On June 30, 2017, Barrick Gold Corp. (Barrick) completed the sale of a 50-per-cent interest in the Veladero mine in San Juan province, Argentina, to Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd. (SDG) for US$960 million. Following the sale, each of Barrick and SDG holds an indirect 50-per-cent interest in Minera Argentina Gold S.R.L., the joint venture company that owns the Veladero mine. The formation of the 50/50 joint venture marks the completion of the first of three steps outlined in a strategic cooperation agreement between Barrick and SDG. In keeping with the second step in the agreement, the two companies have also formed a working group to explore the joint development of the Pascua-Lama deposit. As a third step, Barrick and SDG will evaluate additional investment opportunities on the highly prospective El Indio Gold Belt on the border of Argentina and Chile.
Barrick is the world’s largest gold mining company and one of Canada’s leading global corporations. SDG is a leading gold mining company in China and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
SDG’s legal team was led by Huijie Duan, Director of Department of Legal Affairs.
Norton Rose Fulbright acted as external transaction counsel to SDG, with a team led by Yi Wang (Beijing) and David McIntyre (Toronto), and supported by Lianying Wang, Tom Wong and Lucy Liu (corporate). Competition law advice was provided by Marc Waha with support from Sophie Chen (Hong Kong).
Barrick’s legal team was led by Rich Haddock, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and Andrew Hastings, Vice President and Senior Counsel.
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP acted as external transaction counsel to Barrick, with a team led by Melanie Shishler, and including Joshua Kuretzky, Steve Cutler and Jeffrey Li (mining and M&A), Scott Hyman (finance), Geoffrey Turner (tax), Sarah Powell (environmental), and John Bodrug and Jim Dinning (competition).