Some M&A in the mining sector made sense while some other deals are puzzling, observed Luc ten Have, founder of GoldDiscovery.com.

This week Ten Have spoke to Kitco correspondent Paul Harris to record an episode of Digging Deep at Deutsche Goldmesse in Frankfurt, Germany.

Some notable deals in 2024 were Osino Resources getting taken out by Yintai Resources for $272 million; Alamos Gold buying Argonaut Gold for $325 million; and Zijin Mining paying $130 million for a 15% stake in Solaris Resources. The headline deal is BHP Group attempting to buy Anglo American with a price tag estimated at $32 billion. To date, Anglo has rebuffed BHP Group.

Ten Have said the industry as a whole has been insisting on more M&A. Some deals he likes. Other deals are a puzzle.

"Sometimes you have like a clear project synergy," said Ten Have. "Two projects really add on to each other. It's a bolt on, in some cases. Sometimes the merger doesn't make sense."

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