Australia's Newcrest to buy Canadian copper and gold mine for $807 mln (updated)

Imperial Metals

10/03/2019 21:18

(Adds background on Newcrest and gold industry, deal)
    March 11 (Reuters) - Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining
Ltd  NCM.AX  said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a copper
and gold mine in  Canada for $806.5 million, just a few weeks
after its chief executive indicated he had asset purchases on
his mind.
    Newcrest said in a statement it would acquire a 70 percent
joint-venture interest in, and operatorship of, the Red Chris
mine and surrounding tenements in British Columbia from
Toronto-listed Imperial Metals Corp  III.TO . 
    Red Chris is a copper and gold porphyry with an operating
open-pit mine and mineral resources of 20 million ounces of gold
and 13 billion pounds of copper. The property comprises 23,142
hectares (57,200 acres) of land with 77 mineral tenures,
Newcrest said.  
    Last month, Newcrest's CEO, Sandeep Biswas, said his company
would pursue a potential acquisition only if it were the right
value for investors, adding that he would prefer to buy assets
rather than whole companies.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N20K19B
    Newcrest said it would fund the acquisition through a mix of
cash and undrawn bank facilities.
    The move comes amid talks of consolidation in the gold
industry, after Barrick Gold Corp's  ABX.TO  $18 billion
takeover offer for rival Newmont Mining Corp  NEM.N . Several
media reports had also indicated that Newcrest was interested in
buying Newmont's Australian assets, as part of the deal.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N20R3PK 

 (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin
Liffey and Peter Cooney)
 ((Ambar.Warrick@thomsonreuters.com; +91-80-6749-6625; Reuters
Messaging: ambar.warrick.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))