Barrick buying Equinox Minerals for C$7.3 billion

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp. said Monday that it would buy copper miner Equinox Minerals Ltd. in a deal valued at C$7.3 billion, continuing the flurry of deal-making activity in the red-hot business of metals production.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX)   (THE:CA:ABX)  will pay C$8.15 a share in cash for Equinox Minerals Ltd. (THE:CA:EQN)   (AUSTRALIAN:AU:EQN) , (PINK:EQXMF) , representing a 30% premium to the stock’s Feb. 25 closing price — the last trading day before Equinox said it would make a takeover bid for Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp. (THE:CA:LUN)   (PINK:LUNMF)

The acquisition of Equinox would add a high-quality, long-life asset to our portfolio and is consistent with our strategy of increasing gold and copper reserves through exploration and acquisitions,” Toronto-based Barrick Gold said.
U.S.-listed shares of Barrick Gold fell 4% in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The deal comes after Chinese miner Minmetals Resources Ltd. bid C$6.3billion for Equinox Minerals on April 3, after which Equinox said it was approached by “a number of parties.” Adding to the rash of deals, Equinox in March reiterated its offer of C$4.8 billion for Lundin. See story about Equinox offer for Lundin.
As part of the agreement with Barrick Gold, Equinox said Monday it will withdraw its bid for Lundin.
Equinox shares rallied 11% in Toronto trading, while Lundin made fractional gains.
A closing date for the transaction between Barrick Gold and Equinox was not provided, but it’s expected to immediately add to Barrick’s earnings.
Barrick said it has sufficient cash resources and committed financing to fund the acquisition.
Financial advisers to Barrick were Morgan Stanley & Co. (NYSE:MS)  and RBC Capital Markets (NYSE:RY)   (THE:CA:RY) . CIBC World Markets Inc. (NYSE:CM)   (THE:CA:CM) , Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE:GS)   and TD Securities Inc. (NYSE:TD)   (THE:CA:TD)  acted as financial advisers to Equinox

Canadian stocks rise, paced by mining

Canadian stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, paced by the nation’s mining shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (THE:CA:$ISPTX)  was up 1.2% at 13,907.

The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index (THE:CA:TTMN)  was up 3.15% at 1,463.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (THE:CA:$ISPTX)  was up 1.2% at 13,907.

The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index (THE:CA:TTMN)  was up 3.15% at 1,463.

Among significant mining movers, Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. (THE:CA:QUX)  was up 10.2% after the company reported strong first-quarter production results, while Pan-American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS)   was up 3.7% after it said the Bolivian government’s move to seize control of a number of privately operated mines has not affected the company’s San Vicente mine

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (THE:CA:FM)  was up 7.2%; Thompson Creek Minerals (THE:CA:TCM)   was up 3.8%; Grande Cache Coal Corp. (THE:CA:GCE)   picked up 4.2%; and Taseko Mines Ltd. (THE:CA:TKO)   rose 3.3%.

Gold stocks also moved higher on the session, as gold for June delivery (COMMODITIES:GCM11)  added 80 cents to trade at $1,499.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Royal Gold (THE:CA:RGL)  was up 2.7%; Osisko Mining Corp. (THE:CA:OSK)  added 3%; and Franco-

Nevada Corp. (THE:CA:FNV)  was up 2.4%.

In the energy group, Suncor Energy (THE:CA:SU)   was up 3.2%, while Cenovus Energy Inc. (THE:CA:CVE)   added 2.5%.

Among tech firms, Research In Motion Ltd. (THE:CA:RIM)   was up 2.4%, a day after the release of its Playbook computer tablet.

Teck shares up on earnings report

Teck Resources earnings more than doubled in the latest quarter helped by surging coal and copper prices, sending the Canadian mining company's shares up more than six per cent Tuesday.

Teck Resources earnings more than doubled in the latest quarter, helped by surging coal and copper prices, sending the Canadian mining company's shares up more than six per cent Tuesday.
The Vancouver-based coal, zinc and copper producer said late Monday that it earned $461 million, or 78 cents per share, during the first three months of 2011, down from $896 million, or $1.52 per share, during the same period last year.
But adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $450 million, or 76 cents per share, more than double the $198 million, or 34 cents per share, for the same time a year earlier.
Sales were $2.4 billion for the quarter, up from $1.9 billion for the same time a year earlier.
Analysts had expected an average of 76 cents a share, on revenue of $2.2 billion according to Thomson Reuters.
The company's shares were up $3.11, or 6.4 per cent, at $51.88 on the Toronto Stock Exchange in mid-afternoon activity.
The better-than-expected results came despite a number of headwinds for the company.
Unusually difficult winter weather conditions hampered rail and port operations, dropping first-quarter sales to 5.0 million tones, down from the average 5.3 million tonnes of sales in the first quarter of each of the last six years.
Coal production during the quarter was also affected by a two-month strike at its Elkview mine earlier this year that resulted in a loss of some one million tonnes. Production resumed on April 8 after a new labour pact was reached.
As a result, the company produced 75,000 tonnes of copper, 4.4 million tonnes of coal and 238,000 tonnes of zinc in the first quarter of 2011, compared with the 72,000 tonnes of copper, the 5.7 million tonnes of coal, and 231,000 tonnes of zinc for the same quarter a year earlier.
Teck's first-quarter coal sales of five million tonnes topped its most recent forecast range of 4.6 million tonnes to 4.9 million tonnes.

A truck is shown at Teck Resources Coal Mountain operation near Sparwood, B.C. The mining giant reported first-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations. (The Canadian Press)

The company also said it now sees 2011 coal sales to be between 23.5 million tonnes and 24.5 million tones, while annual copper sales are expected to be in the range of 330,000 to 340,000 tonnes. It also said it expects "minimal impact" on sales to Japan following last month's earthquake and tsunami.