Archive | Gold and Silver

CEO says Barrick has plenty of financial ‘firepower’ for deals – by Danielle Bochove (BNN/Bloomberg News – December 12, 2019)

December 13, 2019 in Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Barrick Gold Corp.’s chief says the gold miner has the financial heft it needs to support its loftiest ambitions — and some day those might include a merger with Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

“Barrick, by end of next year, or during next year, will be net debt zero,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said Thursday in a phone interview. “We’ve definitely got the firepower to build a mine or to support a transaction. We don’t need any external support, for any of our ambitions, as we stand today.”

The world’s second-largest gold miner has been generating more cash flow, with higher bullion prices, even as it has sold assets. By the end of this year net debt will be under US$2 billion, Bristow said. “We’re going to settle all the near-term debt, and we’re left with debt that’s only due from 2023 onwards.” Continue Reading →

Gold exploration trends: drilling up, Canada leads – September 2019 – by Vladimir Basov (Mining.com – December 11, 2019)

December 13, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector

https://www.mining.com/

Mining Intelligence data indicates that after a bleak month of August, exploration activity in the gold sector jumped in September and hit the second highest bar since the beginning of 2019, and both the number of drilled projects and the number of drillholes reported in September, were up in all major regions.

A trend towards exploration of advanced projects, rather than greenfield opportunities, was reversed in September with companies willing to take more early-stage exploration risks.

There was a noticeable improvement in overall drill intersection grades, with reported gold intersections with grades greater than 2 g/t have risen from 23% of their total count in August to 40% in September 2019. Continue Reading →

Deforestation, erosion exacerbate mercury spikes near Peruvian gold mining (Duke University – December 12, 2019)

December 12, 2019 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines

https://www.sciencedaily.com/

Scientists from Duke University have developed a model that can predict the amount of mercury being released into a local ecosystem by deforestation and small-scale gold mining.

The research, which appears online on December 11 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, could point toward ways to mitigate the worst effects of mercury poisoning in regions such as those that are already experiencing elevated mercury levels caused by gold mining.

“We’ve taken a lot of ground measurements in the Peruvian Amazon of mercury levels in the water, soil and fish,” said Heileen Hsu-Kim, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University. “But many areas in the Amazon aren’t easily accessible, and the government often does not have the resources needed to test local sites.” Continue Reading →

Gold’s Deal Blitz Could Draw In the Rest of the Mining Sector – by David Stringer and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg/Yahoo – December 11, 2019)

December 12, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — A torrent of deal-making among gold producers that’s pushed M&A in the sector to an eight-year high is seen spilling over into the wider mining industry — if there’s a rally in global growth.

Pending and completed gold acquisitions have reached about $33 billion so far in 2019, the highest since 2011, according to data complied by Bloomberg. That’s as deals among all mining companies have declined about 29% from last year to $60 billion, the data show.

A revival in the economic outlook, with higher interest rates and inflation, would prompt other metals producers to rethink their current strategy of cutting debt and lifting shareholder returns — and focus again on pursuing growth, according to Christopher LaFemina, a New York-based analyst at Jefferies LLC. Continue Reading →

Barrick to sell Senegal gold project for $430-million – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 11, 2019)

December 11, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is selling its Massawa gold project in Senegal for up to US$430-million to West African junior producer Teranga Gold Corp., as part of its push to shed assets that don’t move the financial needle.

After buying African-focused Randgold Resources Ltd. earlier this year for US$6-billion, Toronto-based Barrick has been ridding itself of anything it deems too small, or not sufficiently profitable.

In the past month alone, Barrick has sold US$1.2-billion in assets, or about 80 per cent of what it hopes to achieve by the end of next year. Continue Reading →

Central American mine resistance visits Vancouver – by Hayley Woodin (Business In Vancouver – December 10, 2019)

December 11, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Latin America Mining, Mining Conflict and Opposition

https://biv.com/

It was the first advocacy effort of its kind in a mining conflict that has spanned a decade, three countries and multiple legal challenges.

