B2Gold Corp., the Canadian company that owns mines in Africa and the Philippines, is interested in acquiring gold assets in Zimbabwe.
The mid-tier gold producer which has mines in Mali, Namibia and the Philippines, has held talks with the government and other officials in the southern African nation “to see if they are ready for us to come in,” said Clive Johnson, chief executive officer at the Vancouver-based company.
Environmentalists are demanding urgent action to halt an aquatic gold rush along one of the Amazon River’s largest tributaries, where hundreds of illegal goldmining dredges have converged in search of the precious metal.
The vast flotilla – so large one local website compared it to a floating neighbourhood – reportedly began forming on the Madeira River earlier this month after rumours that a large gold deposit had been found in the vicinity.
(Kitco News) – The gold market is struggling to find some footing as prices slide further below $1,800 an ounce again and analysts are expecting to see some further pain in the near term.
The gold market continues to digest the White House’s news that President Joe Biden will re-nominate Powell to be head of the Federal Reserve. Following the announcement, markets have increased their expectations that the U.S. central bank will tighten interest rates more aggressively in 2022.
(Kitco News) – Gold and silver futures are sharply down in midday U.S. trading Monday, with gold notching a two-week low. The metals’ prices were under pressure overnight and then selling pressure accelerated when it reported early this morning that President Biden plans to keep Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for another term. December gold was last down $41.10 at $1,810.40 and December Comex silver was last down $0.421 at $24.36 an ounce.
The yellow metal slumped, the U.S. dollar index rallied to a 15-month high and U.S. Treasury yields rose when it was announced Biden chose Powell to continue in his position for another term.
The historic Red Lake Gold Mining district is evolving again into a premier goldmining district in Northern Ontario after a decade long decline – leading the reinvigorated Red Lake mining scene is the appropriately named Evolution Mining.
In the two years since Evolution Mining bought the gold mining assets from Newmont Goldcorp in 2019, the Australian-based company has helped to revive, the dormant mining district with its pledge to keep on investing in the area.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Kuya Silver takes a second, in-depth look near former Silver Centre mines
Vancouver silver explorer Kuya Silver is on its second round of deeper drilling in the historic Silver Centre mining camp, south of the town of Cobalt. The company announced recently it has started a 2,000-metre drill program at its Silver Kings Joint Venture.
Kuya has an option to acquire a 70 per cent interest in the land holdings of Electra Battery Materials (formerly known First Cobalt) in on a jointly held area known as the Silver Kings Project.
(Kitco News) – The global silver market will see demand reach 1.29 billion ounces this year, the first time it has breached 1 billion since 2015, according to the latest report from the Silver Institute.
Wednesday, in its interim market report, the Silver Institute said that silver demand had seen broad-based growth through 2021, with industrial demand leading the way. “The recovery in silver industrial demand from the pandemic will see this segment achieve a new high of 524 million ounces (Moz).
Newcrest Mining, Australia’s largest gold producer, will soon become the biggest gold producer in the Canadian province of British Columbia once its $3.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) acquisition of Pretium Resources is completed over the next three or four months.
The Aussie gold major already held a 4.85% stake in the Canadian miner before announcing the deal this week, and it’s the second time Newcrest has planted its corporate flag in Canadian soil. In 2019 the company acquired a 70% stake in the Red Chris mine from Imperial Metals for US$806 million.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
With Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. set to acquire Canada’s Pretium Resources Ltd., attention is now turning to which gold miner will be next to get scooped up, even as money managers caution that acquirers are likely to tread warily.
The Canadian gold industry is highly fragmented, with many companies chasing a limited pool of capital. Money managers have been pushing single-asset miners – companies that have only one mine or development project – to seek acquirers that are better capitalized than themselves. Inside major producers with large portfolios of mines, single-asset miners are seen as far less risky for investors.
(Kitco News) – The gold market is seeing new bullish momentum after U.S. inflation data rose to its highest level in more than three decades, and some analysts are looking for a move back to $1,900 an ounce in the near term.
According to some analysts, gold is catching a new bid as inflation pressures ramp up, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve will be behind the inflation curve.
Sao Felix do Xingu (Brazil) (AFP) – Standing over the gaping pit in the middle of his small farm, Brazilian wildcat miner Antonio Silva struggles to explain why he joined the new gold rush sweeping the Amazon.
The 61-year-old grandfather of six had planned to retire from illegal mining, and the environmental destruction that comes along with it. He bought this farm in rural Sao Felix do Xingu, in the southeastern Amazon, and was starting a cattle ranch on a long-deforested patch of jungle where he would not have to cut down more trees.
Luhihi, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Deborah* walks down a mud alley between houses cobbled together with plywood and sheets of tarpaulin. On the corner, fuzzy beats emanate from a tin-roofed nightclub. It is only 2pm but drunk men are already hovering at the door, necking beers and milky glasses of moonshine.
Inside it is dark, except for some disco lights that flash green and red. A small group of people are huddled at a table. This place will fill up in the evening, Deborah says, but right now most men are up on the hillside, digging for gold.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The latest big deal to shake up Canada’s gold industry has the acquirer on the defensive for paying a premium, but at least one money manager is salivating at the prospect of an even higher offer.
Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. faced questions from analysts, and a declining stock price, after it unveiled plans late Monday to acquire Pretium Resources Inc. for $3.5-billion. Melbourne-based Newcrest is offering $18.50 in cash, or 0.8084 Newcrest shares, for each Pretium share.
Newcrest Mining Ltd. agreed to buy Pretium Resources Inc. in a cash and shares deal valuing the Canadian gold producer at about $2.8 billion, adding to a wave of consolidation in the sector.
Melbourne-based Newcrest will offer Pretium holders C$18.50 ($14.87) a share, a 23% premium to the target’s closing price Monday in Toronto. The transaction is unanimously recommended by Pretium’s board and requires the approval of two-thirds of the company’s shareholders.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Equinox Gold Corp. is betting big on a new gold project in Ontario, but with the mining industry’s history of cost overruns and start up problems at new mines, the venture is far from risk-free.
Late last month, Vancouver-based Equinox started construction of the Greenstone open-pit gold mine in Geraldton, Ont. Greenstone promises to be an important economic driver for Northern Ontario, creating more than 2,000 jobs during the construction phase, and another 500 positions once the mine starts production in 2024.
