Overview
- NovaGold announced it will acquire the remaining 40% stake in Donlin Gold from Paulson Advisers and fold the asset into a new U.S.-domiciled company valued at about $4.2 billion.
- Paulson will keep a 40% economic interest in the new NovaGold Corp and will hold governance rights tied to its stake under the transaction terms.
- Donlin is a very large Alaskan gold project with about 40 million ounces of measured and indicated resources and projected first-decade output of roughly 1.3 million ounces per year.
- The move follows a surge in mining M&A this year, with S&P-tracked deals reaching $26.3 billion in Q2, and comes as gold prices sit about 20% higher year-over-year driven by demand for metals linked to AI and energy transition.
- Policy shifts and local pushback on new mine starts, including recent U.S. actions on potential deep-sea mineral auctions, are making acquisitions and consolidated ownership a faster path to control and finance large projects like Donlin.