Central Asia Metals plc plans to acquire the high grade Antler copper project in Arizona through an all-share A$185 million (£82.7m) purchase of Australian-listed New World Resources Ltd.
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The volcanogenic massive sulphide copper project, located 200 kilometres southeast of Las Vegas, contains a mineral resource estimate of 14.2 million tonnes at a copper equivalent grade of 3.8%.
Central said that mineralisation outcropped at surface over 750 metres of strike while Antler lay in an area with existing infrastructure and “multiple” mining operations in the wider region.
A 2024 pre-feasibility study gives production of approximately 30,000 tonnes of payable copper equivalent per annum over a 12-year life of mine.
The figure more than doubles Central’s current production from the Kounrad copper recovery plant in Kazakhstan.
The company will pay A$0.05 in cash for each New World share using existing cash reserves and a new US$120m credit facility from a syndicate of leading international lending banks.
New World also owns the 4,000-acre Javelin project located near Antler and the Tererro copper-gold-zinc project, northeast of the city of Albuquerque in northern New Mexico.
New World shareholders are due to vote on the proposed deal, under a definitive scheme implementation deed, during the third quarter of this year.
“We believe that this transaction is an exceptional opportunity for CAML to acquire a high-grade copper asset which complements our existing business,” added non-executive chairman Nick Clarke.
“The addition of the Antler project to our portfolio will give us the potential for near-term growth as it would more than double our production and cash flow.
“The transaction is projected to be accretive on a net asset value per share basis, based on the PFS NPV, which is in line with our business development strategy of pursuing value-accretive acquisitions in the base metals sector to support the long-term cash flow generation of our business.”
Central also owns the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia and has an initial £3 million investment in Aberdeen Minerals Ltd, exploring for copper-nickel-cobalt at Arthrath, northeast Scotland.