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David Bond: Silver is back as real money, and we needn''t be slaves anymore
By Rachelle Younglai and Nicole Mordant
Reuters
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5600774
TORONTO/VANCOUVER -- Shareholders of Iamgold Corp.
rejected on Tuesday a proposed union with fellow Canadian
gold miner Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. that had evolved
into a tag-team takeover tussle with two U.S. mining firms.
The C$2.3 million ($1.7 million) merger deal garnered only
42 percent of the Iamgold shareholder vote -- short of the
50 percent needed -- during a special shareholders
meeting in Toronto that was delayed for several hours as
the company determined which ballots were eligible.
"I am disappointed, obviously. We're going to look at all
opportunities, including Golden Star," said Iamgold chief
executive Joseph Conway.
Wheaton River said its shareholders would still vote on
the deal later on Tuesday despite the Iamgold decision.
Both firms' boards had backed the merger plan, which
was unveiled in March. But an acrimonious takeover
battle erupted in late May when Denver's Golden Star
Resources Ltd. launched an unexpected bid for Iamgold,
and Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. made an
offer for Wheaton.
Iamgold and Wheaton, both mid-sized gold-mining firms,
have rejected these unsolicited approaches several times
as their suitors sweetened the bids. The takeover action
comes at a time of high gold prices and revived interest
in the gold sector.
Going into the votes, company management and
analysts said the outcome would be very close after
a hard-fought contest on the part of all four miners.
Investors were kept on tenterhooks for much of Tuesday
as officials double-checked Iamgold voting slips after
some 25 million more votes were received than the
company thought were eligible to be cast.
An Iamgold spokesman said that the "overvote" came
about as some shareholders voted more than once,
while others who were not eligible to vote may also
have cast ballots.
At current market prices, Iamgold's all-stock offer for
Wheaton is equal to C$4.15 a share, 11 percent
higher than Wheaton's closing stock price of C$3.75
-- a richer premium than has been seen for some time.
But the Iamgold all-stock bid for Wheaton has fallen
behind Coeur's cash and stock offer. Coeur's proposal
is currently worth C$4.59 a Wheaton share, about 12
percent richer than the Iamgold offer.
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RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com
http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.html
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
Subscription site:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
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WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
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Centennial Precious Metals
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www.USAGold.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
US (800) 869-5115
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Gold@gwe.net
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Harvey Gordin, President
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178 West Service Road
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Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
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P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
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Ed Lee, Proprietor
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leecoins@aol.com
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3015 Ottawa Ave. South
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1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
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Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com
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