South African miner’s $27B bet branded ‘opportunistic’

The deal between Gold Fields and Northern Star would have created the world’s second-largest gold producer. South African gold miner Gold Fields offered to buy Northern Star Resources in a $27 billion deal that would create the world’s second-largest gold producer, part of an effort to build longer-term profits as some of its mines near the end of their lives. Northern Star branded the approach “highly opportunistic,” however, and said such a takeover would expose the Australian firm’s shareholders to “jurisdictional and operational risks.” The rejection highlights the discount African exposure carries for gold miners, as governments across the continent seek to cash in on record prices. Ghana, for example, introduced a royalty of up to 12% this year and declined to renew a Gold Fields’ licence, while in the Sahel, military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso have seized mines or raised stakes.