Agnico Eagle Mines has agreed to sell its shares of Probe Mines to Goldcorp, which announced its intended acquisition of the company on Jan. 19.
Under the agreement, Goldcorp will purchase 7,320,200 common shares of Probe and 2,347,951 warrants for a total value of $43 million. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 28.
“We are pleased to have received the support of Agnico in respect of our proposed acquisition of Probe,” said Chuck Jeannes, Goldcorp's president and CEO, in a news release. “With the acquisition of Agnico's common shares in Probe and the above warrants, Goldcorp now controls approximately 19.9 per cent of Probe.”
Goldcorp currently owns 9.3 per cent of Probe, and will offer 0.1755 of a Goldcorp share to Probe shareholders.
Probe Mines’ key asset is the Borden Gold project, located on 786 kilometres of exploration ground near Chapleau. The company also has a 100 per cent interest in the Black Creek chromite deposit located in the Ring of Fire.
The Borden Gold discovery, which was made in 2010, is located in a deposit not known for hosting gold, and is considered a promising find. The Ontario Prospector’s Association recognized Probe for the discovery with the Ontario Prospector Award in November 2013.
In December 2014, Probe president and CEO Dr. David Palmer earned the Bill Dennis Award for a Canadian mineral discovery from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
