FinanceCITY BEAT James McCullough 625 words22 July 2008The...

Finance
CITY BEAT
James McCullough
625 words
22 July 2008
The Courier-Mail
1 - First with the news
56
English
Copyright 2008 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Nick's chasing $7m from float of Mt Isa Metals

DIAMOND Joseph Gutnick has been out merrily raising truckloads of cash in the US from the likes of George Soros, Atticus Management, and an Indian fertiliser company for his phosphate play, Legend International.

Meanwhile, Nick Mather's Brisbane mining juggernaut, D'Aguilar Gold, is looking for $7 million via a float of its Mt Isa Metals subsidiary.

The float, which will see D'Aguilar retain 50 per cent of Mt Isa Metals, will give the group a market cap at the issue price of 20 of $20 million -- which compares with Legend, which is about to list on the New York Stock Exchange with a market cap approaching $US1 billion.

Which is interesting, in that Mt Isa Metals, chaired by former Porgera, Ok Tedi, Giant Resources and Kalgoorlie Super Pit executive John Bovard, owns half of the D-Tree phosphate deposit that is the biggest in the Legend portfolio and which it hopes will underpin its $US826 million ($851 million) plan for a major phosphate export operation.