Canadian gold mining company AuRico Gold will acquire Northgate Minerals Corp for $1.49bn.

The deal is expected to close in October, following approval from Northgate and AuRico shareholders.

Glencore International has launched a $1.2bn bid to acquire a controlling interest in South African thermal coal miner Optimum Coal through a consortium with South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa.

Glencore said the acquisition would complement its existing coal operations in South Africa with Shanduka Coal, giving it access to Optimum’s attractive growth projects.

In addition, Glencore has acquired a 14.1% interest in Optimum Coal last month through its subsidiary Piruto.

Bird Construction Company has completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of HJ O’Connell for a total transaction cost of $78.5m.

Bird is funding the acquisition through $15.0m of vendor take-back notes, $30.6m of equipment financing on the current HJ O’Connell equipment fleet and the balance of approximately $32.9m from existing working capital.

HJ O’Connell is a provider of services in the heavy construction, civil construction and contract surface mining sectors.

Canada-based Iamgold has sold its Mupane gold mine in eastern Botswana to Galane Gold for $34.2m.

IamGold will receive $12.5m in cash, $17.9m in common shares of Galane Gold and a $3.8m in promissory note payable over three years.

Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp has submitted a proposal to Australian American Mining Corporation to buy its uranium assets in the US for a total consideration of $12.85m, payable in Crosshair shares.

The assets include the Apex/Lowboy project, Lone Star project and Rio Puerco project.

AsiaBaseMetals has agreed to terms for the acquisition pursuant to an executed letter of intent to acquire 90% interest in a 16.5km² potash exploration property in Vientiane province, Laos.

The company will pay a total of C$4m (US$4m) in cash and an aggregate of 22 million common shares, payable in stages on completion of specific financing, resource and engineering studies, mine development and construction milestones.

Colombia Clean Power & Fuels (CCPF) has acquired additional Colombian metallurgical coal properties from a private party for a purchase price of approximately $4m.

The sale includes an initial payment of $500,000 and the balance will be due in incremental payments over the next three years.

The deal will provide CCPF with a 70% working interest in the Ruku concessions, located near Socota, Boyaca.