Waterton Global Announces Purchase of Assets from Barrick Gold for $110 Million

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Waterton Global Resource Management ("Waterton") today announced that it has reached an agreement whereby subsidiaries of Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP will purchase Barrick Gold Corporation's (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) ("Barrick") 70 percent interest in the Spring Valley project and 100 percent of the Ruby Hill mine for a total of $110 million in cash.

"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Barrick to acquire these advanced stage development and production assets, from a sought-after package of properties. These latest acquisitions underscore our commitment to acquiring high quality assets in favorable jurisdictions like the State of Nevada, where Waterton already has a diverse and growing portfolio," said Isser Elishis, CIO of Waterton Global. 

"I want to thank Barrick and our in-house team of interdisciplinary professionals, whose experience, expertise and diligent execution, enabled Waterton to participate in this opportunity. We appreciate Barrick's recognition that we were uniquely placed to transact on these assets in a quick and constructive manner," continued Mr. Elishis.

Spring Valley is an open-pit, oxide heap leach gold project located 75 miles west of Cortez in Nevada. It offers a highly prospective land package with significant exploration upside and potential. The property spans 11,022 gross acres on 618 contiguous unpatented lode and placer mining claims and 1,701 gross acres of fee lands.

The Ruby Hill mine is an open-pit, heap leach gold mine located on the Battle Mountain / Eureka gold trend. Since 2006, prior to commencing the permitting of the next phases of mining, the Ruby Hill mine produced over 1.4 Moz of gold. The mine offers additional gold and base metal potential.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2015 and is subject to customary closing conditions. Upon closing, Waterton anticipates working expediently to advance the projects and integrate the Spring Valley and Ruby Hill assets into its growing portfolio of high quality advanced stage development and production assets.

Stikeman Elliot LLP acted as Waterton's Canadian legal advisors, and Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP acted as Waterton's US legal advisors, in connection with the acquisition.

About Waterton

Waterton is a leading mining-focused private equity firm dedicated to developing high quality precious and base metals projects located in stable jurisdictions. Waterton's cross-functional, fully-integrated, in-house team of professionals have significant mining, financial and legal expertise. Waterton's proactive approach to asset management, significant sector knowledge and ability to leverage extensive industry relationships has resulted in a strong track record of managing investments in the metals sector. Additional information about Waterton is available online at www.watertonglobal.com.

SOURCE Waterton Global Resource Management