Barrick Weighs New Investors in South American Gold Properties
13 Agosto 2019 - 12:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Jacquie McNish
Barrick Gold Corp. is in discussions with a variety of
international investors to expand exploration and production at a
pair of South America gold properties it had planned to sell last
year.
Barrick Chief Executive Mark Bristow said in an interview on
Monday that rising gold prices and potential investment interest
from other mining companies, including China's Shandong Gold Group
and Chile's Antofagasta PLC, has prompted him to reverse the
company's plans to be "safe and small" by selling those assets.
Mr. Bristow was appointed CEO of Barrick in January after it
merged with Randgold Resources Ltd., an African gold miner he
founded.
The two South American properties, the Pascua-Lama project and
the Veladero mine, are located along the Chilean and Argentine
border.
Mr. Bristow said he has had initial talks with Shandong,
Antofagasta and other companies about a variety of options
including investments in the two South American properties.
Shandong purchased a 50% stake in the Valedero mine in 2017. Chen
Yumin, chairman of Shandong's board of directors, said during a
visit to Toronto last month that the company is interested in
investing alongside Barrick in other mining ventures.
Plans for South America could include shifting ownership of the
Lama property at the Pascua-Lama project in Chile to nearby
Veladero in Argentina, Mr. Bristow said. The planned mine at Pascua
Lama has been delayed by legal and environmental disputes over
Barrick's initial plans to operate an open-pit mine at the site.
Barrick said earlier this year it is considering an underground
mine.
Despite a possible pullback from its 'safe and small' strategy,
Mr. Bristow said Barrick is seeking to sell a number of smaller
noncore mines by the end of next year for $1.5 billion. The assets
include the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia and its 50% stake in the
Kalgoorlie gold mine in Australia. Barrick had considered a plan to
spin off all of its three copper mines as recently as early last
year, but Mr. Bristow said now there are no plans to sell its 50%
stakes in the Jabal Sayid mine in Saudi Arabia or the Zaldivar mine
in Chile.
Mr. Bristow said Barrick has held informal discussions with some
potential buyers for Lumwana, but it has not yet hired an
adviser.
He said a number of mining and fund investors have expressed
interest in acquiring the Kalgoorlie mine, which is jointly owned
with Newmont Goldcorp.
Write to Jacquie McNish at Jacquie.McNish@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 12, 2019 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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