RE:Barrick is hunting in Canadagoldenrivit wrote: I will bet my bottom dollar they are not interested in NFG as they said they passed on GBR as it was to expensive for no resource 43-101.There is only one 12million oz gold deposit in Canada that fits Barricks take over agenda as per Barricks CEO looking for 10 million oz assett in Canada 43-101 "not yet in production".SBB is fully permited mine under construction and full funded.SBB is in play at only $600 million market cap 3 times less than GBRs sale of $1.8 billion. SBB is a buy for take over.
Do you think ABX would have preferred to select their own contractors, engineers, sign their own financing agreements, make their own decision as to whether or not to sign a streaming agreement with Wheaton or another streaming company, select their own vendors for the materials and equipment, etc.???...because SBB has already finalized much of the above and any prospective purchaser would be stuck with these agreements.
I'm sure ABX would still be interested in SBB, but it appears ABX's CEO Mark Bristow is pinching pennies when it comes to acquisitions, so how much of a premium to the current share price do you think he'd be willing to pay for SBB, and would SBB be will to sell at that price or are they committed to building the mine themselves in a high inflationary and rising interest rate environment? Remember, you need a buyer and a seller to both argee to the same compensation for a takeout to be proposed to shareholders, or ABX could go the hostile takeover route, but that is messy.
SBB current Market Cap: $576M
Estimated cost of SBB mine: $610M
(I think it wil end up costing signficantly more if and when it is completed - sealifts, Nunavut, inflation, etc.)
Estimated date of first pour: Q1 2025
(I suspect they will not meet this estimate and first pour will be delayed given its location, though I'm more confident they will go over-budget than miss the first pour target).
There are a other companies out there that could also be in play, but if Bristow insists he will not overpay for any operation, how much do you think he will offer for any given gold explorer / mine builder / junior producer? For example, PGM (Red Lake, Ontario) is in trouble but has a current market cap of only $95M - bargain, even with their baggage...? How about ARTG ($628M - B.C.), or maybe MOZ ($389M -Newfoundland)...?
Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.....