In November, a representative of Guatemala’s Indigenous Xinka people embarked on a weeklong speaking tour in Victoria and Vancouver to denounce what he sees as efforts by Vancouver-based Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAAS) and the government of Guatemala to undermine Indigenous rights in his country.

“Pan American doesn’t have a social licence to operate,” Luis Fernando García Monroy told students, alumni and faculty at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on November 21. “We have been left out of the consultation process,” he said. “The company wants to promote a different kind of consultation.” Continue Reading →

Kirkland Lake CEO sees no need to raise Detour Gold bid after stock tops purchase price – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – December 10, 2019)

December 10, 2019 in Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://business.financialpost.com/

Speculation that rival bidder could emerge

Toronto-based Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. chief executive Anthony Makuch said on Monday his company is not interested in raising or changing the offer it made last month to purchase Detour Gold Corp., after one analyst speculated that a new bidder may emerge.

In November, Kirkland announced an all-stock buyout that valued Detour shares at $27.50, or about a 24 per cent premium to its prior closing price, and pegged the entire transaction at about $4.89 billion.

Both companies operate gold mines in eastern Ontario, but have had starkly different trajectories over the past three years. Kirkland operates two high grade underground mines, including one in Australia, that produce gold at some of the lowest costs in the sector, and has been one of the best performing stocks on the TSX during that time. Continue Reading →

Barrick Gold sells Senegal project to Teranga in $430 million deal – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – December 10, 2019)

December 10, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD, TSX: ABX) is well on its way to achieving its goal of raising $1.5 billion in cash as it sells its stake in another non-core asset.

On Tuesday, the gold-mining juggernaut announced that it was selling its 90% stake in the Massawa project in Senegal to Teranga Gold Corp (TSX: TGZ). for $430 million.

The company said that the stock-and-cash deal consists of $300 million in cash with $80 million worth of Teranga shares. The sale also includes a contingent payment of up to $50 million, which is based upon the average gold price for the three-year period immediately following closing. Continue Reading →

Flurry of mining deals has industry watchers wondering if Pretium is next – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 9, 2019)

December 9, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

With deal-making in the gold sector heating up once again, attention is turning to which company might be swept up next. Some industry players wonder about Pretium Resources Inc.

In the past two weeks, three big gold deals have been unveiled. On Nov. 25, Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. reached a friendly agreement to acquire Detour Gold Corp. for $4.9-billion. This past week, China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. announced it was buying Canada’s Continental Gold Inc. for $1.4-billion, and Canada-listed Endeavour Mining Corp. made an unsolicited $2.5-billion proposal to acquire Centamin PLC.

If Detour disappears, Vancouver-based Pretium would be one of the last large single-asset gold companies left in Canada – making it a prime target. “Pretium is certainly the asset that sticks out now,” said Jon Case, precious metals portfolio manager with Sentry Investments Inc. Continue Reading →

Miner M&A Monday’s big return to the gold space – by David Erfle (Kitco News – December 6, 2019)

December 9, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.kitco.com/

Speculation about asset divestitures among global miners after recent M&A deals began to come to fruition on Monday, November 17th, when Barrick Gold (GOLD) sold its 50% stake in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit gold mine to Saracen Mineral Holdings for $750 million.

Trendsetter and high-profile Barrick CEO Mark Bristow has been quite adamant recently about selling off assets that it does not own 100% of, along with projects that do not produce over 500,000 ounces per year for at least 10 years.

The following Monday, Australia’s Evolution Mining Ltd agreed to buy the Canadian gold mining complex Red Lake from the world’s largest gold miner Newmont Goldcorp (NEM) for US$375 million in cash plus a US$100M contingent payment tied to new resource discoveries. The Red Lake mine has an incredible mining history and was the foundation of Goldcorp, but does not move the needle much for a company the size of Newmont Goldcorp. Continue Reading →

The Agenda with Steve Paikin Interviews Charlotte Gray about her new book – A Millionaire’s Murder Mystery (December 2, 2019)

December 7, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Canadian Mining History, Gold and Silver, Kirkland Lake, Northern Ontario History, Ontario Mining

https://www.tvo.org/

Sir Harry Oakes, a major figure in 19th-and-early 20th century northern Ontario, made millions in mining. He was mysteriously murdered in the Caribbean in 1943, with no clues as to the culprit. The Agenda explores Oakes’s intriguing life, and the mark he made on Kirkland Lake with historian Charlotte Gray, who chronicled his activities in her book, “Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise.”

