Augusta agrees to sweetened Hudbay takeover

VANCOUVER – After a drawn-out takeover battle that tested proposed new regulations on the tenure of shareholder rights plans in British Columbia, Augusta Resource (TSX: AZC; NYSE-MKT: AZC) has agreed to a sweetened takeover bid from Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM).

Hudbay launched its bid for Augusta in early February, offering 0.315 HBM shares for each Augusta share in a deal that valued the copper-focused junior and its large, development stage Rosemont project in Arizona at $540 million.

Located southeast of Tuscan, the deposit at Rosemont hosts 605.3 million proven and probable tonnes grading 0.44% Cu and 0.015% Mo. Augusta has planned a conventional open pit mine and sulphide processing plant for Rosemont, a project expected to cost US$1.06 billion.

Based on Augusta’s current timeline the mine will start operating in 2017, producing 243 million lb of copper and 5.4 million lb of molybdenum annually.

Read the complete story at NorthernMiner.com/news/augusta