Newmont joins gold 'staking rush' in Canada's once-fabled Yukon

Trailbreaker Resources

06/03/2017 20:55

VANCOUVER, March 6 (Reuters) - Newmont Mining  NEM.N  on 
Monday became the latest of the world's biggest gold miners to 
invest in Canada's Yukon territory, the site of a famous gold 
rush 120 years ago, as miners hunt for rich, new deposits in 
safe regions. 
    U.S.-based Newmont, the world's No. 2 gold producer, 
unveiled an agreement with small explorer Goldstrike Resources 
 GSR.V  to spend $39.5 million to explore and develop 
Goldstrike's Plateau property in the Yukon. 
    With this deal, Newmont follows moves by rivals Goldcorp Inc 
 G.TO  and Agnico Eagle Mines  AEM.TO  last year into the 
northwestern Canadian territory at a time when gold miners are 
loosening their purse strings after five years of 
belt-tightening when bullion prices fell.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1G125X 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N18N1TA 
    "It's a stable mining jurisdiction with high-quality gold 
prospects," Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara said.  
    Goldcorp, the world's fourth biggest gold producer by 
ounces, started off the mini-stampede last May when it paid 
C$520 million ($388 million) for Kaminak Gold Corp and its 
Yukon-based Coffee gold project. A month later it acquired an 
almost 20 percent stake in Independence Gold  IGO.V , which owns 
a neighboring property.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1894M6 
    In December, Agnico Eagle, the world's ninth biggest gold 
producer, bought a stake in a Yukon-focused miner. 
    The Klondike region of the Yukon was the center of a 
stampede of some 100,000 treasure seekers between 1896-1899 
after gold was discovered in the area. Fortunes were made but 
many left empty-handed, with some heading on to Alaska after 
gold was discovered there in 1899.  
 ($1 = 1.3414 Canadian dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Tom 
Brown) 
 ((nicole.mordant@thomsonreuters.com; +1-778-374-3854; Reuters 
Messaging: nicole.mordant.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MINING GOLD/YUKON