Australia’s largest African-focused gold miner has increased its bet on a Guinean project, giving the company the option to lob a takeover bid as it seeks to secure tenements amid a buoyant long-term outlook for the precious metal.

ASX-listed Perseus Mining has lifted its stake to 19.9 per cent in ASX-listed explorer Predictive Discovery, putting it in pole position to take over the undeveloped project if the economics of the mine stack up.