Bad News for Bankers as Miners Seen Balking at Mega Deals

Miners are focused on trimming debt and boosting efficiency after a 40 percent drop in gold prices, leaving investment bankers hoping for a wave of consolidation on the sidelines.

While small companies starved of funding options may be easy targets, larger ones are finding ways to cut costs and trim spending, leaving the chance of a rash of corporate tie-ups far less likely at the moment, producers from Goldcorp Inc. to Nordgold NV said in interviews at the Denver Gold Forum. Just $62.7 billion in mining deals have been announced this year, down from $191 billion in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.