M&A is exploding across the junior and mid-tier mining space. And there's more coming
Big hitters lined up a major mining summit in Perth last week, saying more M&A is on the way
While mega-mergers between majors have been sidelined, the junior and mid-tier space have become awash with corporate activity
Kristie Batten rounds up the key deals in recent times in the gold, copper, rare earths and lithium spaces
Things are heating up in terms of mining deal flow, though it is likely to be the mid-tier and junior space that is the target for acquirers.
A fortnight ago, the world's biggest miners were in Barcelona for the Bank of America Global Metals, Mining and Steel Conference and it sounds like Donald Trump's trade war was a hotter topic of conversation over tapas and sangria than M&A.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) Iron Ore boss Simon Trott, a potential candidate to replace outgoing CEO Jakob Stausholm, told last week's AFR Mining Summit in Perth that the 2024 Bank of America conference was set against the backdrop of a BHP's potential bid for Anglo American, which created some buzz.
'It was probably a bit more muted this year, if I'm honest,' he said.
'I think in the last couple of years, you've seen some pretty large M&A that's been talked about and enacted. But I'd say there's plenty happening still in the sector.'
Citi head of metals & mining Rowan King suggested the current economic climate meant a big mining mega-merger was probably less likely at the moment.
'There's so much uncertainty around what comes out of the US that it's hard for bigger corporates to make big strategic bets at the moment,' he told the same event.
'Can they make small bolt-ons that are down the fairway and make regional sense? Absolutely. But can you see mega mergers when you've got an overhang that could have a material impact on a global business? Much harder to see.'
While the top dogs may not be doing huge M&A, there's still been loads of activity this month.
Copper
'We do a lot in copper, and one of the things we continue to see, no matter what point of any cycle we're in, is everyone wants copper,' King said.
'Lithium guys want copper. Diversifieds want copper. Copper guys want copper. Gold guys want copper.'
The latter point was proven on Tuesday when relatively newly listed MAC Copper (ASX:MAC) agreed to a US$1.03 billion ($1.6bn) cash takeover from South Africa's Harmony Gold.
On Monday last week, Mongolia-focused developer Xanadu Mines (ASX:XAM) accepted a $160.4 million takeover from Singapore's Bastion Mining – a consortium of Lagunas Norte gold mine owner Boroo and Xanadu director Ganbayar Lkhagvasuren.
Just two days later, fellow copper developer New World Resources (ASX:NWC) entered into a scheme implementation deed with London-listed Central Asia Metals.
The cash offer price of 5c per share represented an almost 96% premium.
New World's Antler copper project in Arizona has since been designated as a Fast-41 Transparency Project by the US government.
Local copper producer Hillgrove Resources (ASX:HGO) has also said it would look at inorganic growth options, noting that the market rewarded multi-mine operators.
IGO (ASX:IGO) CEO Ivan Vella confirmed the company was still looking at copper, though it would likely be through offshore exploration.
The company has a joint venture with Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX) over the Copper Wolf project in Arizona and last month elected to earn an additional 19% interest to get to 70% by spending $5.35 million on exploration.
Precious Metals
Gold consolidation has been all the rage this year with Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) and Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) each accepting multibillion-dollar takeover offers.
This month has also brought more silver consolidation offshore with MAG Silver agreeing to a US$2.1 billion buyout by Pan American Silver.
Last week, Adriatic Metals confirmed it was in discussions with Dundee Precious Metals over a possible takeover offer and had given Dundee access to limited due diligence information.
Under UK takeover rules, Dundee has until June 17 to make a firm offer or walk away.
In Australia, the gold deals this month have been at an asset level.
Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) acquired the Old Highway project, near its Plutonic mine, from Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) for $32.5 million.
On Monday, Raleigh Finlayson's Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) agreed to pay $250 million for Focus Minerals' 4 million ounce Laverton project.
Uvre (ASX:UVA) announced the $6 million acquisition of New Zealand gold explorer Otagold, a scrip deal which will see mining entrepreneur Norm Seckold emerge as a major shareholder.
In a further consolidation of ground around Charters Towers in Queensland, Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) this week acquired the high-grade Sybil epithermal project in a deal worth up to $2.6 million.
Rare earths
Two weeks ago, Tanzania-focused developer Peak Rare Earths (ASX:PEK) agreed to a $150 million takeover from its largest shareholder, China's Shenghe Resources.
A day later, Andrew Forrest's Wyloo Metals signed a joint venture with Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS) over the advanced Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia.
Lynas (ASX:LYC) managing director Amanda Lacaze told the AFR Mining Summit that the company always looked at external opportunities.
'The remarkable geology of Australia makes it difficult, in many cases, for other projects to compete,' she said.
'We always end up looking at, are we better spending the money on M&A, or are we better spending the money on developing our own orebodies? The fact that we haven't actually completed any M&A at this stage tells you where our answer has been.'
However, at the Macquarie Conference earlier this month, Lacaze was quoted as saying the company was looking at projects in Malaysia and Brazil.
Reuters quoted her as saying the company was willing to work alongside smaller companies to develop deposits.
Lynas has opened up the universe of deposits it will be keen to acquire by producing its first heavy rare earths (dysprosium and terbium) from a new circuit at the Kuantan Refinery in Malaysia.
Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI), owner of the advanced Caldeira project in Brazil, has been touted as a possible target for Lynas and hosts a deposit endowed with these rarer products, almost entirely dominated by China and Myanmar.
The company is expected to release a prefeasibility study for the project next month, which analysts believe will be a major catalyst.
Lithium
Despite prices hitting multi-year lows this month, there's been a bit of deal activity in lithium.
Last week, Rio Tinto committed to a JV with Codelco over the Salar de Maricunga brine project in Chile, in a deal worth up to US$900 million, as well as a US$425 million partnership with ENAMI over the Salares Altoandinos lithium project, also in Chile.
'Conventional wisdom is that when commodity prices are low and share prices are low, there should be opportunities for disciplined investors that are prepared to look through the cycle,' Allens M&A partner Charles Ashton told the AFR summit.
'It's interesting that when commodity prices are high, you seem to see more deals, but we're certainly seeing, particularly in critical minerals and lithium, there is still very strong appetite for investment, not in the traditional take-private sense, but certainly in the asset joint venture with long-term offtake-style arrangements.
'We're also seeing private capital being more interested in this space, and particularly out of the Middle East.'
In lithium, Australian players IGO, Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) have all been active in the past and newer producer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) also indicated it was prepared to deal once the Kathleen Valley mine was ramped up.
'We're … lifting our eyes above the horizon and understanding what's next,' Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano said.
'We've spoken about refining, but we also want to go beyond being a single asset company, so we're starting to explore new opportunities and where they may present.'
Ottaviano said the company would take an 'orebody first, jurisdiction second' approach and look offshore for the right asset.
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