Kiwi gold: Federation Mining’s Snowy River project hits the market

afr.com:

AustralianSuper-backed Federation Mining has called in Jarden to find a new owner or capital partner for its Snowy River Gold Mine project, Street Talk understands.

Federation Mining’s New Zealand gold project was co-founded by AustralianSuper in 2020, Janie Barrett

The mine, which is Federation’s key gold project, is located on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It’s 18 months away from producing high-quality gold and has a mine life exceeding 10 years.

Federation was founded by long-time mining industry figures Jim Askew and Mark Le Messurier and is backed by AustralianSuper, who helped fund the project in 2020.

Sources said Federation is looking to sell the mine in full or bring on a new capital partner to fund the next stage, ideally a deep-pocketed ASX-listed miner. A sale is expected to fetch up to $400 million. Capital to fund the mine to production would require an equity injection around $160 million.

Snowy River Gold Mine, originally called Blackwater, was established in the 1910s and was operational for more than 50 years. It was mothballed after the Second World War due to an inability to find labour. Askew has been around the asset since the mid-1980s.

Askew is currently on the boards of Evolution Mining and Syrah Resources. Le Messurier was most recently the COO of Evolution Mining. The pair have been around the sector for more than 35 years.

Jarden has been seen on a range of mining deals, most recently 29Metal’s $151 million entitlement offer to fund the Capricorn Copper Recovery Plan.

The Snowy River process is due to kick off on Thursday.