(Bloomberg) — Australia’s gold industry — buoyed by the precious metal’s record—setting run this year — is anticipating a wave of deal-making, with smaller miners being targeted as exploration lags.
The potential for a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the world’s biggest gold producer after China and Russia has been one of the major talking points at the three-day Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in the dusty Western Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie.
With the hunt for new Australian reserves at a four-year low, mainly due to surging costs for labor and equipment, many bigger miners think the best way to expand is “through M&A — because it’s not really happening through exploration,” said Paul Early, the co-head of energy resources and sustainability at Sydney-based advisor Barrenjoey Markets Pty.
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