Barrick bid for Freeport’s Grasberg could take years, says Bristow who rules out hostile bid

Grasberg mine

BARRICK Gold did not have competitors for the Grasberg copper/gold mine it has an interest in buying from Freeport McMoRan, but it could years to pull off any transaction, said Reuters citing the views of the Toronto gold producer’s CEO, Mark Bristow.

Bristow also ruled out a hostile takeover of Freeport McMoRan as the “embedded liabilities are significant”.

Said Bristow: “There’s no competition for Grasberg. First of all, it’s held in a US company so no Chinese company can access it. Secondly Rio Tinto sold out of it”. Rio Tinto sold out its Grasberg stake in 2018, said Reuters.

Grasberg ranks as the world’s second-largest copper mine and largest gold mine and would enable Barrick to take advantage of rising demand for copper in the electric vehicle industry, said the newswire.

“It’s reckless to go and do a hostile in a complicated jurisdiction or a complex, old corporation, because the embedded liabilities are significant,” Bristow told Reuters at Barrick’s Toronto headquarters after the company reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. “So it’s got to be something that works out for the best interests of everyone,” he said.