Cluff Gold confirms possible approach from unnamed third party

West Africa focused gold producer Cluff Gold (TSX: CLF, AIM: CLF) confirmed that it had received an approach from a yet unnamed third party that may lead to an offer for the company. The company warned that discussions are at a very early stage and “there can be no certainty that these could lead to an offer for Cluff”.

Cluff Gold recently reported total 2009 annual production from its Kalsaka and Angovia mines of 76,753 ounces of gold, and reiterated its objective to produce 100,000 ounces in 2010.

Production from the Kalsaka mine in Burkina Faso and the Angovia mine in Cote d’Ivoire since their respective commissioning on 30 June 2009 and 30 September 2009 was at 28,335 oz and 9,640 oz, equating to an annualized production rate of 95,038 oz. Production at Kalsaka exceeded 7,000 ounces in January 2010 and high gold recovery has continued in February after the company resolved issues which had reduced metallurgical recovery in Q4 2009.

Meanwhile, initial mine optimisation results from the scoping study for Cluff’s flagship Baomahun project in Sierra Leone have indicated that current defined resources are capable of sustaining a conventional CIP/CIL processing facility to profitably recover more than 1 Moz (million ounces) of gold. About 75% of the mineralized trend is yet to be drilled. Various scenarios have been examined for Baomahun, from 1.25 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum) to 2 Mtpa mill throughput. Processing plant and infrastructure capital is estimated to range from US$170 million for a 1.25 Mtpa up to US$200 million for a 2 Mtpa processing plant.  http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/13528/cluff-gold-confirms-possible-approach-from-unnamed-third-party-13528.html