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File photo of a Barrick Gold mining operation.Ricardo Rojas/Reuters

A handful of Canadian miners are on the prowl for cheap assets after a horrific year in which low metal prices left companies vulnerable to takeovers.

The mining industry spent 2013 slashing costs and suspended mineral exploration and acquisitions to conserve cash.

Now many mining stocks have lost more than half their value because of the downturn in commodity prices.

HudBay Minerals Inc., is looking for an asset to balance out its flagship mine in Manitoba and projects in Peru and Canada, which are in various stages of development.

"We are looking for things that are probably at least two years, maybe upwards of three to five years away from construction," HudBay's chief executive David Garofalo said at the TD Securities Mining conference in Toronto.

Senior gold producer Goldcorp Inc. kicked the year off by launching a hostile bid for Osisko Mining Corp., which started producing gold from its massive Canadian Malartic mine in 2011.

Goldcorp offered Osisko shareholders a 15 per cent premium on their shares, an amount that would have been laughed at during the commodity boom when companies routinely offered premiums upwards of 50 per cent.

Sherritt International Corp. will soon have a pile of cash on hand after the $1-billion sale of its coal assets closes this year.

The company, which runs oil and gas operations in Cuba, is looking for a nickel acquisition to complement its mines in Cuba and Madagascar.

"We are very bullish on nickel in the long term," Sherritt's chief executive David Pathe told reporters on the sidelines of the conference, saying that when companies have the means to take advantage of this point in the cycle, it can be a very strong time to build a portfolio.

Like Goldcorp, Sherritt is looking for an acquisition that is already developed.

"In this environment you can potentially buy assets for less than the cost to build them and you don't have to go through the process of the risk of construction and ramp up," Mr. Pathe said.

Even Iamgold Corp., which has cut its dividend, reduced capital expenditures and lowered production, is keeping its eye out for a bargain.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 18/03/24 2:44pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
G-N
Genpact Ltd
+0.42%33.26
G-T
Augusta Gold Corp
-1.12%0.88
HBM-N
Hudbay Minerals Inc
-0.29%6.91
HBM-T
Hudbay Minerals Inc
-0.32%9.35
IAG-N
Iamgold Corp
-2.6%3
IAG-T
IA Financial Corp Inc
-0.24%86.43
IMG-T
Iamgold Corp
-1.92%4.08
OSK-T
Osisko Mining Inc
-1.75%2.81
S-N
Sentinelone Inc Cl A
+4.84%23.16
S-T
Sherritt Intl Rv
+1.72%0.295
WS-N
Worthington Steel Inc
-2.53%29.29

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