$Tony Makuch, President and CEO of Kirkland Lake Gold, stated, “We are very pleased and excited to be entering into a combination with Agnico Eagle.
It is a unique ‘strength-on-strength’ transaction that combines the two global gold producers with the best track records for increasing per share value.
The deal creates an industry leader with a dominant position in the Canadian market that is deserving of a premium valuation and is poised to generate superior long-term shareholder value going forward.
The transaction represents a true merger of equals, with the business of both companies to benefit from the significant financial strength of the merged company, the extensive pipeline of development and exploration projects to drive future growth, and the potential to realize significant operational and strategic synergies along the Abitibi-Kirkland Lake corridor.
It is the right deal for our company and its shareholders, our people, the communities where we operate, and all of our key stakeholder groups.”
Strategic Rationale for the Merger
Key strategic, financial and operational advantages of the combined business include:
Creates the Highest Quality Senior Gold Producer –
The Merger will create the industry’s highest-quality and lowest-risk senior gold producer.
With expected production of approximately 3.4 million ounces in 2021 at the lowest all-in sustaining costs per ounce amongst the senior gold producers, the Company remains focused in low-risk jurisdictions and regions with high geological potential.
Maintains a Proven and Trusted Senior Leadership Team and Board with a Strong Track Record of Creating Value Per Share –
The combined leadership team will maintain the consistent and proven strategy of growing both production and profitability per share.
Extends Industry Leadership in ESG and Enhances the Capacity to Make Longer Term ESG Focused Investments –
The combined entity will be a leader in energy performance and GHG emissions intensity, with a commitment to be Net Zero by 2050 or earlier.
Enhances Position in one of the Most Prolific and Prospective Gold Regions in the World– The Merger solidifies the new Agnico Eagle as Canada’s leading gold producer, with expected annual production in the country of approximately 2.5 million ounces in 2021 (on a pro forma basis).
The combined portfolio will be anchored by high-quality gold production in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut in Canada, as well as at Fosterville in Victoria, Australia, Kittila in the Lapland region of Northern Finland and Pinos Altos and La India in Northern Mexico.
Drives Fundamental Value Creation from Significant Unique Synergies Estimated at $0.8B over 5 Years and $2B over 10 Years (Pre-Tax) –
The Merger provides a unique opportunity to unlock significant operational and strategic synergies along the Abitibi-Kirkland Lake corridor and to leverage sector-leading technical expertise to surface additional value across the portfolio.
Highlights Track Record of Growing Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources –
The Merger combines the only two major gold companies to have grown mineral reserves and production per share over the last 10 years through consistent investment in exploration and value-added acquisitions, with total mineral reserves increasing by 127% from 2011 to 48 million ounces at December 31, 2020 (on a pro forma basis).
Enhances and Adds Flexibility to an Attractive Minesite and Project Pipeline –
The Merger combines a robust pipeline of growth projects and exploration opportunities.
These projects are located in existing mining camps and will drive manageable, low-risk, high-return production growth over the next decade.
Provides the Financial Strength to Increase Capital Distributions to Shareholders While Investing in Growth Projects –
The Merger significantly enhances the financial flexibility to fund both the robust pipeline of growth projects and to build on a proven track record of growing sustainable capital returns to shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet.
In combination, Agnico Eagle and Kirkland Lake Gold have collectively returned $1.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases since the beginning of 2020 and expects to further increase returns to shareholders in the future.
$Agnico Eagle and Kirkland Lake Gold Announce Merger of Equals To Create Highest-Quality Senior Gold Producer (All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted) TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
$Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX:AEM, NYSE:AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company”) and Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (TSX:KL, NYSE:KL, ASX:KLA) (“Kirkland Lake Gold”) announced today that they have entered into an agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) to combine in a merger of equals (the “Merger”), with the combined company to continue under the name “Agnico Eagle Mines Limited”.
The Merger will establish the new Agnico Eagle as the gold industry’s highest-quality senior producer, with the lowest unit costs, highest margins, most favourable risk profile and industry-leading best practices in key areas of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”).
Upon closing of the Merger, the Company is expected to have $2.3 billion of available liquidity, a mineral reserve base of 48 million ounces of gold (969 million tonnes at 1.53 grams per tonne), which has doubled over the last 10 years, and an extensive pipeline of development and exploration projects to drive sustainable, low-risk growth.
The Merger will create a best-in-class gold mining company operating in one of the world’s leading gold regions, the Abitibi-Greenstone Belt of northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec (the “Abitibi”), with superior financial and operating metrics.
Consolidation within the Abitibi will also provide the new Agnico Eagle with significant value creation opportunities through synergies and other business improvement initiatives.
