Alecto Minerals completes acquisition of AME West Africa

Shares in Alecto Minerals rose after the African focused miner said it completed the acquisition of AME West Africa from Savannah Resources.Alecto will gain assets in East and West Africa including three gold projects in Mali such as the Koosanto project which has a current inferred resource of 107,000 ounces of gold.The company also entered into a joint venture with Centamin in September. Two exploration projects, Wayu Boda and Aysid Meketel, will be advanced initially with Centamin committing up to $14m in exploration funding for up to 70% of each project. Chief Executive Officer Mark Jones said: "Following the successful conclusion of our general meeting and the completion of this landmark acquisition, the company can now progress its attractive West African gold exploration portfolio. "We now look forward to unlocking the value evident at Kossanto through a defined exploration and development programme focussed on delineating a significant upgrade in the current resource of 107,000 ounces of gold. "We also look forward to working with Centamin to develop our prospective Ethiopian gold assets that are now fully funded. The recent corporate activity should allow the company to materially develop the portfolio of projects and deliver value for shareholders in the coming months."Shares were up 8.62% to 1.58p at 15:37 on Friday.RD