AGIP expanding presence in Canadian mining sector

AGIP Canada, the wholly-owned affiliate of AGIP SpA of Italy, one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies, is taking on a more aggressive role in the Candian mining industry. Although the company has been active in Canada since the late 1960s, investing in uranium and oil and gas projects, the current emphasis will be on acquisitions in the mining sector, Agip’s executive vice-president Zavario Rognoni explained to The Northern Miner.

The first move in the company’s bid to enlarge its participation in mining was a transfer of its offices from Calgary to Toronto this year. “We moved in order to improve our presence in the mining industry,” Rognoni says. agip is also a producing company, via its operation of the Mt Skukum gold mine in the Yukon. The company’s parent is based in Milan, Italy.

Working with what he terms a flexible budget, Rognoni says “the strategy for 1988 remains undefined.” This lack of constraint allows the freedom needed to react quickly to changing situations in the mining sector, he explains. The company’s first major investment last year, was the purchase of an 8.02% interest in Metall Mining Corporation, an affiliate of the giant West German company, Metallgesellschaft. The $36 million acquisition is a long-term investment. “These people (Metall) are major players in the world. We like to be associated with them,” Rognoni said. Capitalized at approximately $100 million and with recourse to capital from its parent, agip Canada has the financial clout required to expand in the Canadian resource sector. When asked if the company will consider takeovers of undervalued companies with good assets and cash flow, Rognoni relied, “if there is a good opportunity we would.” He added that agip technical staff are currently reviewing and evaluating such situations. “We have a very professional staff of engineers, geologists and tax experts. It’s a very aggressive group,” he said.