Gold losses in years past keep producers from buying more mines

Stung by some lousy investments that led to billions of dollars in losses a few years ago, the world’s major gold producers have cut way back on mining deals – even as metal prices posted their biggest rally since 2010. The value of the industry’s transactions, from acquisitions to venture-capital financing, tumbled by more than a third in 2017 to $8.95-billion, the lowest in at least a dozen years of data compiled by Bloomberg.