Equinox Gold – Insights On The Merger With Calibre Mining to Form Canada’s 2nd Largest Gold Producer
In this KE Report company update, we speak with Rhylin Bailie, VP of Investor Relations at Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX – NYSE-A: EQX), following the shareholder-approved merger with Calibre Mining.
The newly combined company is on track to produce nearly 1 million ounces of gold in 2025, with a clear path to surpassing that milestone through 2026 and beyond.
Rhylin walks us through:
- Equinox’s rapid growth since 2017, driven by M&A and organic mine builds across five countries.
- The strategic rationale for the Calibre merger, including enhanced scale, diversification, and the potential for a valuation re-rating as a senior producer.
- Flagship Canadian assets Greenstone and Valentine, which are ramping toward 600,000 oz/year combined production.
- Development-stage upside at Castle Mountain (CA), Aurizona (Brazil), and multiple optimization projects across the portfolio.
- Outlook on debt reduction, potential for dividends, and disciplined capital allocation amid strong gold prices.
- An update on the Los Filos mine in Mexico and how it remains a long-term upside wildcard.
- Key near-term catalysts: closing the merger (expected mid-June), consolidated 2025 guidance, and first gold pour at Valentine (Q3 2025).
As Rhylin emphasizes, this is not just a merger of assets, but a merger of teams – combining two strong operators to build a resilient, cash-generating, growth-focused gold producer.
📩 For follow-up questions, reach out directly or leave comments. We’ll continue tracking the ramp-up progress and future updates from Equinox Gold. Our email addresses are Fleck@kereport.com and Shad@kereport.com.
To learn more about Equinox Gold visit the Company’s website – https://www.equinoxgold.com/
Darren Hall, the prior CEO of Calibre Mining, and new COO for Equinox is very good at optimizing producing assets and the knowledge and experience he’ll bring in should start getting on top of the Equinox assets, just like he and the Calibre team did with their assets.
This may be an area of upside value accretion for those investors that hold the new pro-forma company – applying the Calibre processes and optimization strategy to the Equinox projects. Currently the market is not pricing in the upside improvements in the EQX portfolio of projects, nor the expansion initiatives of several of their mines.
If the operational excellence of Calibre could be replicated in Equinox it would be a home run.
Equinox is not a strong operator. They are a serial disappointer. They did a very good job building Greenstone but operating it and all the other mines, not so much. They could be a powerhouse, but they need to bring in some talent that knows how to lower costs and raise production. No heads roll when guidance is not met or exceeded quarter after quarter. No accountability.