Canadian gold mining firm Agnico-Eagle Mines has signed a deal to purchase Cayden Resources for approximately C$205m ($186.8m).
The sale includes Cayden’s issued and outstanding common shares and two flagship projects, the El Barqueno and the Morelos Sur properties, in Mexico.
El Barqueno covers approximately 41,000ha in the Guachinango gold district in Jalisco State, Mexico, whereas Morelos Sur has around 13,000ha in the Guerrero gold belt in the country’s Guerrero State.
Agnico-Eagle Mines US and Latin America operations senior vice-president Tim Haldane said: “From a technical perspective, El Barqueno bears a lot of similarities to Pinos Altos in the early days.
“The property has tremendous exploration upside and several prospective zones that we believe can ultimately support heap leach and/or milling operations, which would allow us to build another meaningful business in Mexico.”
Agnico-Eagle Mines president and CEO Sean Boyd said: “This acquisition is consistent with our long-term strategy of acquiring promising, early stage gold projects where we can add value through focused exploration and mine building.
“This strategy has served us well in Mexico, and we believe that the Cayden properties are a very good fit with our existing southern operations and skill sets.”
The transaction, which is subject to approval from Cayden security holders, Mexican anti-trust and other regulatory and court approvals, is expected to complete before the end of the year.
Cayden Resources CEO and president Ivan Bebek said: “We are pleased with the value that this transaction delivers to our shareholders and are excited at the prospect of Agnico applying its resources to the advancement of El Barqueño and the results that will surely follow.”