News

March 17, 2009

Volta Resources Looks To Expand Its West African Resource Base By Means Of The Drill-Bit And Through Acquisitions

By Alastair Ford

“Our goal”, says Kevin Bullock, “is to be the go-to company for consolidation in West Africa”. As chief executive of Volta Resources he’s sitting in what might turn out to be a pole position for the carrying out of that role. Volta itself is the result of the merger of two companies, Birim Goldfields and Goldcrest Resources, which was consummated back in the early part of 2008. That creation brought together two West Africa specialists, with a portfolio of copper and gold properties scattered across the region. The plan was always to continue the trend to consolidation: “We’ve been trying to get something done since the merger of our two companies”, says Kevin. “But it does take time”.

Fair enough. What’s more, the market’s been through some fairly serious changes since the beginning of last year too, changes that have seen a fair amount of value wiped off Volta’s own market capitalization. But Kevin’s fairly philosophical about that side of things, pointing out that a weak wider market doesn’t make much difference “if you’re talking about a paper deal”. Relative valuations, he argues, remain the same, however weak or strong the market. Such an argument also reveals a certain...