United Tractors likely Ravenswood mine buyer as rival Regis Resources fades

Final bids for the sale process of the $2bn Ravenswood Gold Mine in Queensland were due last week. Picture: David Gray/ AFP

Regis Resources is believed to have left the contest for the $2bn Ravenswood gold mine in Queensland, pointing to United Tractors as the group that may be firming as the buyer.

Final bids were due last week in the UBS and Azure Capital-run contest, and DataRoom understands that the last two parties in the race were the Australian listed Regis and United Tractors, based in Indonesia.

Regis declined to comment on the talk that it was out of the competition, but it is understood that United Tractors remains a contender.

However, it now leaves many questioning whether the $3.7bn Regis turns its focus to a buyout of its fellow Australian listed gold miner Bellevue Gold instead.

Bellevue Gold, with a $1.3bn market value, is on the market through UBS and a deal would have synergies for Regis.

But Bellevue’s flagship Bellevue Gold project in Western Australia has been unable to hit earlier forecasts of 150,000 ounces of annual production and is complex.

Working as an adviser to United Tractors on Ravenswood is Standard Chartered, while Regis has been working with Greenhill.

A deal for the Indonesia-based United Tractors to buy Ravenswood would come after earlier investments in the Australian nickel and gold mining industry.

But there are questions whether it has hit the price expectations of Ravenswood’s owners and whether the asset sells.

Market observers have been betting there is some chance that the sale process stalls on price.

Crimping demand has been the Ravenswood mine gold hedge book, which is said to be up to $1bn out of the money on the back of the soaring price of gold, and some operational challenges at the mine.

But weighing in its favour is that gold has recently hit records prices beyond $5000 an ounce due to geopolitical uncertainty.

There are also few other quality gold assets for sale, other than the near-by Bellevue Gold, which Regis is expected to bid for if it misses out on Ravenswood.

The Ravenswood mine, 130km south of Townsville in Queensland’s Charters Towers region, generates about 200,000 ounces of gold annually.

EMR Capital led a consortium that purchased Ravenswood in 2020 from Resolute Mining for up to $300m.

It has substantially grown its production since, through heavy investment needed for the mine’s life extension to at least 15 years from 2022.

Its other owner is Singapore-based Golden Energy Resources, which also has ties to Indonesia.

The share price of the ASX-listed Regis has rallied in recent months as the gold price trades at record prices.

The company, led by Jim Beyer, has been eyeing acquisition opportunities in the past year as it positions itself for growth.

Mr Beyer over his career has had a reputation for being disciplined about price, although some shareholders at the time believed he may have overpaid for the Tropicana mine acquisition.

However, over time the deal has proved to be lucrative.

Regis purchased a 30 per cent stake in the Tropicana gold mine from IGO in 2022 for $900m.

Regis is searching for growth after its McPhillamys project in NSW wound up needing more spending than anticipated, questioning whether it was viable to move forward with the development of what is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped gold deposits suitable for open pit mining.

Mr Beyer last year said Regis would not be in a position to approve McPhillamys until late 2025 or early 2026.