Barrick taps Credit Suisse for sale said worth $1bn

TORONTO – Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s largest gold miner, may fetch as much as $1-billion for its 50% stake in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit mine in Australia, according to people familiar with the matter.

Barrick, which announced plans to sell the stake in its second-quarter earnings release, has hired Credit Suisse Group AG to advise on the sale, a spokesperson for the Canadian producer confirmed. The company wouldn’t comment on how much it believes the stake is worth.

Its joint venture partner and the mine’s operator, Newmont Mining Corp, has signaled it would be willing to buy Barrick’s stake at the right price. Barrick is now planning a full auction on its stake and aims to sell its interest in the next few months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

In addition to Newmont, the Kalgoorlie mine stake is likely to attract interest from Australian, Chinese and other global miners, as well as some financial investors, the people said.

Barrick has been selling assets in Asia and South America to cut debt, even as surging gold prices spur the highest profit in three years. The Australian operation is a 3.5-km (2-mile) long pit at a site where metal has been produced continuously since a late nineteenth-century gold rush.

Selling Assets

Barrick believes there are various ways to structure the deal, the people said. One possibility would be selling shares in the holding company that owns the mine; that option would not include a right of first offer for Newmont, meaning other buyers could potentially acquire the stake.

In an interview this month, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky said it comes down to valuation when asked why the two sides have not yet been able to strike a deal. A representative for Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Last year, Credit Suisse advised Barrick on the sale of the Cowal mine in Australia for $550-million and a 50% stake in the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea. The miner also sold half its stake in the Zaldivar copper mine in Chile to Antofagasta Plc for $1.01-billion.

Gold bullion for immediate delivery has risen 26% this year to $1 338/oz as demand for the metal as a store of value climbed on global economic-growth concerns and speculation that the Federal Reserve will be slow to raise rates. The Australian dollar has fallen 3.6% from its 2016 high in April.

Dushnisky said earlier this month that the company would divest other noncore assets at the right time, including its 50% stake in its Chilean copper mine, Zaldivar, the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia and a 64% interest in publicly-traded African gold producer Acacia Mining.

Asked on a conference call Thursday about media reports that the company has approached potential Acacia buyers, Dushnisky said Barrick doesn’t comment on market rumors but that there had been no change in its plans for the asset.

“There will be a point in time when we’ll be sellers if we see full value,” he said.