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McEwen Copper announces additional US$30 million investment by Nuton

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Global Mining Review,


McEwen Copper Inc., a subsidiary of McEwen Mining Inc., has announced a binding agreement for an additional US$30 million investment by Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto Venture, and existing McEwen Copper shareholder.

Nuton has agreed to invest US$30 million to acquire shares of McEwen Copper in a two-part transaction expected to close no later than 10 March 2023, consisting of:

  1. Private placement of 350 000 McEwen Copper common shares.
  2. Purchase of 1.25 million common shares owned by McEwen Mining in a secondary sale.

Proceeds of the subscription and purchase are expected to be approximately US$6.5 million to McEwen Copper and US$23.5 million McEwen Mining, respectively. The proceeds of the private placement will be used to advance development of the Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina, and for general corporate purposes.

After closing, Nuton will own 14.2% of McEwen Copper on a fully diluted basis, and McEwen Mining will own 51.9%. The transaction values McEwen Copper at approximately US$550 million.

McEwen Copper Chief Executive, Rob McEwen, said: “We are extremely pleased to have Nuton’s strong continued participation in McEwen Copper. Together we are exploring new technologies that save energy, water, time and capital in the pursuit of delivering green copper to Argentina and the world, a product that will contribute to the electrification of transportation and the protection of our atmosphere.”

In connection with the transaction, McEwen Copper and certain of its affiliates entered into an amended collaboration agreement (the new Nuton collaboration agreement) and a copper cathodes and concentrates purchase rights agreement (the CCCPRA), which are described below.

The new Nuton collaboration agreement provides for the following additional rights beyond those in the original Nuton collaboration agreement.

  • Nuton will have the opportunity to provide local currency funding, in certain circumstances, for advancement of the Los Azules project.
  • Comprehensive scientific, technical and strategic planning information rights.
  • Extension of exclusivity over novel, trade secret or patented copper heap leach technologies until 10 August 2024.
  • Pre-emptive rights to maintain their ownership percentage in any follow-on equity offering.
  • Agreement of McEwen Mining and Rob McEwen to not trigger drag along rights in the event of a bid for McEwen Copper prior to the planned initial public offering (IPO).

The CCCPRA provides an option to Nuton that, if exercised to its maximum ex-tent, would allow them to purchase a percentage of the copper products (cathodes, concentrates, etc.) produced from the Los Azules project equal to their equity ownership percentage in McEwen Copper at the time of exercise.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/finance-business/01032023/mcewen-copper-announces-additional-us30-million-investment-by-nuton/

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This article has been tagged under the following:

Rio Tinto news Copper mining news South American mining news