Fury Gold to buy Quebec Precious Metals

Fury Gold Mines (TSX, NYSE: FURY) has agreed to buy Quebec Precious Metals (TSXV: QPM) for about C$4.1 million to expand its exploration portfolio in the James Bay region. QPM shares soared.Acquiring QPM will allow Toronto-based Fury – which already owns the nearby Éléonore South project – to increase its northern Quebec gold and critical minerals exploration portfolio to more than 1,570 sq. km. QPM’s land package covers about 709 sq. km, mostly within the emerging James Bay gold camp. It includes Sakami, a road-accessible project that is host to a 23-km-long gold-bearing structural corridor.QPM shareholders will receive 0.0741 Fury share for each QPM share held, Fury said Wednesday in a statement. The ratio implies a price of C$0.04 per QPM share and a premium of about 33% based on Tuesday’s closing stock prices. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April, Fury said.The deal “doubles Fury’s land package in the Eeyou Istchee territory in the James Bay region of Quebec and unites complementary assets, teams, and investor bases which should ultimately increase shareholder value at both companies,” Fury CEO Tim Clark said. “Combining QPM’s gold and critical minerals portfolio of exploration projects with Fury’s projects and strong balance sheet will not only help improve cost efficiency but also add to the potential for new discoveries.”QPM has about 103.6 million shares outstanding, according to the company’s website. That values Fury’s offer at about C$4.1 million.Shares of QPM soared about 17% to C$0.035 Wednesday in late morning trading in Toronto. Fury stock was unchanged at C$0.53, giving the company a market capitalization of about C$80 million.Drilling at SakamiFury said it intends to “rapidly advance” targets at Sakami to the drilling stage this year following a “reinterpretation of the geology and geophysics paired with systematic geochemical sampling.”QPM CEO Normand Champigny will be appointed as a strategic adviser to Fury once the transaction has been completed. He will also become the company’s representative for Kipawa, a heavy rare earth elements project located 50 km east of Temiscaming. QPM owns 68% of Kipawa, compared with 32% for Investissement Québec, the provincial government’s investment arm.Fury’s offer “demonstrates the progress made with our exploration work to date,” Champigny said in the statement.Shareholders of QPM will be asked to vote on the deal at a special meeting this spring. Approval by two-thirds of the votes cast will be required. Officers, directors and key shareholders – who together control 17% of QPM’s shares – have already agreed to back the transaction.Should a rival bid for QPM emerge, Fury would have the right to match any superior proposal, according to the statement.Existing Fury shareholders would own about 95% of the company once the deal has been completed. Their QPM counterparts would own the remainder.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com