CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coeur Mining, Inc. (“Coeur” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CDE) today announced that it has closed the acquisition of privately-owned JDS Silver Holdings, Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiary JDS Silver Inc. (collectively, “JDS Silver”), which owns the high-grade Silvertip Mine (“Silvertip”) in northern British Columbia, by way of the previously announced arrangement (the “Arrangement”).
“We are excited about the impact Silvertip is expected to have on our production, margins, and cash flow beginning next year. We are also pleased to now have a presence in mining-friendly British Columbia and look forward to building upon the strong government and community partnerships already in place,” said Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeur's President and Chief Executive Officer. “Over the coming weeks and months, we plan to make meaningful investments at Silvertip to position it as a significant and sustainable cornerstone asset within our portfolio of operating mines.”
“Coeur Mining's decision to invest here demonstrates that companies believe British Columbia is a good jurisdiction to invest in mining," said British Columbia Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Michelle Mungall. "Our government is committed to strengthening mining in this province to ensure companies like Coeur Mining continue to invest here, creating more good jobs for British Columbians.”
Ruby Johnny, Chief of Dease River First Nation and member of the Kaska Dena Council Board of Directors, added, “I would like to congratulate Coeur Mining on the acquisition of JDS Silver. The Silvertip Mine has provided many benefits to the Kaska which include employment, contracting opportunities and an economic agreement. We have established an excellent working relationship with JDS Silver and our hope is to continue and grow this relationship with Coeur Mining – the new owner of the Silvertip Mine.”
Pursuant to the Arrangement, Coeur acquired all issued and outstanding common shares of JDS Silver Holdings, Ltd. for consideration of approximately US$147.5 million in cash and US$37.5 million in Coeur common stock, and assumed approximately US$15 million of existing debt. The cash consideration was funded with US$100 million of borrowings under the Company’s revolving credit facility as well as cash on hand. Upon closing of the Arrangement, the Company issued approximately 4.19 million new Coeur shares to former holders of JDS Silver, who now own approximately 2.3% of Coeur’s issued and outstanding shares on an undiluted basis.
Additional consideration of up to US$50 million is payable contingent upon the achievement of specific future permitting and exploration milestones at Silvertip. Any such contingent consideration will be paid in cash and in common stock. This contingent consideration and other matters are described more fully in the Arrangement Agreement dated September 10, 2017.
Coeur’s legal advisor was Goodmans LLP and its financial advisors were Sprott Capital Partners and BMO Capital Markets. Blake, Cassels & Gordon acted as legal advisor to JDS Silver and Maxit Capital acted as JDS Silver’s financial advisor.
About Coeur
Coeur Mining, Inc. is a well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with six mines in the Americas employing approximately 2,300 people. Coeur’s wholly-owned operations include the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Mexico, the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota, and the San Bartolomé silver mine in Bolivia. In addition, the Company owns the La Preciosa project in Mexico, a silver-gold exploration stage project. Coeur conducts exploration activities in North and South America.
