M&A

South32 wraps up Arizona acquisition

South32 completes US$1.3 billion acquisition of Arizona Mining

Staff reporter
Hermosa in Arizona, USA

Hermosa in Arizona, USA

The C$6.20 per share cash takeover via plan of arrangement was finalised on Friday, with South32 funding the acquisition via cash on hand.

It comes after 99.9% of Arizona shareholders voted in favour of the deal earlier this month.

Arizona was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.

Arizona's advanced Hermosa project includes the high-grade Taylor resource of 101 million short tons at 10.4% zinc equivalent.

South32 CEO Graham Kerr said the acquisition of Arizona added one of the most exciting base metals projects in the industry to the company's portfolio.

"Our deep understanding of the high-grade Hermosa project and surrounding land package, together with our extensive experience at Cannington, positions us well to bring the project to development and deliver significant value to our shareholders," he said.

Work to enhance the design and development of the Hermosa Project will begin in the coming weeks.

The work will include optimising studies and the start of the exploration decline which will allow drilling to test for extensions and further enhance our understanding of the existing high-grade resource.

A January preliminary economic assessment outlined a US$519 million capital cost for a 29-year operation producing an average 946 million pounds of zinc and 9.5 million ounces of silver in the first five years at all-in sustaining costs of 61c per pound of zinc.

The PEA returned a post-tax net present value of $2 billion and a 1.6-year payback period.

South32 shares closed at A$3.63 on Friday, slightly below the $3.80 the stock was trading at when the deal was announced in June.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Journal Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Journal Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.