Ann: Mali Lithium to acquire Morila Gold Mine to become producer, page-151

Oh man.... Barrick had US$9.7 billion in revenue last year. Gross profits of US$2.8 billion. You think US$17 million is "good money" to them for an asset they are actively retiring, which has a US$6-8million liability and that they are looking to fully close in the near future?

The question is, why would Barrick not sell it now for cash instead of wearing the costs associated with retiring it in the next 1-3 years? What would you do with the asset if you were Barrick? Hold onto it long enough to watch the returns diminish to zero and end up costing you money to close it out?

The Morila mine isn't even listed as an operation on Barrick's website. It clearly doesn't hold much value to them.

As I said before, I think a loan/debt facility will be the most likely outcome with possibly an SPP attached for a small portion of it.

The fact that the project which is being financed will have immediate revenue will lower the risk for the party issuing the debt. I've seen a lot more riskier projects get financed, on pretty good terms too.



This is from Barrick upon divestment of the Kalgoolie mine for $750 Million:

"The sale of our non-operating interest in KCGM represents the first step in our plan to realize in excess of $1.5 billion from the disposal of non-core assets by the end of next year. While this iconic gold mine has been a valuable contributor to Barrick over the years, the asset does not fit with our strategy of operating mines that we own.The sale allows us to further focus our portfolio on core operations," says Mark Bristow, Barrick president and chief executive officer.

And that mine produced ~456,000 ounces of gold in 2019...