Pursuant to the scheme, holders of Big River shares, other than Dundee Resources Ltd, will receive AUS$0.36 in cash for each Big River share held. Aura will hold its interest in Aura BidCo through an intermediate holding company (Aura JVCo) and Dundee Resources has agreed, subject to certain limited conditions, to receive shares in Aura JVCo, in lieu of the cash consideration in order to indirectly maintain an equity interest in Big River. Unless otherwise stated, all dollar values in this announcement are in Australian dollars.
The acquisition represents an attractive opportunity for Aura to expand its pipeline of development stage projects through the acquisition of Big River’s Borborema Gold Project in Brazil. Borborema, which is expected to operate an open pit gold project, has a JORC-compliant Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 1.87 million oz Au at 1.14 g/t Au and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 0.57 million oz Au at 1.0 g/t Au. Aura’s management and skilled personnel have extensive experience in the Brazilian mining industry and are well suited to develop Borborema in partnership with Dundee Resources.
Rodrigo Barbosa, Aura’s President & Chief Executive Officer, comments:
“Our strategy is to grow beyond our current production plan through advancing high-quality projects that have a clear path to construction and are located in the Americas, preferably in jurisdictions where we are already operating. Borborema fits well within this strategy. We are also proud to partner with Dundee Resources on this project as they are a leader in the industry.”
