Nora sells stake in Otjua Eden Roc seeks share consolidation New Mines Roundup

For just under $1 million, Montreal-based Nora Exploration (NXI-M) has sold its 47% interest in Otjua Minerals back to Elizabeth Bay Pty.

Nora acquired the interest from Elizabeth Bay in the fall of 1996 for $4.7 million. Through a subsidiary, Otjua held a contract with Namdeb (a joint-venture company owned equally by De Beers Consolidated Mines and the Namibian government) to develop the Otjua concession, on the Namibian coastline.

In early 1997, however, Namdeb sought to renegotiate the contract in ways that Nora believed would have greatly reduced the value of its investment in Otjua. To avoid any further loss of value, the company opted to divest itself of the 47% stake.

As a result of the transaction, two representatives of Elizabeth Bay resigned from Nora’s board. Elizabeth Bay also transferred 4 million of its shares in Nora to a Swiss company that subscribed for 2 million warrants at a cost of $200,000.

Nora intends to use the $1 million generated from these transactions to fund sampling and a geophysical survey at its diamond concessions on the coast of southern Africa.

Eden Roc Mineral (EDN-T) has called for its shareholders to meet on Feb. 17 to approve a consolidation of shares on the basis of one new share for each 10 existing and outstanding shares.

Eden Roc is controlled by Margaret (Peggy) Witte and Ross Burns, both formerly of Royal Oak Mines. The company’s main asset is the Afema gold property in Ivory Coast, West Africa, which was previously explored by a unit of Anglo American. The South African major recently terminated its joint-venture with Eden Roc.

Eden Roc intends to continue exploring and developing the wholly owned property, which hosts a sulphide resource of 3 million tonnes grading 6 grams gold per tonne. The company is also evaluating potential acquisition targets.

Meanwhile, Eden Roc has reached an agreement-in-principle with its major lenders and some of its creditors to exchange debts into shares, subject to the company’s raising $450,000 by way of a private placement. Efforts to complete this placement are in progress.