Goldcorp is being taken over by Newmont Mining Corp. in a deal that will result in the world’s largest gold company.

The $10-billion purchase was announced earlier today. The deal still has to be approved by the shareholders of both companies.

It’s expected it will be wrapped up in the second quarter of this year.

Whether the deal will have any impact on Goldcorp’s Coffee Gold Project south of Dawson City was not clear this morning.

Christine Marks, Goldcorp’s director of communications, said today in an email it’s business as usual right now.

“Until the transaction closes, Goldcorp will continue to be a separate, independent company and will operate business as usual,” Marks said in her email.

“This includes development and exploration. It is too early to comment on specifics of Newmont Goldcorp’s detailed financial plans as we only just announced the transaction.”

“What I can tell you at a high level is that creating the world’s premier gold company with an unmatched portfolio of long-life, low-cost operations, projects and reserves will make Newmont Goldcorp a global gold leader.

“We are excited to be bringing together strategic assets with a world-class partner in responsible mining, in a manner that will deliver long-term profitability for our shareholders, and long-term benefits for our workers, our partners and the communities where we operate.”

The Coffee Gold Project is currently under review by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board.

Goldcorp has stated it was targeting late 2021 to produce its first gold from Coffee Creek.

The new company formed by the merger will be called Newmont Goldcorp.

Newmont bought into the Yukon in 2017 when it entered into an agreement with Goldstrike Resources to gain an interest in its exploration property west of Mayo.

Samson Hartland, the executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines, said this morning it’s exciting to see the merger.

“It’s exciting in the sense that hopefully we will see the two companies complement each other,” said Hartland.

“In any event, we see and we hear there will not be any changes on the front line.”

Samson said while it appears it is status-quo for now, he acknowledged what the future brings is not clear.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Ranj Pillai told the Star early this afternoon there’s been no change in his schedule to meet this week with Goldcorp representatives.

“They are continuing on this week focused on the Coffee project,” he said.

Pillai said he met with Newmont’s senior personnel at the company’s headquarters in Colorado in 2017 while he was there for the Denver Gold Forum.

He toured one of its mine sites.

“What they have indicated here in their relationships with First Nations over the last couple of years has been extremely respectful and professional,” Pillai said.

He said the company did call his office a couple of weeks ago to confirm an appointment to meet later this month at Vancouver’s Mineral Exploration Roundup.

Today’s announcement, however, also pointed out Newmont intends to do some housecleaning in the wake of the merger.

“Newmont Goldcorp will also prioritize project development by returns and risk, while targeting $1.0 to $1.5 billion in divestitures over the next two years to optimize gold production at a sustainable, steady-state level of six to seven million ounces annually,” says today’s press release issued by Newmont.

“Supported by stable, profitable long-term production and an investment-grade balance sheet, Newmont Goldcorp will generate robust free cash flow and have the financial flexibility to fund project development and exploration in the decades ahead.”

The release points out that in 2017, Newmont produced 5.3 million ounces of gold and Goldcorp produced 2.6 million ounces.

Goldcorp has been criticized for not properly managing its affairs, which has seen its share price plummet in the last couple of years.

Goldcorp moved into the Yukon in 2016 with the purchase of Kaminak Gold and its Coffee project for $520 million.

It was expecting to spend close to another $400 million to bring the open pit mine into production.

The project proposal includes upgrading the road running south from Dawson through the placer mining gold fields, as well as building new sections of road.

As the Coffee property is on the west side of the Yukon River, access to the mine site would be by ferry in the summer months and ice bridge in the winter.

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