Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said he was not interested in “piecemeal” discussions on whether the company would consider bidding for any of First Quantum Minerals’ assets.
He added that no one from Barrick had met with First Quantum shareholders to gauge support for a potential takeover, despite media claims last month.
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After the company released its quarterly earnings, Bristow told Reuters: “I’m not interested in working on any sort of piecemeal discussion.”
First Quantum is considering measures to counteract the negative fallout of an order to close its flagship copper mine in Panama, which accounted for 40% of its revenues. Measures include exploring options to “manage its balance sheet” such as selling smaller mines and bringing strategic investors into its larger mines.
The mining contract was declared unconstitutional by the Panamanian Supreme Court after street protests broke out in opposition to the operation, with the incident losing First Quantum more than half of its market value.
According to Bristow, it will take more time for the market to reflect the complexity and “multiple dynamics” of the situation.
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By GlobalData“Once you can understand it, then maybe there’s something that can be done,” he said.
Barrick is building its own copper assets such as the Reko Diq project in Pakistan and does not need external financing to develop them, according to Bristow.
However, Pakistan is facing political uncertainty as the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has contested the election result, saying the new six-party alliance lacks “credibility”. Bristow said Barrick “doesn’t get involved” in politics.
“It was Imran Khan who signed the final framework of the project that led to a positive outcome for Reko Diq, but the civil servants who were leading the discussions have been the same,” he added.
The other equity partner could be Saudia Arabia, Bristow said, as its government is in talks with Pakistan to pick up a partial stake in the mine.
