Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold major Barrick Gold has put up its 50% stake in the Super Pit gold mine, in Kalgoorlie, for sale, with CEO Mark Bristow saying the company did not want to be a "passive investor" in its own assets.
Bristow told shareholders during the company’s quarterly result presentation on Monday that the Supe Pit was the only asset within the Barrick portfolio that was not performing to expectation.
“While it continues to be a valuable asset, we are moving down the road of selling our 50% stake in this icon of gold mining. Given we are not the operators, it does not fit with our filters as we do not want to be passive investors in assets that we own.”
Rumours have arisen that Australian gold miner Northern Star has shown interest in the asset, but both Northern Star and fellow Australian gold major Evolution Mining washed down talk of interest during last week’s Diggers and Dealers conference, in Kalgoorlie.
However, Bristow told The Globe and Mail that the company had received significant interest in its share of the asset.
“There’s a lot of very interested parties in that asset, whether it’s Northern Star or Evolution [Mining]. Those mid-cap Aussie guys are doing extremely well,” Bristow said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.
Barrick’s first attempt to divest of its 50% share in the Super Pit fell through in 2017, after Chinese bidder Minjar Gold failed to finance the $1.3-billion buy.
The Super Pit this year celebrated its thirtieth anniversary and in December last year poured its 21-millionth ounce of gold, with the mine producing an average of 580 000 oz/y. Newmont Goldcorp owns 50% of the mine.