(Yicai Global) Nov. 2 -- China’s Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining and an unnamed partner have made a cash offer of USD470 million for Golden Star Resources, a Canadian company which owns the Wassa gold mine in Ghana.

Chifeng Jilong and partner will pay USD3.91 per share, a 6 percent premium on the latest closing price, it said yesterday. Chifeng Jilong will shell out USD291 million for a 62 percent stake and the partner will pay the balance for the remaining equity. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction should be closed by January next year.

The Wassa mine, which is 90 percent owned by Toronto-based Golden Star and 10 percent by the Ghanaian government, produced 68 kilograms of gold last year, and is estimated to have reserves of 20 million tons.

Founded in 1998, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region-based Chifeng Jilong mines gold and non-ferrous metals. It has five main mining assets, including the Sepon gold mine in Laos. Its holdings of gold resources reached 52.43 tons as of the end of last year, according to its latest semi-annual financial report.

Golden Star [NYSE:GSS] surged 16.83 percent yesterday to close at USD3.68. Chifeng Jilong’s stock [SHA:600988], though, dipped 1.82 percent to close at CNY16.73 (USD2.62) today.

Editor: Kim Taylor