Chicago company buying SD gold mine for $105M

LEAD — A Chicago-based company plans to buy the Wharf gold mine in western South Dakota.

Coeur Mining Inc. has an agreement to buy the gold mine near Lead from its parent company, Goldcorp Inc., for $105 million in cash. Goldcorp is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The two companies issued statements Monday announcing the move. Coeur Mining expects to close the sale by the end of March, pending U.S. antitrust approval.

The mine employs about 190 people. Coeur senior vice president Keagan Kerr tells the Rapid City Journal that the company expects “all key personnel to join Coeur and stay with the mine.”

Coeur expects the mine to produce up to 90,000 ounces of gold this year, nearly double what it produced in 2013.