On a headline basis, the Gold Fields deal to consolidate ownership of the Windfall gold project in Canada by acquiring Osisko Mining would have owners of other advanced gold assets licking their lips.Capital markets firm BMO has noted the C$2.2 billion deal means Gold Fields is paying the equivalent of US$508 per reserve ounce and $203 per resource ounce.Those numbers are "on the higher side of recent transactions completed in Canada", BMO said.
Meanwhile, the sovereign risk discount is again writ large in light of the Gold Fields deal.West African Resources in Burkina Faso, for example, has 6.4Moz in reserves that would give it a $5 billion value based on the Osisko transaction.West African Resources was capitalised this week at about $1.6 billion.Fellow West Africa miner Resolute is capitalised at about $1.3 billion, versus the $3.