Palladium One Mining is making a move on the north shore of Lake Superior to scoop up some promising ground in northwestern Ontario.
During the PDAC mining show earlier this month, the Toronto company announced a proposed merger and acquisition deal with MetalCorp that will enlarge its current 30,000 hectares of holdings near the Hemlo mine.
The two companies have inked a definitive agreement for a business combination. It’s a $3.3-million all-share transaction.
In the deal with MetalCorp, Palladium One will pick up two nickel, copper and zinc and gold projects, a small royalty portfolio, and is acquiring a Barrick Gold earn-in agreement on a project called East Hemlo, next to Barrick’s Hemlo mine.
Shareholders of Palladium will hold 88 per cent of the merged company with former MetalCorp shareholders holding 12 per cent. MetalCorps shareholders will vote on the transaction at a special meeting at the end of April.
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Palladium One’s main focus in this region is its multi-metal Tyko Project, located 25 kilometres north of Barrick’s Hemlo gold mine complex and 65 kilometres northeast of Marathon.
In a vastly unexplored area, the company is drilling off two zones of high-grade nickel, copper and platinum group metals, tagged Smoke Lake and West Pickle, that are located about 20 kilometres apart.
In a statement, Palladium One CEO Derrick Weyrauch said this is purely a strategic move.
“This transaction advances our strategy of creating value by responsibly, establishing a partnership with a senior producer and growing a portfolio of critical mineral assets in Canada in support of North American critical mineral supply chains, and it also increases liquidity.”
MetalCorp CEO Donald Shelton said he’s all in.
“Like MetalCorp, Palladium One has an excellent suite of properties including gold, PGEs, copper - nickel and a strong cash position. Based on the TSXV closing prices of each company on the day the agreement was signed, this transaction reflects a 28 pe centpremium for MetalCorp shareholders.”
Besides Tyko, the company has a nickel project in Alaska and two multi-metal properties in Finland.
