And Then There Were Three: A New Chinese Miner in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Barrick Gold Corporation announced on 26 May 2015 that it had sold a 50 per cent stake in Barrick Niugini Limited to Zijin Mining Group, one of China’s ‘big four’ state-owned gold mining companies, for US$298 million in cash (BGC 26/5/2015). Barrick owns 95 per cent of the Porgera gold mine, Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the remaining five per cent in the hands of the Enga provincial government and landowners. The deal was part of a broader ‘strategic partnership’ between Barrick and Zijin, and is in line with Barrick’s new approach of deleveraging and reducing exposure to legacy assets outside North America (Hill and Campbell 2/12/2013).