Australia’s Orica is to buy Cyanco from an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management for $640 million, 7.5x 2023 EBITDA, on a cash-free, debt-free enterprise value basis. This will be funded by existing cash and undrawn committed debt facilities, plus an A$400 million underwritten institutional placement.

Synergies of about $100 million are expected three years after completion. This is expected to be at the end of the 2024 financial year, subject to the expiration of certain regulatory waiting periods and other customary closing conditions.

Czech-based specialty chemicals company Draslovka has reached an agreement to roll out a global testing and implementation programme for GlyCat, its glycine-based gold-leaching product, in several of the mines run by Barrick Gold. This is the first such trial and could lead to a global rollout.

According to Draslovska, using GlyCat, a non-toxic, food-grade and recyclable reagent, “can potentially unlock substantive savings and generate value for Barrick’s operations, while improving environmental footprint”. Depending on the ore, these could include:

Draslovka, a specialist in cyanide chemistry based in the Czech Republic, has completed the previously announced acquisition of Chemours’s Mining Solutions business for $521 million. However, its proposed acquisition of Sasol’s sodium cyanide business has been blocked by the South African competition authorities.

Draslovka, a multi-family-owned Czech speciality chemicals firm, has agreed to acquire the Mining Solutions business of Chemours for $520 million, or 10 x EBITDA in 2020. This came shortly after its agreement to buy Sasol’s sodium cyanide business $101.7 million. CEO Pavel Bruzek said that the deals were “highly synergistic” with each other.