‘Proudly Canadian:’ A US$18.5B merger to become second-largest gold producer

Darren Hall, CEO of Equinox Gold, and Jason Simpson, CEO of Orla Mining, join BNN Bloomberg to discuss Equinox acquisition of Orla.

Two Vancouver-based gold mining companies are merging, aiming to become the second-largest producer of Canadian gold.

On Wednesday, Equinox Gold Corp. announced it is buying Orla Mining Ltd. in a cash and stock deal valued at US$5.1 billion.

The joint company will have a total market value of US$18.5 billion, and is expected to produce more than one million ounces of gold annually through six operating mines spanning Canada, the United States, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

Equinox chief executive Darren Hall says the team has an organic growth path to double that output to nearly two million gold ounces annually.

He says the company prioritizes maximizing shareholder value through stock price appreciation while leveraging its Canadian base as a core operational component.

“We’re proudly Canadian,” says Hall.

Equinox stated the new deal makes the company the second-largest producer of Canadian gold with its three gold operations, which include Equinox’s Greenstone mine, its Valentine mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Orla’s Musselwhite mine in Ontario.

Collectively, they’re projected to yield 685,000 ounces of gold this year.

“Both sets of shareholders will benefit from the growth that Equinox brings, Orla brings,” says Hall.

“Together we accelerate into being a senior producer, much more quickly than what we would have done as a part.”

Transaction structure and shareholder split

Equinox will acquire all outstanding common shares of Orla Mining. The newly combined business will operate under the name Equinox Gold Corp.

Orla shareholders will receive exactly one Equinox common share plus a nominal cash payment of $0.0001 for each Orla share held.

Upon closing, existing Equinox shareholders will own roughly 67 per cent of the combined company, while former Orla shareholders will hold 33 per cent.

Shareholders of both companies are expected to vote on the transaction in July 2026, with the deal slated to close in the third quarter of 2026.

Orla Mining sees major growth ahead

Orla sees the deal as a greater value proposition than it would have been as a standalone company, says the company’s president and chief executive officer, Jason Simpson.

“What changes is that we have a larger platform,” says Simpson.

He says the growth in the years ahead will see an acceleration of the development of combined assets in Newfoundland, Nevada, and California.

“We know that we’ve got the support of our major shareholders in this transaction, and we are hopeful that the remaining shareholders will also see the value in what we’ve created as a combination,” says Simpson.

He stresses that the Equinox mines have very long lives in Canada, and the combined company holds 23 million ounces of mineral reserves in total.

“Everything is an improvement in the combined company, mine life, free cash flow, growth profile and an instantaneous production of over a million ounces,” says Simpson.

“We are clearly a North American-focused gold senior company now.”