Massive $6.7 Billion Gold Deal Signals More M&A on the Horizon

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NEW YORK, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year, the gold market saw several monumental mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and 2022 is following that same pattern. Depleting gold reserves, market pressure to bolster valuations and gold asset scarcity are sending larger miners on the lookout for gold exploration companies with higher-quality projects. The latest deal to hit the gold space came last week when South African mining group Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) agreed to buy Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) in an all-stock deal valued at $6.7 billion. According to Gold Fields' CEO Chris Griffith, the Company wanted to grow its pipeline, create a presence in Canada and bulk up its South American operations, shining the spotlight on companies like New Pacific Metals Corp. (NYSE: NEWP) (TSX: NUAG), GoldMining (NYSE: GLDG) (TSX: GOLD), and SSR Mining (NASDAQ: SSRM) (TSX: SSRM) with projects in the Americas.

New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX: NUAG) (NYSE American: NEWP) is a Canadian exploration and development company with three precious metal projects in Bolivia.

On June 7, New Pacific Metals announced that drilling had begun at the Jisas prospect, where it holds 100% of interest, a satellite concession roughly 3 kilometers north of the Silver Sand project. After completing the infill and step-out drilling at the Silver Sand Project for inclusion in the Preliminary Economic Assessment due by the end of 2022, New Pacific Metals has deployed one rig to conduct an initial 2,000-metre exploration drilling program at the Jisas prospect. Silver grades ranged from tens to nine hundred grams per tonne in chip samples taken from surface outcrops and underground workings, and in grab samples taken from mining dumps.

Last month, New Pacific Metals announced assay results for the last ten drill holes from the Discovery Drill Program completed in 2021 at its Carangas Silver-Gold Project in Bolivia. The assay results for all 35 holes drilled in 2021 have now been made public, and a drilling program of up to 40,000 metres is underway for 2022. The most noteworthy recent highlight of the Carangas Project is the intersection of 595.7 meters of gold grading 1.25 grams per tonne and silver grading 1,213 grams per tonne over 10.25 meters.

A couple of weeks later, New Pacific Metals announced the assay results for additional 20 holes from the 2022 drill program in Silver Sand as part of its 15,000 metres of infill and step-out drilling for an update to its mineral resource estimates. A total of 21,309 metres in 94 holes has been completed in 2022 as part of an expanded program. Assay results for the remaining 59 holes are pending. One of the highlights was the intersection of an interval of 60.48 m grading 236 grams per tonne of silver from 82.10 m to 142.58 m, including 6.45 m grading 1,423 g/t Ag from 103.25 m to 109.7 m.

For more information about New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX: NUAG) (NYSE American: NEWP), click here.

Gold Miners Financial Results & Activities in 2022

SSR Mining (NASDAQ: SSRM) (TSX: SSRM), a Denver-based producer that owns the largest silver mine in Argentina, reported its first-quarter production, producing 173,675 gold equivalent ounces at an all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) of $1,093 per ounce. The Company's previously announced full-year forecast of 700,000 to 780,000 equivalent gold ounces at AISC from $1,120 to $1,180 per ounce of gold equivalent remains unchanged and weighted toward the second half of the year. SSR Mining generated $62.2 million in cash flow from operating activities and free cash flow of $27.7 million in Q1 2022. The attributed net income came in at $67.6 million, while the attributed adjusted net income came in at $65.9 million. SSR Mining also recently completed the acquisition of Taiga Gold Corp.,  adding five new properties covering over 29,100 hectares to complement its existing exploration platform in Saskatchewan.

In May, Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI), one of the world's largest gold mining firms headquartered in South Africa, and Yamana Gold Inc announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Gold Fields would acquire all of Yamana's outstanding common shares. According to the transaction terms, Gold Fields will exchange 0.6 normal Gold Fields shares or 0.6 American depositary shares for every Yamana Share outstanding. Gold Fields' Board believes that through this move, it will be able to capture and unlock growth opportunities while maintaining financial flexibility, capital and operational discipline and providing attractive returns to shareholders.

Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY), a Canadian company that owns and operates gold, silver and copper mines in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, reported Q1 production of 238,617 gold equivalent ounces (GEO) at total costs of sales, cash costs, and AISC of $1,212, $734, and $1,084 per GEO, respectively. A combination of outstanding production results and low costs led to a strong cash flow generation, which included $151.7 million from operating activities and $197.3 million from operating activities before net changes in working capital. Additionally, free cash flow is expected to increase quarter-over-quarter. As of the first quarter, net earnings were $57.8 million, while adjusted net earnings were $83.6 million. The cash and cash equivalents totalled $516.4 million.

GoldMining Inc. (TSX: GOLD) (NYSEAmerican: GLDG), a public mineral exploration company focused on building a gold acquisition and development company in the Americas, announced in April that it has commenced an exploration drilling program on the La Garrucha target, which is less than one kilometre to the east and adjacent to existing mineral resources on the Company's 100% owned La Mina project in Colombia. According to GoldMining CEO, this drilling campaign on the LA Garrucha target marks an important milestone for the company as it begins to unlock value from its portfolio of gold-copper projects in the Americas.

New Pacific Metals is focused on continuing the resource definition drilling program at the Carangas Silver-Gold Project, progressing the development of its flagship Silver Sand Project, and commencing the discovery drill program at the Silverstrike Project.

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