Santacruz Silver Mining reports fatality at Tres Amigos mine in Bolivia
Tres Amigos mine, a part of the Caballo Blanco Group of mines, has resumed operations after it was shut down following the incident.
Takeover rumours are swirling about a proposed buyout of Paramount Gold (TSX:PZG) by the United States’ largest silver producer.
According to a Dec. 1 report by Reuters, Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) is in advanced negotiations to acquire the New York and Toronto-listed precious metals explorer, which is advancing the San Miguel property in Chihuahua state, Mexico. The property consists of 40 concessions and 350,000 acres around Coeur’s Palmarejo silver-gold mine, which in 2013 produced 7.6 million ounces of silver and 116,536 ounces of gold, according to a project page on Coeur’s website.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters says as part of the deal, Paramount would spin off its non-Mexican assets into a standalone company. Coeur would have a 4.9 percent stake in the new company.
The sources also told Reuters the deal “would enable Palmarejo to continue as one of the largest and highest grade silver and gold mines in the world for at least another seven years.”
Besides Palmarejo, Coeur also owns the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska and the Bartolomé silver mine in Bolivia. Paramount has three properties in Nevada, including the Sleeper project, which has an NI 43-101 report completed in 2011. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on San Miguel, released in August, estimated average annual production at 55,000 ounces of gold and 2.8 million ounces of silver for 17 years.
Paramount jumped from 76 cents a share to as high as 95 cents on the takeout rumour, before settling back to 89 cents on Friday. The company has a current market cap of $142.58 million versus Coeur’s market value of $464.49 million.
