MinRes to put lithium mine under maintenance
The company will put its Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia under care and maintenance starting this week.
The Cortez mine, located 100 kilometres southwest of Elko, Nevada, is one of the few U.S. assets Barrick is not trying to sell. (Image courtesy of Barrick Gold)
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) (TSX:NMC) and Kinross Gold (TSX:K) (NYSE:KGC) are likely to buy a package of six U.S. gold assets that Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) is trying to sell, an investment banking source told Reuters.
The president of the world’s largest bullion producer, Kelvin Dushnisky, only said he expected the imminent deal to close before the end of the year, but declined to put a value on the asset package, which includes Bald Mountain, Round Mountain, Spring Valley, Ruby Hill, Hilltop and Golden Sunlight assets.
According to analysts and investment bankers, however, the mines up for sale could bring in between $500 million and $700 million.
The amount will be used towards Barrick’s goal of raising at least $3 billion this year to reduce its $12.9 billion debt.
In an interview ahead of this week’s Denver Gold Forum, Dushnisky told Bloomberg that Barrick is already 90% through its debt-reduction plan.
Last week, the Toronto-based miner announced the closing of its Salt Lake City office, which along with the unwinding of its copper business will help Barrick save US$2 billion by the end of 2016.
After supporting the Barrick’s core Nevada operations for nearly two decades, the Salt Lake office, which employs about 110 staff, will close in November. It follows the shutdown of Barrick’s Perth bureau and job cuts in its Santiago office.
The firm’s standalone copper unit, established after the firm bought pure copper company Equinox Minerals in 2011, will no longer be a distinct division within Barrick. The copper unit’s managers and staff will be laid off and the overhead expenses related to the separate business will be cut.
Barrick’s stock is trading around Cdn$9 a share, a low not seen since 1989.
5 Comments
UG miner
This is wrong information, if Barrick sells Cortez and Goldstrike, they will cease to exist. The package deal concerns Bald Mountain, Ruby Hill and Golden Sunlight most likey.
MINING.com Editors
Correct. We have updated the story with fresh information. Thanks.
JeffreyJDavis
Caption is incorrect, Cortez is their crown jewel and I’m sure not for sale.
andreid
What’s up with those Canadian hot shot management?
Selling gold assets on a low? Nexen buying oil assets at a high before prices tanked.
Way to go boys!
john S. metzger
Opportunities continue to mature and change. Newmont and Kinross can make options real and grow these handful of interesting sites. We look forward to supporting their monitoring needs.