Metallica tunes out of scandium assets
ORIGIN Energy’s conventional oil and gas business Lattice Energy will lift its stake in the Otway gas project and related exploration fields in Victoria after agreeing to buy out joint venture partner Benaris.
Origin will pay Benaris $ 190 million for the 27.77 per cent stake in the gas project and a 29.23 per cent interest in two exploration joint ventures.
The acquisition, effective from July 1, will lift Lattice Energy’s stake to 95 per cent in the Otway project and 100 per cent in the exploration ventures.
Japan’s Toyota Tsusho holds a 5 per cent stake in the Otway project.
Origin is in the process of divesting Lattice Energy – either through an initial public offer or a sale – in an effort to streamline its business and reduce debt.
It expects to complete the divestment within 2017. HOUSE price growth is continuing to plateau across the nation’s capital cities, despite a rebound in auction clearance rates. Of 2225 auctions for the week to September 10, the clearance rate rebounded to 70.2 per cent, following the previous week’s revised 66.4 per cent – the lowest combined capital weekly clearance rate since June 2016 – according to property data group Corelogic.
But house price growth has moderated, with the combined capital city prices up 0.2 per cent for the month, and values lifting fractionally in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, over the week, but flat in Brisbane and 0.1 per cent lower in Perth. A DEVELOPMENT company planning to become a global supplier of technology metals is acquiring Metallica Minerals’ Greenvale SCONI project for $ 10 million.
Meanwhile, another company wanting to supply Tanzanian graphite for battery factories in Townsville, New York and Germany is trading again on the stock exchange after a two- month suspension.
Australian Mines Ltd announced its acquisition last week, superseding a previous farm- in agreement Metallica Minerals.
Metallica CEO Simon Slesarewich said the company was focused on developing its Urquhart bauxite project on Cape York and the SCONI project had become a “non- core asset”.
Under the deal, Australian Mines will pay Metallica $ 3.5 million in cash, $ 1.5 million in shares and another $ 5 million in cash or shares after production starts.
The SCONI project will produce scandium used in alloys for vehicles and aircraft and cobalt and nickel sul- TATTS shareholders are getting a fair deal in the proposed $ 11 billion merger with fellow gaming group Tabcorp, says independent expert Grant Samuel.
Grant Samuel says the proposed merger, to be implemented by a scheme of arrangement, is in the best interests of Tatts shareholders in the absence of a superior proposal.
The financial advice business says the aggregate interest of Tatts share- with phates used to make batteries, particularly for the emerging electric vehicle market.
Australian Mines is building a $ 2 million demonstrationscale processing plant in Perth as a model for a proposed 750,000 tonnes a year plant in the Greenvale area.
A feasibility study is due to be completed next year.
Australian Mines managing director Benjamin Bell said the study would be completed by April and that they were on track to reach a final investment decision.
Magnis Resources holders in the combined group is materially favourable in comparison with the share contributed by them.
“Based on share prices over the three months prior to the announcement of the scheme on October 19, 2016, Tatts shareholders are contributing approximately 56- 58 per cent of the value but are receiving a 61 per cent share of the value,” Grant Samuel said in the Tatts scheme booklet. is back trading on the stock exchange after suspending trading in early July amid the fallout from the Tanzanian Government’s move to increase taxes on mining companies.
Magnis is supported by the Global LIB Consortium, including Eastman Kodak Company, to develop lithium ion battery plants in Townsville and New York.
Last month the company announced a memorandum of understanding with German consortium TerraE, comprising 18 companies and research institutes, planning g to develop p
“In effect, Tabcorp is ‘ paying away’ synergy benefits arising from the merger to Tatts shareholders to enhance the attraction of the transaction to Tatts shareholders.”
Grant Samuel also said the advantages and benefits of the scheme for Tatts shareholders outweighed the disadvantages, risks and costs.
One of the key benefits is the creation of a diversified gaming company two lithium ion battery cell factories in Germany.
Under the agreement, Magnis will supply raw materials to the TerraE factories.
Magnis chairman Frank Poullas said they would have involvement and ownership in production of 64 gigawatt hours of batteries a year, including 15 gigawatt hours at Townsville.
According to TerraE, its target markets are power tools, electric vehicles, energy storage systems and industrial sectors. Magnis is trading around 40c. SHOPPERS are spending againi b but they are not feeling happy about it as they fret about the possibility of a housing downturn, a new report from Deloitte Access Economics shows.
Retail sales grew 3.6 per cent for the year to June and are expected to grow at the same rate this financial year, the report to be released today says.
Sales growth the past financial year was up slightly from the 3.5 per cent it averaged the previous year but remains below its five- year average of 4 per cent.
Spending has, however, recovered strongly from a Christmas- New Year slump, with sales growth hitting its highest level in four years during the three months to June, the report says.
Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens said better full- time job numbers had helped retail spending recover from a particularly poor start to the year.
Despite signs the dark clouds over much of the retail landscape are parting, Mr Rumbens said people were “shopping through gritted teeth” as stagnant wage growth and worries about the health of the housing market clouded their outlook. offering lotteries, wagering and gaming services, with a suite of long- dated licences.
Tabcorp expects to complete merger with Tatts on November 1.
It is confident of completing the deal, with Tatts shareholders scheduled to vote on the scheme of arrangement on October 18 at a meeting in Brisbane, before a second court hearing into the merger six days later. the