STEVEN SWINDELLS AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday
SOUTH African diamond giant De Beers has ruled itself out of a bid for Canada’s Dia Met Minerals Ltd, which put itself up for sale earlier this week.
De Beers had been mentioned as a likely suitor for the Canadian miner after its purchases this year of Canada’s Winspear Diamonds and Australia’s Ashton Mining and its desire to spread its mining reach outside its heartland of southern Africa.
”De Beers doesn’t currently have any plans to get involved and we don’t anticipate getting involved,” De Beers representative Tracey Peterson said.
De Beers is waiting for final approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board in its A$745m takeover offer for Ashton which owns a 40% stake in Argyle, the world’s largest diamond mine by output volume.
Dia Met said it was seeking a buyer after its two largest shareholders, who together own about 38% of the firm, flagged their intention to sell the shares.
Dia Met, with a market capitalisation of some C$700m (US$460m), owns 29% of the Ekati diamond project in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
Mining giant Rio Tinto and resources group BHP are viewed as the frontrunners for Dia Met.
”You’d have to say Rio was interested because it’s also interested in growing its diamonds business in that part of the world,” said Macquarie Equities analyst Richard Rossiter.
Rio Tinto has a 60% stake in the Diavik Diamond mine, also in Canada’s Northwest Territories and not far from Ekati. Construction of the three-year C$1.3bn project has been held up by final permits and approvals.
BHP has said it was weighing its options.
A Melbourne-based analyst said there was the possibility of co-operation between BHP and Rio Tinto, even without one of them gaining Dia Met, to market their diamonds from the region. – Reuters