Barrick completes sale of Tongon mine
Gold miner Barrick Mining has completed the sale of its interests in the Tongon gold mine and associated exploration properties in Côte d’Ivoire to the Atlantic Group, in a transaction worth up to $305-million.
The company reported on Tuesday that the consideration included cash payments of $192-million, which incorporated a $23-million shareholder loan repayment due within six months of closing. A further $113-million in contingent payments may be made over the next several years, tied to the gold price over 2.5 years and resource conversion milestones over five years.
The sale follows Barrick’s October 6 announcement that it had agreed to divest the asset as part of its ongoing portfolio optimisation strategy.
Barrick has been selling noncore assets to sharpen its focus on core gold and copper operations. Recent transactions also include the sale of the Hemlo gold mine in Canada for up to $1.09-billion and divesting the Alturas project in Chile for $50-million. In April, the company exited the Donlin gold project, in Alaska, selling its interest to affiliates of Paulson Advisers and Novagold for $2-billion in cash.
On Monday, Barrick confirmed it is assessing additional strategic options, including potentially separating its North American assets.
COO Mark Hill, who is also interim CEO following the resignation of Mark Bristow, said such a move could provide investors with greater jurisdictional and operational focus. He noted that a potential initial public offering of North American assets would give shareholders “more optionality around jurisdiction in a pure gold company with growth”.
