Financiers prefer multinational giants

Independent miners, pitted against multinational giants, will have difficulty raising money from financiers, said Bob Parsons, chairman of Toronto-based Price Waterhouse’s mining industry services group. “The ’90s appears to be shaping up as the decade where size counts.” Parsons was the keynote speaker at the 37th annual meeting of the Newfoundland branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, held in St. John’s. He noted the impact of corporate alliances and environmental concerns on mine financing in this decade.

“Borrowers are banding together, as are lenders,” he said. “The financial institutions will feel more comfortable dealing with the relatively safer mining groups.”

As well, banks are “leery” about environment-related liabilities, he added.