Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Québec-focused gold miner Abcourt Mines (TSXV: ABI) has entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Pershimex Resources (TSXV: PRO) by way of a three-cornered merger. Abcourt says the proposed transaction is part of the company’s vision to create a larger and more diversified emerging gold producer and explorer in the province.
Pershimex shareholders will receive 0.5714 of an Abcourt common share for each Pershimex share held. This exchange ratio implies a consideration of C$0.038 per Pershimex share acquired, based on the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Abcourt’s common shares over the five trading days ending June 8, 2022. This represents a 27.2% premium to Pershimex’s VWAP over the same period.
Post transaction, the combined company will be 81.2% owned by Abcourt shareholders and 18.8% owned by Pershimex shareholders.
“I am very pleased to see this proposed transaction that will unlock the value of both companies by combining our talented technical teams and project portfolios. Given that we operate in the same region, this is a logical and synergistic transaction to create a stronger Québec gold company,” said Abcourt CEO Pascal Hamelin in a media release.
The combined company, which will be rebranded with a new corporate name to be determined at later stage, would have a strategic landholding of more than 510 km2 across major gold districts in central Québec.
Abcourt estimates that following the transaction, it would own the third-largest aggregate land package amongst gold explorers/developers in the regions surrounding Rouyn-Noranda, Amos, Val-d’Or and Lebel-sur-Quevillon.
This diversified project portfolio in Québec includes two underground gold mines that are currently on care-and-maintenance and awaiting restart (Sleeping Giant and Elder), an operating 750 tpd mill at the Sleeping Giant mine site, 14 early-to-advanced stage gold exploration projects hosting many known deposits, and a feasibility-stage zinc-silver project (Abcourt-Barvue) and a nearby satellite deposit (Vendome).
According to Abcourt, there is also potential for substantial synergies from mining and processing the 5,000-tonne bulk sample at the historical Pershing-Manitou mine; consolidating and optimizing exploration and development activities in the region; and corporate overhead costs.
The company’s current activities are concentrated on the Sleeping Giant mine and mill, located half-way between Amos and Matagami in the Abitibi region.
Acquired in 2016, the Sleeping Giant property has an estimated 486,500 tonnes of measured and indicated resources with an average gold grade of 11.2 g/t. The mill has a capacity of 700-750 tonnes of ore per day, or 250,000 tonnes per year.
