Global miner Barrick Gold is putting its legendary Hemlo gold mine, near Marathon, on the selling block.
According to Bloomberg News, Barrick has retained the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to supervise the process to scope out potential buyers and take bids.
Bloomberg cites anonymous sources. Neither Barrick nor CIBC provided Bloomberg with confirmation.
This is the Toronto gold company’s last Canadian asset. The underground mine is located just off the Trans-Canada Highway, 35 kilometres east of Marathon.
Over its more than 30-year operating life, Hemlo has produced more than 21 million ounces of gold. Last year, Hemlo produced 143,000 ounces, about 3.45 per cent of the company’s total output.
Barrick operates 13 gold mines and three copper mines with exploration projects across 18 countries.
Barrick has been reducing its North American presence in its Toronto head office and has been shedding assets since its merger with African-focussed Randgold Resources, which was founded by current Barrick president-CEO Mark Bristow. This week, Barrick sold its 50 per cent stake in the Donlin Gold Project in Alaska for US$1 billion.
Last year, another major gold company, Newmont, divested certain gold assets in Northern Ontario it deemed non-core. That culminated in the sale of the Musselwhite Mine in northwestern Ontario to Orla Mining and the Porcupine complex in Timmins to Discovery Silver.
