Yamana Gold plans to list shares of Brio unit in third quarter

(Reuters) - Yamana Gold Inc plans to make its Brio Gold unit a publicly listed company in the third quarter to realize the unit's "considerable value," the Canadian gold producer said on Wednesday.

Yamana has engaged National Bank Financial Inc and CIBC World Markets Inc as financial advisers to assist in the listing, it said in a statement. Yamana did not provide any details on how shares in Brio would be offered to the public.

Yamana created Brio in December 2014 by parceling off some of its noncore Brazilian assets into a subsidiary. It said on Wednesday that "considerable progress" has been made to improve the operations at its producing mines. It noted efforts at Brio's C1 Santa Luz mine have advanced more quickly than anticipated.

Brio Chief Executive Gil Clausen said last month that a public listing of the unit could be in the cards for 2015, as well as acquisitions of modest-sized assets.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver)