Good deal for Yamana

Article Excerpt

YAMANA GOLD $11.75 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 741.1 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) has signed an agreement with Goldcorp Inc. and Switzerland-based Xstrata plc. that will see Yamana’s 100%-owned Agua Rica copper/gold property in Argentina transferred to mining firm Minera Alumbrera. Agua Rica is near the producing Alumbrera mine. That mine is owned by Minera Alumbrera, which is 50% owned by Xstrata, 37.5% by Goldcorp and 12.5% by Yamana. Under the deal, Yamana (which will still own 12.5% of Agua Rica through its stake in Minera Alumbrera) will get a total of $310 million U.S. if a mine is built, plus a large share of gold produced as a by-product of the mainly copper deposit. The deal also lets it sell Agua Rica, but still participate in a future mine without having to raise the considerable construction costs on its own. Yamana is still a buy. buy…