Australian mining company Altona has told the ASX on Monday it has been bought out by Canadian company Copper Mountain Mining Corporation.
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Under the terms of the deal Copper Mountain will acquire all the outstanding shares in Altona pending approval by shareholders of both companies.
Altona’s primary asset is the undeveloped open pit Cloncurry Copper Project, north west of the town of Cloncurry near the Dugald River zinc mine.
The Cloncurry Copper Project has a measured and indicated mineral resource containing 0.95 million tonnes of copper and an inferred resource of 0.72 million tonnes of copper.
There is potential to add resources at depth and along strike in each of the deposits, and through exploration at prospective targets in Altona's 397,000 permit zone.
Meanwhile Copper Mountain’s primary asset is a mine 300km east of Vancouver (25% owned by Mitsubishi), a large 14Mtpa plant and open pit mine which commenced production in 2011.
The companies said the merged entity would have a “significant growth profile among peer copper producers” combining immediate cash flow with a bright future and a doubling of copper resources and reserves.
They would have two long mine life assets with significant exploration upside in highly stable mining jurisdictions (British Columbia and Queensland) and complementary skills with Copper Mountain’s open-pit mining experience allied to Altona’s understanding of exploration opportunities.
Altona’s managing director Dr Alistair Cowden would be appointed to the Copper Mountain board upon completion.
The news comes just months after Altona abandoned another potential merger when they failed to complete agreement with the Chinese Sichuan Railway Investment Group.