Barrick denies one of its executives recently met with First Quantum in Panama to talk M&A

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Barrick Gold Corp. ABX-T is disputing an account by a Panamanian official about an alleged meeting between one of its executives and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. in Panama to discuss a possible buyout deal.

Vancouver-based First Quantum said this week it is considering a range of merger and acquisition options as it attempts to stem the financial damage caused by the closing of its giant Panama copper mine.

Ebrahim Asvat, a former adviser with the Panamanian government, told The Globe and Mail on Thursday that Juana Barceló, president of Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo operations in the Dominican Republic, was in Panama in early January, and met with people at First Quantum.

Kathy du Plessis, spokesperson with Barrick, wrote in an e-mail to The Globe that Ms. Barceló has not been to Panama recently, and the last time she was in the country was in early 2023 for a mining conference.

“She was introduced to some people from First Quantum, among many others, at this event, visited their booth at their invitation and attended a dinner at which they may have been present,” Ms. du Plessis said. “Since then, she has neither visited Panama, nor has she had any contact with anyone from First Quantum.”

First Quantum FM-T declined to comment.

Earlier this week, First Quantum said it is considering the sale of some of its smaller mines, as well as potentially selling stakes in its larger operations, as it attempts to mitigate the financial damage from the closing of Cobre Panama.

Late last year, Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo ordered First Quantum to close the mine after the country’s Supreme Court declared its mining contract was unconstitutional.

While Barrick has not yet officially confirmed its interest in First Quantum, Bloomberg and The Globe and Mail have reported that Barrick approached the Canadian copper miner last year to gauge its interest in being acquired.

Toronto-based Barrick, the world’s second biggest gold company, has made no secret of its desire to expand in copper. Barrick already has copper operations in Zambia and Saudi Arabia, and has plans to build a major new copper mine in Pakistan.

Barrick’s chief executive Mark Bristow also has considerable experience in fixing resource disputes with host countries. Since taking over as CEO in 2019, he has played a pivotal role in patching up spats the Canadian gold miner had with Tanzania, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea.

The government of Panama had originally signed a new 20-year mining pact with First Quantum into law late last year. But as the Cobre Panama contract was making its way through the Panamanian legislature, it was denounced by environmentalists, Indigenous groups, labour activists and religious groups.

Demonstrations against the mine gained huge international media attention, with Hollywood movie star Leonardo DiCaprio voicing his support to protesters.

First Quantum took on billions in debt to build Cobre Panama.

As of the third quarter of last year, the company owed US$6.8-billion, and much of that was supposed to be paid off from cash flows from Cobre Panama. Now analysts are concerned about the company possibly breaching some of its debt covenants. To address the capital shortfall, the company suspended its dividend, and vowed to reduce or delay expenditures by US$650-million.

Amid the uncertainty, First Quantum’s share price has been hammered, falling in value by more than two-thirds since last summer.

Apart from Cobre Panama, First Quantum’s operations include two large copper mines in Zambia, and a nickel operation in Australia called Ravensthorpe. First Quantum recently suspended mining at Ravensthorpe in large part because of low nickel prices. The price of the steelmaking and electric-vehicle (EV) battery input has fallen sharply over the past year, owing in part to a surplus of new supply coming out of Indonesia.