Gold Leads 2024 M&A Activity with $26.54 Billion in Transactions

Gold continued its dominance in the metals and mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sector in 2024, with the yellow metal accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total deal value recorded at $26.54 billion. This represents a 1% increase from the previous year, despite the absence of any megadeals. A recent report from S&P Global Commodity Insights highlights a 32% increase in the number of acquisitions, reaching 62 transactions. Although the average deal price fell 24% to $428.1 million, gold deals stood out with a total value of $19.31 billion across 43 transactions. The sector's most significant deals included Northern Star Resources' acquisition of De Grey Mining for $3.26 billion and AngloGold Ashanti's $2.48 billion takeover of Centamin. Australia and Canada emerged as key players due to their stable jurisdictions, attracting significant investor interest. In contrast, the base metals sector experienced subdued activity, with copper M&A totalling $5.7 billion over 16 deals. Geopolitical uncertainties and record-breaking gold prices fuelled the strong M&A trend. The report anticipates sustained robust M&A activity in 2025, driven by ongoing geopolitical instability and climbing gold prices, with Equinox Gold's $1.87 billion bid for Calibre Mining already marking the upcoming year's strong start.