Newcrest open for business
THE market should expect more junior exploration deals from Newcrest Mining, according to boss Sandeep Biswas.
The company has signed 12 agreements to date in New Zealand, Queensland, Ivory Coast, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Nicaragua.
Sandeep Biswas
“We’re restocking our greenfields portfolio,” Biswas told reporters today.
He added that the company was likely to sign further small-scale, early stage farm-in agreements.
“Newcrest is well and truly open for business,” he said.
But while more deals are likely, Biswas said some would likely drop off given the company’s strategy to assess new projects quickly and move on if they didn’t meet certain criteria.
Soil geochemistry work completed by Newcrest at Oro Verde’s Topacio project in Nicaragua returned strong gold anomalies exceeding 1 gram per tonne.
The next step is will be defining drill targets.
Central America is a new area for Newcrest, and few areas are off limits for the miner.
“The primary driver is you’ve got to go where the gold is,” Biswas said.
Newcrest will spend $US60-80 million on exploration this financial year, up from $A60-70 million on exploration in FY16 and $50-60 million in FY15.
Biswas said organic growth was favoured over M&A, but the company would keep its eyes open.
“We’re not in any rush given our huge reserve base,” he said.
The company has a 28-year reserve base.
Biswas said it was unlikely Newcrest would bid for Barrick Gold’s 50% stake in the Super Pit.
“It’s not something that’s on the top of my list but if it came up we may take a look at it,” he said.
Nor is the company actively looking at divestments. It had considered a sale of the Telfer mine in Western Australia last year but a review determined the company could get more value out of keeping it.
“That remains the case,” Biswas said.
“But if someone makes an offer that’s compelling we’ll take a look at it.”
Newcrest shares dropped by more than 4% to $24.49.
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