-->By Nicole Mordant
Reuters
Thursday, May 27, 2004

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5281148

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Two Canadian mining
firms due to merge next month received separate
unsolicited takeover offers on Thursday from two
U.S.-based miners looking to break up the planned
marriage.

Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. offered $1.7
billion (C$2.5 billion) in stock and cash to buy
mid-sized gold producer Wheaton River Minerals Ltd.,
which agreed in March to an offer from rival Iamgold
Corp. to create one of the world's 10 biggest gold
miners.

Separately, Denver-based Golden Star Resources Ltd.
launched an all-share bid worth about $884 million for
Toronto-based Iamgold, a company with ambitions to
expand its gold portfolio outside of West Africa.

In an unusual move, Golden Star and Coeur, the world's
biggest silver producer, agreed that if they are successful
they will split the breakup fees from the Wheaton
River/Iamgold deal. The net result of this would be that
Coeur would pay Golden Star $26 million, according to
Golden Star.

Coeur, in a letter sent to Wheaton River chairman and
chief executive Ian Telfer, said that it was prepared to
offer the equivalent of $3.28 per Wheaton River share
(C$4.50) to acquire the Vancouver-based company -- a
14 percent premium to Wheaton River's closing stock
price on Thursday.

(...)

Wheaton River shareholders are due to vote on the Wheaton
River-Iamgold combination on June 8.