Basically, said that I concur 15002post that if it is not about us then it at least hilights the area and may be a sign that acquistion capital is starting to loosen up. Also was trying to post the full Reuter story that states the two targets are gold and silver developments which may rule us out.
I will try again. See below.
By Marco Aquino and Dana Ford
LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian precious metals miner Buenaventura (BUEv.LM) (BVN.N) is in talks to buy controlling stakes in two Argentine junior miners, the company's top official said on Thursday.
Though most metals prices have plummeted on the global economic slowdown, gold rates have remained relatively stable, enabling miners like Buenaventura to push ahead with expansion plans while producers of strictly nonferrous metals are largely being forced to cut back.
The two Argentine junior miners under consideration, which Benavides declined to identify, are gold and silver developments.
"The idea in these specific projects is that we'd have a majority participation, or 100 percent control," Chief Executive Roque Benavides said at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit in Lima. "We are in conversations. There is nothing concrete to report yet."
Besides its direct operations, Buenaventura has minority stakes in Yanacocha, one of Latin America's largest gold mines, and Cerro Verde, a large copper pit.
Benavides forecast the company's gold output for the year, excluding its share of production from the Yanacocha mine, at a bit above 450,000 ounces, which is more than the 422,732 ounces reported for 2008.
Including Yanacocha, the company expects to produce 1.3 million ounces of gold this year, up from 1.2 million ounces in 2008.
PROJECTS AND EXPLORATION BUDGETS
Production at the La Zanja gold project in Peru, which Buenaventura operates with Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N), could start as early as the first quarter of 2010, said Benavides. Once operational, the mine is expected to produce some 100,000 ounces of gold per year, for roughly 10 years.
Tantahuatay, Buenaventura's second gold development underway, is slated to start production in 2011 and is also forecast to produce some 100,000 ounces of gold annually.
Benavides said construction at Tantahuatay could start as early as mid-2010, once an environmental study is approved.
He stressed the necessity of prioritizing projects in the context of a global slowdown.
"We have lowered a budget of some $35 million (in 2008) to roughly $20 million in exploration investment," said Benavides about both this year and next.
He ruled out the possibility of forward sales, or hedges, to lock in metals prices received for sales.
Peru is the world's top producer of silver, No. 2 in copper and zinc and ranks sixth in gold.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Dana Ford; Editing by Christian Wiessner)