AuRico Gold (AUQ.TO) is having a difficult time escaping the image of being a miner more prone to delivering disappointment than gold bars. The Mexico-focused, Toronto-based company announced a C$1.46 billion ($1.5 billion) takeover offer for Northgate Minerals (NGX.TO) this week, a deal that would double its production and expand its geographic footprint. Its stock price promptly dived. At the core of the fall are fears that gains made by the company in the last year could be lost because it may be paying too high a price for Northgate, which has high costs and posted a loss in its last quarter, despite record metal prices. "They did a big deal and they paid a huge premium," said a trader in the stock who could not be named due to company policy. "On the other hand, (AuRico's) stock had been on a tear ... and it has still outperformed the group in a big way on the year."
Shares of AUQ traded higher by 0.09% or $0.01/share to $11.71. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $6.15 and as high as $14.17. On average, 1748930 shares of AUQ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2314724.
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