BHP reaches deal to buy Ring of Fire explorer Noront Resources for $325 million

BHP has reached a deal to buy Noront Resources Ltd. for $325-million.

BHP Lonsdale Investments Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of the Australian mining giant, says it will pay $0.55 per share for Norant. This represents a 69 per cent premium over the company’s closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday. BHP’s offer is also 75 per cent higher than the $0.31 per share proposed by Australian company Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. in May.

Noront’s board is recommending shareholders accept BHP’s offer. Noront chief executive Alan Coutts says the all-cash offer provides “immediate and certain” value for shareholders.

Coutts says BHP also has the financial strength and global mining expertise to advance Noront’s highly prospective Eagle’s Nest project. Eagle’s Nest is aproposed nickel, copper and platinum mine in the Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario.

BHP says Eagle’s Nest provides a platform to develop further opportunities in the Ring of Fire region. BHP says it plans to develop partnerships with First Nations, governments and local communities in the region.

The Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario holds some of the world’s richest deposits of chromite, nickel, copper and platinum. The region’s resource deposits are valued at anywhere from $30-billion to $60-billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSXV:NOT)