...from the old junior fate to the Noront future prospective .

FP says Aurelian not much of a boost for Kinross Gold

2012-04-23 07:52 ET - In the News
Shares issued 1,137,763,923
K Close 2012-04-20 C$ 9.01

The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, April 21, edition that Kinross Gold bought Aurelian Resources for a pretty penny in 2008 for its gold discovery in Ecuador. The Post's John Shmuel writes that the deal would have played out differently. Canaccord Genuity analyst Wendell Zerb says the perception today "for junior developers and explorers is extremely negative. ... The market is turning around and looking at the junior sector, saying, yes, there have been some successes, but acquisitions have slowed considerably and financing has dried up." For every Aurelian there are easily a dozen failed companies that never see their projects go further than a few drill samples and a handful of over hyped press releases. But for all the risk, there is no shortage of junior miners for investors to pile their cash into. Currently the majors are not rushing out to buy junior miners. The lack of prospective buyers comes at a time when other financing options have become increasingly harder to rely on. Mr. Zerb says, "The market has turned around with the attitude that the majors aren't going to buy these assets and that the juniors aren't going to be able to fund these assets to production."