RG Gold said to consider stake sale to fund growth

Kazakhstan miner RG Gold is considering a minority stake sale to help fund the development of projects in the central Asian country, according to people familiar with the situation.

RG Gold is working with advisers to sound out investor interest in a deal that could value the company at between $1 billion and $2 billion, two of the people said, asking not to be named discussing a private matter.

Deliberations are at early stage, and may not lead to a transaction, the people said.

A representative from RG Gold wasn’t immediately able to provide a comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

Gold prices have been on a tear this year, surging by almost 30%, on central-bank buying, easing US monetary policy and heightened geopolitical risks. They’ve pulled back in recent weeks as the dollar strengthened following Donald Trump’s election win, but banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG forecast the rally will continue next year.

RG Gold is developing the Raygorodok deposit in the Akmola region, which is estimated to have reserves of 100 tons, making it one of the largest single-gold deposits in Kazakhstan, according to the company’s website.

The miner is 65% owned by Verny Capital JSC, a Kazakh company that invests in natural resources, telecommunications and consumer goods and services among other sectors, RG Gold’s website shows. Resources Capital Funds, a private equity firm focused on mining, holds the rest.

(By Pei Li, Dong Cao and Paula Sambo)