Tanzanian gold magnate Ketan Patel suffers $1.8-million loss as Shanta Gold shares retreat

Yusuf Abdulfatai -

Tanzanian gold magnate Ketan Patel has lost £1.5 million ($1.85 million) on the market value of his equity stake in Shanta Gold Limited after shares in the gold miner fell by double digits from record highs due to selling pressures from market participants.

Shanta Gold is an East Africa-focused gold producer with two defined ore resources in Tanzania and exploration licenses covering about 1,100 square kilometers. The firm’s most important project is the New Luika Gold Mine in the Lupa Gold Field in southwestern Tanzania.

Shares in the gold miner were worth £0.086 ($0.106) per share as of press time on June 24, up 5.9 percent from their opening price on the London Stock Exchange this morning.

Patel, who founded the Tanzania-based miner in 2001, owns 44,274,017 ordinary shares, or 4.22 percent of the company.

Since April 29, the market value of Patel’s stake has dropped by £1.5 million ($1.85 million), from £5.31 million ($6.52 million) to £3.81 million ($4.68 million) at the time of writing.

The decline in the market value of his stake over the past 66 days was caused by a drop in the company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) from £0.12 ($0.147) on April 19 to £0.086 ($0.106) at the time of writing this report, resulting in a total 28.3-percent loss for shareholders.

Despite the decline in the market value of his company, Patel ranks as one of Tanzania’s UHNWIs, thanks to his stake in Shanta Gold.

The East African-focused gold producer’s profit increased by 210 percent in the first half period of its 2021 fiscal year, from $1 million to $3.1 million, thanks to tax adjustments during the period.

Experts believe that the Patel-led gold producer is on track to generate higher earnings and profit from increased revenue due to the pricing benefit from gold sales.

The latest forecast comes as the price of gold and other safe-haven assets reached record levels as investors weighed rising interest rates and rapidly rising energy prices.