Pnina Feldman plans rich gold listing

West Australian Newspapers June 2006

Pnina Feldman, estranged sister of Melbourne mining magnate Joseph Gutnick, will join forces with the Malaysian former backers of defunct miners Ashton Mining and Plutonic Resources in a $20 million backdoor listing of rich gold holding near Norseman.

Australian Gold Investments (AGI), a private investment consortium controlled by Mrs Feldman and her son Sholom, acquired a big tenement package near Norseman containing over 1.3 million ounces of resources from Canada’s Kinross Gold in August 2005.

Touted as the biggest tenement holding around Norseman after that of Croesus Mining, the package was to form the centrepiece of a $20 million float by AGI.

In May, Malaysian-controlled Hudson Resources revealed it had begun exclusive talks to buy AGI for $19.66 million in a deal to transform the listed kitty litter producer into a substantial WA gold explorer.

Part of the listed Hudson Investment Group, Hudson Resources now produces attapulgite – a mineral used in industrial filters and kitty litter – in Western Australia’s Mid-West. Its register also boasts several high-profile Malaysian investors, including former Malaysian Mining Corp (MMC) chief Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin. MMC, the biggest shareholder of both Ashton and Plutonic, of which Mr Menudin was also a director, triggered the takeover of both companies by putting its major stake up for grabs in 2000 and 1997 respectively.

The deal is subject to detailed due diligence and shareholder approvals, and requires a capital raising to satisfy the $5 million cash portion of the acquisition, as well as fund a bankable feasibility study into developing AGI’s Norseman assets.

David Evans, a key investor in AGI, said pooling the capabilities of Mrs Feldman and Hudson offered several potential advantages over a public float.

“Pnina Frldman has access to finance, as do the directors of Hudson, so it looks like it might go that way rather than an IPO,” he said.

Mrs Feldman would play “a big role” in the companies future, though she planned to recruit as experienced mining team to manage the Norseman project, Me Evans said.

“It’s a pretty serious project….and the aim is to bring it into production as soon as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hudson will sell its attapulgite business to its parent company for $3.2 million.

Feldman teams up with explorer

West Australian Newspapers 2007 By John Phaceas

Pnina Feldman, the estranged sister of Melbourne mining magnate Joseph Gutnick, will join forces with Pert explorer Kalgoorlie-Boulder Resources in a $10 million-plus backdoor listing of rich gold holdings near Norseman.

Australian Gold Investments, a private investment consortium controlled by Mrs Feldman and her son Sholom, acquired a big tenement package near Norseman containing over 1.3 million ounces of resources from Canada’s Kinross Gold in August last year. The deal will see Kalgoorlie-Boulder acquire AGI for $2.65 million in cash, 50 million ordinary shares and $3 million in convertible notes paying an 8 per cent coupon rate, which convert to 30 million shares in three years.

The deal represents Ms Feldman’s third attempt to take the Kinross package public, after initial plans for a $20 million float stalled and a subsequent deal to back the tenements into Hudson Resources fell through in June.

The package comprises 124sqkm of ground that stretches for 25km south of Norseman, including granted mining leases, exploration and prospecting licences and applications.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder director David Prentice said the acquisition marked a “defining point” for the company given its prime location in a rich gold province.

“Projects with this potential are very rare anywhere in the world, so to be in a position to acquire one in the Goldfields of WA is extremely rare,” he said.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder shares fell 1c to 14.5c yesterday.