TAKEOVER: Hecla agrees to pay $796M for Aurizon

VANCOUVER – Hecla Mining Company of Coeur d'Alene, ID, has signed an agreement to acquire Aurizon Mines in a deal worth C$796 million. Aurizon shareholders may choose to receive either $4.75 per share or 0.9953 of a Hecla share or a combination of both. The two companies combined will have a value of $1.6 billion.

Earlier this year Aurizon directors rejected a hostile takeover from Alamos Gold of Toronto. The Hecla cash offer is a 12% premium on the current implied value of the Alamos deal on March 1, 2013.

Hecla (Hecla-Mining.com) operates the Greens Creek silver mine in Alaska and Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho.

Aurizon (www.Aurizon.com) operates the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec and several gold exploration projects in that province.