A terrific Christmas gift! To order a copy of Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise: https://bit.ly/2lHTbYt 

Charlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers of non-fiction, specializing in history and biography, and her books have been nominated for or won most major non-fiction literary prizes. Murdered Midas is her eleventh book, and her second study of a great gold rush. In 2010, she published Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike which was the basis for both a PBS documentary and a Discovery Channel mini-series. She lives in Ottawa and is an adjunct research professor at Carleton University and a Member of the Order of Canada.

Eric Sprott says he’ll vote for Kirkland Lake deal to acquire Detour Gold – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 5, 2019)

December 5, 2019 in Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Eric Sprott says he intends to vote for Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd’s controversial $4.9-billion takeover of Detour Gold Corp.

Initially undecided on the merits of the deal, Mr. Sprott says he came around after studying up on Detour, and after reflecting on Kirkland’s plans for the struggling low grade miner.

Kirkland has plans to eventually cut Detour’s costs to US$800 an ounce from US$1,100, and materially boost its production. “I think it would be a pretty good cash generating machine,” Mr. Sprott said of Detour. Continue Reading →

Gold miners flash the cash in biggest deal binge in a decade – by Jeff Lewis and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – December 4, 2019)

December 5, 2019 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold miners look set to extend a deal spree after notching transactions worth a record $30.5 billion this year, according to data, the biggest M&A binge since bullion prices peaked nearly a decade ago.

Led by top producers Newmont Goldcorp Corp and Barrick Gold Corp, miners are bulking up to replace dwindling reserves and win back investors who in recent years shunned the sector because of disappointing returns. This year has seen 348 deals worth more than $30.5 billion, including net debt, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

That is up from $10.8 billion last year and surpasses a previous high of $25.7 billion set in 2010, the data show. Gold topped $1,900 per ounce in 2011 and currently trades around $1,484, after hitting a six-year high in September. Continue Reading →

Newmont’s new Borden Mine futuristic – by Adella Harding (Elko Daily Free Press – December 4, 2019)

December 5, 2019 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Newmont, Ontario Mining

https://elkodaily.com/

Newmont Goldcorp’s new Borden Mine in Canada has the latest in digital mining technologies, low-carbon energy vehicles, safety controls and processes for underground operations. The company calls Borden the “mine of the future.”

Newmont Goldcorp’s president and chief executive officer, Tom Palmer, said that “Borden’s electric underground fleet will eliminate diesel particulate matter from the underground environment and lower greenhouse gas emissions. This will help reduce energy costs, protect employee health and minimize impacts to the environment.”

Borden has a fleet of roughly 35 electric vehicles “that you’d expect in an underground hard-rock mine, including bolters, tractors, personnel carriers, jumbos, loaders, a grader and a range of utility vehicles,” said Omar Jabara, group executive for public relations and executive communications for Colorado-based Newmont. Continue Reading →

Centerra Gold shuts Kumtor mine after two workers go missing in rock slide – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 3, 2019)

December 3, 2019 in Asia Mining, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Two employees are missing after a major rock slide forced Centerra Gold Inc. to halt operations at its flagship gold mine in Kyrgyzstan.

The Toronto-based mining company said in a statement that a “significant rock movement” occurred at Lysii, one of the mine’s waste dumps at the Kumtor site, early Sunday morning.

Centerra has evacuated all staff from the site and is conducting a search-and-rescue operation in conjunction with the Kyrgyz Republic’s Ministry of Emergencies. Scott Perry, Centerra’s chief executive officer, said in a statement early Monday that search teams are working in “very challenging conditions.” Continue Reading →