Jeff Quartermaine

THERE’S no doubt Perseus Mining has been immensely successful under Jeff Quartermaine’s leadership. He has transformed Perseus into a half-a-million-ounce-per-year gold producer mostly through savvy deal-making. 

The only blot is the A$230m acquisition of Orca Gold, owner of the Meyas Sand Gold Project. Shortly after buying Orca, civil war erupted in South Sudan preventing any serious development capital from being deployed. But this has not deterred Quartermaine. A A$260m cash offer for OreCorp closed in early 2024 which adds the Nyanzaga project in Tanzania, formerly a Barrick project, to the firm’s portfolio. An investment decision on the project is due in January. If approved, first gold is expected in the first quarter of 2027. 

Perseus is also advancing the underground extension of its flagship Yaouré in Côte d’Ivoire. What’s interesting is that this M&A has been achieved by growing cash and paying dividends, thanks to the high-flying gold price. The question is how Quartermaine will play his cards from here. One clue is the A$68m purchase in August of a 13.8% stake in ASX-listed, Guinea-focused gold developer Predictive Discovery. 

After selling its non-core stake in Montage Gold Corp for C$61.4m, Perseus used the proceeds weeks later to up its stake in Predictive to the maximum 19.9% for an additional A$30.6m investment. While Perseus said at the time it had no current plans to make a takeover offer for Predictive, most market watchers think it’s only a matter of time.