Barrick Gold Close to Selling Package of US Assets

Bloomberg reported that Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) is close to selling a package of US-based assets. The major gold miner is expected to make an announcement about the sale before the end of the year.
As quoted in the market news:

“If we get the price that we think represents full value then that’s the objective but otherwise, no distress sales,” Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky said in a telephone interview after the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The Toronto- based company has moved to the second stage of the sales process and continues to see high interest for the mines, he said.

Barrick announced plans in August to sell six non-core assets in Nevada and Montana. Since then, rival Newmont Mining Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Gary Goldberg has said he would be interested in buying out Barrick’s 50 percent stake at Kalgoorlie in Australia, which was not among those that were for sale. On Thursday, Dushnisky made it clear he would be willing to sell that as well — as long as the price is right.

“If we received full value for the 50 percent we would certainly consider it,” Dushnisky said. “It’s a great asset.” He declined to say what Barrick believes the super pit is worth.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.