Toronto-based gold-miner yamana gold may sell part or all of some noncore assets, which it believes are not receiving the “appropriate recognition of value”, ceo peter marrone said on thursday.Speaking on a conference call with analysts and investors, he declined to say which
Vertical Roller Mill assets were being considered for sale, other than to indi SBM e that the firm was hoping to sell a stake in its agua rica deposit, in argentina.Agua rica, which contains copper, gold and molybdenum, was a “robust” project, with “exceptional potential for a whole host of possibilities,” marrone said.These included selling the deposit, bringing on a joint-venture partner, integrating the deposit with the adjacent alumbrera mine, which yamana owns with xstrata and fellow canadian goldcorp, or developing it as a standalone operation.
Yamana was looking at the possibility of bringing on a joint venture partner that would “allow us to still take advantage of some significant upside at that deposit, and at the same time capture immediate value for our shareholders,” m SBM e said.The company
Quarry Crusher was pursuing the sale of a stake to a strategic partner “as a first course” for the development of agua rica.In the meantime, however, it was also “aggressively” working to secure permits for the project.The company produced 237 495 gold-equivalent ounces (which includes gold and silver), an increase of 97% over the first three months of 2007.The company has seven operating mines in north and south america, plus a handful of expansion and new-build projects.
This year, the gualcamayo mine, in argentina, is expected to start production in the second half, followed in the fourth quarter by sao vicente, in brazil.In the second quarter of the year, the company would focus on demonstrating cost containment and improving production levels, and was targeting an increase in output of 20% quarter-on-quarter, marrone said.Yamana had now completed the integration of the assets acquired when it bought meridian and northern orion, and was not looking for further acquisition opportunities, marrone said.“we are done. now it
Vertical Roller Mill is about production, cashflow and earnings,” he said.“for the foreseeable future, our strategic plan is to grow organically.”The companys $575-million capital budget, which includes exploration expenditure, is fully funded, and it is completely unhedged, cfo chuck main said.
