Gold Road yet to secure acquisition of Tropicana stake

Tropicana is a joint venture between IGO and operator AngloGold Ashanti (70 per cent).

In an ASX announcement, Gold Road stated that it submitted an offer for IGO’s 30 per cent Tropicana stake at the end of March. However, Gold Road denied that the offer was based on the rumoured terms.

Gold Road added that its final offer for the stake had not reached an agreement.

“The final offer has since expired, and as at this time, no agreement has been subsequently reached. If there is any material development, Gold Road will inform the market,” the company stated.

Gold Road stated that it would continue to assess potential opportunities “from time to time”, however any transaction is required to offer shareholder value and align to the company strategy.

Last year, IGO announced a review of its 30 per cent stake in Tropicana, where managing director and chief executive officer Peter Bradford said it may not be reflective of the company’s focus on clean energy commodities.

“Tropicana is clearly a high-quality and significant asset within IGO’s portfolio,” Bradford said in October. “However, IGO’s strategic focus is on commodities that are critical to clean energy.

“In the current gold price environment, we do not believe that IGO’s share price fully reflects the value of Tropicana.

“As such, in parallel to an assessment of future underground opportunities at Tropicana, IGO has commenced a review of its investment in Tropicana and how best to realise the asset’s full value to the benefit of IGO shareholders.”

In March, IGO reported that it had increased its mineral resource estimate for its share in Tropicana by 9 per cent by 186,000 ounces in 2020.

IGO and AngloGold discovered Tropicana in 2005, followed by gold production commencing in 2013.