Barrick Gold engineers and technicians are seen at the Pueblo Viejo mining area in Los Cacaos, Dominican Republic, in this file photo.Ramon Espinosa/The Associated Press
Silver Wheaton Corp. wants to strike a deal with Barrick Gold Corp. to buy precious metal from the miner's Pueblo Viejo gold and silver mine in the Dominican Republic.
"I love it," Silver Wheaton's chief executive Randy Smallwood said in an interview.
"We would be more than happy to do a deal with Barrick on the silver from there even a bit of the gold," he said.
Silver Wheaton makes money by buying streams of future silver and gold production at a discount from companies and then turning around and selling the metal in the spot market at hopefully a higher price.
In return, Silver Wheaton provides a lump-sum payment to the companies that are typically in need of some extra capital.
Mr. Smallwood said he has been trying to talk Barrick into a deal at Pueblo Viejo for a long time.
"I am very interested," he said. "Please Barrick give me a stream."
Silver Wheaton already has a relationship with Barrick and was supposed to acquire silver production from the company's Pascua Lama project in the Andes.
Barrick has since halted Pascua Lama because of ballooning costs. Though Silver Wheaton will be compensated with silver from three of Barrick's other mines.
"I'm more than happy to continue to help them raise capital to put back in the ground," said Mr. Smallwood. "Especially if the capital being raised is applied toward Pascua Lama and getting it hopefully restarted again. I would be more than happy to step up and help," he said.
Mr. Smallwood said he has had discussions with Barrick about Pueblo Viejo but that there was no deal.
It is unknown whether Barrick is interested in selling some of that production to Silver Wheaton.
The rapid downturn in metal prices has made it difficult for mining companies to raise funds, creating an opportune time for Silver Wheaton's "streaming" business.
Silver Wheaton was busy building its portfolio last year, brokering deals with HudBay Minerals Inc. and Sandspring Resources Ltd.
Mr. Smallwood said his company has about seven to eight active acquisition files and is looking for streaming deals between the $100-million and $1-billion range.
When asked if he was interested in Osisko Mining Corp., which is trying to find fend off a hostile bid from Goldcorp Inc., Mr. Smallwood said not at this time.
Silver Wheaton has had a confidentiality agreement with Osisko for some time, according to Mr. Smallwood.
Rachelle Younglai