<article>A rebound in mining mergers and acquisitions is set to continue into 2019, led by companies from top metals consumer China, as a dearth of exploration spending leaves the industry in need of fresh investment, delegates told a conference on Thursday.</article>

A rebound in mining mergers and acquisitions is set to continue into 2019, led by companies from top metals consumer China, as a dearth of exploration spending leaves the industry in need of fresh investment, delegates told a conference on Thursday.
Sector M&amp;A in mining powerhouse Canada had its best quarter in more than seven years in July-September, spurred by Barrick Gold Corp&#8217;s planned $6.5 billion acquisition of Randgold and Chinese firm Zijin Mining&#8216;s C$1.86 billion ($1.43 billion) deal to buy Nevsun Resources .
&#8220;We think that this year and next year will be the years of consolidation,&#8221; Keith Spence, president of Canada-based Global Mining Capital Corp, told the China Mining conference in Tianjin.
Spence, whose company co-invests in mining projects with Chinese firms, told Reuters he had been pushing them to buy assets three or four years ago when metal prices were low, to no avail. &#8220;Now the market is up and we&#8217;re getting a lot of interest from the Chinese,&#8221; he said.
When nobody is replenishing reserves, a round of M&amp;A or consolidation to kickstart investment is the only answer, Spence explained. &#8220;People used to talk about peak oil. I think people are starting to talk about peak gold and in some ways peak copper.&#8221;
Chinese investors are increasingly keen on battery metals such as lithium and cobalt, delegates said.
&#8220;We have more clients coming to us for consultancy services&#8221; on gold, lithium and copper projects, said Ken Su, a transaction services partner at PWC.
China&#8216;s Tianqi Lithium in May agreed to buy a 24 percent stake in Chilean lithium miner SQM, for $4.1 billion, although that deal is currently being contested in Chile&#8217;s courts.
Chinese firms are now &#8220;more willing to invest in projects that are in the early stage of exploration,&#8221; Su said, adding that PWC was predicting a &#8220;huge wave of investment&#8221; in mining.
Trevor Hart, global head of mining at KPMG, noted that miners have been optimizing assets and reducing debt for more than a decade.
&#8220;There is very good and sound logic to that but it has had the effect that the mining sector now needs to invest for future growth,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It needs to replace or add reserve inventories or it needs to develop new assets.&#8221;
&#8220;We see an uptick in M&amp;A activity globally and we also see the significant increases in exploration budgets &#8230; and these will be the themes of the coming few years,&#8221; Hart said.
Reuters

Rebound in mining mergers and acquisitions set to continue into 2019, led by companies from top metals consumer China.

Chinese investors driving recovery in global mining M&A

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Chinese investors driving recovery in global mining M&A

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