Regis Resources believed to be among the line-up vying for Ravenswood

The sale is also happening at a time that the gold price is at record high levels, boosting the market value of stocks in the sector. Picture: David Gray/AFP

First round bids are in for EMR Capital’s $2bn Ravenswood gold mine, with the $2.4bn Australian listed Regis Resources believed to be among the line-up.

The early offers were accepted late last month.

DataRoom understands that as well as Regis Resources, United Tractors from Indonesia is a suitor.

PT United Tractors is a subsidiary of PT Astra International that operates in six business lines: construction machinery, mining contractor, coal mining, gold mining, construction industry and energy.

Others earlier weighing a purchase were Indonesia’s Salim and Australia’s Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining, although it is unclear whether they have put forward offers.

Chinese suitors Zhaojin and Chifeng are also expected to have bid – and potentially some names from Canada.

The lucrative Ravenswood mine, 130km south of Townsville, is one of the prized assets held by Owen Hegarty-chaired private equity firm EMR Capital.

It generates about 200,000 ounces of gold annually.

EMR owns it jointly with Singapore-based Golden Energy Resources (GEAR), backed by money from Indonesia.

Azure Capital and UBS are working on the sale. Zhaojin purchased the Australian-listed West African gold producer Tietto Minerals last year for $733m. Chifeng is listed in Shanghai, and in 2020 it purchased the Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana from the Australian-listed Resolute Mining for $US105m.

That came two years after buying the Sepon gold copper mine in Laos from MMG.

The big question is how the suitors price the asset, which has about 300,000 ounces of gold hedged at a price now lower than the current gold price.

Regis Resources is cashed-up and debt-free, and could extract synergies with its existing assets by owning the mine. It has tapped adviser Greenhill for its pursuit, while should Gold Road be in the mix, it would probably call on Gresham.

Working in the favour of EMR Capital and GEAR is the fact that there are few mines such quality and size.

The sale is also happening at a time that the gold price is at record high levels, boosting the value of stocks in the sector.

EMR Capital led a consortium that purchased Ravenswood in 2020 from Resolute Mining for up to $300m. It has substantially grown its production since, though heavy investment which was needed for the mine’s life extension to at least 15 years from 2022.