Capricorn Metals is continuing its acquisition spree by signing a binding scheme implementation deed to purchase Warriedar Resources, owner of Australia’s largest open pit antimony deposit.
Under the terms of the agreement, Warriedar shareholders will receive one new Capricorn share for every 62 Warriedar shares held. This implies an offer price of approximately $0.155 per Warriedar share.
The scheme consideration represents a 29 per cent premium to Warriedar’s closing share price of $0.12 per share on July 23.
Warriedar is currently developing its flagship Golden Range project in the Murchison region of Western Australia, situated 90km north of Capricorn’s Mt Gibson gold project.
Golden Range includes the Fields Find gold project and the Ricciardo gold-antimony deposit, the latter of which is Australia’s largest open pit antimony deposit.
Capricorn said acquiring Warriedar will add 1.38 million ounces (Moz) of gold and 60,000 tonnes of antimony to its mineral resource base of 6.8Moz, right as it has increased its Mt Gibson mineral resource to 4.5Moz.
“This is a compelling transaction for all stakeholders, and we believe that combining Capricorn and Warriedar represents a unique opportunity to generate value for shareholders of both companies,” Capricorn executive chairman Mark Clark said.
“This acquisition is on-strategy and continues the expansion of Capricorn’s Mt Gibson exploration and development footprint and adds resource ounces, highly prospective exploration targets and valuable infrastructure which will further enhance what is clearly one of the best development projects in the Australian gold industry.”
The Warriedar board has unanimously recommended the scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal and an independent expert concluding the scheme is in the best interest of Warriedar shareholders.
Benefits of the acquisition for Warriedar shareholders include:
- ongoing participation in the future exploration and development of Golden Range
- de-risks Golden Range’s development through Capricorn’s technical expertise, capacity in project operation and development, and strong balance sheet
- exposure to Capricorn’s two high-quality, high-margin gold mines once Mt Gibson commences production.
“The transaction reflects an exciting progression of Warriedar’s Golden Range and Fields Find Projects which have a unique combination of resources, exploration upside and site infrastructure,” Warriedar managing director and chief executive officer Amanda Buckingham said.
“We look forward to working with Capricorn to implement the transaction.”
If the scheme is implemented, Warriedar shareholders will own approximately 4.36 per cent of all issued Capricorn shares.
The transaction is subject to several conditions and is expected to be completed in early November.
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