Kinross Gold Completes Sale Of Interest In Chile Projects

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) announced the completion of the sale of its 25% interest in the Cerro Casale project and its full interest in the Quebrada Seca exploration project located adjacent to Cerro Casale to Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) . Both the projects are located in Chile.

The considerations for the transaction include payment of $260 million in cash, which was paid at the closure of the deal (including $20 million for Quebrada Seca) and contingent payment of $40 million in cash, payable following a construction decision for Cerro Casale.

Goldcorp also assumed a $20 million contingent payment obligation under the existing Cerro Casale shareholders agreement, which is payable when commercial production at Cerro Casale starts. The consideration also includes a 1.25% royalty from Goldcorp based on 25% of gross revenues from all metals sold at Quebrada Seca and Cerro Casale, with Kinross foregoing the first $10 million.

Kinross also entered into water supply agreement with the Cerro Casale joint venture. Kinross has the rights to access the unused water from the Cerro Casale deposits. The company intends to use this water for its Chilean assets. Kinross will be responsible for the incremental capital costs to accommodate the supply of water along with its pro rata share of operating and maintenance costs.

The company expects to utilize the proceeds from the interest sale for its organic development projects and to reinforce its balance sheet.

Kinross’ shares have rallied around 30.7% over the past three months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Mining-Gold industry’s 4.4% gain.

Kinross expects gold production in the range of 2.5–2.7 million gold equivalent ounces for 2017. The overall production cost of sales is expected in the range of $660–$720 per gold equivalent ounce, while all-in sustaining cost is estimated to be $925–$1,025.

Kinross is making steady progress in advancing the projects that give it a strong growth profile among leading gold producers. The company also remains focused on managing costs and improving cash flows. Kinross’ aggressive cost-management actions helped it to generate free cash flows of $465 million in 2016.

However, the company remains exposed to a sluggish global economy and volatile gold prices. Prospects of a more hawkish stance from the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2017 are weighing on gold prices.

Kinross currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some top-ranked companies in the basic materials space include The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) and The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) . Both stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

Sherwin-Williams has expected long-term earnings growth rate of 11.4%.

Chemours has expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15.5%.

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