Mining M&A jumps to five-year high

Globally, there were 1,349 announced mining deals valued at $86.3 billion through December 18 this year, up 60% from the 2017 total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

During the heady days of the China-induced supercycle in metals demand, mergers and acquisition in the industry topped $100 billion three years in a row, peaking at $149 billion in 2012 before slumping to little over $50 billion by 2015.

Key commodities like copper, iron ore and gold hit multi-year lows at the end of 2015 and early 2016 forcing major miners to focus on cost-cutting and shareholder returns rather than corporate finance or expansion.

Mining takeovers involving Canadian companies were valued at $16.6 billion in 2018, with the biggest being Toronto's Barrick Gold paying $5.4 billion to take over Africa-focused Randgold Resources.

(With Bloomberg)