M&A Heats Up at PDAC

This year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference, better known as PDAC, is in full swing, and it’s brought the usual onslaught of news from companies attending. 
Monday, the second day of the event, has brought a slew of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), largely in the gold space. Read on to learn which companies are buying (and which companies are being bought) — and be sure to check out the Investing News Network’s guide to events at PDAC.

Silver Standard to buy Claude Resources

First on the list is Silver Standard (TSX:SSO,NASDAQ:SSRI), which has entered into a definitive agreement to buy all of Claude Resources’ (TSX:CRJ) issued and outstanding shares. The implied equity valuation for Claude clocks in at C$337 million, and the deal represents a premium of about 25 percent based on the 20-day volume-weighted average prices of Silver Standard and Claude.
According to Silver Standard, the transaction will “create a high-quality intermediate precious metals producer with assets in the Americas.” More specifically, the company will gain Claude’s Santoy and Seabee gold mine complexes, as well as its Amisk gold project. All are located in Saskatchewan.

At 2:05 p.m. EST on Monday, Silver Standard’s share price was at $7.93 on the TSX, down 11.2 percent; Claude’s was at $1.43 on the exchange, up 12.6 percent. Claude’s share price is up 175 percent in the last year, and it was the top-gaining resource stock on the TSX in 2015.

Energy Fuels to buy Mestena Uranium

Next up is Energy Fuels (TSX:EFR,NYSEMKT:UUUU), which has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mestena Uranium by issuing 4,551,284 common shares of Energy Fuels to the owners of Mestena.
Privately owned Mestena Uranium’s key asset is the fully permitted and constructed Alta Mesa ISR operation and processing facility. It is currently on standby and ready to resume production, and has “a well-established track record of lower cost uranium production.” Energy Fuels sees the facility ultimately bumping its licensed processing capacity up to 11.5 million pounds of uranium a year.
As of 2:08 p.m. EST on Monday, Energy Fuels’ share price was sitting at $3.90 on the TSX, up $5.12 percent.

First Mining Finance to buy Pitt gold property

Unlike Silver Standard and Energy Fuels, First Mining Finance (TSXV:FF) is buying a property, not an entire company. The company will pay an aggregate purchase price of C$1.25 million to acquire the Pitt gold property from Brionor Resources (TSXV:BNR). Of that amount, C$1 million will be satisfied through the issuance of 2,535,293 First Mining shares to Brionor; the remainder will be paid in cash.
Pitt is located in Quebec’s Abitibi Region, and is adjacent to Clifton Star Resources’ (TSXV:CFO) Duparquet and Duquesne gold properties. First Mining recently announced plans to acquire Clifton Star, and sees the Pitt deal complementing that purchase.
At 2:09 p.m. EST on Monday, First Mining’s share price was up 3.85 percent on the TSXV, at $0.405; Brionor’s was up 33.33 percent on the exchange, at $0.02.

Honorable mentions

A couple of pre-PDAC M&A announcements are also worth noting.
One is Endeavour Mining’s (TSX:EDV) acquisition of True Gold Mining (TSXV:TGM) in an all-share transaction that values True Gold at C$226 million. The news was released this past Friday, with Endeavour CEO Neil Woodyer commenting that “True Gold’s Karma Mine is a very attractive fit with [Endeavour’s] West African operating portfolio.”
Another is Lundin Mining’s (TSX:LUN) agreement to buy an interest in Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE:FCX) stake in the Serbia-based Timok project. Timok holds the high-grade copper-gold Cukaru Peki deposit, and is currently owned by Freeport (the project’s operator) and an affiliate of Reservoir Minerals (TSXV:RMC). The purchase was announced last Thursday, and total consideration is up to US$262.5 million, payable in stages.
Did we miss any M&A deals seen at PDAC on Monday? Let us know in the comments!
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
Editorial Disclosure: Energy Fuels is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content. 
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