Additionally, the Company is established uniquely as the only gold producer in Nunavut and well positioned internationally with profitable and prospective assets in Australia, Finland, and Mexico.
The annual end-of-year gold buying season in Asia is off to a solid start, according to Sharps Pixley’s Lawrie Williams.
Swiss exports to India last month, he says in a report posted yesterday, were up 250% over August 2020 while exports to China doubled.
Though China’s demand appears somewhat restrained, the surge from very low pandemic numbers last August reflects something of a return to normality.
The two countries together, he says, are likely to consume 60% to 70% of the world’s mine production in 2021.
“Altogether Asian and Middle Eastern nations,” he adds, “received 98.4 tonnes, or 83.5% of Swiss gold exports in August serving to emphasize the overall demand destinations of gold bullion from Western nations to Eastern ones where it is mostly held in stronger hands and thus less prone to being put back into the global gold supply mix.”
Swiss refiners are the chief source of physical gold bullion going to Asia.
$Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (“Kirkland Lake Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX:KL) (NYSE:KL) (ASX:KLA) today announced that a quarterly dividend payment for the third quarter of 2021 (“Q3 2021”) of US$0.1875 per common share will be paid on October 13, 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 29, 2021.
The Q3 2021 payment represents the 18th quarterly dividend payment made to shareholders following the Company’s adoption of a dividend policy in March 2017. The Company’s quarterly dividend qualifies as an “eligible dividend” for Canadian income tax purposes. For Canadian shareholders, the US dollar dividend payment will be converted to Canadian dollars using the spot price exchange rate on October 13, 2021, the day prior to the payment date.
$About Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. is a senior gold producer operating in Canada and Australia that is targeting 1,300,000 – 1,400,000 ounces of production in 2021.
The production profile of the Company is anchored by three high-quality operations, including the Macassa Mine and Detour Lake Mine, both located in Northern Ontario, and the Fosterville Mine located in the state of Victoria, Australia.
Kirkland Lake Gold’s solid base of quality assets is complemented by district scale exploration potential, supported by a strong financial position with extensive management expertise.
For further information on Kirkland Lake Gold and to receive news releases by email, visit the website at
For further information regarding the Company’s 2020 Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources estimates for the Fosterville Gold Mine, please refer to the Company’s News Release dated February 25, 2021 and the Technical Report entitled “Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report Fosterville Gold Mine In the State of Victoria, Australia” effective December 31, 2018, both available on the Company’s website and on SEDAR.
Drilling and Underground Sampling Assay QAQC
Kirkland Lake Gold has in place quality-control systems to ensure best practice in drilling, sampling and analysis of drill core. All surface diamond drill hole collars are accurately surveyed using Leica TS16 Total Station Trimble R10 GPS and underground holes using a Leica TS16 Total Station (Table 2). Down-hole deviations are measured by either electronic gyro or single-shot instruments.
Sampling consisted of diamond drill core that was either half core or full core sampled. Half core samples were cut longitudinally in half with a diamond saw; one-half of the drill core was sent to an independent laboratory for analysis and the other drill core half retained for reference. Sample pulps are returned from the assay laboratory for reference and future geological or metallurgical studies. Drill core sample intervals vary between 0.1 and 1.3m in length and were determined from logging of sulfide and VG to geological boundaries.
For assay QAQC purposes Certified Reference Material (CRM) and Blank samples are inserted into the sample stream at rates of approximately 1 in 25.
Samples containing visible-gold or considered likely to contain visible-gold were separated from sulfide gold samples and dispatched separately for assaying. At the laboratory “visible-gold” jobs were processed through a single pulverizer and material barren of gold (‘quartz wash’) was crushed before and after each sample to minimize the potential for gold to contaminate successive samples.
Assays are either based on 25-gram fire assay or screen fire assay with Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) finish. Mean grades are calculated using a variable lower grade cut-off (generally 2 g/t Au) and maximum 2 m internal dilution. No upper gold grade cut-off is applied to the data. However, during future Mineral Resource studies the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed.
The samples were assayed at On Site Laboratory Services, an independent laboratory in Bendigo, Victoria. The facility is registered under ISO 9001:2015 (CERT-40147) and operates in accordance with ISO/IEC17025 (accreditation no. 20456) under National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA).
About Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. is a senior gold producer operating in Canada and Australia that is targeting 1,300,000 – 1,400,000 ounces of production in 2021. The production profile of the Company is anchored by three high-quality operations, including the Macassa Mine and Detour Lake Mine, both located in Northern Ontario, and the Fosterville Mine located in the state of Victoria, Australia. Kirkland Lake Gold’s solid base of quality assets is complemented by district scale exploration potential, supported by a strong financial position with extensive management expertise.
For further information on Kirkland Lake Gold and to receive news releases by email, visit the website www.kl.gold.com