Aquarius Platinum is set to launch an official takeover bid for Ridge Mining in the next few days, it was reported yesterday (17th February).

The British-based firm confirmed last week that it was in discussions with Aquarius, with an all-share offer - which could be in the region of $66 million - expected to materialise.

Aquarius is particularly keen to secure a deal as it has refinancing issues, while it was also forced to suspend operations at its Everest mine recently as a result of safety concerns.

Furthermore, the South African company has mines in crisis-ridden Zimbabwe and there are ongoing doubts over the longevity of its Marikana project.

If an offer is accepted, it would be able to tap into Ridge's 50 per cent share in Blue Ridge and its 62 per cent stake in Sheba's Ridge, both situated in South Africa.

The former, which is currently overseeing a ramping up of production, is believed to have a resource base of nine million ounces of pgms, while the latter reportedly incorporates 22 million pgm ounces.

According to estimates, the two projects could ultimately produce a combined total of 500,000 pgm oz per year - 350,000 oz at Sheba's Ridge and 150,000 oz at Blue Ridge - plus base metal and other saleable products.

This figure is very similar to the one Aquarius expects to be able to post for the financial year to 30th June 2009.

Aquarius is the world's fourth-largest producer of platinum.

Sources:

Aquarius likely to close Ridge deal (17/02/09)
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page66?oid=272425&sn=Detail

Aquarius Platinum Limited Possible Offer for Ridge Mining plc (18/02/09)
http://www.aquariusplatinum.com/aquarius_db/files/20090217%20AQP%20Ridge%20Mining%20Update.pdf

Aquarius plans all-share offer for Ridge Mining (18/02/09)
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/aquarius-plans-allshare-offer-for-ridge-mining-2009-02-18