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VANCOUVER, March 28 (Reuters) – More partnership deals are likely in the gold industry as miners start investing in new projects again but are keen to lower the risk, analysts said after Goldcorp Inc and Barrick Gold Corp’s announced a 50-50 joint venture in Chile.
The joint venture will work on developing gold mines in northern Chile’s Maricunga belt and includes the Cerro Casale project, one of the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits.
After five years of painful belt-tightening as the price of gold fell, the industry’s biggest companies have started to loosen their purse strings to build mines and find new deposits to replenish falling production and reserves.
But miners remain cautious after Barrick and others suffered high-profile cost blowouts on developments during the last boom.