Turkey top envoy goes to Niger in bid to secure uranium supplies
The trip comes after Niger’s military government withdrew mining rights from Canadian and French companies to develop uranium deposits.
Shares in West Africa-focused Stellar Diamonds (LON:STEL) skyrocketed Monday after the company said it would sell its Guinea assets to BDG Capital for $1.25 million, about $750,000 short of the price tag agreed in June.
The diamond miner has already received $500,000 of the overall purchase price, and said it would get the rest once it pays certain government taxes of about $123,000, which is expected to occur later this month.
The sale of its Guinea assets will allow Stellar Diamonds to focus on its bigger Tongo-Tonguma project in Sierra Leone, which is on track to begin production next year.
Tongo-Tonguma, the company has said, has the potential to generate earnings of $45 million a year. It would also be Sierra Leone’s second largest diamond project ever, producing 200,000 carats per year, over a minimum mine life of 21 years.
The company’s stock jumped on the news of the agreement and it was trading almost 17% higher to 3.35 pence in London at 3:00PM GMT. Year-to-date, however, shares in Stellar Diamonds have lost more than 50% of their value.
