Tolga Kumova is well known for his successful small cap resources picks, and now he is behind a new Africa-focused gold company that wants to list on the ASX.

African Gold has launched an IPO to raise $4.5m by issuing shares at 20c apiece.

The company is exploring for gold in Cote d’Ivoire at a project called “Agboville”.

The West African country is home to five major producing gold mines and a number of near-term development projects including Newcrest Mining’s (ASX:NCM) Bonikro mine and Perseus Mining’s (ASX:PRU) Yaoure and Sissingue projects.

Mr Kumova is the man best known as former managing director and founding shareholder of Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR), overseeing the company from a tiddler through to a top 200 ASX-listed mining company.

He has raised more than $500 million for his ASX-listed mining ventures.

Mr Kumova ranked number 26 on Financial Review’s Young Rich List this year with a net worth of $104m, up from $95m in 2017.

His strategy is to look for assets with “enormous potential”.

“If the risk/reward is skewed in our favour then we’ll pursue it, but then at the same time I have a team of people that I work with that are highly talented in what they do — in structuring these deals, in finding these assets, analysing these assets and developing these assets,” he told Stockhead earlier this year.

Joining him on the board is another familiar name in the resources space, Evan Cranston.

Both Mr Kumova and Mr Cranston have witnessed recent success with New Century Resources (ASX:NCZ), which recently restarted zinc production from the former MMG-owned Century mine in Queensland.

Mr Cranston, a corporate lawyer, has extensive experience in the areas of capital raisings, initial public offerings, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. He is a director of several ASX-listed resources companies.

Steve Parsons is another name some will recognise.

He was the founding managing director of Gryphon Minerals, which Mr Parsons took from initial listing through to an ASX200 company.

Mr Parsons is also the managing director of Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL), another of Mr Kumova’s investments.

African Gold is aiming for a mid-February debut under the ticker “A1G”.

The IPO opens on December 14 and closes January 14.

African Gold plans to use the cash for exploration of the Agboville project and seeking out new projects.