A successful UK property business is diversifying into gold mining as uncertainty over economic and political stability drives up the price of one of the world’s oldest commodities.
Lusso Tesoro is a family owned venture, based in the North West. Chairman David Webster and his two sons Jake and Curtis have spent over seven years in Africa, gaining extensive experience in mining, buying, selling and exporting gold for third parties.
Now, with the support of world leading mineral, exploration and mining consultants – SRK – the company has agreed a $10 million deal to purchase a 100 sq. km. working mine in the Siguiri region of Guinea.
With the Covid 19 pandemic putting further pressure on traditional investments, contracts are expected to be completed by the end of the year and conservative estimates of reserves within a 2 sq. km. ‘hot spot’ of the site are $80-140 million.
Having built up, over 25 years, a £400 million residential and commercial property portfolio through The 79th Group, the Websters believe this is the perfect time to invest in gold and two further mine purchases are under consideration.
Said David: “The double hit of a human and economic crisis means gold is in increasing demand. At the same time, it is a finite resource and production has not really increased in the past four years. For the first time in over a century it is being valued as a currency and represents a truly reliable safety net.
“The time we have invested in Guinea, getting to understand the industry and making sure we have the right permits, commercial and political backing means we are uniquely placed to take advantage of this opportunity at a time of increasing demand and limited supply.
“I am delighted to have SRK Consulting on board and particularly Chairman and Principal Exploration Geologist, Bill Kellaway, who has agreed to lead the project.”
Lusso Tesoro’s policy will be to contract experienced mining experts, backed by locals with huge knowledge of the area and the artesanal mining industry to develop small scale extractions in the most promising areas of the opencast operation.
All the pump priming funding and purchase deposit have been provided by the family owned business, which is now offering opportunities to high net worth individuals to support the initiative and share in the returns through investments that would be administered by Castle Trust and Management Services Limited, based in Gibraltar.
Lusso Tesoro is part of The 79th Group, which operates from headquarters in Southport and offices in Dubai and Tokyo.
