Hudbay has taken the lead on a mining project in northern Manitoba, purchasing a majority interest and operation on a project located near Highway 6.
Hudbay put pen to paper on a deal to purchase an extra two per cent ownership interest in the Talbot property, owned jointly by Hudbay and junior miner Rockcliff Metals. The new purchase gives Hudbay 51 per cent of the property’s overall ownership, snagging the majority interest from previous majority owner Rockcliff and making Hudbay the operator of the project. Hudbay was given a chance to buy a majority interest in the project in an option agreement signed in 2014 between the company and Rockcliff.
Rockcliff will receive a one-time cash payment of $725,892 for the extra two per cent. If Hudbay is able to open a mine at the property, Rockcliff will keep a 35 per cent carried interest for as long as the mine is operational.
Rockcliff president and CEO Alistair Ross said his company’s exploration work at the site made it too good an opportunity for Hudbay to pass up.
“The work performed by Rockcliff over the past six years to advance our understanding of the Talbot deposit has demonstrated the significant potential of the Talbot deposit to become a producing mine,” said Ross.
“Hudbay’s early decision to exercise of its buy-back right on the Talbot property further validates Talbot’s potential value. Rockcliff’s shareholders will benefit from Hudbay’s experience in mine development and operation, combined with its balance sheet strength, as they lead the Talbot project forward.”
The Talbot property is located between Snow Lake and Grand Rapids, close to Highway 6. Rockcliff describes the property as its “flagship gold-rich copper asset”. According to Rockcliff, the Talbot property has the fourth-largest initial pre-production resource of any northwest Manitoba mine, after the Flin Flon mine, Lalor mine and 777 mine and more than Hudbay’s previous Reed mine.
