Gold Miners Are Finally Making Some Interesting Capital Investments

Last week I was pleased to attend the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. PDAC is one of the largest mining conferences in the world. More than 25,000 people turned out this year, many of them selling equipment services, exhibiting securities and investments, making presentations and much more.

As was the case at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference a week earlier, one of the dominant thoughts on everyone’s minds was Barrick Gold’s $17.8 billion hostile takeover of its longtime rival Newmont Mining.

This Monday we learned that, after both parties spoke with top shareholders, the bid fell through. But rather than continuing to duke it out in the capital markets, the two mining giants will instead be entering into a joint venture (JV) in Nevada. The JV will combine significant deposits and mines, processing facilities and infrastructure to unlock significant synergies.

As a standalone company, the Nevada complex will be the world’s single-largest gold producing operations, according to equity research firm GMP Securities.