LionGold Corp, a Singapore listed company, had been in advanced discussions to acquire small Latin American gold miner IRL. This was confirmed by the Peruvian miner on Friday.

IRL's shares in Toronto and Lima were temporarily halted on Friday's trading as market speculation about a potential buyout loomed. This was even heavy trading last Friday.

The Peruvian firm said in a statement, "IRL ... confirms that it is in discussions with LionGold Corp Ltd, which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company."

LionGold was among three firms whose shares were halted on the Singapore Exchange earlier last Friday. This was after concerns regarding falling share prices were not fully disclosed. In a statement said earlier, LionGold stated that it was in a discussion process to acquire a stake in a company which it did not name. LionGold said that it was concerned regarding the suspended shares in Singapore.