An Agnico Eagle Mines booth at the PDAC convention in Toronto on March 3.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Agnico Eagle Mines AEM-T said on Monday it will acquire Rupert Resources RUP-T and Aurion Resources AU-X, and buy a majority stake in a joint venture from B2Gold BTO-T, as it moves to consolidate a key gold district in northern Finland.
The three transactions will give the Canadian miner full control of a large land package in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, building a multi-asset platform anchored by its existing Kittila mine and the Ikkari gold project.
Major gold miners are increasingly targeting long-life, high-quality assets in politically stable regions as discoveries become harder and reserves decline.
Agnico’s deals include the acquisition of Rupert, valued at $2.9-billion. Agnico will also acquire Aurion for about $481-million in cash, offering $2.60 per share, a premium of about 46 per cent to the stock’s last close.
Separately, the company will buy B2Gold’s 70-per-cent stake in the Fingold joint venture for US$325-million, which, combined with Aurion’s 30-per-cent holding, will give Agnico full ownership of the asset and eliminate overlapping ownership structures across the district.
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The deals consolidate about 2,492 square kilometres and integrate the Ikkari gold project with Agnico’s existing Kittila mine, the largest primary gold mine in Europe.
Agnico plans to invest about $20-million in drilling at Ikkari over the next 18 months and between $60-million and $100-million in a three-year regional exploration program aimed at expanding resources and identifying new deposits.
The company said the combined Finland assets could form a long-life hub producing roughly 500,000 ounces of gold annually.
U.S.-listed shares of Agnico were down 2 per cent in premarket trade.
Agnico said the deals could generate up to $500-million in operating and development synergies, helped by the removal of property boundaries and the sharing of infrastructure, procurement and regional expertise.
The Rupert and Aurion deals are expected to close in early third quarter 2026, while the B2Gold transaction is expected to be completed later this month.