Kirkland Lake and Newmarket Merging to Create Midtier Gold Producer


Kirkland Lake owns and operates its flagship Macassa mine complex, shown here; and the Holt, Holloway and
Taylor mines in northeast Ontario. It is targeting production of 270,000-290,000 oz of gold in 2016.
(Photo: Kirkland Lake Gold)
Kirkland Lake Gold and Newmarket Gold have entered into a definitive agreement to merge, creating a midtier gold company that will produce more than 500,000 ounces per year (oz/y) from underground mines in Canada and Australia. Combined cash costs of production during 2016 are estimated at under $650/oz, and all-in sustaining costs are estimated at under $1,015/oz.

Both companies are headquartered in Canada—Kirkland Lake in Toronto and Newmarket in Vancouver. The combined company will carry the name of Kirkland Lake Gold and will have a market capitalization of about C$2.4 billion. Existing Kirkland Lake and Newmarket shareholders will own approximately 57% and 43% of the combined company, respectively. The companies expect the transaction to close before year-end 2016.

Kirkland Lake owns and operates its flagship Macassa mine complex and the Holt, Holloway and Taylor mines in northeast Ontario and is targeting production of between 270,000 oz and 290,000 oz of gold in 2016.

Newmarket has three mines in Australia, its flagship Fosterville mine, its Stawell mine in the state of Victoria and its Cosmo mine in the Northern Territory. The company is forecasting production of 225,000 oz to 235,000 oz of gold during 2016.

Newmarket also has a pipeline of growth projects in Australia, including the Maud Creek gold project in the Northern Territory and the Big Hill gold project in Victoria.

Kirkland Lake President and CEO Tony Makuch said, “The combination with Newmarket is a very attractive opportunity for our shareholders. The potential that exists at Macassa as we continue to access higher- grade mineralization in the South Mine Complex at depth will be complemented by Fosterville, a high-grade operation with exceptional successful drilling results.”

As featured in Womp 2016 Vol 11 - www.womp-int.com