There are two deals that I've noticed with interest lately. The first is that Paget Minerals sold their Ball Creek property to someone called Evrim Resources. The Ball Creek claims sit to the south of Schaft Creek. I don't know if Elmer knew they were for sale or had any interest. I don't think any of it has been explored in the past and it didn't sell for much, $150K.

The other project for sale is Barrick Gold's Zaldivar Mine in Chile. They appear to be looking for a JV partner. It is a producing mine with reserve of 5.56 billion pounds of copper. I would imagine it is exactly what Teck is looking for and may be why they lowered their dividend. The deal is allegedly worth around $2billion. I don't know what portion they would be selling off.

Barrick has already contacted buyers, including Teck, some Chinese companies and private equity funds. If the Chinese are interested it might be too rich for Teck. Here's hoping.