Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (
“Kirkland Lake
Gold” or the “
Company”) (TSX:KL)
(NYSE:KL) (ASX:KLA) today announced that it has filed two early
warning reports in connection with the disposition of 32,627,632
common shares of Osisko Mining Inc. (“Osisko”) and 748,700 common
shares of Novo Resources Corp. (“Novo”). The Company also
announced today that it has purchased an additional 863,500 common
shares of Kirkland Lake Gold for cancellation under its normal
course issuer bid (“NCIB”). To date in 2020, the Company has
purchased a total of 11.9 million common shares for US$388.4
million (including 2.2 million shares for $58.6 million since the
renewal of the Company’s NCIB on May 28, 2020 for an additional
year).
On August 10, 2020, the Company disposed of
32,627,632 common shares of Osisko (the “OSK Shares”) through the
facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange at a price of $4.45 per
OSK Share for total consideration of $145,192,962. Following the
disposition of the OSK Shares, Kirkland Lake Gold no longer holds
any shares of Osisko. Immediately prior to the disposition,
Kirkland Lake Gold held 32,627,632 OSK Shares, representing
approximately 9.57% of the issued and outstanding OSK Shares on a
non-diluted basis.
Between August 7, 2020 and August 12, 2020, the
Company disposed of 538,700 common shares of Novo (the “NVO
Shares”) through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange at an
average price of $3.52 per NVO Share for a total consideration of
$1,894,786. In June 2020, the Company disposed of 210,000 NVO
Shares at an average price of $3.28 for a total consideration of
$689,024. Prior to the dispositions, the Company held 29,830,268
NVO Shares and 14,000,000 warrants of Novo (the “NVO Warrants”)
representing approximately 15.81% of the issued and outstanding NVO
Shares on a non-diluted basis and 21.62% on a partially diluted
basis, assuming the exercise of the Novo Warrants. The completion
of these dispositions has resulted in a 0.4% decrease in the
Company’s holdings in Novo. Immediately following this disposition,
the Company now holds 29,081,568 NVO Shares representing 15.41% of
the issued and outstanding NVO Shares on a non-diluted basis and
21.25% on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the
Novo Warrants.
Tony Makuch, President and CEO of Kirkland Lake
Gold, commented: “The sale of Osisko and Novo shares further
enhances our already industry-leading financial strength, which
will support our efforts as we pursue our key strategic priorities,
including investing in our three cornerstone assets and returning
capital to shareholders. Macassa, Detour Lake and Fosterville are
three highly-profitable, cash-flow generating operations, each of
which has outstanding exploration upside. There remains significant
value creation potential at all three of these assets and unlocking
that value is our overriding priority. Also important to us is
rewarding shareholders which, in addition to share price
performance, also involves buying back stock and paying dividends.
So far in 2020, we have repurchased 11.9 million shares for
US$388.4 million, which represents approximately $1.40 per share
based on our current shares outstanding, and also doubled our
quarterly dividend to US$0.125 per share. If we combine the amount
of cash used for share repurchases and dividend payments in the
first half of 2020, it represents approximately $645 per ounce of
gold produced during the period. We announced earlier in the year a
goal of repurchasing 20 million shares over a 12 to 24-month period
and we are making excellent progress towards achieving that
target.”
Both the OSK Shares and the NVO Shares were sold
for investment purposes. Kirkland Lake Gold may, depending on
market conditions, increase acquire or dispose of additional common
shares or other securities of either Osisko or Novo in the future
whether in transactions over the open market or through privately
negotiated arrangements or otherwise, subject to a number of
factors, including general market conditions and other available
investment and business opportunities.
This press release is being issued in pursuant
to National Instrument 62-103 – The Early Warning System and
Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, which also
requires a report to be filed with the regulatory authorities in
each jurisdiction in which the Issuer is a reporting issuer
containing information with respect to the foregoing matters (the
“Early Warning Reports”). A copy of the Early
Warning Reports will be filed on the Issuers profiles of both
Osisko and Novo on SEDAR and may also be obtained by contacting the
Company at 416-840-7884 or by email at info@klgold.com. Osisko’s
head office is located at 155 University Avenue, Suite 1440,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5H 3B7 and Novo’s head office is located
at c/o 595 Burrard Street, Suite 2900, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7X
1J5.
About Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. is a growing gold
producer operating in Canada and Australia that produced 974,615
ounces in 2019. The production profile of the Company is anchored
by three high-quality operations, including the Macassa Mine and
Detour Lake Mine, both located in Northern Ontario, and the
Fosterville Mine located in the state of Victoria, Australia.
Kirkland Lake Gold's solid base of quality assets is complemented
by district scale exploration potential, supported by a strong
financial position with extensive management expertise.
For further information on Kirkland Lake Gold
and to receive news releases by email, visit the website at
www.kl.gold.
For more information, please
contact:
Anthony Makuch, President, Chief Executive
Officer & DirectorPhone: +1 416-840-7884E-mail:
tmakuch@kl.gold
Mark Utting, Senior Vice President, Investor
RelationsPhone: +1 416-840-7884E-mail: mutting@kl.gold
Website : www.kl.gold
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains statements which
constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of
applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the
plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Kirkland
Lake Gold with respect to future business activities and operating
performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the
words “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”,
“anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” or similar
expressions and, in this press release, include information
regarding the sale or purchase of additional securities of the
Issuer in the future, on the open market or in private
transactions.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking
information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect
the Company's management's expectations, estimates or projections
concerning future results or events based on the opinions,
assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at
the date the statements are made. Although Kirkland Lake Gold
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
information are reasonable, such information involves risks and
uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such
information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have
material adverse effects on future results, performance or
achievements of the Company. Among the key factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking information are the following: changes in general
economic, business and political conditions, including changes in
the financial markets; changes in applicable laws. This
forward-looking information may be affected by risks and
uncertainties in the business of Kirkland Lake Gold and market
conditions. This information is qualified in its entirety by
cautionary statements and risk factor disclosure contained in
filings made by Kirkland Lake Gold, including Kirkland Lake Gold's
annual information form dated December 31, 2019 and its interim
consolidated financial statements and related MD&A for the
period ended June 30, 2020, which are filed with the securities
regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available
at www.sedar.com.
Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the
forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may
vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned,
anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Kirkland
Lake Gold has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties
and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially,
there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. Kirkland Lake Gold does not intend, and do
not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking
information except as otherwise required by applicable law.
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