Mining News: News Nuggets: NovaCopper-Sunward merger approved

NovaCopper Inc. June 16 reported that its proposed acquisition of Sunward Resources Ltd. received overwhelming approval by the shareholders of each company at their respective shareholder meetings. Under the terms of an arrangement announced in April, each shareholder of Sunward will receive 0.3 of a NovaCopper share for each common share of Sunward held. Some 99.36 percent of the shares represented at the NovaCopper meeting were voted in favor of the issuance of common shares of NovaCopper in connection with the arrangement. Similarly, 99.98 percent of the shares represented at the Sunward meeting were voted in favor of the arrangement. Sunward has roughly 142.33 million shares outstanding, making the deal worth about US$27.6 million. At the end of 2014, the Colombia-focused exploration company had US$20.95 million in cash and cash equivalents. Combined with the nearly US$4 million NovaCopper already had in its coffers, the merged entity would have plenty of cash to complete a feasibility study for the Arctic deposit, the next step toward developing mines at the Upper Kobuk Minerals projects in Northwest Alaska.

- Shane Lasley