The “For Sale” sign is not out at Westmin Resources (TSE) according to a senior executive with the company. But R.H. Ostrosser, executive vice president at Westmin, told The Northern Miner that Noranda has expressed its interest in Westmin’s mining division.
Indeed, several months ago Noranda had what Ostrosser describes as a “preliminary look see” but he confirmed that “nothing ever came of it.” Emphasizing that Westmin had a duty to get the best deal possible for i ts shareholders, he conceded that if someone offered them “a great gob of dollars” they would have to consider it.
Westmin is 58%-owned subsidiary of Brascade Resources, a private company. Brascade also holds a 35% interest in Noranda.
John Walton, a former Westmin senior executive, recently resigned from Placer Dome, apparently after a disagreement with the board. It’s been suggested that Walton may have wanted Westmin’s mining division which he knows well. But Ostrosser doubts this was the case.
One of the problems that Westmin would have in selling its mining division is the fact that its recently expanded Buttle Lake operation on Vancouver Island “is just rounding out into shape.”
“We have had to pay our dues in shaking down the new major expansion,” he said, noting that after that was completed the operation was expanded again. Also there is considerable debt associated with the development which could be a negative for buyers.
Ostrosser conceded this is probably not the ideal time to sell because they “wouldn’t get full value” for their holdings including the soon-to-be completed Premier Gold project north of Stewart, B.C. “We are flying kind of high right now and everyone is pleased at what we did at Silbak Premier and we also have the new Debbie on Vancouver Island (N.M., Sept 12/88).
“If Westmin wanted to sell I think they would bend over backwards to see if it would fit in Noranda,” he predicted.
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