CORONAVIRUS: PDAC ANNOUNCES NEW CASES / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Lithium and uranium miners plan for the future / 9
DELIVERING QUALITY EXPERTISE GLOBALLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE MINING LIFE CYCLE
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APRIL 13–26, 2020 / VOL. 106 ISSUE 8 / GLOBAL MINING NEWS · SINCE 1915 / $5.25 / WWW.NORTHERNMINER.COM
Miners debate M&A as I COVID-19 sends shares lower VALUATIONS
BY KELSEY ROLFE Special to The Northern Miner
n early March, BHP (NYSE: BHP; LON: BHP) Chairman Ken MacKenzie said the mining giant was in a strong position should COVID-19’s impact on the market create M&A opportunities. “On balance, the business is in very good shape,” Reuters reported MacKenzie as saying during the Australian Financial Review summit in Sydney on March 10. “I’m not sure if there will be any opportunities that will come from this, but if there are, we are actually in a position to act.” In the intervening weeks, COVID-19 has begun to take a dramatic toll on the mining industry. Operations around the globe have been forced to close by governments or have been voluntarily shuttered or limited to contain the spread of the virus. Share prices are down as the virus batters the world economy. In this uncertain environment, M&A activity in mining and other sectors has taken a hit. Refinitiv, which provides data on financial markets, reported that global mergers and acquisitions activity dropped 28% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020 to sit at its lowest level since 2016. The number of deals in the quarter also dropped by 14% year-on-year. Looking specifically at mining, global mining M&A deals in Feb-
| Experts weigh in on opportunities and risks
See COVID-19 / 2
Analysts and investors in discussion on a site visit to Endeavour Mining’s Agbaou gold mine in Cote d’Ivoire. PHOTO BY THE NORTHERN MINER.
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Barrick updates 10-year plan GOLD
| Bristow outlines 5 million oz. per year goal through 2029
BY CARL A. WILLIAMS cwilliams@northernminer.com
B
arrick Gold (TSE: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) has unveiled a 10-year gold production plan in which it aims to maintain production levels of approximately 5 million oz. gold per year between 2020 and 2029. The plan is based on its current operating asset portfolio, sustaining projects in progress, and implementing exploration and mineral resource management initiatives. It does not include additional asset optimization, further exploration growth, new project initiatives and divestitures. Barrick says 2.5 million oz. gold per year will come from its North American mines, 1 million oz. gold per year from Latin America and the
Asia Pacific, and 1.5 million oz. per year from Africa and the Middle East. Barrick’s North American projects include three of the company’s ‘tier one’ assets that are 61.5% owned and operated by the company — Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge — located in the Nevada gold mines complex, the single-largest goldmining complex in the world. The company’s other North American project, Hemlo, in Ontario, Canada, is being modernized and refocussed to ensure its continued viability, Barrick said. Publication of the 10-year plan follows announcements earlier this month that Barrick intends to extend the mine life of its Veladero gold mine in Argentina and its Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic. At Veladero, 374 km northwest of the city of San Juan, Barrick an-
nounced that it has expanded the life of the mine to at least 10 years following a review of its strategy and business plan. “Our review included the reinterpretation of the mine’s geology and an ongoing infill drilling campaign,” Mark Bristow, Barrick’s president and CEO, said in a press release on March 16. “We established exploration and resource management teams to identify satellite orebodies with the potential to deliver an increase in resources and reserves. Our aim is to extend Veladero’s life of mine beyond 2030 and elevate it to a tier one asset.” A new and updated geological model that included improvements in the geology and global reconciliation was developed after Barrick re-logged 150,000 metres of core. Mining at Veladero is now expected
“THE WORK WE DID IN 2019 HAS EQUIPPED US WELL TO TAKE BARRICK TO THE NEXT LEVEL.” MARK BRISTOW PRESIDENT AND CEO, BARRICK GOLD
to be extended from 2024 to 2027 and residual leaching from 2028 to 2031. A tier one mine, as defined by Barrick, produces over 500,000 oz. gold per year and has a life of at least 10 years and total cash costs per ounce over the life of the mine in the lower half of the industry cost curve. See BARRICK / 2
CANADIAN COMPANY SAYS DEVICE CAN LOWER DIESEL ENGINE EMISSIONS / 5