Forrestania closes A$300m Edna May deal, landing Ramelius inside its register
The A$300m acquisition of the Edna May Gold Project has closed, giving Forrestania Resources a second major processing hub in Western Australia alongside its existing Lake Johnston facility, purchased from Ramelius…
Key takeaways
- Forrestania Resources has closed its A$300m acquisition of the Edna May Gold Project from Ramelius Resources, adding a second Western Australian processing hub alongside Lake Johnston.
- Forrestania paid A$210m in cash plus 225 million shares valued at A$90m, leaving Ramelius as a significant shareholder in Forrestania.
- The cash was funded by Forrestania's A$310m placement, whose final tranche raised about A$215m before costs.
- Forrestania is targeting combined milling capacity of more than six million tonnes per annum across Lake Johnston and Edna May, but only after refurbishment and recommissioning of both sites.
- No lock-up terms or phased exit schedule for Ramelius' shareholding have been publicly disclosed.
The A$300m acquisition of the Edna May Gold Project has closed, giving Forrestania Resources a second major processing hub in Western Australia alongside its existing Lake Johnston facility, purchased from Ramelius Resources. The acquisition, agreed under a binding contract in June 2026, transferred Edna May Operations, Tampia Operations, and Ramelius' stakes in exploration licences and related contractual rights within the Edna May project area. Forrestania paid A$210m in cash and issued 225 million shares valued at A$90m to Ramelius, a structure that leaves Ramelius as a significant shareholder in the company it sold to.
The funding picture
The cash component was backed by Forrestania's A$310m placement, which completed its second and final tranche as the acquisition closed. That second tranche raised approximately A$215m before costs after shareholders approved the raise. Combined with the equity issued directly to Ramelius, Forrestania financed the A$300m through placement proceeds and seller stock.
The setup around dual-hub capacity
Forrestania executive chairman David Geraghty described the completion as a transformational milestone that delivers on the strategy outlined to shareholders earlier this year. He said the company is now positioned to pursue a targeted combined milling capacity of more than six million tonnes per annum across the Lake Johnston and Edna May processing facilities, but placed refurbishment and recommissioning as explicit prerequisites for that number. That conditional matters. Six million tonnes per annum is where this ends up after capital work at both sites, not the current run rate. Geraghty also welcomed Ramelius as a significant shareholder, framing the equity piece as part of the deal's design rather than a side effect.
The contrarian read sits in what remains undisclosed. Ramelius holds a meaningful block of Forrestania shares and no lock-up terms or phased exit schedule have been made public. Any secondary flow from that position is a variable the current setup does not fully account for. The next confirmable step is the refurbishment and recommissioning schedule across both facilities, which will determine how quickly Geraghty's capacity target can be tested against actual production numbers.
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Filed via finance.yahoo.com