EQX
ORLA
New gold giant, same old mining math
Equinox Gold and Orla Mining are linking up in an all-stock merger that’s being pitched as a US$18.5 billion North American gold monster. In plain English: two miners are trying to turn themselves into one much larger miner, because in this business size can mean better bargaining power, more operating muscle, and fewer chances of getting bullied by the market.
Who’s getting what?
Under the deal, Equinox shareholders will own 67% of the combined company, while Orla investors get the other 33%. Orla holders will receive one Equinox share plus a tiny cash payment for each share they own — the corporate equivalent of “here’s your seat at the table, and also a coffee token.”
The combined company will keep the Equinox Gold name, with Darren Hall staying on as CEO and Orla’s Jason Simpson moving into the president role. That’s a clue this is less of a hostile takeover and more of a “let’s stitch our best parts together and hope the market rewards the scale” situation.
Why investors should care
This isn’t just mining companies playing Monopoly. The merged group is aiming to become Canada’s second-largest gold producer, with projected domestic output of 685,000 ounces this year and a runway to more than 1.9 million ounces annually across the wider portfolio. Management is also touting roughly US$1.4 billion in free cash flow in 2026, which is the kind of number that makes debt, growth capex, and shareholder patience a little easier to juggle.
There’s also a geography story here. The new company is leaning hard into North America — Ontario, Newfoundland, the U.S., Mexico, and Nicaragua — as miners keep trimming exposure to more volatile jurisdictions. Big picture: in gold, scale plus safer geography is basically the industry’s version of “tell me you’re serious without telling me you’re serious.”