Avoca Resources Limited
AVO
was an Australian gold mining company, based in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It merged in with Anatolia Minerals Development Limited in 2011 to form Alacer Gold. The company currently operates two gold mines, both in Western Australia, the Higginsville and the

South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine The South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine is a gold mine located south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The mine is sometimes also referred to as "South Kal Mines - New Celebration", being a merger of the former New Celebration Gold Mine and the Jub ...

. It is also part-owner of a third operation, the Frog's Leg Gold Mine, which it owns 49% of. The latter two mines were acquired through the

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

Dioro Exploration NL Dioro may refer to *Dioro, Mali Dioro is a town and rural commune in the Cercle of Ségou in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali. The commune extends over an area of approximately 586 square kilometers on the right bank of the Niger Rive ...

, which raised the company's annual production forecast to 270,000 ounces of gold. The takeover of Dioro was subject to a takeover war between Avoca and rival Ramelius Resources which lasted for almost one year. Avoca's successful bid made the company the largest gold tenement holder in the area spanning from

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Kambalda Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...

Company history

Avoca was listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

, the ASX, in April 2002. Avoca paid A$6.25 million to

Gold Fields Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Sto ...

for its Higginsville exploration project in June 2004. After discovering the Trident deposit in late 2004, Avoca raised $125 million in April 2007 to build a new mine at Higginsville. Also in 2007, Avoca purchased the neighbouring Chalice deposit from Chalice Gold Mines Limited. Gold production at the mine begun in 2008 from

underground operations Underground Operations was an independent punk rock record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1995, the label was originally based in Ajax, Ontario. Operated by Mark Spicoluk, former Closet Monster member and former bass p ...

, with a first gold pour on 1 July 2008. In its first year of production, the financial year 2008-09, Avoca produced 131,227 ounces of gold from its Higginsville operation.Quarterly Activities Report June 2009
Avoca ASX announcement, published: 31 July 2009, accessed: 1 July 2010

Dioro takeover

On 14 April 2009, Avoca announced a takeover offer for Dioro Exploration NL, worth A$49 million. From mid-2009 onwards, Dioro became the subject of a takeover war between Avoca and Ramelius, with the later also making a bit for Dioro. Ramelius, owner of the

Wattle Dam Gold Mine The Wattle Dam Gold Mine is a gold mine located 25 km south west of Kambalda, Western Australia and is owned by Maximus Resources. It is formerly owned by Ramelius Resources. Ramelius, listed at the Australian Securities Exchange since 2 ...

, was, like Avoca, interested in expanding its operations and targeted Dioro for its two operating gold mines, ''South Kal'' and ''Frog's Leg''. Avoca eventually had to drop its bid for Dioro, having reached a 44.85% interest in Dioro at the close of the offer on 20 August, short of the 50% needed. Ramelius's unsuccessful offer for the company closed on 8 February 2010, while Avoca made a renewed takeover offer for the company in late December 2009, despite having earlier declared that its August bit was final. Avoca reached a relevant interest of 94.65% in Dioro on 3 March 2010 and commenced compulsory acquisition of the company. The company completed the compulsory acquisition by mid-April and Dioro was subsequently delisted from the Australian and the Toronto stock exchanges. The final cost of the acquisition of Dioro for Avoca amounted to A$126 million. A subsequent attempt to purchase the remaining 51% of the Frog's Leg mine was however rejected by the owner, La Mancha Resources.Avoca Resources' Frog leg bid rejected
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', published: 16 March 2010, accessed: 1 July 2010

Gold production

Gold production of the company:

References

External links

Official website

Avoca Resources (AVO) at the Australian Securities Exchange
{{Gold mining companies of Australia Gold mining companies of Australia Companies based in Perth, Western Australia 2011 disestablishments in Australia