There is a divided view on the street on the matter of Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM)’s interest in Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX)’s assets. Some are asserting that the miner is interested in the assets while some are claiming it has no interest in acquiring U.S. assets that Barrick has put up for sale. Providing some clarity on the matter, Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg stated that they would be only interested to buy a stake in Barrick’s Australian mine, and not in U.S. assets.
The update
The CEO of Newmont said that if they were to be interested in Barrick Gold’s assets, it won’t be those specific assets. His indication was towards the package of gold mines that Barrick intends to sell in the U.S. When asked if Newmont would be interested in a gold mine Kalgoorlie, Goldberg said that if they get the right value, they would be interested in the asset. It should be noted that Kalgoorlie mine is jointly owned by Newmont and Barrick.
Growing interest
There has been a considerable increase in interest of market participants in a package of U.S. gold assets that Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) intends to sell. As a matter of fact, the interest is seen coming from miner firms in North America. The management expects that this deal would probably complete before year end.
The significance
Barrick Gold wants to offer some of its U.S. assets in order to meet the debt reduction target of $3 billion in this year. The six offered assets are Ruby Hill, Golden Sunlight assets, Hilltop, Bald Mountain, Spring Valley and Round Mountain. The President Kelvin Dushnisky expressed that there is a growing interest for the announced sale. Dushnisky said that they have planned the sale as a combined package. However, they are open-minded and depending on the offer, they can go ahead and split the package.
