has rocketed over 50% after China’s Tianjin Materials and Equipment Group Corporation (Tewoo) announced $990m deal (Photo: Reuters)
The share price of African Minerals (AML), a mid-cap iron ore mining company, has rocketed over 50% after China’s Tianjin Materials and Equipment Group Corporation (Tewoo) announced $990m deal (Photo: Reuters)

The share price of African Minerals Limited (AML), a mid-cap iron ore mining company, has rocketed over 50% after China's Tianjin Materials and Equipment Group Corporation (Tewoo) revealed it will stump up nearly one billion US dollars for a 16.5% economic interest in the Tonkolili project.

AML's stock price soared to 242.72p on the London Stock Exchange, after the China deal was announced in a statement, following the valuation of the iron ore project in Sierra Leone at $6bn.

Tewoo will pay $990m for a slice in the project which is estimated to have a mining life of over 60 years.

The group revealed that the next stage of project expansion will involve potentially increasing production and widening the current port facilities at Pepel in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

"AML is delighted with Tewoo's intended investment at both the AML and operating company levels," said Frank Timis, Executive Chairman of African Minerals.

"With AML's history of successful relations with Chinese industrial entities, I am confident that this transaction will be successfully completed.

"Once completed, this transaction will provide African Minerals with almost a billion dollars of additional funds at the corporate level, significantly strengthening our balance sheet and will provide flexibility in financing options for the Company's future development."

China's appetite for steel and iron ore continues to grow however a slowdown in the economy has led to a surge in imports.

AML added that Tewoo's offer to subscribe to AML's equity at approximately £7 per share will "provide a strong endorsement of the company's value to the market".

The deal is set to be completed after Tewoo completes its technical, legal and financial due diligence investigations on AML.

AML will then arrange for shipment of two cape sized trial cargoes of iron ore to Tewoo in September.

http://www.theafricareport.com/West-Africa/chinas-tewoo-bets-on-african-minerals-tonkolili-mine.html

'African Minerals (LON:AMI) shares advanced around 50% in early deals as it unveiled a near US$1bn deal with Chinese investors.

The transaction effectively values the Tonkolili iron ore project, in Sierra Leone, at US$6bn and puts a 700p per share price tag on the group’s shares.'


:-0

"Together with $502 million of cash on hand at the end of the first half... and with strong cash flow generation from current operations, we forecast African Minerals could end 2013 with $1.5 billion."


China's largest import and export enterprise has agreed to invest $990 million in iron ore miner African Minerals' Tonkolili mine in Sierra Leone, valuing the project at $6 billion, the group said on Thursday.

African Minerals, one of several developers betting on West Africa's potential to become a major supplier of iron ore, said Tianjin Materials and Equipment Group Corporation (Tewoo) would receive a 16.5 percent economic interest in the Tonkolili project in exchange for its almost $1 billion investment.

The terms of the "strategic, binding" memorandum of understanding also include a 20-year offtake agreement and the creation of a joint venture with the miner to blend and market iron ore through the major Tianjin port facilities.

African Minerals said the investment would be made in two stages: first, Tewoo would buy new shares in African Minerals for $390 million, amounting to a 10 percent stake in the company.

African Minerals will then sell Tewoo a 10 percent stake in the project for $600 million.

The 20-year offtake agreement is for a total of 10 million tonnes per year of iron ore, or proportionately less if the capacity of the project's second phase expansion is less than 35 million tonnes per year.

Analysts welcomed the deal, which follows a $1.5 billion investment from Shandong Iron & Steel Group secured in 2011.

Earlier this month, African Minerals was forced to pay Shandong compensation for not fulfilling offtake agreements and production targets set for 2012.

"While the outlook for funding new mine developments has become increasingly difficult in recent years, a Tewoo investment should leave African Minerals well placed to pursue a phase two expansion in the coming years," said analyst Seth Rosenfeld at Jefferies said in a note.

"Together with $502 million of cash on hand at the end of the first half... and with strong cash flow generation from current operations, we forecast African Minerals could end 2013 with $1.5 billion."

African Minerals described Tewoo as the largest import and export enterprise in China, responsible for providing iron ore, coal, energy and other materials to Tianjin and Heibei provinces, and also the largest iron ore trader in China.

Read the original article on Theafricareport.com : China's Tewoo bets on African Minerals' Tonkolili mine | West Africa
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Deutsche Bank 27/09
Retains
Buy
Buy
423.00p 423.00p