The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that gold hit a four-month high on Friday, trading at $1,338.39 per ounce on the back of strong production outlooks from companies, higher price predictions from bank analysts and merger activity. The Post's Gabriel Friedman writes that Barrick Gold has not yet released its full 2017 production, and in the third quarter, lowered its high-end gold production from 5.6 million to 5.5 million ounces. Its annual gold production has declined for consecutive years, and the company previously said it aims to reduce debt in 2018 from $6.4-billion to $5-billion. There are still mergers in play. On Friday, First Majestic Silver announced it will acquire the gold- and silver-focused Primero Mining for $320-million. Primero shares jumped 125 per cent on the news, but First Majestic fell 3.5 per cent. The deal gives Mexico-focused First Majestic possession of Primero's San Dimas property in Sinaloa, a century-old mine that through the first three quarters of 2017 produced 99,000 ounces of gold equivalent and 2.64 million ounces of silver. As part of the deal, First Majestic also agreed to restructure Primero's existing silver streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals.