SHANDONG Gold Mining, one of China’s biggest gold producers, said Friday it had entered into an agreement to acquire Toronto-listed TMAC Resources for around C$230 million (US$164.89 million). TMAC Resources operates the Hope Bay gold project in Canada’s far-north territory of Nunavut, which started commercial production in 2017 and had proven and probable mineral reserves totalling around 3.54 million ounces of gold at the end of 2019, according to the company’s website. Shandong Gold will pay roughly US$149 million in cash to acquire all of TMAC’s shares at a price of C$1.75 per share, TMAC Resources said in a separate statement, and will also purchase another 12 million shares at the same price in a private placement for around US$15 million. The key shareholders in TMAC Resources, Resource Capital Funds and gold miner Newmont Corp., which together hold a combined 58.6 percent in the company, “have entered into voting support agreements to support the transaction,” the statement said. The deal marks the latest acquisition of a Canadian resources company by a Chinese gold firm after Shandong Gold rival Zijin Mining in March completed its purchase of Continental Gold for C$1.3 billion. It also comes after the coronavirus outbreak caused panicked investors drive prices for safe-haven gold to a more than seven-year high last month. “The transaction is the culmination of the strategic review process we announced earlier this year,” TMAC Resources president and CEO Jason Neal said. (SD-Agencies) |