Deals in brief

Newmont completes sale of stake in Continental Gold for $260m

Newmont Corporation has completed the sale of its 19.9% equity stake in Continental Gold, as part of the Chinese firm Zijin Mining’s C$1.4bn ($1.05bn) acquisition of Continental Gold, for a cash consideration of $260m.

Newmont noted that the sale was part of a contractual arrangement to support Zijin Mining’s acquisition of Continental.

This transaction also marks the closing of Zijin Mining’s acquisition of Continental Gold.

In December last year, Zijin Mining signed a definitive agreement to acquire Continental Gold, pursuant to which Zijin Mining agreed to buy all of the outstanding shares of Continental Gold at C$5.50 ($4.14) a share.

Newmont president and CEO Tom Palmer said: “Selling our Continental stake into a strong bid allowed us to generate $260m in cash that will support our disciplined approach to capital allocation, including strengthening our investment grade balance sheet, investing in our highest returning projects, and returning excess cash to our shareholders.

“Combined with the sale of our interests in Continental and KCGM, once we complete the sale of Red Lake this quarter, we will have generated more than $1.4bn in asset sales in less than a year since closing the Goldcorp acquisition last April.”

Last month, China’s Zijin Mining received approval from the Canadian Investment Canada Act to acquire a 100% equity interest in mining firm Continental Gold for C$1.33bn ($996m).

Newmont’s portfolio of worldwide operations and projects enable it to sequence profitable projects in its pipeline to maintain consistent gold production over a long period.

Last month, Newmont announced that its Boddington mine in Western Australia is set to become the world’s first autonomous gold mine once it becomes fully operational.

Newcrest finalises Indonesia’s Gosowong mine sale to Indotan

Gold exploration and development firm Newcrest Mining has finalised the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary Newcrest Singapore Holdings (NSH) to Indotan Halmahera Bangkit.

NSH holds a 75% interest in PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (PT NHM), which owns and operates the Gosowong mine in Indonesia.

GR Silver agrees to acquire Plomosas project from First Majestic

Canadian silver company GR Silver Mining has signed a definitive binding share purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire all of the shares of Minera La Rastra from First Majestic Silver.

The acquisition will be carried out through GR Silver Mining’s Mexican subsidiary.

Upon completion of the acquisition, the company will hold a 100% ownership of Minera La Rastra’s Plomosas silver project.

Battery Minerals to acquire majority stake in Gippsland Prospecting

Australian firm Battery Minerals has signed a binding agreement to purchase a 67% stake in Gippsland Prospecting.

After winning a tender from the government of Victoria in Australia, Gippsland Prospecting gained sole right to apply for an exploration licence next to exploration firm Stavely Minerals’ copper-gold project in Victoria, known as the Thursday’s Gossan project.

Paladin Energy secures ministry consent to sell African subsidiary

Australia-based uranium company Paladin Energy has today announced that the company has secured the outstanding ministry consent required for the completion of the sale of its 85% stake in its subsidiary, Paladin Africa, to Lotus Resources and Lily Resources.

Canada approves Zijin’s $996m Continental Gold acquisition

China’s Zijin Mining has received approval from the Canadian Investment Canada Act to acquire 100% equity interest in mining firm Continental Gold for C$1.33bn ($996m).

Additionally, the company received all three of the required regulatory approvals from China. In December last year, Zijin Mining signed a definitive agreement to acquire Continental Gold.