Shanta Gold Transfers Several Gold Mines to Saturn Resources

On 5 April 2024, Shanta Gold provided an update on the sale transaction of several gold mines in East Africa to Saturn Resources. Saturn Resources is a subsidiary of ETC Group which is domiciled in the Mauritius jurisdiction. Its parent company and ultimate beneficiary is an Indian entity.

On the other hand, Shanta Gold is domiciled in Guernsey. On 11 July 2005, Shanta Gold (SHG.L) did its entry on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

With the conclusion of this transaction, Saturn Resources will take ownership of the New Luika and Singida gold mines in Tanzania, as well as another gold mine project in West Kenya.

New Luika is the 4th largest gold mine in Tanzania; it started production in 2021 and can be exploited until 2028. In 2023, New Luika produced 71,248 ounces of gold.

As for Singida, production kicked off in 1Q23 and the mine produced 29,323 ounces in 2023. For 2024, Shanta projected that the two mines in Tanzania will output a total of 106,000 ounces of gold, with New Luika contributing up to 74,000 ounces.

Shanta acquired the West Kenya mine back in 2020. Shanta estimates that the West Kenya mine can produce cumulatively 949,000 ounces of gold over nine years.

It is worth noting that ETC Group is already shareholder of Shanta Gold, which made the due diligence process much faster. ETC Group is owned by the Patel brothers: Ketan, Birju and Mahesh. ETC is an Indian conglomerate which is already involved in Agribusiness, Hospitality and Real Estate in several African countries.

In December 2023, Shanta Gold and Saturn Resources reached an agreement in principle on the deal. The deal was estimated at GBP 156.1 million and was expected to close during 2024 subject to the approval of the Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities.