Egypt’s largest gold miner Centamin has made an off market takeover bid for Australian mining company Ampella, in a bid to expand its African operations.

Ampella operates a number of mining fields across West Africa including Batie West gold project in Burkina Faso, estimated to hold 3.25 million ounces of gold, but has struggled to cope with anunstable commodity market, launching a cost-cutting measure to reduce paid expatriates by 33 percent and 50 percent of its exploration, field and administrative workforce.

In contrast, Centamin has been at loggerheads with the Egyptian government over the renewal of it license to commence operations at the Sukari mine, the largest in Egypt, and is keen on expanding its African concerns to cushion the effect of lower revenues from North Africa.

The company has proposed a takeover bid valued at $40 million or $0.16 per share, and has offered shareholder 1 Centamin share for every 5 Ampella share, as it seeks to soften their resolve has speed up the buyout process, Ahram Online reported.

“This acquisition provides a significant expansion of Centamin’s exploration drive and also a first entry into a highly prospective region of Burkina Faso, which, in recent years, has proven to be a stable and attractive destination for mining investment,” said Josef El-Raghy, Chairman of Centamin.

Following the disclosure, the Australian company’s share price surged 73 percent, from 5.5 cents to 13 cents as at Wednesday.