Cash-starved mines draw new money on bet metal slump ending soon

Toronto

THE world's mining companies are so desperate for cash that more are selling their future metal production, drawing interest from investors willing to bet that the worst commodity slump in a generation is near a bottom.

Producers including Glencore Plc and Barrick Gold Corp, seeking to shore up weakened balance sheets, are looking to tap "streams" of metal from existing mines in a financial transaction that was previously used mostly for early-stage exploration.