Gold remained the undisputed leader in metals and mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2024, with the yellow metal accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total deal value.

According to a recently released report from S&P Global Commodity Insights, the industry recorded $26.54-billion in M&A transactions, up 1% from the previous year.

While no megadeals took place, the number of acquisitions surged 32% to 62 transactions. The average deal price was 24% lower at $428.1-million in 2024.

The report highlights that gold-related deals totalled $19.31-billion across 43 transactions, making it the most dominant metal in the M&A space. Without Newmont’s $16.49-billion takeover of Newcrest Mining in 2023, 2024’s gold deal value would have been the highest in five years.

The year’s largest gold transaction was Northern Star Resources’ acquisition of De Grey Mining for $3.26-billion. This was followed by AngloGold Ashanti’s $2.48-billion takeover of Centamin. Other notable deals included Westgold Resources’ $790.8-million acquisition of Karora Resources and Gold Fields’ $1.42-billion purchase of Osisko Mining.

The gold deals predominantly involved production-stage mining properties in Australia and Canada. “These countries – two of the most geographically significant sources of gold – maintained their reputation as stable jurisdictions to investors and producers, eager to capitalise on the yellow metal's upward price trajectory,” S&P states.

While Australia welcomed more investment from junior and intermediate buyers, Canada drew the most attention from majors, led by the Gold Fields-Osisko transaction. The report notes that Canadian mergers signalled a focus on footprint expansion, with producing mines becoming more appealing to buyers than capital-intensive startups.

The strong gold M&A trend was driven by record-breaking prices, fuelled by geopolitical uncertainties, central bank purchases, and growing safe-haven demand.

BASE METALS TAKE A BACKSEAT

In contrast, base metals saw more subdued activity. Copper M&A reached $5.7-billion across 16 deals, with the largest transaction being BHP and Lundin Mining’s $3.03-billion joint acquisition of Filo. The deal also led to the creation of Vicuña, a 50:50 joint venture to operate the Josemaria copper project, in Argentina. BHP paid $690-million for the deal.

While the number of copper deals increased slightly, total acquired reserves and resources fell 52% to 21-million metric tons.

Canada and Chile emerged as key jurisdictions for copper acquisitions, but stricter foreign investment regulations in Canada tempered overall activity.

S&P reports that majors were the most prominent buyer type for copper and that much of the money spent went to assets in the preproduction stage. This, the report notes, is a surprising turn, given 2023’s focus on producing mines.

“Although copper exploration budgets increased annually in 2024, miners still hesitated to rely heavily on exploration. Instead, they found better incentives to acquire operating mines at the expense of a potential future supply deficit, given the current state of the metal's global reserves in conjunction with steady demand from the energy transition.”

Zinc, which had no M&A deals in 2023, made a modest comeback with two transactions in 2024. The most significant was Boliden’s $1.52-billion purchase of the Neves-Corvo and Zinkgruvan mines, marking the largest zinc deal in over five years. Nickel, on the other hand, faced a sharp decline in interest, with only one deal recorded – a $20.3-million takeover of Poseidon Nickel by Horizon Minerals. The struggling nickel sector continued to grapple with low prices and trade tariff uncertainties.

Looking ahead to 2025, S&P states that geopolitical instability and rising gold prices are expected to sustain strong M&A activity in the sector.  The company notes that Equinox Gold’s $1.87-billion bid for Calibre Mining in February already signals another active year for gold transactions.