Chinese buy uranium miner Kalahari Minerals for £632m

Kalahari Minerals, the AIM-listed, Namibia-focused uranium, gold and copper producer has agreed to be taken over by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) for £632m.

In a purchase that will boost China's efforts to meet its growing energy needs, CGNPC will pay 243.55p a share for Kalahari, which is the biggest stakeholder in the world's fourth largest uranium projects, known as Husab.

Kalahari has a 42.74 per cent interest in Extract Resources, the owner of the Husab uranium project in Namibia. The sale price represents a premium of about 16 per cent on the average closing price for Kalahari shares for the six months prior to 4 March, just before CGNPC announced its intention to bid.

Exploration work is continuing and analysts say Husab is potentially the world's second largest uranium mine when its resource estimate is updated next year.