Barrick Gold to buy copper miner

Barrick Gold has beaten a Chinese rival to buy a major copper miner.

The world’s biggest gold producer will pay 7bn Canadian dollars ($7.3bn, £4.5bn) for Equinox Minerals.

The offer, which has been accepted, is 16% higher than a rival bid from China’s Minmetals earlier this month.

Equinox owns the Lumwana copper and uranium mine in Zambia – Africa’s third largest – and the Jabal Sayid copper deposits currently under development in Saudi Arabia.

The firm, which is jointly listed in Canada and Australia, said that Barrick’s offer was superior not only in terms of price, but also its likelihood of being completed.

Equinox has agreed not to seek any other bids and to give Barrick the right to match any other solicited bids received. It also agreed to pay Barrick a 250m Canadian dollar fine if it withdraws from the takeover.

“The acquisition of Equinox would add a high-quality, long-life asset to our portfolio and is consistent with our strategy of increasing gold and copper reserves through exploration and acquisitions,” said the Canadian gold producer’s chief executive Aaron Regent in a statement on the firm’s website.

“Combined with our Zaldivar mine and Cerro Casale project in Chile, this acquisition would position Barrick with significant production growth potential in two of the most prolific copper-producing regions of the world.”