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Cyprium Metals (ASX:CYM) to purchase Metals X (ASX:MLX) WA copper assets for $60M

Mining
ASX:CYM      MCAP $48.79M
10 February 2021 12:10 (AEST)

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Cyprium Metals (CYM) has entered a share sale agreement with Metals X (MLX) to acquire its portfolio of copper assets in Western Australia.

Specifically, Cyprium will acquire 100 per cent of Metals X’s subsidiary, Paterson Copper, which owns three prospective copper projects. These include the Nifty Copper Mine, Maroochydore Copper Project and the Paterson Exploration Project — all of which are located in the highly prospective Paterson Province of WA.

Notably, the Paterson Exploration Project is held in a farm-in agreement with fellow ASX-lister, IGO (IGO). IGO is solely funding $32 million of exploration activities over 6.5 years to earn a 70 per cent interest in the project.

The company believes this transformational acquisition represents an outstanding opportunity to generate significant value for Cyprium and its shareholders.

“We have regularly ranked Nifty at the top of our Australia copper project acquisition target list and are delighted to have secured this as part of our quality suite of copper development projects,” Cyprium Metals Executive Director Barry Cahill said.

“Nifty and Maroochydore are a perfect fit for the skill set of our management team, who have a track record of creating value and producing copper, as most recently demonstrated with Finders Resources at the Wetar copper project,” Barry added.

Cyprium will pay Metals X $60 million which includes a cash payment of $24 million and four convertible notes that total $36 million.

To pay for the acquisition, Cyprium has received binding commitments to raise $90 million through a placement to professional and sophisticated investors.

A total of 450 million shares will be issued under the placement at an issue price of 20 cents. This represents an 18.4 per cent discount to Cyprium’s last closing price on February 4 and a 15.2 per cent discount to the five-day volume-weighted average price.

The placement is expected to be completed later this month and the acquisition will be completed by March 31 2021.

Overall, this $60 million deal aligns with Cyprium’s strategy of building a mid-tier Australian copper mining business.

Cyprium’s shares have dropped a slight 2.04 per cent to trade at 24 cents at 11:52 am AEDT.

Metals X is up 5.88 per cent and trading at 18 cents just after midday trade.

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