** Shares of gold miner Spartan Resources SPR.AX rise 11.3% to A$1.78, their highest levels since January 31, 2019

** Larger peer Ramelius Resources RMS.AX to take over Spartan, valuing co at A$2.4 billion ($1.52 billion)

** Ramelius offering A$0.25 in cash and 0.6957 of its own shares for each Spartan share it does not already hold

** Ramelius shares down 0.5%, as of 0026 GMT, after falling as much as 4.6% in early trade

** More than 12.5 mln Spartan shares change hands, 2.9 times the 30-day avg

** Spartan up 24.7% YTD, including current session's moves

($1 = 1.5810 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))