Newcrest strikes gold in Canada
NEWCREST Mining shares have jumped after the company agreed to buy a 70 per cent stake in Canadian copper and gold mine Red Chris for more than $1 billion.
Australia’s biggest gold miner announced yesterday that it would pay $US806.5 million ($1.15 billion) for the stake from Toronto-listed Imperial Metals.
“We are delighted to add this asset into the Newcrest portfolio,” Newcrest chief Sandeep Biswas said in a statement. “Following due diligence, we believe we can bring our unique technical capabilities to unlock the full value potential of this orebody in one of the premier gold districts in the world.
“We have identified a clear pathway to potentially turn this orebody into a Tier 1 operation.”
Newcrest shares rallied on the revelation yesterday, closing at $25.43.
The company said it would be able to unlock “significant” value from the deposit by applying its expertise and also saw exploration opportunities at the site.
Copper-gold porphyry Red Chris is about 1700km north of Vancouver and has an operating open-pit mine and 20 million ounces of gold as well as 13 billion pounds of copper.
The property covers 23,142ha with 77 mineral tenures. Five of those tenures are mining leases and sit within the traditional territory of Tahltan Nation.