Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals has consolidated its ownership of the Copper Mountain operation, located in southern British Columbia, to 100% — solidifying its desire to be the second largest copper producer in Canada and also increasing its overall North American footprint.
The consolidation gives Hudbay the needed exposure to a long-life, high-quality copper asset in Canada, what it has called a tier-1 mining jurisdiction, and also allows it to further invest in Canada’s copper and critical minerals sector through Copper Mountain’s growth along with the advancement of the nearby New Ingerbelle expansion project.
Hudbay said it paid US$4.5 million cash for Mitsubishi Materials’ $25 holding. Hudbay will be solely responsible to settle any of CMBC’s outstanding obligations, including an intercompany loan owing to Hudbay, of which 25% represents approximately US$104 million.
Hudbay’s proportion of the copper concentrate offtake from the Copper Mountain mine will increase from 0% to 15% from the closing date of the transaction until the 15-year anniversary of such closing date, with MMC continuing as an 85% offtake partner. Following the 15-year anniversary, Hudbay will be entitled to 100% of the copper concentrate offtake.
MMC secondees will continue to contribute to Copper Mountain for a period of five years following the closing of the transaction.
“This Transaction is aligned with our strategy of growing copper production in mining friendly jurisdictions and further strengthens Hudbay’s position as a North American copper champion. The Copper Mountain mine is a key asset for Hudbay, and we have been encouraged by the progress of our three-year optimization plan. This Transaction simplifies the ownership structure of Copper Mountain and provides Hudbay with greater exposure to the mine without adversely impacting our balance sheet.” said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay president and CEO.
“Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has been an outstanding partner, and we look forward to continuing our relationship after the close of the Transaction.”
Copper Mountain, an open pit copper mine, also produces gold and silver as by-product metals. Current mineral reserve estimates at Copper Mountain total 346 million tonnes at 0.25% copper and 0.12 grams per tonne gold with approximately 850,000 tonnes of contained copper and 1.3 million ounces of contained gold. The current mineral reserve estimates support a mine life until 2043.
Source: hudbayminerals.com