* Offer valued at C$1.71/shr
* Offer 15 pct premium to Lake Shore
* Tahoe to own about 74 pct of combined co
(Adds background, details)
Feb 8 (Reuters) - Miner Tahoe Resources Inc TAHO.N
THO.TO said it would buy Canada's Lake Shore Gold Corp
LSG.TO for about C$751 million ($540 million) to add low-cost
gold mines in Ontario to its portfolio.
Precious metals miners have been clamping down on costs amid
a sharp decline in the price of bullion that has weighed on
exploration spending, capital to sustain operations and
dividends.
Spot gold prices XAU= have fallen nearly 40 percent from
its peak of $1,920.30 an ounce in September 2011.
The deal comes after Goldcorp Inc G.TO sold its 25.6
percent stake in Tahoe for C$998.5 million last June.
Tahoe had also bought smaller rival Rio Alto Mining Ltd
RIO.TO in a cash-and-share deal valued at C$1.4 billion last
February to expand its presence in Latin America.
Lake Shore Gold operates Timmins West and Bell Creek mines
in Timmins, Ontario, while Tahoe has a mine in Guatemala and two
mines in Peru.
"The combination with Lake Shore Gold enhances Tahoe's
position as the new leader in precious metals by adding another
low-cost operation in Timmins, one of the most prolific gold
camps in the world," Tahoe Executive Chairman Kevin McArthur
said in a statement.
Tahoe will pay 0.1467 of its stock for each Lake Shore Gold
share. The offer works out to C$1.71, a 15 percent premium to
Lake Shore shares, based on both stocks' Friday close.
Lake Shore had 439.23 million shares outstanding as of Sept
30, according to a regulatory filing.
The deal has an implied equity value of C$945 million,
assuming the conversion of some debentures, the companies said.
Tahoe is expected to own about 74 percent of the combined
company after the deal closes - likely in early April 2016 -
while Lake Shore Gold shareholders will get 26 percent.
The combined company is expected to produce 370,000-430,000
ounces of gold in 2016 at total cash costs of $675-$725 per
ounce and all-in costs of $950-$1,000 per ounce.
For the mining industry, all-in costs for producing gold was
expected to have averaged at about $1,335 an ounce in 2015, down
from nearly $1,700 in 2012, according to Thomson Reuters GFMS.
Tahoe's U.S.-listed shares were down about 4 percent at
$8.04 in premarket trading on Monday.
($1 = 1.3917 Canadian dollars)