Gold Miners Strike $1B Deal As Coronavirus Boosts Prospects

On Monday, London-based Endeavour Mining Corp. announced a $1-billion all-stock deal to purchase Montreal-based Semafo Inc, which would create a company with six gold mines in West Africa, reported The Financial Times. 

The deal comes even as the price of gold dropped in recent weeks when global markets were routed by the coronavirus fallout. This interrupted gold’s steady march upwards since last May, but analysts believe gold remains resilient and will rally further amid rising risk and uncertainty caused by a global health pandemic. That’s motivating some miners to maintain production despite mounting signs that the virus is creating risks.

Endeavour, for example, identified two individuals at mines in two different countries who tested positive for COVID-19 this month, yet has resisted adjusting its production levels.

“For the time-being, the virus hasn’t affected any of the six operations of the combined group,” Sebastien de Montessus, chief executive of Endeavour, who will remain at the helm post-merger, told the Financial Post on Monday.

The expansion in Burkina Faso also comes after a surge in Islamist violence in the country. An attack on a Semafo convoy last November killed 39 people causing the company to suspend operations at its Boungou mine.

Full Content: Financial Post, Financial Times

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