The Croesus Mining Saga Continues

It now looks like Croesus mining shares will again be traded on the Australian Stock Exchange. A reverse split of 1 for 15 and a new capital raising is being proposed subject to approvals, though the details are a bit fuzzy to me. The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

"IN A development that has stunned the mining industry, the gold assets of collapsed Croesus Mining have been sold to a little-known UK second-board company for $71 million. Perth explorer Avoca Resources had been considered the hands-down favourite to pick up the Norseman goldmine, 50 kilometres south of the Trident mine it is developing in Western Australia. But administrators for Croesus, which collapsed due to poor hedging last year, said yesterday that an offer from Perth-based AIM-listed Davos Resources was significantly higher than two other final offers. Eight parties conducted due diligence, but the final bidders were Davos, Avoca and an overseas syndicate. Avoca shares, which had risen earlier this week on speculation the company would win the Norseman assets, fell 13.5c, or 9 per cent, to $1.355 yesterday. Croesus administrator Vincent Smith said the deal with Davos was signed a week ago but was not announced until the company lodged an $8 million deposit on Tuesday. Avoca managing director Rohan Williams said he was not informed of the winner until just before Croesus announced the deal to the stock exchange yesterday. "It was all pretty well kept under wraps," he said. "We were outbid. That's what happens in administration processes. I'm OK with that." Avoca has been tagged the "market darling" of the WA mining industry in recent months, due to its promising Trident project and expectations it would acquire the Croesus assets capable of producing about 100,000 ounces a year. "Trident is an excellent project and it's got lots of exploration upside ... but Croesus was a bonus on top of that," Hartleys analyst Andrew Muir said. "It was a bit of a shock to the market that they didn't [get Norseman]." Davos chairman David Steinepreis said his company would raise the necessary financing to complete the acquisition in London but that it intended to pursue a dual-listing on the Australian exchange in the future. Norseman mine manager Barry Cahill will be appointed the new chief executive of Davos, which might make further acquisitions. "I think there is an opportunity to rationalise the smaller goldmines in Australia," Mr Steinepreis said. Davos will re-inject money into Croesus, which will be left as a shell company with barely any assets after the Norseman sale. Croesus would then buy other exploration opportunities, offering its long-suffering shareholders the chance to recoup at least some of their funds."