Barrick Gold eyes De Grey Mining, page-156

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...r/news-story/a9de5d23d22955f2072357e811b74892

De Grey Mining a rich seam of activity in gold sector

De Grey’s mining deposit is of a particularly high grade. Picture: Bloomberg

• • By BRIDGET CARTER
    DATAROOM EDITOR
    @BridgetCarterb
  • 7:00PM FEBRUARY 19, 2023

The $2.12bn De Grey Mining is once again a hot topic of conversation, with sources suggesting it has most recently been Agnico Eagle that has been taking a look at the listed gold miner.

One source said De Grey’s move to put out three updates on its performance since the start of the year appeared unusual and questioned whether they were cleansing statements ahead of a major announcement.

Agnico Eagle is a Canada-based gold producer that owns Fosterville mine, the largest producer of gold in Victoria.

It inherited the asset when it merged with Kirkland Lake Gold a year ago and it likes to acquire assets of scale.

Sources say Kirkland Lake has held a stake in De Grey that Agnico Eagle has inherited.

Agnico Eagle’s management had been in Perth earlier this year, which has had many talking, but a De Grey spokesman said he “was not aware of anything”.

The chatter about a possible acquisition of De Grey emerged at the Mining Indaba Conference in South Africa this month, and Newmont’s bid for Newcrest was always considered to be part of more activity in the gold sector.

Barrick Gold, the world’s second-largest gold miner, was said to be taking a look at De Grey Mining last year. Barrick is the world’s second-largest gold miner. De Grey has fielded other approaches in the past. Gold Road Resources owns close to 20 per cent of De Grey but could only buy the business with scrip.

De Grey’s mining deposit is of a particularly high grade.
Its main focus is the Mallina Gold Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara, capable of producing 10.6 million ounces of gold.

Newmont got the ball rolling for goldmining mergers and acquisitions this year with a $24.3bn buyout proposal for Australian listed gold miner Newcrest.

The offer was rejected but Newmont was offered due diligence on a non-exclusive basis to determine whether it could put forward a higher offer.

Some in the market believe Newmont is willing to sweeten the deal, but the question is whether it would raise the offer by 5 per cent or about 10 per cent, with the latter needed to gain shareholder backing.
Some have been surprised at the fact Newcrest, currently with no chief executive, has not put up more of a fight against Newmont, which they believe suggests it is more likely the company will be privatised.
When BHP was trying to buy Oz Minerals, the target was on the front foot demonstrating its value prospects and taking proactive, assertive steps such as announcements to the market about its earnings potential and meetings with shareholders.
Oz Minerals was working with Greenhill and Macquarie Capital as defence advisers while Newcrest is working with JPMorgan and Gresham.

One outside chance is that Newmont opts to partner with another major miner like Barrick Gold to buy Newcrest, perhaps something that could get discussed at the BMO Global Metals and Mining Conference later this month in Florida. The last scrip offer valued Newcrest at $27.16 per share but analysts believe it needs to be at least $30.