RE:RE:RE:friends or foes The main reason why McEwen Mining's (MUX) share count is so low is because they completed a 1:10 share consolidation ("reverse split") about 2 years ago. MUX currently has around 50M shares outstanding, so you'd be looking at roughly 500M shares outstanding if this share consolidation had not occurred.
IAU has approximately 385M shares outstanding.
Market Cap (the best way to compare the current relative value of a company):
MUX $689M CAD
IAU $608M CAD
Rob McEwen started MUX many years ago with a lot of hype given his past success in the mining industry, but I'd say the company's been a disapointment to date.
They have the following operations:
Four in Production:
One in Timmins, One in Nevada, One in Mexico, One in Argentina
Two in Development:
One in Mexico, One in Argentina
One Exploration property in Timmins
It's possible MUX may take out IAU in an all-share deal, but I doubt IAU would receive much of a premium to their current share price given there's still a lot of capex to be spent trying to bring IAU's various projects into production.