Goldcorp sells Osisko shares for $530M

Goldcorp (g-t, gg-n) has sold its 10.1% equity interest in Osisko Mining (osk-t) for roughly $530 million.

In what it says is a move to deploy internal capital from non-core assets to fund growth, the gold major sold about 38.6 million shares in Osisko at $13.75 apiece.

“The transaction reinforces our disciplined approach to maintaining an investment grade balance sheet,” Chuck Jeannes, Goldcorp’s president and chief executive, explained in a written statement.

“With over $1 billion in cash and forecast cash flows of nearly $2.5 billion at current metal prices in 2011, we have the required liquidity to fund our exceptional growth profile.”

Goldcorp’s growth projects include Cochenour at Red Lake, Éléonore in Quebec, El Morro in Chile, the Noche Buena and Camino Rojo satellite projects near Penasquito, and Cerro Negro. It expects first gold production from Cerro Negro in mid-2013, Cochenour in 2014, Camino Rojo in 2014, Éléonore in late 2014, and El Morro in late 2015. It also expects production at its 40%-owned Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic will start later this year.

The company will release year-end financial statements on Feb. 24. But in early January it gave a sneak preview, reporting that 2010 gold production increased to a record 2.52 million oz. It also forecast gold production will grow to 2.7 million oz. this year, and over the next five years to expand by 60%, with cash costs below US$300 per oz.

Highlights of 2010 included Goldcorp’s acquisition of Andean Resources and its advanced-stage, high-grade Cerro Negro deposit in southern Argentina, and the start of commercial production at its Penasquito mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Over the course of its 23-year mine life, Penasquito is forecast to produce an annual average of 500,000 oz. gold, 28 million oz. silver, 450 million lbs. zinc, and 200 million lbs. lead at net negative byproduct cash costs.

At presstime in Toronto, Goldcorp was trading at $43.08 per share and over the last year has traded between a low of $37.74 on March 30, 2010, and a high of $48.96 on Nov. 9. The company has 798.4 million shares outstanding.