Few Gains from Kasbah Resources Bid

Mining asset values remain mired in a cyclical funk judging by the bid for Kasbah Resources. Over nine days in mid July, buyers of Kasbah Resources shares outlayed $613,000 to push their price up 162% before trading was halted and then suspended. It might have seemed an especially prescient buy after the company confirmed that a corporate transaction was in the wind but terms unveiled on Thursday were hardly generous. The TSX listed Asian Mineral Resources shares offered in exchange for the outstanding shares of Kasbah valued the aspiring African tin miner some 40% below its last traded price. Despite the evident disappointment among the smaller share traders after the terms were announced, the deal must have been good enough for the largest shareholders who have committed to supporting the scheme of arrangement and, no doubt, will have been keen to get a long awaited project underway. The benefit to Kasbah shareholders appears limited to transferring the Achmmach tin project to new managers with, perhaps, surer access to funding and a stronger commitment to getting something built.