Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Canada’s Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV), West Africa’s top gold producer, is said to be considering whether to dual list in London or New York in the wake of its merger with smaller rival Semafo.
“We are going to move to one or the other,” Chief executive officer Sébastien de Montessus told FT.com. “We are currently assessing which is the most relevant and attractive given our portfolio and locations and also the fit in terms of governance and liquidity,” he noted.
Endeavour’s management team is already based in London, so favouring the listing in the UK wouldn’t come as a surprise.
The London exchange lost its top gold company last year, when Randgold Resources delisted after being acquired by Barrick Gold.
Endeavour saw its share price rise by more than 60% from March, when it announced it was acquiring Semafo, to early July, when the it completed the deal.
With a market cap of C$5.3 billion (about $4bn), the miner would be amongst the most valuable precious metals companies currently listed on the LSE. These include Russian duo Polyus (LON: PLZL) and Polymetal International (LON: POLY), Mexico-focused Fresnillo (LON: FRES) and incoming Canadian Yamana Gold (LON: AUY), all of whom have a market value of more than $4.5bn.
Endeavour Mining confirmed last week it expected to produced more than one million ounces of gold this year.
After incorporating Semafo’s operations in its second-quarter financial and operating results, the company said it aims to churn out between 995,000 to 1,095,000 million ounces of the precious metal in 2020, at all-in-sustaining cost targets of between $865 to $915 per ounce.
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