Mining
B2Gold in $1b merger with Australian gold miner
Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO) and Australia's CGA Mining Ltd. (TSX:CGA) have entered into a merger agreement valued at approximately $1.1 billion.
The merged B2Gold and CGA entity will operate the Masbate gold mine in the Philippines, in addition to B2Gold's Limon and La Libertad gold mines in Nicaragua.
In a joint statement, the two companies said B2Gold is well positioned to operate and further develop Masbate due to strong funding capacity and management experience.
Forestry
Burns Lake mill to be rebuilt
The Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake, which went up in flames in January, will be rebuilt, says the Portland-based owner, Hampton Affiliates.
Despite concerns over a shrinking timber supply – the result of the mountain pine beetle infestation in B.C. – Hampton Affiliates announced September 17 that it will rebuild, albeit on a smaller scale.
The mill's reconstruction will depend on getting an operating agreement with the union representing mill workers and access to a reliable supply of timber. Hampton will finalize its decision in December.
Mining
Boss says Goldcorp not a Chinese takeover target
Vancouver-based gold miner Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) isn't a Chinese takeover target, according to chairman Ian Telfer. In a panel discussion at Vancouver's recent Bloomberg Canada-Asia dialogue, Telfer was asked if he saw the company as a target for a Chinese takeover. "I really don't," he said. "The Chinese up to now have been most interested in the commodities that get consumed in the development of their economy, whereas gold, it gets mined and it gets fabricated and it gets worn, but it never actually gets consumed."
Energy
Victoria, Haisla ink LNG deal
The B.C. government and the Haisla First Nation (HFN) signed an agreement September 14 that could help fast-track a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant near Kitimat and help Victoria realize its goal to have three LNG terminals and their connecting pipelines operating by 2020.
The pact provides the structure for a land purchase or lease that will allow the HFN to partner with industry to develop a LNG facility and marine export terminal on the west side of the Douglas Channel on land near the Haisla Reserve No. 6.
Mining
Market volatility slowing M&As: PwC
A slowdown in M&A activity due to global market uncertainty and a drop in commodity prices is creating good deals for companies with cash, according to a new report by PwC.
It found that global mining M&A deal volume fell more than 30% in 2012's first half. Excluding Glencore International plc's (LSE:GLEN) $53.6 billion offer for Xstrata plc (LSE:XTA), half-year deal value dropped to one-third of last year's half-year total. "M&A activity in the coming months will be spurred by opportunity and survival," said PwC's John Nyholt.
